Well this is bittersweet, but I've officially joined the dark side. For the past decade I've been in the 3rd gen world, and after completing this latest one the head gasket started to fail. I decided to hang up the towel for now and sold it, and I just picked up the new beauty yesterday. 2019 Off Road Premium, no KDSS. I have ideas for a new 3rd gen build, but in the meantime want to build this up into a nice mild blend of capability, comfort and long trip worthiness.

I've anticipated this for a while, so thankfully I got the ball rolling on the long lead time items. My goal is to have the first phase of the build wrapped up within 8 weeks. I'll be making a road trip towards the end of September visiting a few companies around the Western US and building as I go, so we'll be rolling back into San Diego with a new look.

Immediate upgrades:
- Magnuson supercharger
- Toytec Suspension
- General Grabber X3 285s
- Still deciding on wheels
- Gobi stealth rack/ladder
- CBI front + rear bumpers, winch, sliders, skid set
- Optima/National Luna dual battery system


Transferring from previous build
- ARB drawer system
- ARB fridge
- ARB 2000 awning + room
- Autohome Columbus rtt

Trying to decide where I should mount the dual battery controller in cab. On the 3rd gen i had it below the steering wheel and it was perfect. Hope to find a similar factory-looking place to install.

Here are a few shots of the 2000 I just finished




And here's the new new


Can't wait to learn more about this platform and get to work!

That 2000 is SICK!!!!!

Are those 37s on the 2000 in the picture? That thing looks amazing. Are you planning on going bigger than 285s on the new one in the future or is that about your limit on a mild build?

aw man - bittersweet as i loved seeing shots of your 3rd gen float around the internet. yours was by far my favorite rendition of that generation.

on the other hand, congrats! just picked up the exact same truck last week, non-premium though. same color/wheels and everything. really looking forward to seeing what you do with it, given how nicely you built the other one!

Followed your third for a while love that truck. I'm sure your 5th will be something to behold as well.

More interested in your 3rd gen lol

I went back to 35s fairly quickly and that's what's pictured. This is what it looked like with 37s



Thanks man I'm really excited. Each time I hop in this new one it stings a bit less moving on from the 3rd gen. With all of the upgrades happening so quickly I think I'll be just fine.


Story of my life. Have to start all over and some of the followers of the 3rd gen aren't happy about it at all. I'll do another 3rd gen eventually.

No photos to update but making progress on securing parts. Magnuson Supercharger arrived last week.

The truck will sit stock for the next few weeks, but that changes September 23. I'm going to be visiting Toytec, Gobi and CBI Off Road Fab over two weeks and build as I go. I'll be filming the whole process and turning it into a little miniseries on YouTube. Feel free to check out the series I did on our recent overhaul of the 2000 4Runner. Video | Outworld.

When I wrap up at CBI in Idaho, I'm going to head into Yellowstone/Jackson for a couple days of media. Can't wait to get started!

Lots of progress these past few days. Rear bumper and sliders will happen tomorrow and Wednesday and I'll be done with the big stuff.

Tuesday - Stock



Wednesday - Gobi Stealth rack + ladder



Thursday - Toytec 2.5 Aluma series kit with remote reservoir, Total Chaos UCAs, General Grabber X3, Method MR701s



Friday - Magnuson Supercharger



Today - CBI front bumper, skid plates, Warn EVO 10-S

There goes the warranty.

Loving this build!

Nearly finished with the first phase. CBI front, rear bumpers and skids are on. Tomorrow we'll finish up with sliders and LCA skids and I'm taking off for the Utah back country for a few days!

Cool truck, but at a certain point you should have just gotten a Land Cruiser.

Why? This 4Runner is built for less than a stock LC would be and has the owner's unique touches - which would've been done on a LC too I'm sure.

Sure if you get a FJ80/100 maybe, but the 200's have become pretty large for practical offroading IMO.

MillerPKA - the truck looks great, loving the bronze wheels! They're high on my want list!!!

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but the LC200 has 2.4" longer wheelbase, 1.6" wider track, and weighs about 1,000lbs more than a stock 4R. TBH, it drives about the same as the 4Runner as far as maneuvering goes. The 4Runner is already a bit underpowered, although I still love mine. Adding on winches, big tires, steel bumpers, racks, on and on, really adds up. That thing is probably a pig... and at that point the LC starts to make sense.

I would never advocate buying a new LC, but a 3-4 year old one with 40-55k miles ends up being the same cost as a new 4runner. The LC are absolute tanks, and the character is hard to summarize when comparing them on paper. The LC is quiet like a library on the road, and is like a mountain goat off-road. I sold my 2014 200 to buy my 4Runner. The 200 is far and away a better truck, and has power for days. Reason I sold it is because I literally never drove it, as I have a work car. I wanted something light-weight and more simple to kick around in on the weekends. If money was no object, as it clearly seems to be for the OP doing the build, the LC200 absolutely destroys the 4runner. My prerogative is to have a basically stock truck that gets me off-the-road if I need to. I have no illusions of summiting El Capitan in my 4Runner.

It's just my OPINION, but the 4runner is too lightweight baby to load 1,000's of pounds of crap onto. The land cruiser is so damn capable that it needs maybe half of the mods the 4runners do. The headlights alone are like man suns if you load some 9011 bulbs in the high beams, which run tandem with the HID's.