Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build
- Thread starter Dirtco
- Start date
quicksilvr
New member
Best first post I've seen in a long time.
Dirtco the rig looks amazing as always. I want one of those 10" LED bars eventually...the output is sweet for something that small. Also, when I look at the dead spots you currently have, my first thought is that you need another set of the amber Dually's, just pointed out to the dead spots and tilted down a bit more than your center ones. All I'm going on is your pictures though, so in real life your solution might be better obviously.
awpsome
New member
ive always been looking at those LED lights, but i always make it to the checkout then cancel..
its all because i have no idea what size to buy and the price point.
But **** looking at your photos for the dually d2s. thats insane BRIGHT!.
i knew they were bright but **** those are a lot more then i thought..
is amber better then white? in the sense of light output and visibility offroad?
price differences between that single row and your duallys?
haha NICE!
its all because i have no idea what size to buy and the price point.
But **** looking at your photos for the dually d2s. thats insane BRIGHT!.
i knew they were bright but **** those are a lot more then i thought..
is amber better then white? in the sense of light output and visibility offroad?
price differences between that single row and your duallys?
haha NICE!
Dirtco
New member
Not a problem, I know you have been waiting a while to see those pictures. I ordered the diffused SRM lights so I’ll post up some pictures of the difference once I get them.
I hate mud too! It’s my daily driver so I really try to keep it clean, but one look at the under side of the 4Runner and you can tell that it gets wheeled on a normal basis.
Thanks man! I’m glad that I could give you some ideas and inspiration to build up your 4Runner, that’s why I take the time to post all this stuff. Good luck with the build, and let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks quicksilvr; the light output of the 10” SR bar is awesome for the size! I have the Specter series, which is a little bit brighter than the regular SR bar. The pictures don’t do the lights justice; you really need to see them in person. The amber Dually’s are mainly for snowy and dusty conditions, they are bright but the white is much brighter for normal conditions. I think a set of white Dually’s would be great, but they are pricey and I already have the SRM flood lights. I’ll give them a shot and see what I think. I would really love to have a 30” or 40” bar, but that’s way out of my price range!
It took me a long time before I could pull the trigger on them too. Both lights are very bright, the Dually’s seem brighter in the pictures but it’s the color, pattern and the fact they are aimed lower. The light bar is aimed higher for more distance; look at the trees behind the gate, the light bar has the advantage when it comes to distance. Like I said above, I bought the amber color for snowy and dusty conditions, they cut through the snow great. The white is better for normal conditions.
I would have to look up the price, but I think the 10” Specter series SR light bar was close to the same price as the pair of D2 Dually’s. Both are driving beam patterns. Between the two I have a good combination of light for different conditions.
These are not my pictures, or the best, but it gives you a good idea of how the light color can change your vision in snowy conditions. I found these on Pirate when I was researching the lights, I will try to take some pictures of my own once it starts snowing again. The glare back from the white light is crazy in a snowstorm, but the amber cuts right through it.
Bandit Runner
Senior Member
The Rigid LED's are really cool. I picked up a pair of 6" single row spots a while back. Now I just need to build my custom roof rack so I have a place to mount them.
I also plan on getting a set of Dually fogs to put in my front bumper. I greatly dislike my KC fog lights. I just have to figure out how to put a square peg in a round hole.
I also plan on getting a set of Dually fogs to put in my front bumper. I greatly dislike my KC fog lights. I just have to figure out how to put a square peg in a round hole.
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TCMach
New member
I'm pretty sure nobody has said this before, but your rig is absolutely beautiful. I would say the color is probably the best color that you can get a 4Runner in (apart from IJM maybe but I'm biased haha). Can I borrow 5% of your fabrication skills so I can weld up a custom roof rack?
Seriously though keep up the good work. It gives the rest of us an excuse to continue spending money on our rigs to try and keep up! :hatsoff:
Seriously though keep up the good work. It gives the rest of us an excuse to continue spending money on our rigs to try and keep up! :hatsoff:
T4Rex.
New member
well after spending the last 45 minutes of my life looking/whipping drool off my computer i have decided that we need to become best friends when i get to Colorado! you have an AMAZING 4Runner! Very nice welds and very kick ass bumpers/sliders/ and i got to have one of those racks that u built on the roll bar, simply baddAs$!
Dirtco
New member
I have to say I’m a big fan of the Rigid Industries lights; you will love them! You are right though, the size and shape of the lights take some planning to fit, and look right. It seems that everyone is used to round lights. You’ll figure it out!
HaHa, Thanks man! I’ll try my best to keep helping you spend money, until I get cut off!
I like both, it’s hard to say without seeing the D2’s in white. The amber color is not as intense as the white so it’s not a fair comparison. Either way I think you will be happy; they are close in price so I would get whatever fits your rig better, if that’s not an issue I would lean toward the SR light because it’s brighter and looks cool.
I want to say that I’m about ½” to 5/8” longer than stock, but I’m not 100% sure. I adjusted them two or three times after the initial set up, I was counting threads for the fine-tuning process.
Dirtco
New member
Thanks, I really appreciate the kind words!
It's been a lot of work but I really like how everything has turned out, it's a great all around vehicle and daily driver. Where are you moving to in Colorado? There's a huge presence of 4Runner owners here in Colorado, and bunch of them are on this site. You shouldn't have any issue finding some buddies to go wheeling with. Hit me up when you get settled in and we'll find a trail or two to run.
Dirtco
New member
It's been a while since I updated this, we'll start with some small stuff...
I got the new Rigid diffused light in and installed. They made a huge difference; the light is not so intense and the pattern is more spread out. I don't have nay pictures in action yet, but I'll get some in the next week or two.
I got the new Rigid diffused light in and installed. They made a huge difference; the light is not so intense and the pattern is more spread out. I don't have nay pictures in action yet, but I'll get some in the next week or two.
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Dirtco
New member
…And now on to the larger stuff. Bare with me, this is going to get long.
It’s been a rough couple weeks, I took the 4Runner out to do some light wheeling on a couple trails I have never ran before. In the process of airing down I noticed gear oil leaking out from the driver side rear hub. It was obvious that I had a leaking rear axle seal, so I took it back to the shop and removed the calipers and ABS sensors to see what was going on. I could see the seal and adapter where it presses into the front solid axle spindle. There was a little flap of rubber hanging down off the seal, so I ordered two seals and one extra adapter so I would have a spare. I put the truck back together and waited for the parts to come in.
Once the parts came in I tore the driver side all the way apart and found more damage than I expected. The axle shaft had been rubbing the seal adapter and ate away at the seal too. I spent a lot of time looking at the spindle and it looked like it was not machined correctly, the old stock bushing where the new seal adapter presses in had an oblong wear pattern. I didn’t think much of it, but now it seemed like a red flag.
I had a spare spindle, and the adapter, so I installed them and put the truck back together. I took it for a short test drive and everything went to hell, fast! After five miles it sound like the rear end was coming apart, I pulled over, felt the d/s of housing, and it was so hot I almost burned myself! I limped it back to the shop and tore it apart again the following day and this is what I found.
Aluminum in the gear oil
It’s been a rough couple weeks, I took the 4Runner out to do some light wheeling on a couple trails I have never ran before. In the process of airing down I noticed gear oil leaking out from the driver side rear hub. It was obvious that I had a leaking rear axle seal, so I took it back to the shop and removed the calipers and ABS sensors to see what was going on. I could see the seal and adapter where it presses into the front solid axle spindle. There was a little flap of rubber hanging down off the seal, so I ordered two seals and one extra adapter so I would have a spare. I put the truck back together and waited for the parts to come in.
Once the parts came in I tore the driver side all the way apart and found more damage than I expected. The axle shaft had been rubbing the seal adapter and ate away at the seal too. I spent a lot of time looking at the spindle and it looked like it was not machined correctly, the old stock bushing where the new seal adapter presses in had an oblong wear pattern. I didn’t think much of it, but now it seemed like a red flag.
I had a spare spindle, and the adapter, so I installed them and put the truck back together. I took it for a short test drive and everything went to hell, fast! After five miles it sound like the rear end was coming apart, I pulled over, felt the d/s of housing, and it was so hot I almost burned myself! I limped it back to the shop and tore it apart again the following day and this is what I found.
Aluminum in the gear oil
Dirtco
New member
At this point it looks like the housing is bent, considering I bent a shaft it only makes since that the housing is bent too. So I drove the wife’s Turbo S Beetle down to Yota Jim’s and picked up a new housing.
It fits!
And here it is ready for some work
In the process of getting the housing ready, and wire wheeled, I noticed that the sway bar brackets were messed up. It looks like PO beat them in with a sledge hammer! WTF? You can see what looks to be hammer marks on the bracket and the coil bucket, it also had some surface rust so I don’t think it was salvage yard. If Toyota changed the bracket design for a certain model year please let me know, but this really doesn’t look like it’s factory.
My truck
It fits!
And here it is ready for some work
In the process of getting the housing ready, and wire wheeled, I noticed that the sway bar brackets were messed up. It looks like PO beat them in with a sledge hammer! WTF? You can see what looks to be hammer marks on the bracket and the coil bucket, it also had some surface rust so I don’t think it was salvage yard. If Toyota changed the bracket design for a certain model year please let me know, but this really doesn’t look like it’s factory.
My truck
Dirtco
New member
I’m not going to lie, after seeing the sway bar brackets I was a little concerned about the housing. I did a dry test fit with all the major components but I really can’t see or tell what’s going on. There’s no scratches or rock marks on the housing, as long as the PO wasn’t out jumping it, or hit in in an accident it should work fine. So I crossed my fingers and said screw it, I REALLY hope this housing isn’t bent!
Since the housing was out I decided to make some other modifications. First on the list was to cut out the drain plug; it catches on everything, and over time the rocks will knock the drain plug loose, or make getting the drain plug out impossible.
Here’s the old drain plug after a few trips
New housing
Since the housing was out I decided to make some other modifications. First on the list was to cut out the drain plug; it catches on everything, and over time the rocks will knock the drain plug loose, or make getting the drain plug out impossible.
Here’s the old drain plug after a few trips
New housing
Dirtco
New member
I also installed a HD diff guard; I trimmed the bottom down a little bit, made several passes with the welder and smoothed it all out so it will not catch on any rocks.
Last on the list was to modify the lower shock mounts. I had to add some extra bumpstop to keep the 35’s from rubbing, with the bumpstops I didn’t use the last inch of uptravel on the shocks. I also hated how low the shock mounts were, so I cut an inch out of the lower mounts. That gets the shocks out of the rocks a little, and gives me more down travel without sacrificing uptravel.
Before
After
Last on the list was to modify the lower shock mounts. I had to add some extra bumpstop to keep the 35’s from rubbing, with the bumpstops I didn’t use the last inch of uptravel on the shocks. I also hated how low the shock mounts were, so I cut an inch out of the lower mounts. That gets the shocks out of the rocks a little, and gives me more down travel without sacrificing uptravel.
Before
After
T4Rex.
New member
Planning on moving into the the northglenn, thorton area. Yeah I have been talking to alot of guys at Toytec Lifts about moving out there. Its better for my family so I plan coming out there in the next week or 22 depending on when I find a place to live. I have a pittbull that is 4 months old and he has became a big part of our family so finding a place to accept him has been difficult.
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