Building Red October

[Red October]

This is my build up of Red October my trusty 20 year old truck.

Current pic...

Some other pics along the way (no particular order)...

What Red Is
- Base '97 4Runner 4x4
- 2.7L I4,
- 5 speed W59 manual gear selector
- 16" wheel package, including big brakes and 4.56 axle ratios

Engine/Powertrain
- Completely re-built/ replaced/ (re-re-build coming) engine*
- LCE Long Tube Header
- LCE High Flow Cat
- Marlin HD clutch

Front Suspension
- OME 881's
- Tundra Bilstien 5100's, second perch
- Sway bar delete
- Toytec diff drop
- Stainless brake lines

Rear Suspension
- LC Tokico black shocks
- Toytec SuperFlex Coils
- Panhard drop
- Replaced all links
- Toytec extended stainless brake line

Armor
- 4xInnovations sliders
- Savage rear tube bumper
- Booty Fab tire swing out
- Booty Fab front bumper

Wheels/Tires
- 285/75r16 Goodyear Duratrac tires
- Limited "5 star" wheels Painted Dupli-color Graphite

Misc Mods
- New longer roof rails, roof re-enforcement
- LED interior and hatch lights
- Custom roof rack and cargo management
- Perimeter lighting from roof rack
- CBI ditch light brackets with Ebay 25 watt single LED "light cannon" clones
- Sound deadening and insulation



This is where it all started

 

[Red October]

Once upon a time in the far away land of Arizona, a kid learnt how to drive. That was the beginning of an obsession. I learned to drive at the ripe old age of 11, yes my parents were irresponsible. It was a 1988 Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup, and I just got to drive it around in a field. But I started out the right way; Wheelin! Between then and now a good number of rigs have come and gone, but I still like those roots. Nothin better than being out in the dirt.

My latest rig was a Zuk. Here it is. I really loved this little truck, it was tons of fun.

 

[Red October]

Then wifey and I decided that we needed some more space and power, and the ability to lock our car, a/c, etc. So we started lookin for a reliable rig that would do the trick and make her, uh I mean "us," happy. We landed on this diamond in the rough.

This shot was taken moments after handing the PO a good sized stack of dead presidents.

Here she is in all her new-to-us glory.

 

[Red October]

I know that I have been cursed, or blessed, whichever, by the Mod Gods, so the stockishness just wouldn't do. Besides, with around 200k miles on the clock Red needed some stuff.

After driving her around for a week or two to get used to the ol girl and formulate a plan of attack, we were ready. The list started getting long tho.

In no particular order.
- AZ is hard on paint, but I'll take that over rust any damn day. Top of this list, bottom of the real list
- Worn out shock and springs
- Warped brakes
- Ball joints
- Some burnt exhaust valves, this required some pretty serious head work, so I just pulled the whole motor to have it completely freshened up. Should be good as new in about a week when I get it back. ( Famous last words, since this fiasco lasted for nearly two months!)
- Ugly wheels (says wifey, I actually kinda dig them, and they are staying because I found another set of them so now I have matchy matchy wheels for my expo trailer project and spares. But they get paint for sure.)
- New Marlin 1200# clutch, since my 200k stocker was slipping and I have the motor out anyways, might as well.
- Roof rack, because I wanna. Its a good excuse to make something for this rig to kinda make it mine. Will be adding longer roof rails and re-enforcing the roof as well.
- Armor, but probably a ways down the road.


So we started ordering parts. I also quickly explained to wifey that it made no sense to buy stock parts when "better" parts could be had. You see what I did there?

 

[Red October]

Stay tuned. This thing should get a lot more interesting over the next few weeks.

 

[TCMach]

looks like a good pile of parts! Can't wait to see how it looks after you get done with the lift.

 

[derpiful]

Quite a nice little pile of parts! Definitely excited to see where this is going to go!

 

[Aelfwine]

Once upon a time in the far away land of Arizona, a kid learnt how to drive. That was the first big mistake. I learned to drive at the ripe old age of 11, yes my parents were irresponsible. It was a 1988 Mitsubishi Mighty Max pickup, and I just got to drive it around in a field. But I started out the right way; Wheelin! Between then and now a good number of rigs have come and gone, but I still like those roots. Nothin better than being out in the dirt.

My latest rig was a Zuk. Here it is. I really loved this little truck, it was tons of fun.

Nice to see a fellow Zuk dude around here. My previous rig was an 01 GV. Awesome little truck but I grew out of it. Still have it though, at my buddy's up north. I like to take her for a spin every now and then!)))

 

[Ademb]

Nice one mate, I love me a red rig. Look forward to seeing the updates!

 

[Troybylt]

That 4 cyl header threw me for a loop, maybe I'm too tired but often times I forget not all 3rds are V6's, I was trying to wrap my head around why you only bought the header for one side and why there where four pipes started thinking you had a V8 planned...

If you find yourself looking for more umph out of the fourbanger check out [MENTION=25058]ChildrenOfBodom[/MENTION] 's rig, he changed out damn near everything on his rig but chose to keep the 4cyl. He super charged his I believe.

 

[Red October]

Thanks for the kind words fellas! :bounce:

Im pretty excited! I actually love this part of owning my rigs, I get to build it into something that I like.

 

[Red October]

So over the last couple days I have basically gutted poor Red. But this eventually happens to every rig I own. Right now I'm re-enforcing the roof, putting on lift parts and freshening some things up while I wait for the engine to come back from the machine shop.

Wheels painted, and waiting to be wrapped up in new shoes. That's Duplicolor Graphite, baked on. I'm likin it much better than the stock silver.

Workin on installing the longer roof rails, and adding some extra strength.

And tonight I got most of the rear lift installed. LC Tokiko shocks, fit perfect, and the OME 890s net right at 3" of lift with the stock bumps in them, very happy so far.

 

[Red October]

Another thing I'm going to try is adding a light duty rack inside the roof. Maybe enough to hold fishing rods or something, up and out of the way.

I had to remove my headliner to add the roof rails, and I destroyed the plastic push fasteners that hold up the headliner, so I added some nut-serts in their place, we will see how well this works when I get it all back together.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Nice start! Mine used to be red too. If you ever want to do a 3.4 swap let me know. Here in a month I'm going to have mine available.

 

[Red October]

Nice start! Mine used to be red too. If you ever want to do a 3.4 swap let me know. Here in a month I'm going to have mine available.

I do appreciate the offer, but I actually wanted the 4 banger believe it or not. Its ironic that I have twice the truck as my Zuk and get the same gas mileage. :high5:
This thing is gonna be my driver for a good while, so it will be built in the mild flavor, for now.

 

[AZ4Running]

Nice choice on the 4runner you wiol love it. The 2.7l is a good motor and has plenty of power. I had a 96 taco with the 2.7l and it did very well. Once you get yours 4runner on the road we will have to have a Az 4runner meet and do a littke offroading. There are a few other Az guys on here as well. Check out my thread on my 97 sr5 4runner.

 

[Red October]

Thanks man! I'm really happy with the truck so far, and I'm only thinkin good things.



Aren't they purdy!?

Tundra 5100's, new tops and OME 881's on the second setting. Should be good for about 3" of lift, if I did my homework right.

 

[RockenAlex]

So over the last couple days I have basically gutted poor Red. But this eventually happens to every rig I own. Right now I'm re-enforcing the roof, putting on lift parts and freshening some things up while I wait for the engine to come back from the machine shop.

Workin on installing the longer roof rails, and adding some extra strength.

Nice rig name! Looks like this will be a good build!
I was wondering if you could share some insight into this ^ roof strengthening thing you got going on here. I can't exactly tell how this is strengthening the roof but I'm interested to try it if it does in fact help at all, and if you can put the headliner back in. Also, do you have a sun roof? Because if not that could be an issue if I try this on my own rig!

Thanks man!

 

[Red October]

Nice rig name! Looks like this will be a good build!
I was wondering if you could share some insight into this ^ roof strengthening thing you got going on here. I can't exactly tell how this is strengthening the roof but I'm interested to try it if it does in fact help at all, and if you can put the headliner back in. Also, do you have a sun roof? Because if not that could be an issue if I try this on my own rig!

Thanks man!

Check out this link, I'm kinda just doing the same thing this fellow did, but with a couple changes because I added aftermarket rails that are longer than the stock ones.

Reinforcing the Roof ~ Living Overland

Mine doesn't have a sunroof, but the one from this article does.

Also, I plan on putting my headliner back in for sure :thumb3:

 

[Red October]

Well today I buttoned up the roof rails, and added insulation to the roof, hatch and rear panels, should make Red a more comfortable ride.

I also added some hatch lights,... ooooooo shiney...

Also some footwell illumination, I had the wiring all backwards so they still aren't a hundred percent but it's coming along.