Hey all,
I've been a long time lurker on here and this will be my first time starting a build thread. There won't be much different here from most of the other builds on here but I figured this would be a great place to document progress and keep track of maintenance as I go. Hopefully something in here will be helpful to someone else working on their 3rd gen as this sites community and wealth of knowledge has proved invaluable to me over the years.
Backstory time:
Now I'm sure you all are wondering... "if you don't even have a silver truck why is your name silver.t4r?" So here's why... I used to have a silver 98' 4Runner for about 5 years that I got as my first car back in highschool. It was a great truck and never let me down and I planned on doing a pretty extensive build with it one day. I learned a ton of things working on that truck, and definitely made my fair share of mistakes along the way though I began correctly them last year. Unforunately, over last Christmas break I hit some ice and rolled it 3 and a half times down an 80ft embankment doing some snow wheeling with my buddy.
Here's a couple pic's of the rolled truck:
Before:
DSC05880 by on Flickr
Wrecked4Runner-05549 by on Flickr
Wrecked4Runner-05559 by on Flickr
4Runner-05361 by on Flickr
After Roll:
PXL_20211227_211611120 by on Flickr
PXL_20220103_192309253 by on Flickr
PXL_20220103_192326638 by on Flickr
PXL_20220110_180926872 by on Flickr
Needless to say I am beyond grateful to still be alive and thank God for sparing my life and that I am still able to build another truck. It could have been so much worse, but I walked away with only a scar on my finger (wasn't sore or anything the next day!) despite having a camera and a bunch of gear in the truck that could have hurt me pretty badly during the rollover. The truck survived surprisingly well all things considered, and after rightfully named "Tender Loving Care towing" (I still have no idea how they were able to pull it up the embankment) towed it back to a local body shop it was declared a total loss as the roof and drivers side A pillar were damaged pretty badly. Went back a couple days later as I was out of town when they towed it out, to find that it started up instantly and drove home like nothing happened. Thankfully I was able to salvage my headlights and quite a few other parts off of it, though it felt wrong stripping it apart after owning it for five years and investing countless hours into it.
Fast forward a couple months, I new I wanted another 3rd gen after how well the last one held up and I think Toyota nailed it during the late 90's with the simplicity and creature comforts that the 3rd gen's to offer without being overly complicated to work on. After browsing craigslist, cars and bids and a few other sites, I found a 1 Owner Black 99' with 175k on the clock on eBay with everything I was looking for other than a locker out in Salinas California. I admittedly paid more than I would have liked, though I am very grateful that my insurance was willing to pay 4k more than I originally paid for the 98' I rolled which is unheard of and was a major help in the inflated car market. Me and my dad flew out that weekend to check it out and it was in even better condition than I had thought minus some minor paint damage and was night and day better than my previous 98' was when I bought it. Drove it home that night and into the next day (I live in Oregon) and have been working on building it up ever since.
Now onto what you've all been waiting for, a couple pictures of the new truck:
1999 4Runner-06881 by on Flickr
1999 4Runner-06871 by on Flickr
1999 4Runner-06870 by on Flickr
1999 4Runner-06866 by on Flickr
And Currently:
1999 4Runner--2 by on Flickr
1999 4Runner- by on Flickr
4Runner (108 of 114) by on Flickr
Mods to Date:
BXBuilt headlights w/ RGB Halos
16' FN 5 Stars in Matte Bronze
33" Falken Wildpeak AT3W
SPC Adjustable Upper Control Arms
Total Chaos Diff Drop
Bilstein 5100's
OME 883 Front
OME 891 Rear
Eimkeith Panhard Correction Kit
Sherpa Matterhorn Full Length Roof Rack
Infinity Reference 6.5" front and 5.5" Rear
Sony XAV AX7000 Headunit Android Auto/Carplay w/ 45W RMS Built in Amp
Skar Audio 8" Sub
Sound Deadened Doors
(I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, will update later)
Maintenance:
Currently at 185k
Fixed Limited Climate Control (can't recommend
@
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
's services enough to those with the auto climate control!)
Front Lower Control Arm Bushings (Whiteline)
Steering Rack Bushings (Energy Suspension)
Front Sway Bar Bushings (Energy)
New Denso Radiator
Toyota Red Long Life Antifreeze
Switched to Mobil 1 Full Synth with 5k Intervals
NAPA CV's
Pressure washed Carpet
I tend to get pretty focused on what I'm doing and am admittedly not the best at taking pictures as I do mods and maintenance, but will do my best to update this thread as I have time with any tricks I find along the way. Thanks again to everyone that's contributed to this site over the years, I wouldn't have been able to do any of this and most likely wouldn't have the interest I have in cars today without you guys.