[Dirtco]

1999 Limited 4Runner – Autumn Blaze Metallic



Modifications…

Suspension:

Front:Custom solid axle swap
TG Rock Assault driver drop Tacoma width housing
Fox 14” 2.0 DSC coilover shocks, 125/250 Eibach springs
TG Links and Creeper joints
Barnes4x4 Panhard brackets and shock towers

Rear: OME 850 Coil Springs
Toyota "Tokico" black 80-Series Land Cruiser shocks
Rear lower shock mounts relocated higher
Rokmen HD Adjustable lower control arms
ToyTec HD Adjustable pan hard bar w/ adjustable bracket
Gusseted upper stock panhard bracket
ToyTec HD Adjustable upper control arms
Custom limit straps (Poly performance)
Rear sway bar removed
Extended progressive rate rear bumpstops

Wheels and Tires:

Trailready 17x9 HD Beadlocks (3.5” backspace) w/ Mini Monster Valves
Cooper STT Pro, 37x13.50x17

Drivetrain:

Front: High pinion 8” w/ ARB and 5.29’s
Longfield 30-Spline Gun drilled birfields and 4340 chromoly axle shafts
Aisin manual locking hubs w/ longfield hub gears
Machined IFS hubs w/ ARP hub studs
Heavy wall front driveshaft
Extended breather

Rear: 5:29’s with the factory E-locker (built by ECGS)
HD .120 wall rear CV driveshaft (Rocky Mountain Driveline)
TG Rock Assault housing (Tacoma width)
FROR Full Float kit w/ 4130 chromoly axles
TG Chromoly spindles, wheel hubs, and drive flanges
Custom machined seal adapters
Geniune Koyo wheel bearings, ARP Hub studs
TG 1.5” Wheel spacers
Extended breather

Transfer Case:

Dual Cases
TG Tacoma dual case adapter kit
23 Spline input gear (Stock 2.28)
FROR Transfer case mount (Modified)
Modified Radesign triple stick shifter

Steering:

TG Power Flow IFS steering box
TG Power Flow 1650PSI pump kit w/ cooler and reservoir
TG Hydro Assit ram
Marlin Crawler 25mm steering upgrade kit and billet steering arms
Barnes4x4 Heim Joints

Engine and Performance:

1st Gen TRD supercharger (Rebuilt)
URD 7th injector kit
URD 2.2 Pulley
“Bolted” motor mounts
Relocated fresh air intake
AFE Dry Flow cold air intake
TRD dynamic tensioner kit
Flowmaster Deltaflow 50 series, w/ custom tailpipe
Duralast Platinum AGM H8 w/ custom mount
B&M transmission cooler
2wd T-100 Oil pan and pick-up
Shorter 4cyl Tacoma Radiator
Genuine Toyota Block heater
Genuine Toyota Timing belt and water pump

Brakes:

Front - Tundra 231mm 13wl calipers
FROR Tacoma brake brackets
Genuine Toyota Tundra rotors / pads
TG Extended stainless braided brake lines
Rear disc brake conversion- 1986 4cyl calipers and pads w/ FJ60 Rotors
Adjustable rear proportioning valve

Lighting:

Ebay headlight housings, OSRAM bulbs
Burtman Clear corners w/ LED bulbs
LED Front turn signals
LED Tail lights w/ Superbright LED reverse bulbs
Auxbeam 7” LED 80w round driving lights (three of them)
40" Single row LED light bar (remote controlled)
Rigid Industries Dually Amber D2 driving lights (wired to factory fog switch)
Superbright LED interior dome lights, License plate light
Rear deck/hatch LED camp light
Rocklights – Rigid SRM's and Oznium LED’s
Reverse light - Single Rigid Industries Dually D2 Diffused
Under body reverse lights - Rigid SRM's Diffused
LED Maglite – Mounted to D/S seat

Interior/Electrical:

Custom PRP Daily Driver seat with heat and custom mount
Pioneer AVH-P3400BH headunit
Alpine amp
10" Rockford Fosgate subwoofer
Rockford Fosgate speakers (front and rear)
Sound deadening on all doors and rear cargo area
Plug in USB charging port
Dual USB charging port - switched
Uniden Pro 520 XL CB radio and Wilson 4' flex antenna
SPOT GPS messaging & locating beacon
Garmin GPS w/ Ram Mount
Trailer wiring (7way with rock light and reverse)
Weathertech floormats front/rear
Scangauge II

Camping and “Overland” Gear:

Custom cargo and sleeping platform
Indel B Fridge/Freezer on custom slide out
Kitchen slide out with built in Coleman grill/stove
Multiple LED lights, USB ports, and 12 volt outlets
BOSS 12.1” DVD player in sleeping area
Carbon fiber wrapped rear side windows, side window screens and divider curtain
Low profile roof rack with ARB awning, Hi Lift jack, Splitting axe and chainsaw holder
15 Gallon auxiliary fuel tank with transfer pump
Trasharoo with pine scented trash bags

Exterior / Accessories:

Fender flares and cladding removed, holes filled and body bedlined
Firewall tubbed, front and rear fenders trimmed and enlarged
Toytec 1” bodylift
Clear bra (24” hood/fenders and headlights)
3M Carbon fiber wrapped door posts
Hella Sharptone horn kit
20% Tint on all side and rear windows
AVS In-channel vent visors

Armor / Protection / Recovery:

Custom built Front Bumper
Smittybuilt X2O 12,000 winch w/ Masterpull Superline XD
In-cab winch controller
Custom built Rear bumper
Custom built Spare tire carrier (Version 2.0 in the works)
Custom built Rock sliders
Custom built radiator protector
Custom transfer case skid plate (In progress)
Lil’ Skip gas tank skid plate
Inchworm E-locker guard
Lotus lower control arm skid plates
Custom lower shock bolt protectors
20lb CO2 Tank, tools, recovery gear

[Dirtco]

With the demise of Photobucket it was time to create a new thread, this will mainly be trip reports and pictures, but there will also be some tech and photos of current projects. I would like to thank @Black798 for archiving my old build thread, after six years and 140 pages I simply did not have the time or patience to go back and replace every single picture. While a project is never done, I feel that I’m at the point where I’m just tweaking stuff and as a whole the 4Runner is pretty close to being “done”. Think of this as a continuation of my build thread but a little more laid back, and more focus on fun than tech.

You can’t start a thread like this without an Adventure, so I made one! Last year I mapped out a route through the middle of Colorado, the goal was to cover as much ground as possible while keeping pavement to a bare minimum. Here is the trip report from last year: 2016 CO Expo Trip Report

It was so much fun that we planned out another trip, this time it was Northern Colorado into Wyoming. We started at the same place as last year, but instead of heading south we went north. The goal was to cover roughly 300 miles of terrain in three days, almost all of that dirt. We got an early start Friday morning, after airing down and catching up we hit the trail. Unfortunately covering this many miles in day means you can’t stop for pictures every ten minutes, so we took in the sights behind the wheel, while still stopping on a regular basis to joke around and take some pictures.

Mid-way through day one taking a break. Myself in front, followed by Kyle ( @EatonKyleH ) in his LT 3rd Gen 4Runner, Rick ( @Mr.Rick ) in his 5th Gen 4Runner, and Aaron ( @Volcom ) in his newly acquired Sequoia.



The terrain varied a lot on that first day; we went from wooded trails to ranch land, desert terrain to high mountain meadows, and everything between.



The destination for the day was Rabbit Ears Peak, close to Steamboat Springs. We arrived at a reasonable time, claimed a camp spot lower down the mountain, and proceeded up the trail to the peak. While it’s not a hard trail it is rocky and steep, especially for a stock vehicle. But, I’ve been to this spot before and the views are spectacular!



The trail literally ends at one of the “Rabbit Ears” and there’s not much room to turn around. We noticed a small fire pit off to the side of the trail and decided this was camp for the night! But it wasn’t going to be easy, nothing was level and it was super tight, but it’s an adventure right?! Aaron and I were sleeping in our rigs, and Kyle and Rick had roof top tents. We had to maneuver our rigs around, along with stacking firewood, rocks and some previously cut logs in the area to “level” our rigs. But in the end it was worth the work and we were greeted to an amazing evening above the stars (and everyone else in the surrounding area).

When it was all said and done we covered 92.3 miles, with about 2.5 of that being pavement!

[Dirtco]

- Day Two

We woke up and again took in the sights, today would be the longest stretch of pavement so we packed up and drove into Steamboat to get fuel and supplies.



I saw this at the gas station and it instantly got my attention!



After fueling up we hit the road, it was about twenty miles before we hit dirt again. We aired down for the final time and hit the trail, for the next two day we would only be driving on dirt roads and trails. The destination for the night was Ellis Jeep trail, it’s known for being super remote and having large mud holes that can swallow a vehicle depending on the time of year.



The further we got into the forest the tighter the trails got, there were more mud holes and the road was rougher with rocks. It was fun to watch Rick navigate his stock 4Runner on street tires though the trail, and Aaron with his huge Sequoia!

[Dirtco]

By now it was approaching mid-afternoon and we still had a lot of ground to cover, we decided to pick up the pace and try to get to Ellis Jeep trail before dark. As we worked our way around Hahn’s Peak we saw what looked to be a fresh wildfire burning in the direction we were headed, we continued on hoping that it wouldn’t ruin our plans for the day.

It wasn’t long before we hit the easy dirt access road to Ellis Jeep trail, we drove for a couple miles before running into a Forest Service fire truck. We were notified that the fire was directly were we wanted to go and they were evacuating the area, we had to no choice but to turn around and leave the area. Looking at our maps we found a route around the burn area that would connect back to our original route, but bypass Ellis. By this time the sun was getting low, and it was time to find a camping spot for the night. We found a side road and camped at the first site that was acceptable.

The following morning we woke up, packed up camp and hit the road. The road was smooth and fast, and it wasn’t long before we crossed over into Wyoming.

[Dirtco]

The destination for the day was the North Sand Hills OHV area, one of the few open OHV area’s in the state, and the only one with sand dunes. We were all excited to play around so we continued on, dropping back into Colorado and following the Wyoming border as we traversed the state. Along the way we saw more signs of wildfires in the area, and could see the smoke from the near by fire.



A couple hours later we were pulling into the sand dunes, we had covered 168 miles since leaving our first campsite on Rabbit Ears. We found a spot to set up camp and got the vehicles ready to have some fun! It wasn’t long before all of us thought we were BJ Baldwin and were pushing our vehicles to the limit!

[Dirtco]

It was an awesome trip! When it was all said and done we covered over 260 miles, less than 30 of that pavement. We went through seven different counties, two states, climbed a total of 25,203 feet in elevation with a descent of 24,981’. The following weekend that fire we saw blew up to 1,500 acres, and is currently at 2,500 acres. Once they reopen the area I will be back to run the Ellis section, along with a couple other trails in the area.

I still have some video to go through, and hopefully the other guys will share some of their pictures too. I know Kyle got some really cool pictures on Rabbit Ears!

Day 1



Day 2 & 3

[EatonKyleH]

Awesome trip once again man!

I want a rematch of the desert drag race soon.

Here are two pictures I took of the night sky from our first night camped up on Rabbit Ears.

Unfortunately I didn't really take any more photos but instead really enjoyed just hanging out with everyone.

[Black798]

Looks like an awesome trip! I need to find people to go on these type of trips with in my neck of the woods. @EatonKyleH did you changed your mind on selling your 4runner and decide to keep it?

[Kotrin]

Yeah fires are chasing me out of all my trails along the Cascade's in Oregon

But sure looks like some beautiful area to explore. T-minus 3 days before we leave to Colorado (if all parts arrive to fix the rig tomorrow...), but even if we leave a few days later still will be a unforgettable trip. Thanks for the adventure thread

[smallfry]

Nice.

[poleclimber63]

My Wife and i spent almost 3 weeks in Colorado this July. As we flew down and rented, we were only able to scratch the surface of getting off road. The little we did, my Wife really enjoyed! I actually got the green light to spend some money on my 4R! I was bown away by the shear numbers of 4R's and Taco's.... Near Telluride we passed a HUGE line of Tacos and 4r's--- at least a hundred!!! Colorado is definitely an off road paridise! When we got home we went up the mountains nearby and had a blast! I think she's converted- she bought me a Toyota off road magazine for the flight home!!!

[EatonKyleH]

Originally Posted by Black798

Looks like an awesome trip! I need to find people to go on these type of trips with in my neck of the woods. @EatonKyleH did you changed your mind on selling your 4runner and decide to keep it?

Yup! I've decided to keep it and have some more upgrades going in soon.
I'll most likely make another thread about it similar to how Jeremiah has done due to the same photobucket nonsense.

But ya... Trips like these have made me decide its worth keeping it as my full blown toy/camp rig and leave my truck as a dedicated work/DD. Reality was building the truck would have made it worse at the things I really need it for and the 4Runner is built to have fun....and it does that really really well.

[jb10]

sounds and looks like a great trip! want to get out and do more like this myself. thanks for sharing!

[Mr.Rick]

It was once again an epic trip. Great views, great times and even better people to be out on an adventure with. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip, like @Dirtco and @EatonKyleH said, we were more just in the moment than documenting but I have a few pics from my phone.


The top of rabbit ears peak facing South:


Jeremiah snagging his drone post-flight:






Sunset at north sand hills ohv park.


I'm already looking forward to more adventures with these guys and what I learned this trip was a testament to the capabilities of a stock 4runner on street tires. This is however the last trip it will make before some much wanted upgrades are heading her way. We are pretty fortunate to have the ability to do these kinds of trips here in Colorado and be able to go out and cover half the state via dirt and forest service roads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[EatonKyleH]

Waiting for the summer of 2018........