1999 4runner build highschool/college edition
- Thread starter Iron duke
- Start date
Iron duke
Member
Thanks, I need the luck for school lol. I was pretty pumped not worrying about rust so much after my last 4runner went to crap for that reason.
out:
Iron duke
Member
Finally got the panhard correction kit installed! Got it done by a shop for obvious reasons. 80 for the part and 150 to double side weld, reinforce, paint, and fix a broken stud on my wheel spacer. It makes such a difference on highway driving and it centers the axle too. I do need an alignment soon, but I now have access to an alignment machine so I will experiment with that soon.
Iron duke
Member
Hey all, haven't been posting a lot lately, I've had much to do getting into colleges, working, and school. Couple things I've done though:
Tinted headlights
This looks cool and since it is legal to have the lightbar on at night (or no cop has stopped me yet), I thought I might as well
took off the rack, rails, and spoiler
I want to try this out for a bit. The wind noise was becoming increasingly annoying, especially having to drive on the highway every day to school. I will re-install everything whenever I need it for off-road trips, but for now I'm going to be relaxing for a bit.
Got my first speeding ticket
Yes, unfortunately I have. My "life in the fast lane" has finally caught up to me. I was on my way up to Athens to visit my girlfriend and got caught 3 hours from my house going 74 in a 55. Luckily, I did not get a super speeder ticket by one mph. March 26 is the court date and hopefully it will go well. Not what I needed happening in this time with my financial state being what it is because of college, but I learned my lesson which is valuable.
Took my girlfriend on her first off-road adventure
It was about time I did! she really did enjoy it and there will be more adventures with her to come.
Tinted headlights
This looks cool and since it is legal to have the lightbar on at night (or no cop has stopped me yet), I thought I might as well
took off the rack, rails, and spoiler
I want to try this out for a bit. The wind noise was becoming increasingly annoying, especially having to drive on the highway every day to school. I will re-install everything whenever I need it for off-road trips, but for now I'm going to be relaxing for a bit.
Got my first speeding ticket
Yes, unfortunately I have. My "life in the fast lane" has finally caught up to me. I was on my way up to Athens to visit my girlfriend and got caught 3 hours from my house going 74 in a 55. Luckily, I did not get a super speeder ticket by one mph. March 26 is the court date and hopefully it will go well. Not what I needed happening in this time with my financial state being what it is because of college, but I learned my lesson which is valuable.
Took my girlfriend on her first off-road adventure
It was about time I did! she really did enjoy it and there will be more adventures with her to come.
Just because you haven't been stopped doesn't mean that you should be using a light bar for street use. Especially if it is not designed as a driving light. I'm sure oncoming traffic would appreciate it if you didn't do that anymore.
Iron duke
Member
I completely agree. I turn it off with oncoming traffic, but I usually drive late at night on unpopulated roads so there’s not a lot of people to temporarily blind in the first place. In South Georgia there are those people with their 52” double light bars that don’t give a care in the world so I try not follow in their footsteps.
Trophy_Rock
New member
Looks great, how do you like to the toyos?
Iron duke
Member
I really like them, especially on the highway because there is almost no road noise. The tread is a bit narrow for my liking so I may go with the BFG mud terrains in the future. They're load E so it's a lot of tire so my brakes hate me for it lol.
Iron duke
Member
Another update
Rear bumper and hitch are no more. A friend of mine ruined his and he decided to pay me very generously for mine...a perfect excuse to fabricate my own bumper. I will get to that in the next couple weeks.
When I removed both pieces, some unseen rust reared its ugly head...looks like its por-15 time. The bolts had already gone to crap, so glad i removed it when I did.
While I was down there, I finally installed the trail gear diff breather...a much put off project. I went with this one so that it wouldn't be hindered by axle flex.
Finally, just a little something for the snorkel...
Rear bumper and hitch are no more. A friend of mine ruined his and he decided to pay me very generously for mine...a perfect excuse to fabricate my own bumper. I will get to that in the next couple weeks.
When I removed both pieces, some unseen rust reared its ugly head...looks like its por-15 time. The bolts had already gone to crap, so glad i removed it when I did.
While I was down there, I finally installed the trail gear diff breather...a much put off project. I went with this one so that it wouldn't be hindered by axle flex.
Finally, just a little something for the snorkel...
Iron duke
Member
Alright, I caved. I thought I would never do it, but I did. After researching for designs and trying to get any sort of metal, both to no avail, I decided to just use some scrap tubing my friend has laying around for a rear bumper and use the money from my other bumper to get someone to fabricate a front bumper for me. I found Matt Tibbetts with TKO Fabrications on marketplace to build and install a fully custom bumper that we designed for 600. I couldn't not do it so i jumped on the deal and it was exactly what I wanted. Got some cheap led turn signals, halo fog lights and a cheap winch and I'm set. I went with a 5k winch off amazon for 140 and got a snatchblock. It's basically a pulley system that will double the winch load at the cost of halfling the speed and rope length. We'll see how well this goes. I'm going up to windrock on the 10th to test things out with a large group of fellow 4runners, so that will be the make or break for my system. I'm building my rear bumper this weekend, so hopefully I will update with pictures of that in the next couple of days.
Another price update
4runner - 5000
spray paint for rims - 10
1/4 chicken wire - 15
rack basket - 50
shovel - 8
traction boards - 60
farm jack - 40
recovery strap - 30
recovery shackles - 10
Trail Gear Diff breather - 30
Bumper - 600
Turn signals - 10
Halos - 35
Winch - 140
Snathcblock - 15
TOTAL - $6,053
Another price update
4runner - 5000
spray paint for rims - 10
1/4 chicken wire - 15
rack basket - 50
shovel - 8
traction boards - 60
farm jack - 40
recovery strap - 30
recovery shackles - 10
Trail Gear Diff breather - 30
Bumper - 600
Turn signals - 10
Halos - 35
Winch - 140
Snathcblock - 15
TOTAL - $6,053
Iron duke
Member
With the end of school, last month was a mad dash to the finish. The Tennessee trip was incredible, 1200+ miles and it was perfect. Went with Georgia 4runners and they were great people. Here's a few pictures of the trip there and on the trail.
The only thing that went bad on the trip was the roof rack. Unfortunately, it was too much weight for it to handle on the trail, especially at high speeds.
220k and no hesitations at all.
Also, 6 months today that I've had the 4Runner
Then:
Now:
In June, I am going on a 5500+ mile cross country trip with 6 friends, my 4runner, and my buddy's '08 Tacoma. In preparation I'm going to replace the inner and outer tie rods, LBJ's, all fluids, and rotate and align wheels. I will also finish up the bumper and create a spare tire carrier so I can have more interior space.
The only thing that went bad on the trip was the roof rack. Unfortunately, it was too much weight for it to handle on the trail, especially at high speeds.
220k and no hesitations at all.
Also, 6 months today that I've had the 4Runner
Then:
Now:
In June, I am going on a 5500+ mile cross country trip with 6 friends, my 4runner, and my buddy's '08 Tacoma. In preparation I'm going to replace the inner and outer tie rods, LBJ's, all fluids, and rotate and align wheels. I will also finish up the bumper and create a spare tire carrier so I can have more interior space.
tgreenwood75
New member
Are you running a winch without a fairlead? Have you needed to use it yet? Seems like either the bumper or line would get chewed up pretty good...
Iron duke
Member
Thanks! I would definitely recommend Matt Tibbetts @TKOFabrications for bumpers, skids, sliders, etc. He's cheaper than most other manufacturers, will custom design what you want, and helps with install. He's located in Cumming as well.
You're right on that. I couldn't find one I really liked for while. It was getting ridiculous, so I went ahead and just got a badlands synthetic fairlead from Harbor Freight. I haven't had to rely on it before, but yes, I have tested my winch out.
Iron duke
Member
Another update:
The rear end is coming along nicely. Got the spare tire carrier designed and laid out, now to finish up the welds, grind them down, and paint! Also picked up this Gobi ladder off a 1st gen Xterra at Cash-N-Carry for 15.99...definitely my best pick yet. It doesn't come down all the way, but that's okay because i just use my bumper as the first step anyways. Just had to trim up the mount a bit to to have clearance for the hatch and tire.
Not so fun, but more importantly, I replaced some key components in the front end for the big trip. I installed moog LBJ's, and inner and outer tie rods. Steering feels amazing and that's before the alignment too. It took all day to replace, but beats the 1100 dollars in labor I was quoted by a mile.
The rear end is coming along nicely. Got the spare tire carrier designed and laid out, now to finish up the welds, grind them down, and paint! Also picked up this Gobi ladder off a 1st gen Xterra at Cash-N-Carry for 15.99...definitely my best pick yet. It doesn't come down all the way, but that's okay because i just use my bumper as the first step anyways. Just had to trim up the mount a bit to to have clearance for the hatch and tire.
Not so fun, but more importantly, I replaced some key components in the front end for the big trip. I installed moog LBJ's, and inner and outer tie rods. Steering feels amazing and that's before the alignment too. It took all day to replace, but beats the 1100 dollars in labor I was quoted by a mile.
Iron duke
Member
Had to do the wheel bearings in Moab, but that didn't set us back any. Other than that it was awesome!
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