Carolina's Build Thread

[CarolinaCowboy]

So I just graduated college & will finally have a little extra money to spend on mods for the T4R. This is what it looks like on Day 1. (Up til this point the only modification was upgrading from 225's to 265's and a Pioneer stereo.)

Bare Stock - w/ Running Boards

Bare Stock

Running Boards Removed
Stock Suspension Wheeling after work today...

Planned Mods
ToyTec Ultimate 3" Suspension Lift
4Crawler BodyLift
285/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs
Flowmaster 50 Series Muffler
Exhaust Tip
Grille Guard or Front Bumper

 

[(4)runnin'it]

nice cant wait to see some mods on it.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

already I see things in common to when I did my first mod.

I went from the stockers to the same wheels on yours now back in 08.

Good luck man!

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

So today I finally decided to switch out the front leather cushions since the left side of the driver seat was wearing out and cracking pretty bad just from getting in and out. I know it's not really a mod but I haven't done anything to my truck since I got it really so just figured I'd document everything. If anybody wants to know more about what I did it was really simple, just let me know. The only condition is that you must make sure that the passenger seat does not have a weight sensor which turns on the passenger seat belt light. Everything else is easily interchangeable. Also, apologies for the fuzzy cell phone pics.

Within the next two weeks I'll be having a Magnaflow 14" installed by Henry's Muffler Shop in Raleigh & hopefully I'll have time to do the deckplate mod as well. Pics & videos to come...

 

[durrell]

I live about an hour east of you. 4Runner looks good. Very, very similar to mine.

Also, GO HEELS.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

That's awesome man. Only difference I can see is yours is white & has gold emblems. Once we both get tires & lift, a trip to Uwharrie or somewhere in SC could certainly be in order.

 

[durrell]

I'd love to head to Uwharrie. I definitely need the lift and tires, though.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

same here... i'll have the lift & tires within 6 months though. putting on the toytec ultimate kit, 2" 4crawler BL, and either BF Goodrich MT's or Nitto Trail Grapplers. Gotta make it sound good first though... getting a Magnaflow put on within 3 weeks

 

[Dous]

Have you had work done at Henry's yet? My friend went there and they took out the resonator to put in straight piping and they didnt complete the weld so the damn pipe rattled like hell. He had to go to another shop and the pipe had bent badly and caused some permanent damage. From what I understand there was also a faint smell of marijuana emitting from the premises, hmm, I guess it was 4/20. :bravo:

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

I got the Magnaflow 14" & chrome angle cut exhaust tip put on today at Henry's. I'm not too sure about your friends experience at Henry's but they were very up front with me about everything. I checked the welds and everything was done well. They even alerted me to a slight rattle in my cat converter and did the proper checks to ensure that it didn't need to be replaced... all at no cost for the diagnosis. The exhaust sounds great though and I'm interested to see how it breaks in over the next few days. I'll post pictures sometime tomorrow afternoon. Like most people say... I was surprised at just how big the stock muffler was when they pulled it out. It's about 2 feet in length.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

New Magnaflow 14" Exhaust

 

[Patsawasy]

Why is the muffler tilted at that angle?

 

[brian2sun]

They must have been "exhausted" when they installed it. (ba doomm tssss)

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

Why is the muffler tilted at that angle?

Since it's a offset in/center out that's just the way the muffler sits because of its smaller size compared to stock. The stock one sat level but since this is a universal muffler they just have to line up the in/out. It actually has better clearance than my stock muffler too, even though it doesn't look like it would because it's angled.

They must have been "exhausted" when they installed it. (ba doomm tssss)

Haha... too clever. It took them all of 20 minutes though. I just sat in the garage and checked out the dune buggy they were building.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Since it's a offset in/center out that's just the way the muffler sits because of its smaller size compared to stock. The stock one sat level but since this is a universal muffler they just have to line up the in/out. It actually has better clearance than my stock muffler too, even though it doesn't look like it would because it's angled.



Haha... too clever. It took them all of 20 minutes though. I just sat in the garage and checked out the dune buggy they were building.

It shouldn't be titled like that. My Cherrybomb is center in offset out, but sits level. It's not a huge deal, but they probably got lazy.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

It shouldn't be titled like that. My Cherrybomb is center in offset out, but sits level. It's not a huge deal, but they probably got lazy.

It may just be the piping specific to my truck then. Because the offset in pipe is set above and to the passenger side of the center out pipe. So unless they had bent some piping (which could have changed the need for offset in/center out all together), this is the way it was going to sit.

 

[quicksilvr]

How's it sound?

 

[Patsawasy]

It just looks like you wanted "Magnaflow" to show if you look under the truck, which is fine. Happy driving. I ended up shelling my Magnaflow because it was too loud in tandem with my K&N.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

How's it sound?

It's sounding better every day. I got it installed Monday late afternoon and since that time it has gotten slightly louder with a good bit more throat, which is what I wanted. I don't know how long they generally take to break in but I would say that by Monday of this coming week I'll have it's true sound. But I'm definitely pleased so far.

At cruising speeds it does have a hum inside the cab which I'm fine with. So if you were looking for close to stock sound inside the cabin with good sound outside, I'd probably recommend the 18" over the 14". Haven't heard the 18" but that's just my 2 cents.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

So I got the deckplate mod done yesterday. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow when I get the chance. I had to use a white deckplate cause they didn't have any black ones. I bought a - 6" WestMarine deckplate - but realized when I got home that the 6" they described was the diameter of the hole and not the overall deckplate diameter, so it just barely hangs over the top & bottom edge of the box. The good thing is it lets in the maximum amount of air possible, and there was plenty of room to get the screws in safely. I also used fiberglass mesh that I simply stretched over the deckplate and then popped it into the box instead of using aluminum wire mesh and a ring clamp. It turned out really good. The only thing I didn't do was use any type of sealant. I figured I won't be offroading that hard (crossing any streams) until I get the lift & tires put on.

On a different (but similar) note, I'm a little confused about the removal of the intake silencer mod. I've found a good writeup or two about '96-'97 runners but haven't found anything with good detail and pictures for a '98. I only have one hose connecting to the front intake silencer box, which is unlike any of the write-ups I've seen for '98s which show the need to relocate 2 hoses with T connections. If you guys know of a good one, I'd appreciate it.