[3wbdriver]

This is going to be comparatively minor compared to some of the excellent builds I have read in here. But I gotta go with what I can afford and what I think I'll be doing with it. The vast majority of my miles will be done commuting to/from my work rigs from Louisiana to south Texas. I do sincerely hope to get some 4 wheeling in with it, but I have to keep the road ability as the primary purpose.

In the beginning there was a 2011 Tundra Crew Max TSS. I was perfectly happy with it except for the possible rare need for 4WD. I took it in for a standard service at a San Antonio dealer in January, and thought I would walk the lot while I waited. When I walked out the front door I was confronted by this rather aggressively equipped SR5 and it was a case of instant lust.



But the $7,000 price tag for the added lift/tires/wheels put me off more than just a little. So I went and walked the lot and found this 2014 Trail which was actually better equipped than the SR5 minus the lift. A few hours later I was headed back to the rig with a new ride. What is that they say about not shopping when you are hungry?

Mods to date (1/19/2016):
Bilstein 5100 kit - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.
Fronts set at 0 w/OME 885 springs for 2" of lift, Rear Dobinsons 2" C29-327 - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.
Black Rock D window 17x8 wheels
General Grabber AT2 265-70/17
SSO roof rack
Budbilt Skids - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.
RCI suspension skids
Shrockworks Step Sliders
Weathertech floor liners, vent visors, and bug shield
SSS Slimline Hybrid front bumper
ComeUp 9.5s winch w/synthetic line
CBI rear bumper - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.
Cobra 75 CB w/Firestick antenna
Bushwacker Pocket Flares
Magnaflow 15584 cat back exhaust
AFE CAI
Smittybuilt Beavertail receiver insert/step
Beyond Cargo sliding cargo tray - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.
Tepui Ayer RTT - 3wbdriver's 2014 TE build thread.

Then: 1/14/14


Now: 12/29/18. I will edit this pic as I add stuff, so you'll have a direct comparison.

[3wbdriver]

During my downtime on the rig I went surfing for aftermarket for my new toy. Everything I own gets a bug shield and vent visors, so off I went to Weathertech and ordered a set. I really like the look of the Nfab step bars on that SR5 so I ordered a set of those also. I like the looks with all of the roof baskets, but just wasn't ready to spend $500 - 1,000 on one yet. I found a Larin aluminum one on Amazon for ~$120 and ordered it as a sort of "proof of concept" to see if it was something I would use or not. I also ordered the missing crossbars for the Toyota roof rack at the same time. All of this stuff accumulated at my house over the next couple weeks waiting for my first home break from drilling. I had about 4 days to mount and play with stuff in mostly wet conditions so please forgive the pictures. I'll try to post better ones as I get time.

Bug shield and roof basket front.

[3wbdriver]

Next on the list was a lift/leveling kit. I briefly looked at spacers for the struts but just didn't care for that idea. I looked at the Icon, Bilstein, and another couple options I can't think of right now, and decided the Bilstein 5100 adjustable setup was in line with what I was looking for in the price range I was willing to spend at this time. The kit was about $460 at 4WheelParts, and they wanted an additional $460 to do the install/alignment. But they couldn't get to it in the time I had so I went to the dealer I bought it from and paid about $100 more to have the work done. Way less than the $7,000 for the SR5 I had looked at. I had them set the front height at 1.75" and it looks like it pretty much leveled the ride, which is what I was looking for. To the top of the front and rear fenders now measures right at 35" with a couple hundred pounds of personal gear and tools in the back. It does appear to have an ever so slight tail down attitude from the side, but not enough for me to worry about. I need to adjust the headlights down now, and have read a couple good threads in here regarding that subject.



A couple of shameless poser shots on the only dirt road I know of within a few miles of my house.

[DigableKid]

Can't wait to see what else is on the horizon. Keep us posted!

[3wbdriver]

The latest thing was tires and wheels. Wifey has decided that I can have this year's tax return for a set, so knowing what my allowance was I went looking at several options. I kept coming back to these Black Rock D Window wheels because I like the way the titanium colored rim offset the black centers. They are 17x8 with a 4.5" offset so I knew I could keep the weight centered over the hub but still get a little wider stance to fill out the fender flares. I went with the General Grabber AT2's in factory sized 265/70-17 because they had a very similar tread to BFG AT KO's for roughy half the price, and they have a 60,000 mile tread life expectancy. Again I am expecting to put way more highway miles on them than off road. As much as I want to play in the dirt it's a matter of time and location. I had some help from C2one in photoshopping my fender flares black. I am trying to decide if I want to plastidip them or maybe do a Line-X job on them. I think I would like them better black, but I have time to decide on that.

[3wbdriver]

And of course Marvin is just a little personal poke at myself. He's been my online avatar for several years now on most of the forums I frequent.



Still on the list will be an LED upgrade for the interior lights in the near future. I would like to look at a front and rear bumper, but I think I'm going to wait until I actually do some damage to either before I drop the dime on those. Then I can at least justify it to wifey a little better. And I would love a full Budbuilt or Shrockworks skid kit, but I need to get the silly thing dirty first!!! For now she's pretty much done, and I really appreciate the wealth of information available on this site.

[ToxPath]

Looks nice. Any noticeable difference in ride when you added the Bilstein set-up? I'm thinking about going that same route with my TE. And does your TE have the KDSS option?

[3wbdriver]

It lost a little bit of that Cadillac mush over small bumps in the first 2" of travel. I liked being able to just roll over a RR crossing and just kind of hearing that ba-bump-bump without any body movement. Stiffened it up slightly. Now you can feel the crossing. Not a launch like in a smaller car, just stiffer. I haven't decided if I miss that or not yet. It still corners nice and flat though. And this is NOT a KDSS equipped Trail.

[hrod79]

You get the rear spacers installed?

[3wbdriver]

Originally Posted by hrod79

You get the rear spacers installed?

Not yet. Weather wouldn't cooperate on the weekend I had available to do it. I did have to remove the cheap Larin roof basket. One of the plastic crossbar mounts was broken (probably overtightened the nuts). I'll probably leave it as is until I get the bug for a Gobi rack like yours or a Baja rack. With the difference I'm already seeing in MPG after removing the Larin I'm leaning hard toward something like Intruder's Baja flat utility rack. If I need a basket type rack I can figure out something to clamp the Larin directly down on that.

[YodaPride]

It's looking good. I only just got the Jamboree Dirt off mine. It will be a while before I start a build thread myself. Got to make some dents in the payments first

[3wbdriver]

I went to the Lone Star Toyota Jamboree last weekend. Really the first time I have seriously had the thing in 4WD since I bought it. It went everywhere I pointed it, and actually impressed the crap out of me a couple times going places I thought I might have to back away from. I can see a set of sliders in my future, but otherwise the minimal lift and tires seem to work just fine for my intended purposes. I do have yet to play in any mud though. Here are some videos of the trails.

[3wbdriver]

Originally Posted by YodaPride

It's looking good. I only just got the Jamboree Dirt off mine.

The dirt came off mine fine. It was getting it out of all the nooks and crannies inside that was the killer. That dusting on my rear bumper almost equated to what all the interior looked like. And there was beach sand from Galveston mixed in with that stuff!

[3wbdriver]

2 weeks after the Toyota Jamboree I met some Facebook friends at Canyons Off Road Park, north of Fredericksburg, Tx. Lots of fun. Canyons is 400 acres, mostly up and down or narrow trails through the bottoms. Rocks everywhere. Pretty technical, very low speed. Lifted setups would do better than mine and I was still able to do 90% of what the group ran Saturday. I even tried out the CRAWL function a couple times. That is a really nice function if you feel like you're in over your head. I have already figured out the Nfab steps have to go and I need to start looking at sliders if I'm going to keep doing these parks. I dinged the steps a couple times getting over obstacles and got a scuff on the rear bumper cap. I did opt out of a couple obstacles that just looked a little over my or the 4Runners capability, but I am new-ish to this too. I was the only 4Runner in the group. There were 2 FJ's, 2 80 series Land Cruisers (old warriors), and one Jeep Unlimited there also. I shot some video, but I have to chop it down to reasonable lengths so I can upload some.

[jhebert9]

I've been seeing your posts but haven't been able to get into the stupid website for almost a year. I live near Baton Rouge, Have a T-100 (lifted) & 2010 4Runner Trail (stock except for tires). I have a vacation home in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and go off-roading several times a year. Would like to meet you and talk "4Runner". Also, nashman69g@hotmail has a 2010 Limited and lives in Metarie, La. Maybe we could all get together and start our own Louisiana 4Runner group. My info is:

Joel Hebert
[email protected] or [email protected]
(225) 749-3863(h) or (225) 281-9473 (c)
3048 Emily Dr.
Port Allen, La. 70767