Chitown's 97 T4R Build, "Walter"

[chitown4x4]

Hey Folks,

I want to start off by saying thank you to many of you for all of the great info on here that has lead me to purchase my second 4runner, this time a 3rd Gen.
I have had 2 FJ cruisers, A Tundra, A Tacoma and a 4th Gen runner though out my life so far...
Thought that I needed to own a 3rd Gen at this point in my life with the budget that I have.

I located this truck in Brooklyn Minnesota out side the Twin Cities about 3 weeks ago at the end of August.
Its a SR5, V6 Manual Trans 4x4 that is cleaner than clean can be on the inside.
The outside shows its wear and had a disintegrating rear bumper, but the rest of the exterior was really quite good and rust free.

Here is the Kicker,, The thing only has 41k miles on it!!! Here are my take home pictures! I have plans for this one!! Enjoy the build.. this one might go faster than most... It is such a fun truck!!

 

[brian2sun]

Congrats! So did you name the truck "Walter" or is that your name?

 

[rickashay]

^ I hope that's the trucks name!

 

[chitown4x4]

^ I hope that's the trucks name!

What if it is my name... what is wrong with Walter ?

Yea,, my Daughter Named the truck and My Wife went along with it.. so the Poor trucks name is Walter.

 

[chitown4x4]

So I have a new bumper on order to get rid of the Rusted out crap and I also picked up these sweet clear out lights for the front!!
The Headlights I also replaced to what i thought was the 2001+ lights.. The old ones had been shot with a BB gun and had the BB still inside the housing!
LOL You gotta wonder what owners do with their cars before you buy them

BEFORE...

After!!!

 

[rickashay]

What if it is my name... what is wrong with Walter ?

Yea,, my Daughter Named the truck and My Wife went along with it.. so the Poor trucks name is Walter.

lol sorry, it didnt come out as I was thinking it would.... I was thinking that Walter, is a awesome name for a 4Runner, and that it suits it perfectly. I wasn't being sarcastic, but stoked! haha

Truck looks great!

 

[Hepar]

Nice to meet you Walter! Looking good. I really like the clear signals and corners. Cleans up the front end a lot.

 

[blcktpgsr]

Looking good!

 

[96743runner]

Wow only 41k miles?! Nice find.

 

[BrianSD_42]

If you are going to name it Walter then you should consider referring to by his alias: Heisenberg
http://www.carillonregina.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/3agoodfilmguide-co-uk.jpg

 

[Dezert4Runner]

Yup, the clear corner clean up the front end a lot!

I remember this screen name from TTORA. That 2nd gen Tacoma was so badd a$$!

FS: 2008 Tacoma REGCAB Long Travel Total Chaos - TTORA Forum

How are you planning on building this one?

 

[chitown4x4]

Yea... that was a bad A$$ truck.. It got sold to Hawaii of all places! Im sure it will be well used there. This 3rd Gen was purchased to eventually be my off road toy exclusively in the future, But for now, its going to be dual duty Daily Driver/ Kids School Bus/ Off road play thing.

Im keeping stock tires and suspension while it is a daily, but the future is going to be Long Travel with it unless there is a big reason not to do it. I love going fast off road!

Here was the Tacoma....

 

[Hepar]

Yea... that was a bad A$$ truck.. It got sold to Hawaii of all places! Im sure it will be well used there. This 3rd Gen was purchased to eventually be my off road toy exclusively in the future, But for now, its going to be dual duty Daily Driver/ Kids School Bus/ Off road play thing.

Im keeping stock tires and suspension while it is a daily, but the future is going to be Long Travel with it unless there is a big reason not to do it. I love going fast off road!

Here was the Tacoma....

Whoa... :wow:

I think I'd like to look into a LT on mine sometime down the road too. I too prefer going fast over crawling.

 

[chitown4x4]

If you are going to name it Walter then you should consider referring to by his alias: Heisenberg
http://www.carillonregina.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/3agoodfilmguide-co-uk.jpg

That dudes name is Walter?

 

[fightman80]

Nice find man! Truck looks great man!

 

[BrianSD_42]

Actually his name is Bryan Cranston and he won Best Actor at the Emmy's (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series) in 2008, 2009, and 2010 for playing Walter White, the lead character in Breaking Bad.

Sorry for hijacking your thread but Walter is one bad@ss dude and BB is pretty much one of the best shows on TV so if you are going to name it Walter I just wanted you to know!

Breaking Bad - Promo AMC HD - YouTube

 

[brian2sun]

Whoa...

I think I'd like to look into a LT on mine sometime down the road too. I too prefer going fast over crawling.

Actually, LTs do pretty well in the rocks too. I'm very much thinking about doing an LT on mine instead of a SAS...

1) An LT kit is a lot a lot cheaper than an SAS.

2) The Tundra CVs are a little stronger than the stock CVs so they definitely won't be any worse than what I got now.

3) Since the Tundra CVs are 3.5" longer than the 4runners, the angle isn't as steep at rest or at full droop so they have a lot less binding (which means fewer broken CVs).

4) I would still get to use my front diff (which is nice since I have a lot of $$ in it with my 4.88 gears and my front ARB locker).

5) I could go twice as fast in the desert than I can now (or if I did an SAS).

Seems like an LT kit is a much wiser choice than an SAS at this point for me. It costs so much for an SAS (even if you find used parts), I think I'd rather just buy a older Yota that already has a SFA or a Jeep for about the same price.

Actually his name is Bryan Cranston and he won Best Actor at the Emmy's (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series) in 2008, 2009, and 2010 for playing Walter White, the lead character in Breaking Bad.

Sorry for hijacking your thread but Walter is one bad@ss dude and BB is pretty much one of the best shows on TV so if you are going to name it Walter I just wanted you to know!

Breaking Bad - Promo AMC HD - YouTube

"Breaking Bad" is the best show on TV! BTW, if you're not hip to the show (I know you are Brian) Heisenberg (my avatar) is Walter's alias on the show. Bryan Cranston is a serious bad ass. Going from playing the Dad on "Malcom in the Middle" to Walter on "Breaking Bad" shows he is really one of the best actors of our time. If you haven't watched it, rent that sh*t!

 

[Bamf_CT2004]

Im keeping stock tires and suspension while it is a daily, but the future is going to be Long Travel with it unless there is a big reason not to do it. I love going fast off road!

Let me be the first to welcome you to the Midwest. Good luck trying to go fast unless you dont mind the occasional tree getting in the way. Nice find though, especially up in MN.

 

[chitown4x4]

Installing the new rear bumper this weekend.... Daughter had to help out, the 4runner is just a big play pen at this age!

 

[chitown4x4]

Well I finished up the rear bumper and put some FJ Wheels/ tires on him. I think it rounded out the look pretty good!