BlackAck's 5th Gen 4Runner thread

[97BlackAckCL]

Looking good! Where did those turn bulbs come from and how much??

Thanks, I got the turn bulbs here, they have built in resistors so no hyperflashing and they're super bright.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMSD8CS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're a bit price but they're running a 10% off coupon right now

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Finally got time to remove my stock tweeters and replace them with my new set of JBL Club 3.5's from Crutchfield. I also grabbed some bass blockers on Amazon

The wiring for the tweeters is different than my 4th gens, so I had to get new 4 wire wiring harnesses from TacoTunes to do this install, I've had them laying around for the last year and finally put them to use. Since the speakers are wired in parallel I had to splice the 2 positive and negative wires together

Here's a before of the stock tweeter paper cone garbage, these were the only stock speakers left in my truck

And here's a little side by side

So once I got all the wires soldered up, I threw on the foam dampening material, even though they barely touch any metal other than the mounting brackets.

I had gotten a spare set of tweeter mounting brackets from a member on here so I cut those up to make the mounting easier since the speaker basket was so large and to keep the stock tweeters completely intact

So I mounted them the same style as the tweeters

And here's the driver's side all installed, the driver's side was super easy to install because it has plenty of room underneath...

The passenger side has air ducts directly below it and is much tighter, I eneded up having to take the left bracket back out and trim it down further with some tin snips, and tuck the wiring down in the back in order to get it to fit correctly

But then I got it to bolt right in, and voila!

I also trimmed the speaker grills down

Then I reinstalled the speaker grills, and cranked up the tunes! They sound SO much better than stock, the stock tweeters are garbage and were killing me for quite a while. So glad I finally got this mod done

 

[97BlackAckCL]

So, I've been working on another project for a couple weeks. I attempted to tint a new set of mirror turn signals with a 6 year old can of VHT nightshade, and didn't have much success. I taped them off and went to work

I applied light coats, this was the first or second

After a few more coats

I ended up doing 6 coats total, and thought they looked pretty good, although I expected them to be darker.

However when I wetsanded them even after curing, the tint came right off, so that didn't work! lol

So I had some store credit at Advance Auto so I swung up there and grabbed a new can and started over

I ended up doing 4 coats because it was applying thicker

Then I wetsanded and applied 4 layers of clear

The finished product was nice and dark, however lightened up a fair amount when I wetsanded

Here's the finished product after wetsanding the clear

Then after the clear was cured I wetsanded them again and then polished them.

The finished product

Overall I'm super happy with how they came out, I may try another go at it in the spring, but for now I think they look amazing.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

I had a few mods that I'd been compiling for this install, so I knock all of them out at once. First a couple befores

I also wasn't thrilled with the LED bulbs that I had in the puddle lamps, so here's a before of these as well.

And I swapped them out with the white versions of the Lasfit ambers that I put in the front headlight corners.

Testing the new bulbs out, they hurt my eyes looking directly into

A little side by side of the old and new puddle lights

And a side by side of the stock mirror turn signals vs the BlackAck special ones

And here is the tinted turn signal installed

And the mirror all back together, ties nicely into the blue and black theme and the black accents on the mirrors. They look almost stock!

And the passenger side installed

Another before of the stock heated mirror...

And a side by side of the OEM Toyota Rav4 heated mirrors with built in blidspot mirrors. I have no idea why these aren't a factory option on the 4Runner!

And the new mirror installed! They're a little shorter than the 4Runner ones, but it actually exposes a little more of the inner satin black of the mirror housing so it flows nicely

Another shot of the new turn signals

And here you can see the amber led turn signal showing through

And a wider shot of the blue and black, I'm really happy with this group of mods.

I've had those mirrors for close to a year sitting on my workbench so it was nice to get those installed as well!
*

 

[97BlackAckCL]

And here's a couple night shots of the new LED puddle lights, they're 400 lumens and are ridiculously bright compared to the last ones I had that were 100some lumens each I believe.

Super freaking bright!

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Snapped a couple fall shots, trying to be artsy. Love how the blacked out turn signals blend right into the black mirror trim

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Swapped the stock wheels on for the winter and snapped a couple pics with the stock wheels back on... The truck just doesn't look the same to me. I'm kicking myself for not painting these before putting them back on the truck. I definitely wish I would have painted them black or bronze. I plan to do this next summer after swapping the bronze rims back on in the spring

 

[RouRou]

looks good man.. after i put my new wheels on my t4r, i dont know if i can go back to the stock wheels and tires ever lol. the look is completely different its crazy. However, i kept my stock wheels/tires for long trips. like driving from Maryland to Michigan.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

looks good man.. after i put my new wheels on my t4r, i dont know if i can go back to the stock wheels and tires ever lol. the look is completely different its crazy. However, i kept my stock wheels/tires for long trips. like driving from Maryland to Michigan.

Yeah I hear ya, I'm definitely missing my bronze wheels and tires, the truck just doesn't look the same with the stock rims. Definitely need to paint them for next winter.

 

[carlodonz]

And a side by side

Hi, I like this! Can you tell me the brand or post a link? Thanks!

 

[Bill_B]

Man your attention to detail is awesome!
I will have to keep an out for this rig fellow Pittsburgher

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Hi, I like this! Can you tell me the brand or post a link? Thanks!

This is the one that I have

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Toyota...h=item4672eb7190:g:DgQAAOSwYc5aPfgv:rk:3:pf:0

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Man your attention to detail is awesome!
I will have to keep an out for this rig fellow Pittsburgher

Thank you Bill, I hope to see you around as well :cheers:

 

[MRKNJS]

So I ended up selling and removing my tail as turn modules, I wasn't a big fan of the red brake lights acting as turn signals, and never really used the ridiculously bright double reverse lights, other than to blind a couple people in the parking lot. With the way people drive around here I figured bright as **** amber turn signals was the only way to go, plus when you locked or unlocked the truck the amber fronts and mirrors would blink with the red LED panels in the back and just didn't look right. So, my solution was to get the brightest amber LED turn signal bulbs I could find. These have resistors built in so that you don't need add on resistors to avoid hyperblinking so it was a win-win. I mostly drive in rush hour traffic, so I wanted my turn signals to be obvious, and 2400 lumens each is pretty obvious I'd say. I took a little side by side with the stock bulbs

They are super bright, I just put them in so will have to wait for a night shot, but here they are during the day

Nice! I just got mine in, but i'm having a hell of a time getting it installed. Seems like my harness is short. Did you remove the whole housing to get these in?

 

[Akkording]

Can't go wrong with Lasfit. I have them in my preface front drl/turns and for rear brakes and turns. Makes the truck more modern.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Another Lasfit update

Won a giveaway for some LED bulbs and ended up with a set of way brighter reverse lights which basically give me what I was looking for with the tail as turn setup before I sold it. These suckers are SO much brighter than the more expensive profiles that I bought and replaced with these free LED bulbs lol. Definitely a huge fan of Lasfit products the more and more I use and install on my truck.

Here's a little before and after of the bulbs, you can definitely see the difference in the daytime.

But night time is when you really can see how these suckers work!

Very impressive light output for a set of reverse lights. These are just the reverse lights with no other lighting on the driveway or license plate bulbs, etc.

These bulbs are so bright that I'm going to have to turn down the contrast on my backup camera because I had notched it up due to lack of light output before, you can see the glare now with these bulbs lighting up the camera space

Great little update, and they were free!

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Between snow storms, washed her up nice

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Broke 13K miles on Saturday :faint:

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Can't go wrong with Lasfit. I have them in my preface front drl/turns and for rear brakes and turns. Makes the truck more modern.

Hell yeah, I love Lasfit and they've been a great company to deal with, I will be swapping to more of their bulbs once it warms up more

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Got my new Toyota Console Vault in and had a warm day so decided to install it.

I never kept much in my center console so the clean out was easy, here's the old console tray

And the dividers underneath

All cleaned out with the bolts removed

Here's the vault out of the box and ready for install

Came complete with a dealer display tag

I liked this one because not only is it a Toyota OEM product, but it also keeps the center console outlet

I like that it has a port for the wire which the other 2 brands didn't have

And here it is bolted and installed, nice 5 minute install and now I can keep "valuables" safe in my vehicle