[jacob7071]

I’ve been wanting to put together a build/maintenance thread for a while, but I always tell myself, “I want to get this done first” and then, “Wait, after I finish this mod I'll start a thread…” As we all know, if I wait until I’m “done” modding the truck, I’ll never have a build thread. So here we go.

I knew little about 4Runners when I started looking for it, but I did drive a ’01 Tacoma Prerunner in college and loved it. So I knew I wanted Toyota. I did the luxury import thing for a few years after college, but I just found that I couldn’t save as much money as I wanted with a car note. And I hated finding fresh scratches on a $30K automobile. So I started looking for a 4Runner.

I wanted ’01 or ’02 (because I didn’t want an older vehicle than I had in college) and a sunroof. I also thought the hood scoops looked cool, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. After a few months I found mine in Austin. It’s a Thundercloud 2002 Sport Edition 2wd. I bought it bone stock on Memorial Day 2008 with 53K miles. No pictures from when I got it. That Christmas I treated myself to a brush guard I found on CL for $60. I had to remove the aluminum skid plate from the front since it wouldn’t fit with the brush guard. I had no idea it had any value, so it went in the trash (still kicking myself for that move). But this is the earliest picture I have, running stock everything except the brush guard.


The only time I take the truck off road is to go on parking lot, so I didn’t need 4wd. But I like the look of a lifted Runner, so I started researching lift options. That’s when I found T4R.org. I still use it as a DD, so I didn’t want to go too high. Decided on the Sonoran Steel 3.0 kit and had it installed at a local stealership. At the same time, I found some 5 star rims, painted them with Duplicolor flat black, and wrapped them with some BFG AT in 265/75/16. Here’s a shot with the boards taken November 2009.


And without.


And just the wheel and tire


I didn’t put any clear coat because I wanted to make sure I like it first. After a few months, the black started to fade, so I put another coat of flat black and a few coats of clear, only this time, I used Rustoleum. They turned out pretty bad and only got worse when the paint started to chip and bubble and flake off. I’ll never use Rustoleum again. So, shortly after I got my painted 5 stars, I began planning to repaint or replace them.

My brother and I have summer birthdays, and in 2010, we got each other some Wet Okole front seat covers. I like how the all black looks, but man, they can get hot in the summers.


Fast forward to Feb, 2011. I used some of my tax refund to do the Tundra brake upgrade. Got some remaned calipers from Advance Auto and some Brembo blank rotors. Went with the 231mm since the 5 stars will clear them. Returned the 4Runner calipers and got the core deposit back with no problems. No pictures, but we all know what they look like.

At the end of the summer of 2011, with Baylor fresh off its first bowl game in 15 years, I ordered season tickets for the 2011 season for $180. That’s 2 tickets to all 7 home games for $180 total. So there's one good thing about Baylor being so bad for so long. And I got to watch the Heisman winner run all over everyone. But I figured with all the trips to Waco, I’d get some lighter highway tires for the truck. My dad needed tires for his Tacoma, so he took mine, and I got some Michelin LTX MS2. I noticed a negligible difference. But not enough to recommend it or do it again.

In Sept 2011, I got the rear axle seal leak, and since I had 89K miles, I went ahead and got the timing belt and water pump replaced at the same time.

For Christmas of 2011, I got a B&M 70268 external cooler, which means I also got to crawl under the truck and get my hands dirty.

[jacob7071]

In the spring of 2012, I ordered 4 Spidertraxx 1.25” spacers. Here’s before shots.



And after



At the same time, I ordered Weathertech digital fit front and rear floormats. Not the greatest picture, but it's all I have right now.


Finally, summer of 2012 I bought a set of Tundra split spokes. The plan was to take my time painting them and just use the 5 stars until I needed to replace the tires. But the more I looked at them, the more I hated the paint. So I had the Tundras powdercoated gunmetal and wrapped them in some 265/70 Cooper Discoverer AT3s. The powdercoat didn’t go on exactly evenly, but I kinda like the uniqueness.

[jacob7071]

At the end of the summer of 2012, I hit 100K miles and did some maintenance. I replaced ITRs and OTRs using this thread as a guide.
Inner Tie Rod Removal and Installation

Also did the blue plug wire mod and replaced spark plugs and coil packs (Denso and NGK only).


This weekend I replaced the stock corners with clear corners. Here are before and after shots.



And this is how the truck sits today.

[jacob7071]

Here's a teaser pic of what's to come soon.


yellow, yellow and yellow, blue.


These are 7.5 and 8 wraps from a '93 FJ80. The colors on the 7.5 are double purple, light blue, white. The colors on the 8 are double purple, dark blue, white. I have a question for anyone with this lift. Do I need to get longer sway bar end links to run these springs if I never go offroad? Or will I be fine with the stock links?


And lastly, I got in on the BAMF group buy a few months ago. As soon as they're painted, they'll be welded on.

[TCMach]

Wow sick truck! I love the color mixed with the wheels and clear corners. I have the same lift (as of now) and I have stock end links. However I bought the Sonoran steel 1.2 kit and it comes with sway bar extension brackets. It's a little metal plate that moves the mounting location of the sway up instead of getting longer links. I don't see it listed but I'm sure you could buy the brackets from SS. But to be honest it doesn't move it that far up so I doubt you need longer links.
Also those BAMF sliders are going to look great on your truck. What color are you going with?

[jacob7071]

Thanks for the compliments. The sliders are black. They'll be used mostly as a step rather than protection. My girlfriend is 5'3" and I told her I won't lift the truck any higher without adding some kind of step for her. So I'll add some grip tape like BFAD and Hepar did on their sliders. I don't want the sliders and tape to be different colors.

[TCMach]

Definitely understand where your coming from. I bought Stubbs sliders and I made sure they would be far enough out so people could use them as steps. I did mine in a black Bedliner so they are kinda grippy, the grip tape would be a good addition though. Just make sure you keep your sliders clean or else you get the back of your/their jeans dirty. Ask me how I know haha!

[02-Sport]

Good looking 4Runner. Are your wheels the darker graphite color that came on the step side Tundra?

[farmerjon]

Very nice looking 4Runner! Looks good and clean! I like!

[jacob7071]

Originally Posted by 02-Sport

Good looking 4Runner. Are your wheels the darker graphite color that came on the step side Tundra?

Thanks. Yours looks nice too. Very familiar. The wheels aren't a stock color. I had them powdercoated by a company that uses Prismatic Powders. I just went to the Prismatic website and picked one out. I used ultra black chrome
Prismatic Powders: USS-5204 ULTRA BLACK CHROME
I was thinking it would look a lot like the stock wheels on a Lexus ISF, but they didn't get quite that dark. Also, when they sprayed the clear powder on, it moved some of the black chrome around, so it's darker in some areas and lighter in others. I was upset at first, but it's growing on me more every day. I also used the center caps from my 5 stars instead of the Tundra caps that break all the time. They'll hold up much better.

Originally Posted by farmerjon

Very nice looking 4Runner! Looks good and clean! I like!

Thanks. Clean is the look I prefer since I never take it off road except to jump a curb and get around traffic.

[Hepar]

Great build so far! I like the front end much better without the brush guard.

[jacob7071]

Ok, the adjustable trac bar just arrived, so I think I'm ready to install my lift as soon as I have time. I have a couple of quesitons though. Please feel free to chime in if you can answer them.

The front shocks are for the Tacoma - so 3 settings. I was planning on using the middle setting with the Tundra TRD springs to reduce some of the rake from the LC springs in the rear. But I know that will make a harsher ride.

So here's what I'm thinking. Maybe I use the lowest setting and install a 1" or 1.25" spacer on top of the strut assembly. I know this will extend the shock down a little bit, but will it extend it too much? Would it change your answer to know I rarely if ever go offroad? I'm looking to have a smoother ride, but if this extends the shock too much for just normal driving, then I don't want to compromise the performance or life of the shocks.

[jacob7071]

I have an overdue update. I finished painting the sliders over Thanksgiving weekend and got them welded on around Christmas. Then added some grip tape on the top. Pictures are below. But before I get to that I still have a question about my lift.

I have the LC 7.5/8 wrap springs and I'm going to pair them with the Tundra TRD springs and Tacoma 5100s (3 perches) in the front. I want to have as little rake as possible, and since I've got 2wd, I figured I could put the shocks on the lowest perch and add this daystar spacer on top to try and raise the front a little more without sacrificing comfort by raising to the middle perch.

http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/kt09105.jpg

Does anyone know if that would cause any problems? Like, will it put too much strain on my LBJs? Would it cause the lower control arm to droop too much? Would there be any interference with the steering knuckle?

Also, if I want to move my front sway bar end links to the rear and replace the front with 2nd gen, do I need 2nd gen front or 2nd gen rear links?

[PhdNPrerunners]

It looks so much better with the lift on! Where did you get the sliders put on at?

[jacob7071]

Ok, so I bought the Bilstein shocks and LC/TRD springs in September of 2012, then installed them in March of 2013, then updated the build thread in November 2013. Kinda slow going around here. Anyway, on to the details.

Front lift
Bilstein 5100s Tacoma shocks with Tundra TRD springs on middle clip. I asked in a previous post about putting the springs on the bottom clip and adding a spacer on top of the coilover. That wouldn't work. So I moved the perch to the middle setting. I also replaced the front sway bar end links with some Moog 2nd gen rear end links.

Rear lift
Bilstein 5125 shocks with eye to stud adapter from Toytec. FZJ80 7.5/8.0 wrap springs. Removed the cone from the top of the springs and made no modifications to the bump stops. I moved the sway bar end links from the front of the truck to the rear. Also replaced the trac bar with a Sonoran Steel adjustable bar - lenghened it for about 3.5 inches of rear lift.

While I was under there, I replaced the sway bar and steering rack bushings with poly bushings from Wheeler's Offroad. I didn't notice a drastic improvement in handling, but I only had about 105K miles, and my stock bushings were still in pretty good shape.

First picture is the day I installed the lift in my dad's driveway - 3/29/13


Next is the LC/TRD lift but it took a while to get back to my dad's house in the daylight. This one was taken 9/26/13.


And I photoshoped a picture of both side by side.


Lastly, I washed it last weekend and took a picture in the driveway right at sunset.


I get some contact every once in a while between the steering knuckle and the springs, so soon, I'll replace the TRD springs with the Eibach springs from Toytec and move the clip down to the bottom perch. I wonder if I'll ever be completely done. I find it amazing that this is by far my favorite vehicle I've ever owned but there's still so many things I want to do to change it.