Long time lurker, some-time poster, and thought I'd throw in my small contribution to this great forum...
With the help of this forum, I've been able to do some mods to my truck--most of them have worked out well, some have been more trouble than it's worth, but none have been a fail...
So without further ado, let me throw up some pics:
Bought her brand new in 2007--v8 limited fully loaded w/ nav, rear DVD, sunroof.
Kept her mostly stock, except for some Weathertech mats, Volant CAI, Westin stainless bull bar, a dual side-exit Borla exhaust and a kick-ass Viper 5902 remote start/alarm, until winter of 2010, driving back from Tahoe to Seattle, some dude's wheel flew off his trailer and took out my driver's side step, rear quarter panel, and punched a fist-sized hole in my rear tire
After finding out a factory side-step ran $700, I decided to take the insurance payment (luckily I had uninsured motorist coverage) of ~$2200 (side step, new rim/tire, rear quarterpanel) and use this opportunity to 'rebuild' my 4runner into something burly...
I purchased the quarter panel and clips, and fixed up the body work damage myself...
I then removed the factory side steps, and ordered up some Stubbs HD-SKO sliders, which I primed and then painted with Herculiner. The sliders were well made, and Stubbs was great to buy from--good communication, and a real nice guy to chat with. My only 'issue' was that I wish it would have protruded out more to make it more functional as a 'step', but I can see how that would take away from it's intended use as a slider. Oh, and also, finding a shop to weld it on for a reasonable price was a pain, not to mention they f'd up on the initial welding and had to re-do the driver's side (long story). Overall, however, I'm glad I have them on, they look great, and I don't doubt their ability to do their job.
The mods then started to come in bunches:
1) Walker Evans 2.5" front coilovers and rear shocks w/springs, All Pro front swaybar endlinks. This raised the rear by 2", and I ended up adjusting the front up by ~3". I don't have any experiences with other 4runner shocks, but went with Walker Evans 'on a whim' after chatting with Sara, the sales gal at AllPro. The Fox setup would have been a little bit more, but not by much. I didn't want a remote resi setup because I wouldn't need the extra cooling ability of the reservoir, and also because I didn't want to hassle with having to mount the reservoir. The W-E shocks ride really firm, almost like my wife's Audi A4 with a Stasis coilover setup (in other words, european sedan firm), and of course the handling has improved. It does seem a bit harsh over bumps, surprising for a 'off road shock', but I've yet to do any off roading with them to give a good review. Currently I've got about 500 miles on them, so they are not completely broken in yet, so I anticipate it'll soften up some.
2) All Pro UCA. See a pattern here? I just bought the whole setup at once from All Pro, netting me a small discount for doing so. The UCA's were well made, has built-in zerk fittings, but were a pain to install-mainly due to getting the existing ball joint separated. I ended up using a ball-joint separating tool, which ultimately tore thru the rubber boot of the joint. Also, these UCA's do quite a bit of squeaking, despite prolific lubing of the zerk fittings--I was told it was because of the polyurethane bushings. Not a deal breaker, though.
3) Stainless steel brake lines from AP. Necessary for use in the rear, and optional for the fronts, but I figured I might as well throw those on. Firmed up the brake pedal feel a bit, and a easy, inexpensive mod.
4) Timbren bump stops, front/rear. Got this idea from BlairB's build thread. To be honest, since I don't usually carry a lot of weight in the truck, nor have heavy aftermarket equip. like winch/bumpers etc..., this mod didn't yield any tangible benefits. Plus, these are expensive for what you get--essentially rubber bumpstops. If I had to do it over again, this is one mod I probably would put at the bottom of my list...
5) 17" Liquid Metal Gatlin rims in matte black, BFG T/A KO 275/70/17, AP 1.5" wheel spacers. Bought the rim/tire from Discount Tire. In my opinion, this dramatically changed the look of the car the most (esp. the rims). I chose matte black so it could run dirty and be less noticeable, and I especially liked the chunky spoke pattern. I also stepped down to 17's to widen my tire choices. I chose the BFG's at the recommendation of the sales guy, and got a fair price (better price than TireRack). They look great, and so far, I've been happy with this selection. I didn't want to go M/T tires because I want to be able to use this in snow conditions, and didn't want to compromise on mileage or road noise like I would have with M/T tires.
6) PU sway bar and rear endlink bushings. Cheap, easy to install. Didn't improve my ride very much, mainly because my W-E setup was already in place, and very firm to begin with. Suspect it would have made more difference in a stock suspension. Still, so easy to install, and cheap so it didn't hurt.
7) Xenon Depot HID light kit 5000k. Great mod. Let me repeat that: GREAT MOD. Much brighter than stock halogen setup, easy to install. Definitely worth it.
8) Plastidip emblems, TRD stickers, rear panel. Love 'em or hate 'em, I'm pretty sure they add about 10rwhp to the truck. $15 off Ebay.
9) mesh behind front grill. Not quite the 'Satoshi mod' or whatever, but then again much easier. Bought some gutter guard mesh from Lowe's, plasti-dipped and clear-coated them, then cut to size and zip tied it in behind the front grill. Hopefully will keep bugs and small rocks from flying in to the radiator...
Next up will be some Rigid Dually LED fog lights to go in behind the lower grill, and a Defiant light bar w/ a pair of Omix-ADA 5" HID lights.
More pics of the truck:
for the pics!
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