Erklep's Build

[erklep]

Erklep's "Build"

A short intro: I came over from tacomaworld.
Heres my 07 DC that I sold to fund the 4runner purchase. She only had 72k on her when I sold her



I took really great care of her and she was immaculate from the day I took ownership until she left my driveway for the last time.

 

[erklep]

Now on to the new girl... 06 4x4 Sport with 92k. Some may consider this a step back/downgrade due to being a year older and higher mileage but I gained 4wd, lockable cargo space, better fuel mileage, a better looking truck imo, a higher resale value, all while putting cash back in my pocket since I got such a great deal on her from a friend.

She was a little neglected but I had plans to get her cleaned up. Grime and plasti-dip on everything


This truck belonged to a good friend of mine who I have known for years. I was the one who installed the Daystar kit (F-2.5/R-1.5) for him when he first bought the truck and back then(6ish years ago), the truck was clean as a whistle. A few years of light trail riding, commutes to and from work, kayak trips etc had gotten her a little filthy. The first project upon bringing he home was to gut the interior, vaccum every crevice and shampoo the entire interior...

scuffs on all the panels




sand, leaves and other debris



Carpet













Steam cleaned the seats

 

[erklep]

picked up a full set of front, rear and cargo Husky liners. Had these in my Tacoma and knew I needed them in the runner

 

[erklep]

Grime in all the door, liftgate and hood channels from parking under a dirty tree



Had to use a toothbrush to scrub this gunk out



first "mod"... ripped out the carbon filter


Painted emblems



attempted to fix the faded black all around with a heat gun




Turned out decent but I wanted a true dark OEM finish so I picked up the Duplicolor Trim paint and went to town.



Much nicer finish and very durable



step rails





Liftgate trim





Previous owner went a little overboard with Plastidip. Here is some removal on the grille




Decided to swap the sport black chrome grille for a satin grille

 

[erklep]

Installed a hardwired Ipod/Aux unit with full bluetooth for my phonecalls



Had some spidertrax spacers from my tacoma but I wanted a little more poke so I went with 1.5in in black anodizing



While I was installing the spacers I went to town on the brake hubs and calipers and cleaned up the rust and sprayed them gloss black to hide away. Also cleaned up suspension and frame and hit them with bedliner spray. You can also see I replaced the hardware holding the mudflaps on




While I had her up on jackstands I dropped the wheels off to my buddy to have sandblasted and powdercoated satin black. Bye plastidip!





Also removed the plastidip from the center caps so I could prep and paint them to match the wheels








265/70/17 General Grabber AT2s if anyone is wondering
Had the slightest bit of rubbing after the spacers were put on so I trimmed the bumper.

 

[erklep]

Headlights were in bad shape so I sanded them down and polished them up





Also ordered a new front bumper(pre-painted) due to the original one flaking.



While I had the bumper off I through in some 5000k HIDs up top and 3000k for the fogs and got the ballast mounted in a great location. Sprayed the lower grille and fog light shrounds with the Duplicolor trim paint





The fogs during the day almost look green but at night they produce a beautiful crisp yellow that truly helps with inclimate weather and illuminates down low and out. I can see sidewalks. After the HID install I properly aimed both the headlights and fogs because I noticed the PO had not re-aimed them after the lift so it was blinding cars ahead.

Got a full set of interior LEDs


Mounted up some D-rings in place of the rear grab handles and mounted a cargo net on the ceiling for carrying light gear. Does not hang and affect my rear view mirror vision at all


Got around to popping off the roof rack system and refinishing that to match the rest of the trim




Took advantage of the rack being off and popped the drip mouldings out and scrubbed all the gunk from under there too



Got some in-channel rain guards for her


I know bull bars are not everyone's drink of choice but I got a great deal on one and it will help those parallel parkers from dinging up my new bumper. Plus I kind of dig the look. (I'm well aware of the additional damage they may or may not cause during a more serious accident)

 

[erklep]

I figured I might as well do the same with the rear so I searched and found a killer deal on a Blackhorse bar. I thought I would love it but once it was on, I hated it! The lateral "U" pieces stuck straight out rather than following the curve of the rear bumper. Out came the angle grinder!


Much better!




Found some metal plugs to fill and clean off the cuts.


Painted the caps up and mounted a Cree LED flood on the back for reverse/camp lighting.(I also have the 55w reverse bulb mod installed!)





The gf is a tiny one and is having difficulty getting in and out of the truck so rather than have her tear up the seat sliding in and out I decided to throw the OEM step rails back on. But only after I powdercoat them!
Here are the mounts all powdered


The steps mounting nuts were stripped to I had to drill access holes in the bottom to get those off before they go into the oven



Rails will be back on shortly(no pic right now)

While I was loading all my emergency gear etc I remembered seeing a thread where someone had the PS rear quarter trim off and there was a ton of un-utilized space under the cargo box. One day I pulled that out and took advantage of about 1-1.5 cubic feet of additional stow away space!


Same goes for the DS but you need to cut an access panel into the trim...




Made up a little tab and used some rivets to hold some mounts in place.
Not the prettiest but extra storage is always great. Keeps the cargo area free of junk sliding around.




Inbetween waiting for parts and downtime I managed to do the fog light mod, map light mod, delete the door chime, 12v power always on mod, replaced the rear window seal, Nanny off mod, LED flood in the liftgate, lifter breathers on front and rear diff, transmission and t-case to under the hood, entire undercarriage was cleaned up and sprayed with bed liner to protect, new battery, also made and installed a washable cabin filter. Next up is a full exterior detail, full 90k maintenance, new axle boots, sway bar bushings and end link bushings.

I am currently running the stock XREAS but I just scored a great deal on a full set of FJ front and rear shocks and springs with less than 20 miles on them so those will be installed in the new few weeks

 

[rich045]

your pics dont work

 

[erklep]

your pics dont work

Damn! I tried to use google photos so I didnt kill the bandwidth on my photobucket. Ill have to go back and edit everything

 

[erklep]

Just went through and rehosted/recoded all the pictures. everything should be up for viewing now:thumb:

 

[T4RNightHawk]

Really nice clean up I'll have to do that to mine using yours as a guide.

 

[The G-Man]

Wow this thing is immaculate.

Could you elaborate on your hardwired input/bluetooth and how well it works? I'm looking into a similar setup.

 

[erklep]

Really nice clean up I'll have to do that to mine using yours as a guide.

Thank you! The couple days of work was certainly worth it imo. Feels like a brand new truck and my ocd meter gauge is no longer about to burst

 

[erklep]

Wow this thing is immaculate.

Could you elaborate on your hardwired input/bluetooth and how well it works? I'm looking into a similar setup.

Thank you! Sure thing. This is an M. Costa unit (found it on ebay for $60). It works flawlessly. Connects automatically upon entering and the sound quality and clarity is great. comes with a wired external mic which you can mount anywhere on the dash. I chose to put it to the left of the steering wheel. Seemed to provide the best volume for the caller when I was testing it.

 

[Freyer]

Great work cleaning the rig all up. I've had mine for months and still need to do that!

 

[06forerunner]

Looks GREAT ! Killer job on the "restoration" Well done

 

[S4TA]

Looks really good. Over what time frame did you do all this? I am slowly restoring a previously neglected 4Runner. Time is my enemy.

 

[bpowa]

Depending if you need the taco for work load or not. Its definately not a downgrade getting a 4runner. I also give my friend and his taco shit for 2wd.

You are doing a great job cleaning it. I always give my vehicles a good scrub down right after I buy it. There are tons of other peoples shit you might not see. Dead skin cells. Dandruff. Hair. Dog hair. A good scrubbkng makes it feel loke mines.

One of the worst vehicles had to scrub was my 4runner. The guy last used it for camping and I swear he never closed the windows. There was tons of dirt and dog hair. The worst vehicle I bought was from an indian couple it just reeked of BO and curry. Mater fact my current 4runner. The previous owner was east indian. But he didnt have funk. Just filth.

 

[erklep]

Great work cleaning the rig all up. I've had mine for months and still need to do that!

Thank you! I was determined to get it all done before my Tacoma was picked up by the new owner

Looks GREAT ! Killer job on the "restoration" Well done

Thanks alot!

Looks really good. Over what time frame did you do all this? I am slowly restoring a previously neglected 4Runner. Time is my enemy.

I appreciate it. It took me a few weeks, working on it after work and waiting on parts etc. The actual cleaning/scrub down only took about 2 full days and thats only because I left everything out for a day to dry before buttoning it back up. They were long days though!

Depending if you need the taco for work load or not. Its definately not a downgrade getting a 4runner. I also give my friend and his taco shit for 2wd.

The 2wd was great for what I needed it for(work and daily commute) and it had the locking rear and believe it or not, it had actually pulled a few vehicles out of some stuck situations that I managed to get through and they couldn't.

You are doing a great job cleaning it. I always give my vehicles a good scrub down right after I buy it. There are tons of other peoples shit you might not see. Dead skin cells. Dandruff. Hair. Dog hair. A good scrubbkng makes it feel loke mines.

One of the worst vehicles had to scrub was my 4runner. The guy last used it for camping and I swear he never closed the windows. There was tons of dirt and dog hair. The worst vehicle I bought was from an indian couple it just reeked of BO and curry. Mater fact my current 4runner. The previous owner was east indian. But he didnt have funk. Just filth.

lol! yeah, I hear you on that. Everyone has their own scent and sometimes its just not compatible with your nose. J+J baby shampoo and febreeze powder under the carpet took care of everything.

 

[flash23]

That thing looks brand new, fantastic job. If I tried to do a deep clean like that, I'd be afraid I wouldn't be able to put it back together correctly.

What all did you use on the headlights? I have one that's pretty bad looking.