Hi-desert Cheapskate build thread
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Welcome to my thread. My name is Matt. I’m originally from Salt Lake City, UT. I have lived in Southern Nevada since 2005. I’m an Environmental Compliance Technician for a hazardous waste landfill. I’m also an Emergency Medical Responder in Nevada. I love the outdoors and spend as much time as possible.
My 2007 SR5 4WD V6 was purchased new from Findlay Toyota in Henderson, NV in Feb. 2007. It is titanium metallic with stone gray interior. Sunroof, Homelink, compass and cargo net…pretty basic. The 4Runner stayed mostly stock until 2015 when I finally lifted it. This forum was a huge influence in my rigs progression. I appreciate all the members who have taken the time to post maintenance and mods for all our benefit. The dealership did all the routine maintenance for the first two years and replaced one inner cv boot. Except for a couple alignments I’ve done all my own maintenance and modifications. If it’s not broken, fix it till it is. Her name is Koya which means Wasteland or Wilderness in Japanese. |
Quick list of mods/upgrades:
Suspension Bilstein 6112 w/650# springs Dobinsons 1/4” spacers JBA upper control arms Whiteline LCA bushings Durobumps front Supreme Suspension sway bar relocation brackets Toytec 3” HD rear coils Bilstein 5160 rears Toytec 2” rear bump stop spacers Toytec diff drop eimkeith PCK Energy Suspension pan hard bushings Energy Suspension poly sway bar bushings-rear YotaMafia extended ss front brake lines Toytec extended ss rear brake lines Dobinsons adjustable lower rear links Toytec 3” lift springs front-Removed Bilstein 5100 fronts @ .85”-Removed Icon 2” rear springs-Removed Toytec adjustable pan hard-Removed Wheels KMC XD 17” 0 offset Ironman All Country M/T 285/70r17 Kenda Klever 285/70r17 spare TPMS off mod American Racing Baja 17”-Removed Armor True North Fabrication kit bumper Hot Metal Fab rock slider kit DIY engine & mid skid DIY lower link skid RCI Metalworks gas tank skid Lighting Auxbeam FT-1 LED low/hi GS Power Tacoma ditch light brackets Nilight light pods w/yellow Lamin-X 40” light bar-roof Sealight RGB rock light kit Auxbeam 6-way chase lights DIY Body mount chop Body lift 1/2” UHMW Rear link skids Skid plates Splash guards Rear diff breather mod Cabin air intake screen mod (critter mod) Running board delete Mud-flaps chopped Hitch mount tire carrier and Hi-lift mount Rear bumper chop Console radio/accessory mount Performance HCF delete K&N intake filter-removed Cowl intake Resonator delete $8.00 side exit exhaust Storage Pelican storm case Yakima Mega-warrior roof rack Monkey Fist Interior Pioneer FH-S700BS head unit Crux SWRTY-61S SWC interface Metro DDXL-8202 gap fillers ScanGuage 2 LED dome and map lights ottratw switches DAC relocate to dash 8 ball shifter knob - removed/replaced Circion Designs cup holder insert Lev-O-gage HDPE cargo liner 3D printed TEQ shift knob DIY dash radio/phone mount Ram mount Slip-grip 2-way radio bracket Gear & Recovery Smittybilt XRC 9500 winch True North Fab recovery point/ frame tie ins Hi-lift 48” farm jack Viair 300p compressor ARB Speedy Seal 2 Raymond Innovations TireEQ MaxiTrac deflator Husky 10k 30’ tow strap RhinoUSA 8’ tree saver Husky D-ring shackles D handle shovel X-bull traction boards Tred board Cold Steel trail axe. Sven Saw collapsible bow saw Comms Midland MXT275 Midland FRS Baofeng UV-S9PLUS Nagoya UT-72 mag mount antenna Maintenance Full synthetic fluids Valvoline & Mobil1 Power steering flush w/Maxlife atf Maxlife trans flush Denso SK20HR11 spark plugs Brakes- Power Stop KC137-36 Z36 kit-front Wagner OeX pads-rear BrakeBest Select rotors-rear Lucas synthetic dot 3 Napa V-power serpentine belt & idlers 5th gen Cv boots Left CV replaced Front diff seals Knuckle oil seals ECGS solid bushing Throttle body and MAF douche Moog rear upper control arms Needs: Coolant flush Valve cover gasket In the works: 4.56 Yukon Gears Harrop E-locker Marlin Crawler HD LCA brace kit Rock Rash Performance spindle gussets Super Pro steering rack bushings T-case skid Wishlist: 3.0 D-4D 1KD-FTV turbo diesel FJ T-case Marlin RCLT 315/70r17 Swing out tire carrier |
Fog light mod
Living in Las Vegas at the time,
tint was the first necessity. I went with 35% ceramic tint all around with a brow on the windshield. Never really cared for the running boards so off they came. Installed a Yakima Mega warrior roof rack. Did the HCF delete and K&N filter. Removed K&N and run a stock Toyota filter. We have some really fine dust in the desert and the K&N just doesn’t cut it. |
Fog lights
Fog light independent on was the next mod following J.A.’s guide. Later on I added Lamin-x amber film. Hated the orange. Removed shortly thereafter and installed Sealight 3000k LEDs.
Edit. Fog lights removed after front bumper build. Fog light mod reversed. |
Lift
In 2015 I installed a 3” Toytec lift with front Bilsteins set at 0”, rear HD Superflex coils and their Boss shocks. Also installed Toytec’s adjustable panhard bar.
Currently I’m on my second set of Bilstein 5100’s up front set at .85”. The rears were replaced with Icon 2.0s in 2021. I have JBA upper control arms and installed Whiteline bushings in the LCAs. Dobinson’s adjustable lower trailing arms. Toytec rear bump stop spacers and extended stainless brake lines in rear. |
Got any current pictures of it?
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk |
Just curious how much off road driving you did before the Bilstiens stopped working?
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Current pics
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Today as of 12/18/21
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Quote:
One thing I wouldn’t do again is set them above .85”(second from bottom). It has a lot of pre-load and rides terrible in the front. My next set of shocks will most likely be Dobinsons IMS. You may be able to see oil all over and the plastic cap on the shock body pushed up. You can also see how bad my stock upper control arms contacted the spring. |
Body mount chop
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So in 2018 I bought new wheels and tires. I went with American Racing Bajas in black 17”x9” with -12 offset and Kenda Klever a/t 285/70r17. I bought five of each to have a matching spare.
First few times wheeling I found that I had tire contact with the left body mount. I used an angle grinder and reciprocating saw to cut it back then I made a filler plate with flat stock and booger welded it. One of these days I’ll cap the end. Edit: finally capped the end |
Body lift
BMC worked great. No more contact there. I was however getting tire rub other places. I decided to research body lifts. Being cheap I decided on diy. I followed someone else’s write up. Basically I used 1/2” UHMW to make pucks. I used 2-1/2” and 3-5/8 hole saws to cut them then reamed the centers in increments with drill bits till they fit. 31/64th
I believe. I used 1/2x7-1/2” bolts for the two rearmost mounts, all other stock bolts were reused. While I was at it I removed the front mud flaps and chopped the rears. Also I folded back the left pinch weld. |
Roof rack
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Yakima Mega Warrior roof rack was added early on, not the greatest but has served me well. I’ve made a number of different brackets over the years to attach tools and lights. I like the Quick Fist brand Monkey Fists to hold tools. I also like to use firearm cable locks to secure the tools. I made some basic brackets out of some random L shaped brackets I had laying around and some 1/4” stainless u-bolts to attach them. Currently I have a t-handle shovel, a traction board and a 40” light bar mounted up there. There are two rear facing KC lights that are currently disconnected.
For a short period of time I had my spare up there. That sucked. Getting a 60+Lb wheel off and on the roof was a pain. My wife would have been SOL had she gotten a flat if she was driving it. I made a tire carrier but that’s a bit later. |
Cabin air intake
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On multiple occasions I had rodents get into my cabin air filter. I used basic hardware cloth and some 5mm bolts and nuts to secure it to the intake under the cowl. Seeing how others have done this makes me want to redo it cause it looks lame.
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Side exit exhaust
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I bought a 2-1/2” 90° exhaust elbow from Auto Zone for about $8.00. I cut the resonator off about 1/4” in front of the inlet. I cut the hangar off the resonator and cut the left leg off the “A” shaped bracket. I trimmed it to fit around the elbow and booger welded it.
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Sway bar relocate
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Supreme Suspension sway bar relocate brackets were cheap off of Amazon. Just the ticket.
Amazon.com: Supreme Suspensions - Sway Bar Brackets for 2005-2022 Tacoma 2003-2009 4Runner and 2007-2009 FJ Cruiser 2WD 4WD T6 Aircraft Billet Aluminum Sway Bar Drop Brackets (Silver) : Automotive |
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