Patsawasy
New member
first of all here what i have. this will work for more than my 4runner.
1997 limited 4runner with flares and runningboards
So i recently moved across the country, and now im broke cause im still waiting for work to kick out some paychecks. But since i love cnstantly working to make my 1997 4runner stand out from soccer mom mobiles, ive been doing some research on what i can do on it for little money. Ill say that these ideas arent my origional, but i did put my own tweak on them. enjoy, and if you have any questions id be happy to help out.
first of all ill post a pic of the truck when it was origionaly purchased so you can see what ive done aside form the few im posting about. the running board were the first thing to come off. gave me a few more inches of body roll 4wheeling. but i do warn you taking off the running board does increas the chance of body damage. ive been lucky but soon ill be getting rock rails
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4Runner002.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
Addition #1 painting center caps on stock rims($9 total cost)
about two hours. most of which is dry time
id love to get some new wheels but this was an amazing addition in the interem. my 4runner is green so i decided to paint them balck and white. you can really do it any color that floats your boat. first thing is to pop them out from the wheel. then i threw down the base coats of black. i did two to ensure a good cover. After that i masked off the toyota emblem and cut it out to paint the logo white. again i did a couple coats. finnaly i threw on a couple clear coat to ensure no cracking and a seamless finish. i think it did a really great job in spicing up my girl. here a couple pics. im happy to post more
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner016.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner015.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
Addition #2 cropping the front bumprer ($0 cost if you have a hack saw and sandpaper on hand
Since i have no money i still wanted the lifted look in the mean time till i have the money to do so. Searching the depths of yota tech i found a runner that had cropped the bumber a bit. this mod a little more labor intensive but its worth it. it gives the truck a lifted prerunner style look thats really nice
Step 1. if you have a limited like me your going to have to lose the bumper peice of the fender flare. there held on by a few(i think 4) bolts that are a pain in the neck to remove. it took me quite awile because i was lacking in the tool department. dont worr this is the hardest part. you just have to get under the bumper and see what connects them.
Step 2. removing the plastic bottom bumper. Theres two ways to do this. the smart way, or the lazy way. i opted for the lazy way and it worked out fine. the right way is to remove the whole plastic bumper then cut it. i just removed the nessesary bolts. the bumper it connected together by bolts that sandwich the two tegether. i took the bolts out of the part that is to be romoved. now you have a dangling bumper (or a completly sepperate one).
Step 3. cutting away.if you look at, theres a clear line on what should be saved and cut. i only kept the center part of the bumper. i simply took the hacksaw and went to town on it. it took about 1 min to cut the bumper as i wanted it.
step 4. now the newly cropped bumper is going to dangle a bit and vibrate, because you have cut off its supports. but wile under the car im sure you noticed the bumper almosts rests on the end caps inder the metal part of the bumper. all i did to stop vibration is to drill two small holes in the cropped bumper and zip tie it to the end caps, because theres holes in the steel end caps.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner011.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner013.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/12.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/123.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
as i said im happy to get better pics or help out any way i can.
and im always looking for new mods to do so id love to hear some imput on everyting. the cheaop standoutish mods are always great to hear about. epecially the obscure ones.
1997 limited 4runner with flares and runningboards
So i recently moved across the country, and now im broke cause im still waiting for work to kick out some paychecks. But since i love cnstantly working to make my 1997 4runner stand out from soccer mom mobiles, ive been doing some research on what i can do on it for little money. Ill say that these ideas arent my origional, but i did put my own tweak on them. enjoy, and if you have any questions id be happy to help out.
first of all ill post a pic of the truck when it was origionaly purchased so you can see what ive done aside form the few im posting about. the running board were the first thing to come off. gave me a few more inches of body roll 4wheeling. but i do warn you taking off the running board does increas the chance of body damage. ive been lucky but soon ill be getting rock rails
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4Runner002.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
Addition #1 painting center caps on stock rims($9 total cost)
about two hours. most of which is dry time
id love to get some new wheels but this was an amazing addition in the interem. my 4runner is green so i decided to paint them balck and white. you can really do it any color that floats your boat. first thing is to pop them out from the wheel. then i threw down the base coats of black. i did two to ensure a good cover. After that i masked off the toyota emblem and cut it out to paint the logo white. again i did a couple coats. finnaly i threw on a couple clear coat to ensure no cracking and a seamless finish. i think it did a really great job in spicing up my girl. here a couple pics. im happy to post more
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner016.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner015.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
Addition #2 cropping the front bumprer ($0 cost if you have a hack saw and sandpaper on hand
Since i have no money i still wanted the lifted look in the mean time till i have the money to do so. Searching the depths of yota tech i found a runner that had cropped the bumber a bit. this mod a little more labor intensive but its worth it. it gives the truck a lifted prerunner style look thats really nice
Step 1. if you have a limited like me your going to have to lose the bumper peice of the fender flare. there held on by a few(i think 4) bolts that are a pain in the neck to remove. it took me quite awile because i was lacking in the tool department. dont worr this is the hardest part. you just have to get under the bumper and see what connects them.
Step 2. removing the plastic bottom bumper. Theres two ways to do this. the smart way, or the lazy way. i opted for the lazy way and it worked out fine. the right way is to remove the whole plastic bumper then cut it. i just removed the nessesary bolts. the bumper it connected together by bolts that sandwich the two tegether. i took the bolts out of the part that is to be romoved. now you have a dangling bumper (or a completly sepperate one).
Step 3. cutting away.if you look at, theres a clear line on what should be saved and cut. i only kept the center part of the bumper. i simply took the hacksaw and went to town on it. it took about 1 min to cut the bumper as i wanted it.
step 4. now the newly cropped bumper is going to dangle a bit and vibrate, because you have cut off its supports. but wile under the car im sure you noticed the bumper almosts rests on the end caps inder the metal part of the bumper. all i did to stop vibration is to drill two small holes in the cropped bumper and zip tie it to the end caps, because theres holes in the steel end caps.
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner011.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/4runner013.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/12.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a208/Studdvegas/123.jpg" border="0" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket~original"></a>
as i said im happy to get better pics or help out any way i can.
and im always looking for new mods to do so id love to hear some imput on everyting. the cheaop standoutish mods are always great to hear about. epecially the obscure ones.
