[Ride_Red]

I have owned six 4Runner's in my lifetime and have loved everyone of them. When I had a chance to sell my mother my 2010 SR5 to buy her Y2K LTD. I jumped all over it! Don't worry it wasn't a bad deal, I also picked up a 2012 4Runner in place of the 2010. This is mostly going to be a street queen, for my wife to drive during inclement weather here in the NE. So, yes the running boards will be staying on.

In 2000 this was the hottest truck and color on the market and I remember the day I went to the dealerships with her to buy the truck. I actually negotiated the deal and the dealers hated me.

When I picked it up from my mother in May 2012:



Here is how it stands as of 3.18.13














2000 Limited Millennium Silver w/options:
~4WD , V6
~Leather seats
~Heated seats
~Heated mirrors
~Wood grain interior
~Push button 4wd
etc......

Motor:
~Timing Belt/Water Pump/Alt Belt/Power-steering Belt/NGK Plug/NGK Wires/PVC Valve @ 140,489 miles (w/all Toyota parts)
~Deck Plate Mod

Suspension:
~Toytec 3" Lift Kit w/spacers, rear LC coils, & diff-drop kit, P/N RUN3-DR

Front:
~Toytec lift spacers 3/4"
~Bilstein 5100 hight adjustable shocks 3rd setting
~Toytec Diff Drop

Rear:
~LC 8 Wraps (powder coated red)
~Bilstein 5125 shocks
~Toytec 10mm drivers side trim packer

Wheels:
~Sequoia split spoke gun metal (plasti dipped)
~285/70/17 AT tires
~Spidertrax 1.25 wheel spacers

Brakes:
~Tundra 231mm upgrade
~Napa rotors
~Napa refurbished calipers
~Napa brake pads
~New generic rear brake shoes
~Painted front calipers racing red

Lights:
~ TRS FXR HID retro fit
~ DRL w/integrated turn signals
~eBay special HID fog light kit 3000k


Exterior:
~Sport Hood with scoop
~01-02 tail lights
~Rola Basket with extension
~Yakima Viper Bike Racks
~Hunter Bull Bar (color matched)
~eBay Tail Light Guards (color matched)

[COLOR="Blue"]Pending Mods:
~Toytec coil overs
~Supercharger
~01-02 Front grill
~Trans cooler
~Plasti Dip Emblems
~Some sort of CAI???
~New battery, not sure which brand?

[JWaldz]

Nothing shy of beautiful.. Great looking truck man. BTW, I vote leave the wheels the way they are cus they match well. Otherwise, good list of future plans

[Ride_Red]

My First Mod:
Tundra 231mm brake upgrade. I obtained all the parts from NAPA.

I had an issue with one of the brake lines and had to return one of the calipers, then I had to wait for a new brake line from Toyota.

I also needed to make sure the dust shield cleared the 17" 2012 SR5 rims, so I had to do a little trimming with a cutting wheel. didn't have to cut very much.

I am still having issues with the peddle hitting the floor. I've tried my best to get all the air out but have had no luck (if that's even the problem). I was also told that my ABS pump maybe bad. I dropped it off to Meineke, and 4 hours later they told me they couldn't do it because they didn't have the proper tooling to bleed the ABS pump fluid all they way.....WTF! Way to let me know before I dropped it off. They said I would need to bring it to Toyota.





Before





After




Calipers clear the rims




I should have painted the calipers before I put them on. Oh well that will be for another day.

[Ride_Red]

Originally Posted by ARKRWLR

Nothing shy of beautiful.. Great looking truck man. BTW, I vote leave the wheels the way they are cus they match well. Otherwise, good list of future plans

I know I am on the fence with that. That is why I was thinking of Plasti Dip.
We'll see............???

[Ride_Red]

Second Mod:

Putting on a pair of new shoes. Stock 2012 17" SR5 wheels with stock 265/70/17 tires.
Perfect fit. No rubbing.

[Ride_Red]

My Third Mod:

Lift & this was a pain in the A$$!!

I installed the toytec lift:
Rear: OME 890 coils & Bilstein 5125 and 10mm trim packer
Font: 2.5 inch lift spacer with top plate and Bilstein 5100s

Long story short, I tried to stay on a budget by using the orginal shocks, front spacers and 890 rear coils (under $500). But I should have just ordered the Toytec Ultimate Lift, because after 2 months I spent just about the same amount of money!

I did not due the lift, but I had a pretty reliable shop do it. When they went to install the front spacers they told me my shocks were beat. So, I had to spend another $200.00 + for front Bilstein 5100s.

When I got the truck back it sat uneven? The front drivers side sat a 1/4 lower and the rear was about a 1/2 lower......WTF?
I called Toytec and found out that sometimes the rear coils are marked different to compensate for the weight of the driver and the fuel tank. In my case they were not and I needed to order a 10mm trim packer to raise the drivers side.

So, I figured while it had to go back I should just get a set of rear shocks since they have to come off anyway. Simple right?
Not really, I found a set of used 5150's from 'Travolous' a.k.a. Travis on this forum who, claimed he had them on his truck. I should have known better when he immediately deleted the thread in the forum when I paid him. The shocks did not even come close to fitting. I called Toytec and they said, they were too long and that I need to seriously modify my truck try to get them to work. Plus, I would need the proper bushings!

So, when I called the shop to tell them just to use the old shocks after they install the trim packer. They told me they had to cut the old shocks out! So, now I had to order new $200 + 5125s from Toytec, plus try to figure out how to get my money back from Travolous $170!

Oh, and then I come to find out that the front spacers were not installed correctly. I didn't need the 2.5" spacer anymore and the top plate was in the wrong place......OMG!!!!


Before-



After-





OME 890 rear coils





Here is where you can see where the front spacers were incorrectly installed. Since I have the adjustable 5100s I no longer needed the thicker 2.5" spacer. The top thinner spacer is in the wrong spot. It should be where the 2.5" spacer is.







Here is the front lift spacer properly installed and the shocks set on the 3rd setting to give 3" of lift.
Removed the thicker 2.5" spacer and you can see the difference in the shock setting from the two pictures above.






Diff drop






These were the wrong 5150 shocks that Travolous sold me. They had 10" of travel when I only could use 8" max. The bushing were also incorrect. So I had to order 5125s from Toytec. What a waste of my time and very frustrating.

[Ride_Red]

My Fourth Mod:

3rd set of shoes.
Sequoia gun metal 17" split spoke wheels, wrapped in 285/70/17 AT tires.
Man did these rub!

The rear was fine but the front rubbed everywhere (front bumper/fender flare/upper control arm/wheel well/running boards). Time for some trimming, wheel spacers and yes, I am keeping the running boards on.





Front with the 17" 2012 SR5 with 265/70/17 & the rear 17" Sequoia with 285/70/17 tires

[4-Ripcord]

Looking great dude! That's awesome that your family has owned it since new.

That picture of the top plate spacer on top of the strut tower made me laugh out loud! What a mess.

Keep it up, its really clean!

[Hepar]

Looking good! I also agree that it's killer that you've had it since new. Makes me miss my '91. Except for the 3.0...

[audiness]

nice job, did you ever get your brake bleeding issue fixed?

[Scat Adams]

Lookin good! But the running boards man! The running boards!

[Ride_Red]

Originally Posted by audiness

nice job, did you ever get your brake bleeding issue fixed?

Funny thing is no. It's been back and forth at the shop because of the lift/shocks. It's a good thing this is not a daily driver!

Anyway by luck I actually ran into a guy the other day who has a shop and it sounded like he knows what he is talking about. I have an appointment first thing in the morning. He is going to hook it up to an ABS bleeder and re-bleed everything and make an adjustment in the rear that helps control the way the brake peddle feels. Said it would only take 20-30 minutes and cost me $20 plus fluid.

We'll see........?

[Ride_Red]

5th Mod:

Trimming and 1.25 Spidertrax wheel spacers.

After the addition of the 285/70/17 I noticed that the tires were rubbing the upper control are. So I order the wheel spacers. Once I added the wheel spacers there was more rubbing so I need to start trimming.

Putting on the front spacers you need a second person to hold the brakes down so you can properly torque them down. This is obviously an old pic with the lift spacers incorrectly installed.





The rears were easy.





I didn't realize how much of a difference the spacers would make the truck look. They definitely gave a wider more aggressive stance.


Before the addition of the spacer.





After





My cutting wheel has become my best friend with this build. Here you'll see the tires rubbing just about everywhere.
I marked all the spots (w/a dry erase marker) that needed to be cut (not very much) and I lighted tapped the inner wheel wells with a rubber mallet.






Filed down and sanded some rough areas.





Part of the front running board that sit in the wheel well.





Cut half of it with the cutting wheel. perfect fit!

[4ever4running]

Nice looking runner! I have always liked the look of Sequoia wheels on our 3rd gens. Keep up the good work!

[Ride_Red]

Originally Posted by Ride_Red

Funny thing is no. It's been back and forth at the shop because of the lift/shocks. It's a good thing this is not a daily driver!

Anyway by luck I actually ran into a guy the other day who has a shop and it sounded like he knows what he is talking about. I have an appointment first thing in the morning. He is going to hook it up to an ABS bleeder and re-bleed everything and make an adjustment in the rear that helps control the way the brake peddle feels. Said it would only take 20-30 minutes and cost me $20 plus fluid.

We'll see........?

Brakes are fixed! I didn't want to mess around, so I replaced just about everything: brake lines, hoses, disconnected the ABS fuse and replaced it, replaced the calipers (painted them red while I had the chance) and re-bled the lines.

No more issues and they feel great! I think what happened was, when I initially upgraded the brakes. I might have pinched the brake line too much, then I was just chasing my tail.