'03 Limited V8 slow build

[llennium]

I'm working on updating all photos.

I did the "official" build page with my 2002 Limited and have to admit it's nice looking back sometimes. The 02 was handed down to my daughter and I purchased an 04 SR5 but never put together a build thread. It's now my son's turn and he will be taking over the 04 SR5.

I was fortunate enough to stumble on a 2003 Limited V8 in Galactic Grey Mica. It is in great condition with 136,000 miles. I'm going to use this page to document changes/additions/maintenance/trips and anything that might interest everyone.

Daystar 2.5"/1.5"
Spidertrax 1.25"
BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2
Hydrocarbon filter removal
Fog light-Independent control and on with Hi beam
Interior light LED swap

As she sits today.

4Runner sitting on the lot when giving it the initial once over.

Test drive.

Once home the Runner was gutted with seats and center console pulled to clean the carpet. The center console was disassembled and cleaned of the previous owners dirt. Interior plastics wiped down and seats cleaned with leather cleaner/conditioner.

During the cleaning process I realized the rearview mirror was loose and would drive my crazy until fixed. Once pulled from the windshield I used a small screwdriver to separate the plastics. The mirror has a small bolt in the middle that needed to be tightened and fix the problem.

Once the interior was good and the mirror fixed I turned to the exterior. The paint was in pretty good shape but needed the normal 12 year pick me up, wash/clay bar/buff/polish and wax.

Since she was clean it was time to get rid of all the chrome. I plasti dipped all badges except the Toyota emblem on the front and rear. I also dipped the front and rear apron since they were silver, which was unacceptable. I also baked the the headlights and painted them flat black.

The 04 SR5 had a cracked taillight which needed to be replaced. I ordered some black taillights for the 03 and moved the old stock lights to the 04.

New on left, old on right.

While performing all the maintenance I ordered the Spidertrax 1.25" spacers and a Daystar 2.5"1/5" lift.
Installed spacers in anticipation of the lift coming in.

Lift installed, but this pic doesn't do it justice.

Today I picked up some NGK spark plugs and spent an hour replacing. While dirty I decided to clean the MAF/throttle body.
Nice and clean.

 

[llennium]

I knew the drivers CV axle had a torn boot when I purchased the Runner. I finally got a chance to replace it. Since I didn't know how long the boot had been bad and how much trash/water had gotten in the boot I replaced with a new CV from Autozone. I know this isn't ideal but it will work for me at this time. I'm keeping the original CV and when I have time I will verify condition and possibly reboot if still good.

I also replaced front rotors and pads as well as rear pads.

 

[jhlscut]

great! I'd do some to my 04 v8.

 

[llennium]

A couple weeks ago we were able to hit some trails in the Ouachitas. We enjoyed beautiful weather in the 60's but the cold was blowing in and it got down to the 30's that night (typical Arkansas weather). I generally plan the route and was not familiar with the area we headed. We ran into some tight switchbacks and pretty step areas. Due to the terrain and spotting my son through some of the tougher areas I didn't get many pics.

Son's '04 and daughter's '02.

Headed down the first of many steep ravines.

Looks like I need to get the running boards off and some rock sliders on.

After a long day of clearing trails, navigating large rocks and ravines we stopped for Mexican food. I snapped a couple shots before heading in.

 

[llennium]

We have been having winter off/on the last two weeks and of course when I can I get the family out in it.

After two days of chauffeuring family to work.

 

[llennium]

Stumbled on an inexpensive small shovel from Harbor Freight and decided to see how it would mount up on my custom roof rack.

As I have time I'm also going to add mounts for two scepter water cans and possibly a fuel can.

 

[darkgun82]

Good looking ride. Hoping to do the same to mine tomorrow with plasti dip

 

[llennium]

Good looking ride. Hoping to do the same to mine tomorrow with plasti dip

Thanks and good luck with the plasti dip.

 

[Toydeluxe]

What size are those new BFGs?

How does it ride with the spacer lift, compared to stock?

 

[llennium]

What size are those new BFGs?

How does it ride with the spacer lift, compared to stock?

The BFG's are 275/70/17 which were moved over from the '04 SR5 V6. Originally I had C rated 265/75/16's on the V6 and could really tell a difference when I went to the E rated BFG's. When I purchased the V8 '03 and moved them over the V8 really compensated for the weight difference.

So far I love the lift other than wishing I had another 1/2" to 1" of total lift. The stock suspension was in pretty good condition so adding the spacers had little affect on the over all ride. It may be a tad stiffer than stock but hardly noticed. I may eventually add FJC coils to help the ride and gain the extra lift I would like to have. The plan is to go with a suspension lift eventually but no funds at this time.

 

[Toydeluxe]

I'm thinking about doing FJ coils, and Bilstein 5100s to run 255/75r17s......pretty similar size to yours.
I'm just wondering if that's going to be enough lift, or if I might still want a small spacer, front and rear.

 

[llennium]

I'm thinking about doing FJ coils, and Bilstein 5100s to run 255/75r17s......pretty similar size to yours.
I'm just wondering if that's going to be enough lift, or if I might still want a small spacer, front and rear.

From what I have read I think you will be happy with the FJ coils and 5100's but I can't speak to this setup from experience. Also, I had to push the fender well splash guard forward and remove the mud flap for clearance. I'm sure you will need to do similar with the 255/75. I have noticed that during flex I still have a minor rub but not sure where that it just yet.

 

[maverick927]

A couple weeks ago we were able to hit some trails in the Ouachitas. We enjoyed beautiful weather in the 60's but the cold was blowing in and it got down to the 30's that night (typical Arkansas weather). I generally plan the route and was not familiar with the area we headed. We ran into some tight switchbacks and pretty step areas. Due to the terrain and spotting my son through some of the tougher areas I didn't get many pics.

Son's '04 and daughter's '02.


Headed down the first of many steep ravines.


Looks like I need to get the running boards off and some rock sliders on.


After a long day of clearing trails, navigating large rocks and ravines we stopped for Mexican food. I snapped a couple shots before heading in.

Nice looking ride - I'm not far from you. I'm in Fort Smith. I see you've gotten some of the same snow & ice mix we have. I've taken the opportunity to use 4X4 on my SR5 in it. Nice to see a fellow Arkansan.

 

[llennium]

Nice looking ride - I'm not far from you. I'm in Fort Smith. I see you've gotten some of the same snow & ice mix we have. I've taken the opportunity to use 4X4 on my SR5 in it. Nice to see a fellow Arkansan.

Thanks, I've been having fun hitting the streets and trails when possible during the winter weather.

I was close to you earlier this week, had to make a trip to Fayetteville Tuesday and fight the rain and fog.

 

[llennium]

We had more winter weather come through the state last night so I took the opportunity to hit the Ouachitas.

 

[llennium]

Got a chance to get in the forest again this weekend.

Found this on the first trail we headed down.

Second trail was washed out.

One of many water level/flow stations scattered through out the forest.

Lunch view.

Trees were being cleared in some areas and they used this tape to mark the outer areas of the clearings.

Forest road wash out.

I would like to have seen the National Forest shortly after adding all the roads. Many areas have leftovers of some great overlooks and water crossings.

My phone didn't capture it well but this was a great view of the Oauchita National Forest.

Muddy trip.

Favorite area of the Ouachitas.

Hope to check this area out during the summer with the kayak.

Due to recent rains all the creeks were flowing.

Love the sound of a flowing creek.
https://youtu.be/ElCy8_PuMTo

 

[llennium]

I can't believe it's been six months since I posted but life gets in the way.

I've been saving for sometime now so I could pick up a compressor to be mounted in the engine bay. I had the MF50 in the past and it simply couldn't handle the load. After reading many reviews and looking over specs I decided to go with the ARB CKMTA12 dual due to it's output. I was able to mount the compressor under the hood and paired it with a stock looking compressor button inside. I will be using the ARB switch in the rear of the Runner but thats a future project.

I soldered the new switch into the ARB wiring harness.

 

[Krayziekid]

I can't believe it's been six months since I posted but life gets in the way.

I've been saving for sometime now so I could pick up a compressor to be mounted in the engine bay. I had the MF50 in the past and it simply couldn't handle the load. After reading many reviews and looking over specs I decided to go with the ARB CKMTA12 dual due to it's output. I was able to mount the compressor under the hood and paired it with a stock looking compressor button inside. I will be using the ARB switch in the rear of the Runner but thats a future project.







I soldered the new switch into the ARB wiring harness.

How did you mount the compressor in the engine bay? I have been thinking about picking up the same compressor and mounting it in the same spot in my 03 Limited V8. Did you drill some new holes? Would love to hear how you did it. Good looking 4Runner!

 

[Range]

llenniun, who makes the compressor switch? Do you have the compressor hooked up to a rear locker?

 

[llennium]

How did you mount the compressor in the engine bay? I have been thinking about picking up the same compressor and mounting it in the same spot in my 03 Limited V8. Did you drill some new holes? Would love to hear how you did it. Good looking 4Runner!

Thanks @Krazyziekid, I should have taken more pics during the install but I was working along and the compressor is surprisingly heavy to work with. If you take this on I suggest some assistance.

To answer your question directly, yes I drilled new holes. I used four flat corner braces and bent them in a vice to the lengths needed.. The compressor has eight mount points on the bottom which allowed me to use the bottom four to secure the compressor. I used the top two to get the angle desired. The bottom bolts are drilled through the fender well with fender washers and rubber washers to keep the water/mud out. I used a rubber washer, fender washer, lock washer and nut to secure it on the inside. The top two are mounted through the firewall into the area that supplies air to the A/C fan. If you remove the cowling you will have access to the back of the firewall form the top. I used a similar setup for bolting down as the fender but I added an extra nut which acts as a locking nut but also created about a half inch space from firewall (due to me bending my braces about 1/2" to short).

All mounting points have rubber washers to reduce noise and also have red lactate to prevent loosening. Once the breather housing was removed I had plenty of room to work. I marked the top of the fender well to know where the back of the breather was to ensure I was clear with my mounts. A cleaner install could be done by bending the mounts in the opposite direction but accessing the bolts would be very difficult.

If you have any specific questions I'm happy to answer. If there are any areas you're curious about let me know and I'll try to get better pics.

llenniun, who makes the compressor switch? Do you have the compressor hooked up to a rear locker?

The switch came from CH4X4 via Amazon.
Amazon.com: CH4x4 Toyota Push Switch Air Compressor Symbol- White LED: Automotive
They are not as sturdy as a the Carlington switches but for the factory look I was willing to give it a try. My switch seems to be working pretty well but my son has a similar switch for his light bar and the spring seems weak so it's slow to work.