absalom
New member
A little about me and cars. Owned a 89 CRX Si when I was 15, did the B16A swap, the industry became embarrassing, sold it and got an Aprilia scooter. Owned far too many motorcycles for the next 5 years. Did club racing in Norcal for a season.
Became interested in cars again, got a 1997 528i 5spd in silver. Amazing car, let friend drive it and he totaled it after 5 mins. Got a 2002 MR2 Spyder, best handling car I've owned, just terribly impractical. Moved to Arizona, and bought a 1994 Toyota Camry XLE to save funds for the move. Ended up LOVING the car. Very fast, smooth, reliable, great off-road (funny story).
Decided I was ready to get the car/truck I had been drooling over for far too long. Picked up a 2000 4runner SR5 4x4 with 125,000 for 6,900 in Phoenix. After waiting 3 years, it was everything I had hoped for. Here she is when I got her, or at least that's the photo the car-lot had on their website!
and as she sits now!
List of mods so far and future plans:
Engine
-Magnaflow 18" muffler
-B&M 70268 Transmission Cooler
Exterior
-Powdercoated bumpers
-Removed running boards
-Black pearl grill
-25% tint all the way around
-Black pearl emblems
-TRD emblems
-Jaos Spoiler
-TRS 50w HID Projector conversion
-1.5" Wheel Spacers
-4xInnovations Sliders w/ Kickout
Interior
-Pioneer stereo
-Soundstream components
-LED dome light
-Black rubber floor mats
-JVC 4 channel amp
-Dog barricade
-Grey marine carpet
-10" sub and amp
-CB radio w/ PA speaker
-Firestik II 4ft
Suspension
-Toytec front springs 602#
-Bilstein 5100 adjustable struts
-LX450 coils (8.5 wraps)
-Monroe Sensatrac shocks
-17x9 Level 8 Strike 6 wheels
-285/70/17 TreadWright Guard Dog MT's
-4crawler 1.5" body lift
Future Mods!!
-30" TQS LED lightbar
-Shrockworks Bumper, TAG rear bumper
-Dynomat
-Leather conversion
-Sport hood swap
-Diesel/V8 conversion??
-much, much more!
Drove her for a week to get a feel. The steering wheel wasn't centered, and there was/is a vibration at precisely 69-74 mph (still haven't fixed that last one). I had it aligned and wheels balanced. It then tracked straight as an arrow. However, the vibration remained, admittedly less pronounced.
First mod was to get a decent stereo. I don't much like changing the factory interior of cars, but the stock stereo is terrible and lacking an AUX input for mah Droid! So I got a Craigslist special on a Pioneer deck (brand new for $60), with some Soundstream 6.5" (new on special for $45) components up front. I left the stock 4" in the rear until I am sure if I want to do the conversion to 5.25". I am not a big fan of subwoofers, at least until I have boosted power to my door speakers. So I got a JVC 4 channel amp (used for $55), and ran it to all four corners. The results were night and day. It is crystal clear at deafening levels. However, it did expose a whole new boatload of rattles in the door.
I'll back up and say I've always admired 3 particular built 4runner's. LINY, Blcktpgsrs', and 4runits'. The vision I have for mine is a tasteful modernizing of the 4runner's image, and I may pull various elements from these and several other builds. However, I've always prided myself on doing things for the absolute bottom dollar without cutting corners (most of the time, more on this later!). Call it cheap, but I enjoy a good bargain hunt. Hopefully my build will show that the 4runner can look very good for very little money. Time will tell.
Back to the first modspree. As I've never owned a lifted vehicle, I wanted to make sure it was even a right fit for me. So I scooped up a 3" Revtek lift from Craigslist for $100. I was in the process of moving from Northern Phoenix to Scottsdale for work, so the lift had to wait a few weeks. However, I decided to retrofit the interior during this time to better suit my dog.
I grabbed some short pile, graphite colored marine carpet for $18 and lined the entire hatch floor in it. Then I scooped up a used dog barricade for $25 to keep my pup off the rear seats and in the trunk. Also scooped up some perfect black rubber floor mats for $25 shipped, front and rear. I just can't see spending nearly 8 times that on Weathertechs. Gave the interior and engine bay a thorough vacuuming/shampoo and steaming.
The truck was really looking clean at this point. Looked much newer, drove like a Toyota should (perfect and just 'right' in every department). Next up, more mods!
Became interested in cars again, got a 1997 528i 5spd in silver. Amazing car, let friend drive it and he totaled it after 5 mins. Got a 2002 MR2 Spyder, best handling car I've owned, just terribly impractical. Moved to Arizona, and bought a 1994 Toyota Camry XLE to save funds for the move. Ended up LOVING the car. Very fast, smooth, reliable, great off-road (funny story).
Decided I was ready to get the car/truck I had been drooling over for far too long. Picked up a 2000 4runner SR5 4x4 with 125,000 for 6,900 in Phoenix. After waiting 3 years, it was everything I had hoped for. Here she is when I got her, or at least that's the photo the car-lot had on their website!
and as she sits now!
List of mods so far and future plans:
Engine
-Magnaflow 18" muffler
-B&M 70268 Transmission Cooler
Exterior
-Powdercoated bumpers
-Removed running boards
-Black pearl grill
-25% tint all the way around
-Black pearl emblems
-TRD emblems
-Jaos Spoiler
-TRS 50w HID Projector conversion
-1.5" Wheel Spacers
-4xInnovations Sliders w/ Kickout
Interior
-Pioneer stereo
-Soundstream components
-LED dome light
-Black rubber floor mats
-JVC 4 channel amp
-Dog barricade
-Grey marine carpet
-10" sub and amp
-CB radio w/ PA speaker
-Firestik II 4ft
Suspension
-Toytec front springs 602#
-Bilstein 5100 adjustable struts
-LX450 coils (8.5 wraps)
-Monroe Sensatrac shocks
-17x9 Level 8 Strike 6 wheels
-285/70/17 TreadWright Guard Dog MT's
-4crawler 1.5" body lift
Future Mods!!
-30" TQS LED lightbar
-Shrockworks Bumper, TAG rear bumper
-Dynomat
-Leather conversion
-Sport hood swap
-Diesel/V8 conversion??
-much, much more!
Drove her for a week to get a feel. The steering wheel wasn't centered, and there was/is a vibration at precisely 69-74 mph (still haven't fixed that last one). I had it aligned and wheels balanced. It then tracked straight as an arrow. However, the vibration remained, admittedly less pronounced.
First mod was to get a decent stereo. I don't much like changing the factory interior of cars, but the stock stereo is terrible and lacking an AUX input for mah Droid! So I got a Craigslist special on a Pioneer deck (brand new for $60), with some Soundstream 6.5" (new on special for $45) components up front. I left the stock 4" in the rear until I am sure if I want to do the conversion to 5.25". I am not a big fan of subwoofers, at least until I have boosted power to my door speakers. So I got a JVC 4 channel amp (used for $55), and ran it to all four corners. The results were night and day. It is crystal clear at deafening levels. However, it did expose a whole new boatload of rattles in the door.
I'll back up and say I've always admired 3 particular built 4runner's. LINY, Blcktpgsrs', and 4runits'. The vision I have for mine is a tasteful modernizing of the 4runner's image, and I may pull various elements from these and several other builds. However, I've always prided myself on doing things for the absolute bottom dollar without cutting corners (most of the time, more on this later!). Call it cheap, but I enjoy a good bargain hunt. Hopefully my build will show that the 4runner can look very good for very little money. Time will tell.
Back to the first modspree. As I've never owned a lifted vehicle, I wanted to make sure it was even a right fit for me. So I scooped up a 3" Revtek lift from Craigslist for $100. I was in the process of moving from Northern Phoenix to Scottsdale for work, so the lift had to wait a few weeks. However, I decided to retrofit the interior during this time to better suit my dog.
I grabbed some short pile, graphite colored marine carpet for $18 and lined the entire hatch floor in it. Then I scooped up a used dog barricade for $25 to keep my pup off the rear seats and in the trunk. Also scooped up some perfect black rubber floor mats for $25 shipped, front and rear. I just can't see spending nearly 8 times that on Weathertechs. Gave the interior and engine bay a thorough vacuuming/shampoo and steaming.
The truck was really looking clean at this point. Looked much newer, drove like a Toyota should (perfect and just 'right' in every department). Next up, more mods!
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They look spectacular tho, and I really like being able to keep it somewhat Toyota related. The tires are in horrid shape tho, and I'm keeping my eyes open for a decent used set of 295's MT's. 
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