Alright everyone, here is my (real) build thread. I won’t be posting a lot of write-ups, but I will be documenting my mods with a lot of (probably bad) pictures and quick tips. But I will always be around to answer any questions anyone might have, so please ask!

First of all thanks to everyone here for the ideas and inspiration! Hope I can help do the same for other people eventually!

I will be updating this as I go so check back often! I have lots of plans…

Table of Contents:

1. Miscellaneous
   • Re-Badging
   • Grillcraft Grill
   • ABR Dual Battery Tray
   • IBS Dual Battery Controller
   • Wiring Diagram
   • GoPro Mount
   
   
2. Interior (In Progress)
   • iPad In Dash 1
   • iPad In Dash 2
   • iPad In Dash 3
   • Equipment
   • Speakers
   
   
3. iPhone/Key Case
   • CAD Model
   • Completed
   • Review
   
   
4. Headlight Retrofit
   • Build Part 1
   • Build Part 2
   • Install
   • Night Shots
   
   
5. LED DRL’s
   • Install
   • Comparison
   • Completed
   
   
6. Lights
   • Rack Lights Plan
   • Rack Lights Completed
   • Rock Lights
   • Grill Lights
   • Night Shots
   
   
7. Sliders
   • Sliders Install
   
   
8. Skids (In Progress)
   • Delivered - not yet installed
   
   
9. Storage
   • Bags
   • Contents
   
   
10. Switches
    • Front Dash
    • Front Dash Bracket
    • Console 1
    • Console 2
    • Console 3
    • Rear Switches 1
    • Rear Switches 2
    
    
11. Photo Shoots
    • Photo Shoot 1
    • Photo Shoot 2
    • Photo Shoot 3
    
    
12. Gobi Rack
    • Rack Plan
    • Rack Install
    
    
13. Winch
    • Winch Install
    • Winch Solenoid Install
    • Completed
    
    
14. TE Conversion
    • Preperation
    • Paint
    • In - Progress
    • Write - Up
    • Completed
    • Before/After
    
    
15. Suspension
    • Parts
    • Preperation
    • Install
    • Completed
    
    
16. On Board Air
    • ARB Twin Air Compressor
    • ARB 1Ga. Air Tank
    
    
17. Wheeling
    • VA
    • PA
    • MD

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Lets start from the beginning. My only previous car was my Dad’s old 1995 Toyota T100 SR5 pickup truck (the little known pre-cursor to the Tundra, which he then upgraded to). He gave me this truck completely stock when I got my drivers license and boy did I have fun with that thing.
This truck was a great first car because it was so easy to work with. It had all the space in the engine compartment you could ever want, and after I had owned it for a few years I could literally take the entire interior apart in roughly 10 minutes.
This truck was what I like to call my car-audio phase. The T100 was made for such a short amount of time that no great aftermarket parts were ever manufactured. (and what few were made were all out of production by the time I had the truck). Outside of custom, I couldn’t do much with the suspension, bumpers, etc. So, I went crazy on the interior.

Here is a picture of the 2nd sound system (first one was very basic) I put in a custom box I made:


Third custom box under construction (this box actually had two configurations, the right and left subs were high quality and in sealed enclosures, while the center sub was more for loudness and was in a ported enclosure. I had a custom switch panel made that allowed me to switch between high quality, loudness, or both):


And in the car:


Having a little fun in the fields of my farm after a storm (pictured with MT sidebiter wheels, BFG AT’s, and gaul wing toolbox)


I could go on for pages about the mods on that truck, but that isn’t why we are here is it. It was a great first car but I had always told my friends that when it came time to get a new car, I would definitely switch to a 4Runner. Unfortunately that time came in January of 2012. A bad oil leak, cold weather, and 200,000 miles on the engine caused the engine to basically self-destruct from the inside. Faced with the choice of re-building the engine, buying a new one, or looking for a new car, I set out to find the 4Runner I wanted!

I had always been huge fan of the 5th gens since they were released. But I never dreamed I would get one. I test drove a couple of 4th gens, some Xterras, a Tacoma, and some fun small cars looking looking the right fit. I was set on a 09 Tacoma until the salesperson put me in the 2010 Blizzard Pearl Limited with tan interior and nav. I loved the interior and overall look of it. First test drive was fantastic and I knew this was what I wanted. It was a lot more money that I wanted to spend, but after some deals with parents, grandparents, friends that owed me money, the change in the living room couch, and an extra 20$ bill that I found in my wallet (kidding) I was lucky enough to take this great truck home:




I had promised certain people that I wouldn’t tear this one apart like my last truck…




…And then I found this forum.

Let the mods begin!

The first thing I did was order an LED conversion kit from the forum. In my opinion that is a must buy for any BP owner. The white light looks awesome against the paint job. Following the instructions on the forum, I had them all installed in just an hour or two.

Next was the Z4 Antenna. I never use the radio (constant iPod and Bluetooth streaming) so I didn’t care about the reception issues. I just think it looks cool!
Because I am still in college, I can’t really do much during the semester. So what I did do was constantly search forums, eBay, and craigslist looking for parts for the 4runner. By the time summer rolled around, I had quite the collection:

Fuse box’s, ARB air locker, some ICON suspension parts, 7 Rigid LED’s , and a custom Gobi rack is on order.

All of that is going on soon, but let’s get to the stuff that I am putting on now!

Inspired by Ducmonsta, I swapped out my rear badge for a Hilux Surf logo. I am not completely happy with how it looks and think I will swap the colors at some point (garnish black, logo chrome). It is tricky to nail down a solid color scheme for the BP trucks in my opinion.
Here is the logo getting painted (got this on ebay for ~50)


Gotta love that duck tape right?

4Runner letters off, I just used fishing line to cut through the adhesive and then pulled them off!


Here it is completely de-badged. It is mentioned in another thread, but there are 3 or 4 small dimples in the chrome garnish that are used to align the 4Runner letters. With everything off, these are clearly visible.


Also, the Hilux Surf logo is much smaller than the 4Runner logo, I thought it would still cover the dimples, but it is actually impossible. I checked Ducmonsta’s thread, and a careful eye can catch one left exposed to the far right. Unfortunately there is no getting around this. You can’t really see it unless you are looking for it though.


Finally here it is with the logo on:

Next thing I changed was the grill. I have always loved the FJ40’s so I went with that badge as opposed to the larger one. The inside of these logos when you get them is like a yellow color so I got some model paint and painted it white to match the truck, it isn’t perfect, but gets the job done. As far as the grill goes, I just ordered a grill craft upper grill as opposed to making my own.

I used the instructions found at grillcraft online website combined with the how-to thread here found in the write up sticky. Using the two this took me about two hours.

Here is before:



Grill taken off:


And finished!


Closer:


The logo I had came with threaded posts on the back so instead of using 3M tape I bolted it on through the grill. Here is a shot of the back with the bolt:


Because I didn’t use 3M, you can see here that the badge sticks off the grill a bit. I actually like this look, it gives it more dimension from the front and sides.



Here is me removing and trimming the stock grill in just 3 minutes! You will see me going back to the table on the right a lot, that is because I am checking the how-to thread and instruction on my iPad as I go. You can see the longest part is actually getting the clips to release to take the front grill off. (Also great tip for doing dirty car work: wear a t-shirt an x-girlfriend gave you, It feels great to wipe grease and dirt all over them!)




I love how this turned out, much more aggressive look!

Next major project was the dual battery setup.

I got in on the GB for the trays from IBS (thanks Phillyd2!) and am glad I did. These trays are awesome!

First I replaced the starter battery with a red top, I had to bend the battery connections a bit, but nothing major:


Next I modified the tray a bit to make a larger battery fit. This involved

1. Drilling the tray
2. Cutting the battery height adapter
3. Trimming the battery clamp

Here are the pictures of drilling new holes into the tray:


Here I trimmed the height adapter with a dremel (doesn’t need to be pretty).


And here you can see I trimmed the top clamp just a tad to fit snuggly on the battery:




Next I plastidipped the tray:


And mounted it in the truck!





All finished!

Obviously following the battery tray is the install of the IBS dual battery controller. I got mine from Sierra expeditions and was very happy with their service.

I was a little confused about how this battery controller works and it is actually very simple.

When in automatic mode (which you will use 99% of the time) The batteries are disconnected when the car is off (so a drain on one battery will not effect both), and connected when the car is on (so the alternator can charge both batteries).

You do have the option to manually link for doing some “heavy lifting” such as powering a winch or something like that, or to jump start your self.

I was glad to see that the controller unit was actually smaller than I thought. This made it easier for me to hide. I didn’t want this unit to be displayed 24/7 because I knew it would look kind of out of place attached to the dash somewhere. So I decided to hide it in the center console lid.

The console lid is actually super easy to take apart. I was pleasantly surprised. Just pry off the rear trim of the center console, remove the 6 screws holding the hinge bracket on, and bam, its off.

Next you can separate the top (leather covered portion) from the inner lining (with the tissue holder and all that). Just remove the 4 screws at the bottom, and then get a small trim removal tool that can fit in the gap, and start prying.

Here are the two sections removed and the tool that I used.


Next I removed the mounting plate from the rear of the IBS controller so I could get a flush mount in the console lid, this is held in with just two small screws on the back of the controller. NOTE: (I don’t think I would recommend this, I think the controller needs the height to allow the speakers to broadcast the warning (low voltage) beeps properly. With the whole unit flat against the plastic, everything sounds muffled. I do like the look better though.)

Here is a picture of the mounting plate removed:


Next I measured, and drilled a whole in the lid for the wires to pass through:


I cut the plug off the back of the controller to extend the wiring and allow the wire to fit through the whole:


Next I drilled another hole at the bottom of the lid for the wires to exit:


Here are the wires all connected and extended with heat shrink entering and exiting through the holes I drilled:


Next I drilled a hole in the console box itself where the wired will pass from the lid to the box (this is before I knew I would need more than just a hole):


Here is the lid re-attached, and the hole from the previous post has been extended to a long channel for the wire to fold into. This was the hardest part of this install. It is trick to get wires to pass from the console box to the lid without having any interference or catching. This is the best way to do it in my opinion. It took a little time to get it right, and a lot of trimming the hole with an exacto knife, but if fits perfectly now!


Here are the wires exiting the back:


And tucked away:



I then fished the wires through to the center console (by the shifter) and re-attached the quick connect plug.


And all finished! I love the way this turned out and am very happy with it. Everything else for this install is just boring under the hood wire connections, nothing to ground breaking.

Looks great and love the video. You work like I do.....including to the look of satisfaction when something comes apart as it should....quickly followed by pure panic wondering if you will ever get it back together again.

Pretty much nailed it! Haha

Nice thread, good stuff, subscribed!

Who's ready for some bad pics!

I had to replace the yellow top today, it had a bad core (old battery). Good news is that Pep Boys gave me like 75% off the new one. No complaints there.

While I was out I decided to grab a small project box from radio shack to clean up my instal of the IBS system. I grabbed this box, re-routed some of the engine compartment wiring, and got everything all crammed in. The box hides perfectly between the starter battery and engine compartment wall. All of these pics are with the starter battery removed.

Here is a god-awful pic of the two relays in the box with the wiring coming in:


Box all closed up (slight bulge is visible, not because the relays are to big, but because that 4 ga. wire doesn't like to bend):


Box secured to the engine compartment wall with industrial velcro.

This thing isn't going anywhere and really cleans up the look! You can't even tell it's aftermarket.
The red and black wires coming out the top are the power and ground for the relay system. These are all connected and hidden now.

Very nice. I like the space behind the Toyota logo, makes it look as though it is floating.

Dual battery setup, definitely on my list of to do's!

Gobi stealth packed full of Rigids should hopefully go on in the next week or two...also I just sealed the deal on getting my lights retrofitted! Very excited about that. Should have them in about 2 weeks! Will update here with install/pictures when everything comes!

Who is doing your lights? I really want to do that too, but I don't know who to use.

Thanks

I asked around ALOT. I talked to a lot of people who have done retrofits and also to people who have sent them away. In the end, I am getting them done by Black Flame Customs in NY. They were recommended by TRS and have beat everyone else's prices (Lightwerkz, AAC, Oracle, TRS) that I have looked at. They have had FANTASTIC customer service (I exchanged over 25 emails with the techs there yesterday banging out details and prices, you can't get that kind of responsiveness anywhere else) and seem really excited to take a crack at these lights. I told them to get creative and see what they can come up with for me. OEM lights are getting to them next week and I should have some progress/concept pictures here soon.


Just keep in mind that it is expensive. I got 2 or 3 quotes earlier in the year and every time I saw the final number I bailed. You can get a good deal, but a good quality retrofit will cost you. You have to know how much you are willing to spend going in.

As far as Black Flame Customs goes, I have yet to see their work in person, but if their work is anywhere close to how fantastic their customer service is, I would highly recommend them.

Thanks Man. I just sent them an email to get the ball rolling. Do you mind if I ask about your set up? What color, projectors, did you do any thing with LED at the bottom of the headlight....ect?