98 SR5 - The "Dirt Duster" build

CONGRATULATIONS, Addison! :) That's so awesome that you won best 4x4! That Tacoma posing with you gives you a run for your money, but yours has so much attention to detail that it shows! Congrats again, that is so cool!

Honestly, might make it harder to sell your 4R now... Keep us updated!

Oh, and PRETTY truck! That's a really nice color, and I've always liked the 1st gen Tundras (2nd gen, not so much). Looking forward to seeing what (little for now) you do with it! :)

Good luck with the new job! Hope it goes well!
 
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CONGRATULATIONS, Addison! :) That's so awesome that you won best 4x4! That Tacoma posing with you gives you a run for your money, but yours has so much attention to detail that it shows! Congrats again, that is so cool!

Honestly, might make it harder to sell your 4R now... Keep us updated!

Oh, and PRETTY truck! That's a really nice color, and I've always liked the 1st gen Tundras (2nd gen, not so much). Looking forward to seeing what (little for now) you do with it! :)

Good luck with the new job! Hope it goes well!

That's incredible buddy! You deserved the win.

Nate

Thanks gents!!!
 
Thats a beauty of a Tundra. I'll tell you what I see though...a fresh canvas haha. Cant wait to see what you do with it!:hungry:
 
If I were at a car show and saw a 3rd gen in the distance, I would probably get so excited and walk past ANY car between me and the 4Runner. It's cool to see one at a show! Any more pictures?
 
I've been ignoring the last couple pages, hoping they'll go away, but I wanted to say congrats on taking 1st @ the car show, and NICE Tundra! I've been looking at those trucks for so long now it's not even funny. When the '97 goes, that will probably be it's replacement.

It looks like you found a really nice, clean example with all the right options. That thing should treat you well for years to come... or at least a few years until you make it one of the nicest Tundras around and then sell it like a tired horse. :cry2:

Poor, poor Duster.
 
Yea remember what I said about that fresh canvas? Nevermind. I'm requiring you to do this but even cooler... :cheers:

Yah the Ultimat Tundra is pretty cool. However I'd go a slightly different route.

If I were at a car show and saw a 3rd gen in the distance, I would probably get so excited and walk past ANY car between me and the 4Runner. It's cool to see one at a show! Any more pictures?

Hahah yah not too many 4x4's at car shows, let alone 3rd gen 4Runners! I am still super happy about the win. I'll have more pictures in the next couple weeks. I dumped my photos from my camera onto my hard drive and left town. I formatted my camera's card so I don't have any copies of the photos except those that are on my hard drive, 2 hours away. I'll post up more when I can grab my HD.

As someone who's owned a 1st Gen Tundra with a lift, 35s and an ARB, you might want that S/C....

PICS?!!? What was your setup? I'd like to do 35's with 1-2" of lift. None of the bracket lift stuff that is so common over on the tundra forums. However, I'm still in the running for that LX. So time will only tell what ends up in my garage! haha

I've been ignoring the last couple pages, hoping they'll go away, but I wanted to say congrats on taking 1st @ the car show, and NICE Tundra! I've been looking at those trucks for so long now it's not even funny. When the '97 goes, that will probably be it's replacement.

It looks like you found a really nice, clean example with all the right options. That thing should treat you well for years to come... or at least a few years until you make it one of the nicest Tundras around and then sell it like a tired horse. :cry2:

Poor, poor Duster.

lmao, this made me laugh.... The Duster is NOT a tired horse Nick, he's actually an old horse with a new trainer, new saddle and shoes, and a completely rejuvenated spirit. It just so happens his rider, needs a bigger horse. hahah

Yah the Tundra is AWESOME. It is so clean, literally makes the Duster look like a pile of junk (when I took original possession) in comparison, ok well maybe I'm over-exaggerating. The Tundra has fairly low miles for an 04' (~110K), 2 owner, full dealer service history, NO rust, and no accidents of any kind. The interior literally looks and smells new. Leather is nice for a DD, so I'm actually happy I landed in a Limited! It's definitely a comfy truck and I'm loving the V8. Got 14.4 MPG on my first tank though with mixed city and highway.... ugh, thats worse than the 4Runner! I'm sure when the time is right, you'll be happy stepping into a 1st Gen Tundra. I am fully enjoying the transition.
 
PICS?!!? What was your setup? I'd like to do 35's with 1-2" of lift. None of the bracket lift stuff that is so common over on the tundra forums. However, I'm still in the running for that LX. So time will only tell what ends up in my garage! haha

I had a fabtech kit on it. It was quite a few years ago when I had it, and I was pretty new to trucks and 4WD's but it was a decent setup for what I used it for. More of a pavement pounder that looked pretty good. Had weld wheels on it. First pic in the snow is wth 285 BFG ATs, second pic is with 315 Toyo MTs...I have more pics somewhere, but need to do some digging. While the 08 with the 5.7 had awesome power, I really loved the 04. Such good looking trucks, I wouldn't mind having one again. As formentioned, it was a little sluggish with the 35s, so I was looking into a re-gear or power adders, but it was stolen, so problem solved I suppose...oh and you'll have to forgive the picture quality. They are literally pictures of pictures lol. I'll find more and scan them later.
 

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your gonna love that tundra. mine is about turn 175k miles and hasnt give me one problem.

heres a pic of mine (1.75" up front and 285/70/17 trail graps)
 

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I spend about 3 days reading your threads. Awsome.
Gratz on everything you have acomplish. On the truck. ...
I thank you for all the information you have shared.
I am a new 4runner owner and loving it.
And your information is gonna help me a lot.
T4R has given me lots of information.
 
rickashay, Along with everyone else on this thread I am loving your 4Runner and especially the look of the front end with your headlights. I was curious though, earlier on in your build I think I remember you making a comment about how you smoked your clear corners… How did you go about doing that? I am looking for an inexpensive way to smoke my headlights and corners without buying headlight covers. Thanks, Nate
 
Looks great!

Thanks Quinn!

rickashay, Along with everyone else on this thread I am loving your 4Runner and especially the look of the front end with your headlights. I was curious though, earlier on in your build I think I remember you making a comment about how you smoked your clear corners… How did you go about doing that? I am looking for an inexpensive way to smoke my headlights and corners without buying headlight covers. Thanks, Nate

Thanks Nate! I smoked the clear corners with some vinyl I bought off ebay. It isn't perfect but I would assume that anyone who has done window tinting or something before could achieve a pretty nice result. I like how it is tinted but not full-out black.

Ha, some car show pictures have plastic under the car, some don't?? Why??

Can't leak fluids onto the carpet.

Yah it's a precaution for leaks. The car show was held in the Calgary Olympic oval and our booth was right at the show entrance, on the rubber running track. If you see cars that don't have drop cloths, they should have.


In other news.... took a deposit on the 4Runner yesterday, the new owner will be picking it up on Thursday. The cool thing is that the new owner is the girlfriend of one my buddies @ CT4WD. I should be able to keep "tabs" on the Duster. haha It's bittersweet, gunna be sad to see it go, but I'm stoked to start on the LX.

I've got sooooo much work to do on the LX it's scary. Good thing all of the mechanical stuff/preventative maintenance is done so I can jump right into the mods. I won't abandon T4R, I really have learnt a lot from this forum and have met (via the forum) some really cool members. I still hope to stay in touch with this community and meet/wheel with some of you southerners in the near future. I'm going to probably continue this build thread with my new 80-series build when the time comes, or if it's wanted I'll start another thread of it's own (although it isn't a 4Runner... haha). Don't hate. I'll still be doing retrofits again come August 1st and you all know my Wheeling Pictures thread will stay active. :rockon:

Because I'm so excited about the Cruiser, I'll give you all a preview of what's in store:
- truck is already lifted 2.5" going to stay at this height for now. May add new shocks though
- Truck already has a full belly skid, lower link skids, lower link mount skids, diff housing armor - sweet, I don't have to worry about the underside!
- Existing custom bumpers and Warn 8274 winch will be sold (let me know if there is any interest in this beauty of a winch. It's big, fully rebuilt, and will have the Warn 9.5xp EXTRA motor mod done. Literally going to be CRAZY. It doesnt fit in the slee bumper or I'd keep it..) Slee Shortbus bumper as a replacement for the front
- TJM 12,000lb winch (same as the one on the Duster, but larger... I really like these winches!)
- SCS wheels and possibly an OMF beadlock conversion (working on the logistics of this now, the only thing stopping me is the fact that they are not DOT approved and I could potentially get harassed by law enforcement)
- 35" MT/R Kevlars, Nitto Trail Grapplers, or MTZ's are on my list
- The LX450 cladding will be removed, holes filled, and the truck will either get Line-X'd (gunmetal color) from the body line above the door handles down, or I will be repaint the truck entirely.
- Sleeping platform created with the rear seats deleted
- LED dash conversion as well as all the interior lights
- Depo headlights with, you guessed it, a projector retrofit. Not exactly sure what I'm doing here yet (lots of ideas in my head), but I can assure you, it will be crazy. hahah
- LED tail lights
- Custom roof rack that sits low like my Whitson rack. Josh, you wanna get into the 80 series market? I think you would make a killing! I've got some sweet ideas for this as well. Between Josh and Bandit, I'm taking a lot of "bad influences" over to the 80-series world on this topic! haha
- Snorkel

Hoping to have all of the above done within the next year. Obviously these are my "plans" that may change but it's going to be fun!

Cheers for now!
Addison
 

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