I think everyone has a case of the Mondays - I clicked hoping for potential thread of the year and yet barely any cuts and bruises. Folks are getting soft, need more Stifler i mean simplema.......never mind
I'll second the above ......read, read and then read some more. Have a question with what you are reading - google it. Still have a question post it up!
but because it has been a crazy last few days at work and I could use some mindless tasks - I will humor this
Lift kit vs. spacers: I am going to be going minimally off road. mostly mall crawling'. I'd like 3" of lift. who should I use? - For your use, a spacer lift would be just fine but it will not help with the "excess" nose dive the 4runners suffer from so I would suggest getting a Kit with some Bilstein 5100's or something made by OME - Stay away from any rebuildable race shock, not want you want
Tires and rims: I'd like some mean looking tires and rims, but I don't want the tire sound to be too drony. - Completely subjective here but I love the stock 14+ Trail wheels, Aftermarket wheels look - aftermarket but If I was going to do it I would start with FN Wheels (only 1 of many options but I have dealt with Dustin in the past, even though I didn't order anything the communication was excellent) For that aggressive look you are going to want something with a higher negative offset to push the wheel/tire out toward the fender. Go to far and you will get rubbing when you turn the wheel, there is a great thread with all you could want to know about wheels/tires linked above - Read. Side note, if you are not going to run a second set for winter driving and be mall crawling do us all a favor and stay away from a dedicated Mud terrain, as a general statement All terrain tires will behave better in Snow/Ice then Mud terrains but not nearly as well as true winter tires.
light bar: any ideas which one I should get, mainly for aesthetics. = First, if you mount it but never hook it up I will personally rip it off the truck if I ever find you. With that out of the way - Don't go wild here, RIGID or BAJA lights are just not needed for your application. I would not go with a Ebay light but something like GG lighting (IIRC) I would target 3-$500 for a 40" bar - don't go spending $1000, its not worth it unless you are looking for bragging rights but trust me no girl will ever ask or care what brand of light bar you have. well......maybe [MENTION=112177]4RnR Grl[/MENTION] but pretty sure she is married/knows more then 95% of folks here
roof rack: any cool ones you like? Drabbits/CamelBack?.....for reference green text is sarcasm around here. There are a growing number of options my personal favorite is Gobi however because of shady business practices I am going to simply let you research and make your choice where to spend money (they have a great product but threatened legal action which closed a small vendor who was providing a good product at a good price that left a sour taste in some folks month.) Baja racks, K9, Ecotechne are a few others
headlights: LED headlights? Can't help you here, I have not made the jump to HID conversion or LED, its on the list and many have but the stock lights are good enough and when you have 18,000+lumens of aftermarket lights anything you stick in your stock headlights won't compare
MISC. give me your ideas please!!!
Since this is primarily a cosmetic build a few things you have not mentioned that would be high on my list
-Front window tint to match the rears
-Black front and rear valence with TRD Pro grill garnish (if you like the look)
-Add a second rear tow hook (holes are already there from Toyota)and put bright red D-rings in them
-Rock sliders so everyone knows you mean business
-Red Fuel cans on the roof rack (goes with above)
-continuing the trend, traction mats
-Neon under glow lights
-Stickers of places you have never been and of firearms you can not shoot/clean or dissasemble
-Interior switches (someone else said it but b***** love switches) - Back up camera on, front light bar, front spots, rear fridge outlet, back up lights, air compressor, auxiliary battery, ejection seat, air horn, etc
-@Antman rear cup holder mod, have a beer handy to show your friends this thing means business
