96BladeRunner Build

[96BladeRunner]

Well I'm a new member but definitely not new to this website nor 4runners. So here's my story. My dad bought the 4runner original in April of 1996 from Olathe Toyota by trading in his 1990 2 door Isuzu Trooper. Several months later I was born and the first car I ever rode in was this exact 4runner. It came with us on our move from our home of Overland Park, Kansas all the way to Tampa in 2013. My dad had no intentions of keeping the 4runner when he had originally bought it but here we are 18 years later and 243000 miles later and this beautiful 4runner is now mine.

My Intentions with this car is to give it a more aggressive look than it has now but not go overboard. I still want to be able to recognize the same vehicle I have known all my life. That unfortunately means no aftermarket bumpers. However further down the road when I'm rich I will buy another 3rd gen I will mod the heck out of.

I will try my best to be constantly updating by build but being a high school student making minimum wage it will be difficult to maintain but I'm sure I can manage

1996

Current as of 1/22/15:

Modifications:

Suspension
Front: Toytec Coilovers w/ red 600lb coils
Rear: Boss Shocks w/ OME 890 coils

Wheels & Tires
Pro-Comp 1069 polished 16x8
265/75/16 BF Goodrich All-Terrain KO2

Interior
JVC Headunit
2 10" JL Audio sub-woofers with custom box

Exterior
20% window tint on front windows
5% Windshield banner
OEM bugshield


I hope you're as excited as I am!

 

[snivilous]

In photobucket, hit the "direct" link on the right, then in the post click the picture icon and just paste the link into it:

AKA: surround the direct link with [ IMG ] and [ /IMG ] minus the spaces.

 

[96BladeRunner]

Hey thanks man! I was trying to figure out what I wasn't doing right
btw I love the old Toyota wheels on your 4runner

 

[farmerjon]

Hey welcome! the family legacy 4Runners are the best stories. Knowing the history of your vehicle is priceless, especially if it's been your family's the entire way. Looking forward to this build progressing!

 

[96BladeRunner]

Finally got off my butt and bought the Toytec Ultimate Lift. Ive had this done for several weeks and haven't posted it so here it is.

Front:
Toytec coilovers
Red 600lb coils

Rear:
Boss Shocks (Bilsteins were on backorder and I didn't want to wait)
OME 890 coils

Before:

After:

Front:

Rear:

 

[96BladeRunner]

My dad was looking through some bins in the garage for some papers and ran across this and thought I'd want it. It is an original 1996 Toyota 4Runner brochure he had before he bought it. You can tell because in the back are all of the numbers he was comparing on his current vehicle at the time to the 4Runner. Pretty sweet if you ask me

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Just noticed that you were in Tampa, I'm down in Sarasota. We should get together soon! Lift looks great btw.

Matt

 

[96BladeRunner]

BOOM!

With the new lift the wheels and tires looked out of proportion and I had planned on getting some after lifting it. I think these wheels look perfect with my color scheme.

FYI if anyone is looking for a set of 3 spoke wheels I have 4 for sale. Just shoot me an offer (they come with all of the lugs as well). I need to sell them or else they will just sit in the back of my 4Runner.

Wheels: Pro Comp 1069 16x8
Tires: 265/75/16 BF Goodrich All-Terrain

My favorite pic of the BladeRunner now

 

[96BladeRunner]

Just noticed that you were in Tampa, I'm down in Sarasota. We should get together soon! Lift looks great btw.

Matt

Thanks man. Your 4Runner is coming along quite nicely if I must say so myself. As for meeting up I am totally down and it would be awesome if we could get a large group together as well.

 

[Frontier719]

Looks super clean! You guys definitely took care of that thing. Did you install the lift yourself or have someone do it?

 

[96BladeRunner]

Nah unfortunately no, I took it to a local 4x4 shop and they ordered the lift and installed it. I am not a mechanic at all and I don't trust myself at all. It was better to be safe than sorry. They did a great job and would recommend them to anyone.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Thanks man. Your 4Runner is coming along quite nicely if I must say so myself. As for meeting up I am totally down and it would be awesome if we could get a large group together as well.

That would be a lot of fun! Some guys in the Tampa area did one last year as a meet and great. I think there was 8 of us, including my friend from school who borrowed his dad's 5th gen for the night. I think they are trying to plan a off road day over in the Florida forum.

 

[T4R2014]

Sweet build, and a very similar background to mine. I have a bunch of family photos from the 90's too, even one with the 4Runner parked next to my Power Wheels Lamborghini in the driveway.

 

[96BladeRunner]

Thats funny, because I had a Porsche 911 as a kid but was always scared to drive it. Don't know if I have any pics of both of them together though

 

[96BladeRunner]

Finally got out and took the BladeRunner out for a little photoshoot. I kind of got tired of taking pictures of it only in the driveway.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Love the rims! Now it is time to take the running boards off, you will love the results.

 

[AZ4Running]

I agree. Pull off those running boards, looks so much better with them off and gives you more ground clearance. I hit mine a couple times, not hard but they did hit. Also i would get some dust boots for those rear shocks, dirt and dust will shorten the life of the seals and you may be replacing leaking shocks sooner than you should.
Rig looks good, build is coming along nicely.

 

[96BladeRunner]

Thanks guys

As for the running boards I would love to pull those things off its just my dad wont let me and even if I did there isn't a place for me to store them in my garage. Today I also noticed a nice little hole in them that probably came from me hitting it with my shoe. I hate looking at it and it makes me really want to take them off after noticing that.

 

[AZ4Running]

Its your rig man do as you want. Get some sliders for it and tell your dad you are putting on new side steps. I sold my running boards pretty fast on local CL. They are super easy to take off and can be put back on if desired, wielding on sliders makes that a little hard though lol But my sliders make great steps also.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Thanks guys



As for the running boards I would love to pull those things off its just my dad wont let me and even if I did there isn't a place for me to store them in my garage. Today I also noticed a nice little hole in them that probably came from me hitting it with my shoe. I hate looking at it and it makes me really want to take them off after noticing that.

My dad wouldn't let me take off the running boards for the longest time. Finally I convinced him to let me take them off as a present for the past holiday season. He really liked the idea of a free gift and I was happy to give up a present to remove the boards.

Although I don't advise it, some members on the forum told me I could always go off-roading and "accidentally" rip them off on a rock, then he will have to let me remove them. But that shouldn't be option number 1 lol.