Matt's 07 - Build to the perfect Daily Driven wheeler

Finally got my wheels and tires mounted!

For tires, I opted for 265/70/17 General Grabber AT2's with my FJC trail wheels. It looks good :)
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Another 4runner showed up.
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As it sits now
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Added an aluminum shift knob.. The factory leather one felt pretty disgusting to use, so wanted something new. Can't beat this $5 mod!
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Got around to do my diff breather mod.. I didn't really do it the way I had wanted, which was to mount the breather right next to the fuel filler, but oh well. I mounted it right under my driver side tail light.

Parts used:
Toyota 90404-51319
Dorman 924-284
5/16" vinyl tubing from lowe's. Bought 10', used 7'
Hoes clamps

Parts:
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Tubing under car:
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Breather under taillight
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Added an aluminum shift knob.. The factory leather one felt pretty disgusting to use, so wanted something new. Can't beat this $5 mod!

I've been thinking of replacing mine for the same reason. Does the shift knob just pull straight off, or is it threaded on?

Your truck is looking great by the way. Looks pretty similar to mine (except the color) in terms of the mods done.
 
I've been thinking of replacing mine for the same reason. Does the shift knob just pull straight off, or is it threaded on?

Your truck is looking great by the way. Looks pretty similar to mine (except the color) in terms of the mods done.
The shift knob is threaded on :) It's a M8 x 1.25 thread. Quite hard to find.. The one I got came with a plastic adapter, with no threads. But the adapter does taper, so when you screw it on by hand, then a wrench, you get it on there very tight.

Thanks!
 
The shift knob is threaded on :) It's a M8 x 1.25 thread. Quite hard to find.. The one I got came with a plastic adapter, with no threads. But the adapter does taper, so when you screw it on by hand, then a wrench, you get it on there very tight.

Thanks!

Nice. I have a Sport Edition (vinyl and plastic knob) and am planning on buying a new Limited knob since they're leather and I like that.
 
So I recently went to Hollister Hills to try out the new setup. I love it! To bad I didn't get many photos.. But here are a few..

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Found another T4R owner that was stuck and needed some assistance
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At the top of the Mountain, Beautiful view
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And then spotted this badass rig.
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Video of said badass rig:


Video of my T4R, ATRAC in action:
 
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So as you guys probably know, I got rear ended by a lady doing 50 on July 4th. Was the most painful thing i've experienced to date. I'm surprised my car has almost no damages.. Cop was even impressed. The other drivers car was a total loss since my hitch went into her motor. One body shop said that he worries my car can be a total loss since most of the impact was taken by the hitch... I hope it's not....

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Mudflap now scraping against the tire.
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So as you guys probably know, I got rear ended by a lady doing 50 on July 4th. Was the most painful thing i've experienced to date. I'm surprised my car has almost no damages.. Cop was even impressed. The other drivers car was a total loss since my hitch went into her motor. One body shop said that he worries my car can be a total loss since most of the impact was taken by the hitch... I hope it's not....

RLNanti.jpg

6fSQSfW.jpg

FdJWibR.jpg

Mudflap now scraping against the tire.
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Super bummer man. Depends on how well the frame did on taking the hit. But on the up side a unibody would have crunched and frame rails tend to take a pounding a little better.
 
Super bummer man. Depends on how well the frame did on taking the hit. But on the up side a unibody would have crunched and frame rails tend to take a pounding a little better.

Yea, it sucks...

Definitely. The guy said he's just worried about cracks in the frame or it being tweaked a little causing the estimate to be over 50% of the car. I have a bit of doubt that it's THAT bad, but at the same time.. the lady did hit me at 50mph.. so....

Yea, I'm SO glad I was driving this car. Right before I left the house, I was debating to take my parents sedan, and that would've been MUCH worse.
 
exterior still looks like the mom owns it

get some beefy tires (M/T, R/T) and some armor and lift dude! thing will be sweet
 
Repainted my front grille. I was thinking about doing the satoshi mod, but I didn't want to spend time doing it, and wasn't really a fan of how it looked after looking into a bit more. I just wanted to repaint my front grille for the time being since it just looks bad with the faded paint. All in all, it took about 4 days and only $5.. Doesn't look as good as factory, but it's hard to tell unless your looking at it from a few feet away. Did 8 layers of paint, then wet sanded with 2000 grit. From there, I did 2 coats of black paint, then followed through with 4 layers of clear coat.

Day 1:
Faded grille... :mad:
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Disassembled and sanded down with 400 grit.
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Masked off..
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Day 2:
After 5 layers of paint.
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Day 4:
After 8 layers of black paint, 2000 grit wet sand, 2 layers of black paint, and finally 4 layers of clear coat.
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Finally mounted. Should've wiped it down before taking a pic. But it looks damn good for a rattle can job. :bigok:
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Ordered a knuckle seal and brake line a few weeks ago.

finally got around to doing it today.

Knuckle seal you will need.
National 710573

The time it took from when I jacked the car up and put it back down was 30minutes.

No pics, but should be straight forward to get to there..
1. Remove wheel
2. hammer off axle hub cap
3. Use a 35mm socket to remove the CV nut, pliers to remove the cotter pin, and use a hammer to loosen the CV axle out of the knuckle
4. unbolt the two 19mm bolts that hold the knuckle to the arm to remove the cv axle
5. play/fight around with the knuckle to pop the cv axle to gain access

Turn the wheel to get some more room to play with. Also, use a jack to help support the knuckle a bit. It went a LONG ways for me.
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Pry out the old seal, but be careful not to damage the knuckle itself. I opted to use pliers to bend the old seal a bit, and the seal just pulled out with ease. Old vs new seal.
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The best trick I can give.. Use that axle hub cap to reinsert the seal back in place. I used lithium grease to lubricate the seal and help it get in as well.

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With the new seal in place, put everything back together and enjoy a refreshing drink. :bigok:
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So can we assume that since you're still doing things to the 4runner that it didnt get totaled buy the insurance company?

For a second I thought my 4runner was the other one in the picture at the tire place.

Looks good, keep it up.
 
So can we assume that since you're still doing things to the 4runner that it didnt get totaled buy the insurance company?

For a second I thought my 4runner was the other one in the picture at the tire place.

Looks good, keep it up.

You reminded me! I need to update that thread... Totally forgot having to deal with all this.

But yes, the insurance company did send me a very good amount check. I talked to a few body shops and they were surprised I got the amount I got, and they didn't total it.

Ah, it would be nice to see another t4r owner around here. :)

Thanks!
 
A few weeks back, I swapped my diff fluids + Transfer case to Amsoil 75w90. I'm really glad I did. The fluid that was coming out was pitch black, and a very thick layer of metal was on the magnets, which leads me to believe that the car had never swapped its fluid in it's lifetime. YIKES.

In any case, I noticed that engaging 4wd has become marginally faster and smoother. Before, when it would engage, it would clunk into 4wd as if someone tapped me from behind.

I used 6qts of fluid and let each diff/transfer case drain until it was dripping very slowly. I used a washer kit from amazon, which contains the washers for all 3 diffs/transfer case.

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Hello everyone!
After searching day and night, and everywhere around me in a 250mi radius, I finally picked up my 2007 4runner Limited 4WD!

I come from the Mazda and Subaru world, owning a 1993 Miata and 2013 WRX. After a few camping trips, and finding a few dirt trails on the way, I took my WRX on them. But that was short lived since there were obstacles that were going to kill my car or something of that nature. Both are amazing cars to drive, autox and mod. But ever since I was little, and the road trips my parents took me on to Utah/Arizona/Colorado, I've always wanted a 4x4 rig to get me through those dirt roads. Growing up, I got into the outdoors. Car camping, then camping, then backpacking. After owning the miata and wrx, I realized, maybe it's time to get myself a 4x4 and start overlanding. My requirements were quite simple. Just a reliable rig that wouldn't fail on me when I do venture out into the unknown, had decent amount of space, and had a large following to help me whenever I needed help(forums).

That gets me where I am now. I'm excited to start doing some maintenance to the 4runner, and begin to slowly modify it over time. While I don't plan on doing anything too crazy, I do plan on doing mods in the order of lift -> tires -> body armor. In between i'll add small amenities such as lighting, cargo organization, etc.

The 4runner was very clean for a 10 year old car, and it looked like a mom had just used this car to drive her kids around considering the seat position selector, position 1 was used and I was squeezed, and position 2 had no setting. Along with some glitter underneath the 2nd row seats. 4hi and 4lo engage without any problems, and the car was maintained at a car dealership, so I have the records off car fax. Took the car off the lot on February 2017 at 117,253miles.


How she sits right now: (As of May 21, 2017)
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As of June 3, 2017
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Love your build thread! Funny though, I think I actually called on this 4Runner only to find it had sold while I was looking for mine! Glad to see its getting put to good use, and I love those trail teams wheels. I passed on a set a month ago but seeing them on your limited makes me regret it!
 

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