Swapped my interior bulbs for green LEDs.

I liked the green color I just wanted it to be brighter primarily.

I used the chart thoughtfully put together by a member here to select the bulb type for my year.

I used these from Autolumination.com:
You can select the base type from the drop down.


Overall a great bulb that is extremely bright and seems well made. However I ran into a few issues along the way. The bulb was too long for the key ring so I had to stick with the existing incandescent bulb. Not a big deal. They are so bright that I ended up with some hot spots that you can see in the pictures. I know most people experience this with LEDs. Lastly, it ended up washing out the reds and blues on the gauges (redline) and HVAC controls. Not a huge deal but it could look better. The green color itself is great.

This is on nearly the lowest setting and this picture is in a parking garage during the day. I used to have the brightness on full with the original bulbs.


This is LEDs on full


Here is a good comparison of the old green (clock) and the new LED green. This is full brightness. You can also see how washout the red and blue of the HVAC knob became.

I am a sucker for data and was wanting one of these for a while. The truck came with a set of Flexalite electric fans installed so my primary motivation was to monitor temperature. The fans seem to work great but without installing them myself I needed to have reassurance.

The second motivator was gas millage. The first road trip I did I averaged 18-19 mpg. Highway 99% of the way. Even after all that maintenance I felt this was lacking. I discovered by taking the roof basket off that not only is it WAY quieter inside, but now I can easily get 21 mpg highway. I have even seen it above that on occasion.

My requirements for mounting the gauge were that it had to be legible without taking my eyes off the road. This eliminated anywhere on the center stack. I also wanted a very solid mount. In other words, I didn't want it to move around as I pushed the buttons. This eliminated the velcro mounts supplied with it.

I ended up mounting it to the overhead console. I had to sacrifice the sunglass holder but I was okay with this.





1. First I removed the overhead console (one screw) and pulled out the roll pins holding the door to the console.
2. Determined the location at the rear of the console. It happens to be angled nicely downwards if you push the gauge all the way to the back. Roughly a 45 degree angle.
3. I drilled a hole in the back of the console large enough to pass the cable through and plug it into the gauge.
4. Drilled 4 small holes in the ScanGauge case (take it apart first!) and 4 matching holes in the rear of the console. These are for zip ties.
5. I apologize for the lack of pictures on this part as it was the most difficult during this project. I had to progressively feed the zip ties through the gauge as I tightened them from the inside of the console.
6. I ran the cable through the headliner and behind the A-pillar trim so it is completely hidden. I had to extend the cable by a foot or so using a female-female coupler and extra cable.

I am moving back to NY soon as I finish up my degree in SC. I will likely be in MI soon after as I am in the automotive industry. Ill be damned if I don't do all I can to keep this truck as spotless and rust free as it is now.

I spent way too much time researching the best method to go about protecting the undercarriage from rust and salt. My belief is this:

Best solution: POR15 (or similar) on the entire frame, topcoat, fluid film over top.
This will give the most comprehensive protection for the longest time. The downside is mainly the cost. It can also be a bit messy but I doubt any of us here worry about that!

Medium solution: Fluid film all over. This will not 'cure' any existing rust or even really stop it per say. What it will do when applied correctly is prevent salt and snow from sticking. If you are starting with a clean frame this can help prevent the rust from even starting in the first place. The downside is that you need to apply it every year and it makes it messy to work on. However it is cheap and effective. This should be combined with flushing out the frame rails every so often.

Not ideal: Wire-wheeling the rust and using a converter and top coat (such as rustoleum). This was the method I originally thought I would take but from my research everyone experienced the rust returning shortly after and even worse than when they started. Basically the rust converter products don't do a completely thorough job so it just comes back. Again, this is only based on my reading so there could very well be other methods and better products available.


Here is how my frame looks after the Fluid Film. Unfortunately I had to use a bunch of the spray cans since my tools are limited at the moment. If you can swing it, use a compressor and spray gun.

Went back to Horse Pasture Rd. for a nice fall view.

I check the local pull-a-part site every once in a while for SR5s that might have the front mud flaps that I am missing. Sure enough today I see an image of one that has them. Its pretty smashed up and the image is only of the driver side so I had no idea if the other side was there, or if someone else already beat me to it. I struck gold today with this. Both there in good shape. $6.50 out the door for both.

I ended up taking the trimmed pieces off a few weeks back so this is how I was riding:



Now:




I cleaned them up and gave them a few coats of the same trim paint I used on the flairs and they are good to go. Bolted right up.

The General Grabbers pick up and throw stones quite a bit. Maybe that is obvious but I was not expecting it. I am hoping this will help keep rocks from hitting the bottoms of the rockers and doors.

Looks like you're making good progress, you've got that thing lookin good! I'm also gonna have to try out Horse Pasture Rd next time I'm in the area! I love that part of the country especially in the fall!


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Thanks! I was hoping to get a full detail done on the exterior before winter but unfortunately it is going to have to wait until spring. I have really enjoyed working on it so far and runs and drives excellently.

I changed out the old style steering rack guide for the new design. You can tell if you have the old design as the guide cap has a male hex (such as for a standard socket or wrench) whereas the new design is a female hex socket.

I didn't have any steering issues but I was already ordering the parts for the valve cover gasket job above so I threw in the four parts needed for this job. For such a cheap and simple upgrade it made me feel better knowing I have the better part, even if it was not necessary at this time.

Here are the four parts that come out. The guide itself, spring, cap, and lock nut. The spring and lock nut can be reused.


This is what my old-style guide looked at with just over 102,000 miles. There is no play in the shaft itself and it seems to spin smoothly. There is estimated .5mm play total axially but I have a feeling this is as designed. Surface wear seemed as expected as well.


Here are the new parts installed


Overall I was able to play around with the tightness and get the steering weight to where I liked it which is nice. I have it set so that the wheel returns to center on its own except for roughly the last 10 degrees. So far I think that feels right. I definitely recommend this upgrade to anyone running the old design!

hey i will keep looking around on this forum but did you follow any guide to do this?

additionally, do you have any OEM part numbers for the other things you mentioned besides the gaskets themselves?? Thanks a ton!

Here is the write up that I used.

5vzfe leaky valve covers fixed (56k beware) - YotaTech Forums

Scroll down a bit and you will find the list of toyot part numbers.

Good luck!

I had two mounting brackets for lights on my front bumper bar that until this point were vacant - unacceptable. I shopped around on CL for a while before I found a used set of these: ARB 901XSD IPF 900XS Xtreme Sport Series Driving Beam Light Kit | Quadratec

They are 8" halogen lights. I used a premade wire harness from SuperbrightLEDs.com which made the install a breeze: https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...tor/1491/3406/
I decided to drill a new hole in the firewall, use a new grommet, and seal it up as opposed to pushing the wires through the existing wire loom entrance. I didnt want to risk having water leak into the cabin and it was rather easy to make my own. I can add pictures if requested on that.

End result first:





I ran into a few issues. First is that the mounts are clearly design for small LED pods, not these monsters. If I used the mounts as is the light would hit the top bar of the bumper and be pointed at the ground. I made some bracket extensions from aluminum plate that brought the lights out far enough so I could aim them properly. Lastly I painted them black.



Moving the weight of these heavy lights that far out on the mounts meant the lights wanted to vibrate. Annoying to have the light jiggle and/or bounce off the bumper. My solution so far is a magnet placed in between the light and the bumper (both steel). I placed the light so that the thickness of the magnet is putting a small amount of pressure on the back of the light. So far so good and the light is still aimed properly.



I am using Contura XIV switches to control my driving lights and fog lights. They fit well and look pretty good. Great customer service from OTRATTW by the way.

Nice clean rig. Glad your taking the steps to protect it. Would hate to see another runner lost to the rusty NE.

Thanks! The FluidFilm has been awesome. There was only one time I had salt stick to the differential cover. I hosed it off and reapplied the coating. I recommend this method to anyone in the rust belt.

Just an Update on the fluid film: Its now almost August and its been on there since November. Most importantly, there appears to be zero rust after the winter months. I was pretty diligent over the winter of hosing off the vehicle and checking the coating (reaply if needed). But the Fluid Film did its job perfectly and is actually still visible on the frame (albeit less). I have even taken the power washer at the DIY car wash directly to it and it still holds up well. Like I mentioned before, this seems like an excellent option for rust prevention.

Over the winter I was in need of new front brake rotors so naturally that means UPGRADE! I went with the 199mm because of my stock three spoke wheels. I also knew that if I were to ever get different wheels they would likely be LC80 wheels, which also don't really clear that well. Currently I don't have any extra weight so these will do the job just fine.

I went with the PowerStop kit ordered from RockAuto. It was a great price and they even took my original 4Runner calipers as a core. The components seem to be really nice quality and so far have done a great job. Its actually almost too easy to lock up the front tires. No ABS issues or anything like that to report.











The quality of the cooling vanes is a good indication of rotor quality. Look good here.


The only questionable thing here is the chamfered edges of the pads. That being said they perform very well.






Standard install process. Had to grind the dust shield ever so slightly to avoid rubbing.