Best way to blow $2500 building a '99 Limited?
 

Recently purchased a white '99 Limited with 200k from an acquaintance. Seems it has been relatively well maintained. Just had timing belt and water pump done.

But it needs new tires all around. I'd also like a low-pro cargo rack and snowboard rack and possibly a lift.

I'm willing to put up to $2500 into it and looking for some ideas from this awesome forum. So how would you put $2500 into this rig?

Few requirements:
1) Would like to avoid taking it to a shop. I'm relatively handy, but not a mechanic and don't weld. I do some of my own fluid changes and brake pads, but definitely don't do engine work or anything like that.

2) I have a daughter. Can't do anything that compromises safety.

3) Daily driver plus 5-6 trips a year to snow (Lake Tahoe) and some light off road for camping etc. Not a rock crawler.

4) Used is ok for racks and accessorries, but prefer new or like new for safety stuff like tires and suspension parts.

TIRES:
Thinking just a solid pair of All-Seasons. Though I'm also open to a pair of studless snow tires mounted on an inexpensive set of wheels (ideas?) to compliment all seasons on the stock rims. Currently has stock 16" rims in good condition. Maybe just go a little bigger on the tires if I do a lift?

LIFT
I've been through the great 3rd gen lift thread, and am considering the OME 2"/2.5" lift kit with shocks and coils assembled. This seems like a pretty doable DIY project. At about $1000, this leaves $1500 for tires and racks. Got a little overwhelmed trying to figure out the Tundra/LC options, plus I don't have a spring compressor. Open to other lift ideas though as well.

RACK
Need a ski/snowboard rack for trips to the mountains. Also would like a low profile cargo rack for camping gear or occasional plywood runs etc. I've found a few Yakima/Thule racks for $50 or so, but not sure if they'd be compatible with a baja-type rack or would have to switch them.

ACCESSORIES
Open to lights, anything useful for camping , inverters, air compressors etc. But the lift, racks, and tires are priority. Already has upgraded stereo (pioneer head unit, amp, 10" sub etc.)

I know there are great threads about all of these things. But honestly I could spend $2500 on just the lift or just tires/rims or just racks. But how best to spend $2500 between them is an open question that I'm sure a lot of folks on here have some ideas about. I want to hear them! So how would you spend $2500 on this '99 Limited? Thanks!
https://ibb.co/1XKqfT1

I am mild-wheeler on a budget. If it's a Limited there's no real reason to buy new rims, as the 16 x 7s will work for the biggest tire you can realistically squeeze into a 2" lift without other mods. If you don't like bare aluminum, paint them. You can get a basic 2-2.5" Bilstein/OME suspension lift kit shipped from a place like Wheeler's for more like $750 out the door (at least that's what it was a year+ ago - I hear there may be shortages now). If you are in the Bay, check out Discount Tires on El Camino in Milbrae. They know what they are doing - both times I went there (initial install of some 265/75/16 MTs and again for the free rotation/re-balance) the techs drove lifted Tacos and were down with the program. I already had spacers on and they didn't balk. They will price-match and when I showed them the ridiculously low Walmart.com price on my phone they matched it happily. I'm guessing if you shop carefully for tires, you'll still have 1000 to spend after a quality suspension lift and rubber.
Then you could go dumb on a high quality full length rack (or a half-rack might do for $500) or spread the money around on a grip of other useful mods and a cheap rack. Just some ideas.

Before you do anything replace your lower ball joints if they have not been done in the last 100k or if the age is unknown.

Lower ball joints, tie rods, CV boots, valve cover gaskets (if leaking), clean MAF sensor, fuel filter, spark plugs, clean throttle body, clean fuel injectors, radiator, all driveline fluids.

Maintenance over mods is a good rule of thumb. But that's not your question so... @Endlessblockades is on a similar track to what i would do. I have a 99 ltd 2wd that I've run decently hard (15mile each way in and out type trails in Tahoe) on my stock 5 stars. They do plenty good. In fact I was just oogling and awwgling at FN5 stars this morning but could never justify wheeling them for their cost ( no offense to those that do). Sorry back on track. $750 to $900 are realistic numbers for lifts that you're looking at. Wrap your stock rims in decent tires. Tires help tremediously for me as 2wd on trails. Depending on size of tire and brand etc you may only have a couple hundred left at this point but that'll get you close to having a rack setup for your purposes. Then your primary function of ground cleanse with reliable traction and a means for hauling boards/skis and gear are all met. Then as you get out more you'll figure out what types of trips you do the most and what mods would enhance those expieriences and that is your next step. Then welcome to the rabbit hole:cheers:

.......Cue the Voices Of Reason




Yes, they are correct and I did the same, but....

Thank you for this suggestion. After researching this (and the potential for catastrophic failure, I’m totally sold on doing this along with the lift. I don’t have any paper work showing they’ve been replaced recently.

I was thinking I should do steering, coolant flush along with oil and filter change. Probably should do driveline fluids as well, but man just that seems like a lot of work. Is there a good thread on the fuel stuff?

I’m in the North Bay, but Millbrae isn’t a terrible drive.

Angled tire carrier. Boom. $2500 out the door in one go.
My 5 tires and wheels were $1700 mounted, balanced and shipped, and they weren't even expensive. Like $80 per wheel and $150 per tire. Very modest. Lift was another grand or so though there certainly are ways to do it on a budget depending on your goals.
Or a winch. I just got a $450 Smittybilt this december. Then a $300 synth line for it, plus another $300 for a fairlead, shackles and a snatchblock. And a $250 AGM battery. Can't forget the $350 high output alternator. Or the $500 bumper needed for it, which cost another $400 to have welded and powder coated.

Money goes VERY quickly with 4x4. Buy whatever accessories you want if you have some excess funds. Otherwise I HIGHLY recommend keeping it aside for a rainy day and fixing whatever comes up. I mean, if you're dead set on replacing shit eventually, might as well have some fun with what you got, right? Very little good comes out of screwing with what isn't screwing with you. Just my 2 cents

The same tire chain also goes by America's Tire and there's one in Rohnert Park. I'm sure you can scare up a good deal at any number of places. I was just sharing what I encountered while looking for tire deals. A lot of good advice here so far.

I actually did brakes, UBJ+LBJs with the lift, then 1.25" wheel spacers, tires, valve cover gaskets, plugs, wires, radiator, hoses, *thermostat with jiggle valve at 6 O'clock* sway bar bushings and end links, diff breather mod, and a diff drop before fun stuff like sliders and skids, Spiker hood struts, and a cat-back exhaust. A real-time OBDII gauge is cheap insurance against overheating your engine and trans as well as reading and clearing codes and gathering a variety of other useful data, like ACTUAL fuel levels and mpg. You could easily put $10k into one of these without even noticing (pro suspension, wheels, tires, bumpers, sliders, winch, rack, storage, tent, lighting, full skids, supercharger, etc.......).

As far as not having spring compressors for installing a lift, some places will sell you pre-assembled shock assemblies for a little bit extra. Otherwise, if there is ever a fancy tool like a spring compressor you need to work on your car, and you can't borrow it from a friend, most auto parts stores will have loaner tool programs. Basically you pay them for the tool, and they give you a full refund when you return it. It's useful for things you only expect to need once and don't want to buy for a single use.

I suggest doing all of the above, especially if you do not have a recent maintenance record of those services. Baseline all fluids, including diffs and transmission, so that you have a starting place. One often overlooked fluid is also brake fluid. Brake fluid should be changed roughly every 5 years. Brake fluid inherently takes on moisture over time and can lead to the system rotting from the inside out. Personally, I take brakes very seriously. Probably the system that I'd least like to fail.

Assuming it's been a bay area vehicle so you're probably ok, but check for rust in the rear control arm area. Also, read about the pink milkshake and how to prevent it. I'd suggest a new radiator and external cooler. My original radiator (at 15 y/o) popped a tranny cooler line fitting and shot all the tranny fluid out. Luckily, I caught it and did not drive it like that and it didn't milkshake. Overheating a motor can destroy it. Preventative maintenance is worth it IMO. Would you like to be driving up to Tahoe and see the temps start spiking? I think the $200-300 for the radiator (maybe 7-10 years?) is worth making that not happen.

Honestly, I think the smartest way to spend that coin is to baseline all of the maintenance items, including LBJ's, all fluids, radiator, valve cover gaskets, axle seals, brakes, etc. Document the date/mileage you did these services so that you know when they're due again. Buy yourself some new tires and a snowboard rack and enjoy it. Save yourself some coin for when something goes wrong. These things are super durable but yours is old enough to drink. You don't want to buy a new lift, have a sweet truck, and something unexpected goes wrong, putting it down. Worst case scenario, you don't have the cash to fix it and have to sell it, looking nice but undriveable, and lose money. Also, if it's your daily and something breaks, you may need to put it in a shop ($$$) to get something done in a timely manner. Save for a rainy day. If you have other emergency funds that you're willing to use in that manner, sure go for a lift. I just installed OME 881/890's on mine and am pretty pumped on it. I did use a diff drop and panhard correction as a precaution. Scope creep will happen if you add a lift. It will cost more than you think it will.

An example... Mine recently had a block heater corrode out and it dumped all the coolant on the ground RAPIDLY. I didn't even know I had a block heater. I got super lucky again and had only driven about 5 mins from home to my storage spot, pulled up, and noticed fluid dumping from under the thing. So lucky it didn't happen the night before that I drove a 4 hour round trip. I had it towed to a shop because I could tell it wasn't leaking from the radiator or hoses but was leaking from the engine block. A few hundred dollars in diagnosis/and labor to replace it with a freeze plug, flush coolant, and good as new. That whole event could have been much worse and led to an overheated/blown engine. Stuff happens on old trucks... Only time in 5 years it left me stranded but it happened.

I rescued my 4runner from a dealership about two years ago so I can speak from my experience only.

If it is running good (smooth idle, etc) I'd just do a good oil change on it, and an intake filter. I went with Napa Gold on the filter.

First thing you should do I check the age of the radiator. If it's the original, replace it with a new quality one. I went with the expensive Toyota OEM one from the dealer.

Also LBJ should be inspected by someone with enough experience to determine their condition.

After all that checks out, I would set aside a couple of hundred for future unexpected stuff.

After that see where your budget sits. Maybe you get out cheap and still have $2000.

Tires and a decent lift will blow that very quick.

The rack will probably have to wait, but at least you got the maintenance stuff done, and the lift/tires will get a 3rd gen pretty much anywhere you wanna go.

You can also just select the shocks/struts you desire and run some used coils from a FJ or 5th gen for a while to give you enough room to clear 32's, and freshen up the suspension.

32's fit at stock height with a decent alignment. Well, 256-75-16 or 265-70-17, which is 31.6" does. Even at stock height, the 4Runner is very capable for any light offroading.

What about just new (stock height) shocks, rear airbags (to hold a bit of load) and maintenance work - which would leave plenty of room in the budget for racks/carriers?

-Charlie