farmerjon's T4R Introduction & Build Thread

[farmerjon]

Cleaned front skid plates.

I cleaned my skid plates today - the two towards the front... It had been a while since they had been taken off, and I didn't want too much dirt and leaves in there, so I took them off and cleaned them up a bit...

They were extremely oily with lots of dirt... Got the worst of it off; not worried about scrubbing all the oily residue off since it helps to prevent rust... But now I have all the big chunks of dried mud outta there...

 

[tylerbaird]

The 4Runner is looking great man. It'll look 100x better without the running boards. In your comment you said you were thinking about getting 265/75R16's, but do you ever plan to lift? You may want to consider 285's if you plan on lifting this thing. And did you have a certain brand of tire in mind?

 

[farmerjon]

The 4Runner is looking great man. It'll look 100x better without the running boards. In your comment you said you were thinking about getting 265/75R16's, but do you ever plan to lift? You may want to consider 285's if you plan on lifting this thing. And did you have a certain brand of tire in mind?

Hey! Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it! I'm not really planning to lift this thing, since it is my daily driver (or will be after I get rid of the Lumina - as stated before, I need it to commute to a summer job that's only 1.5 miles away - want to save the city miles/wear and tear on the 'Runner), the stock lift is enough for me and I'm content...

I'm actually content for a number of reasons, 1) don't want it higher profile, because we have a lot of wind and it's already harder to drive in with an SUV, so if I raise it, it'll attract more wind (in theory, anyhow) and 2) raising it will probably lower my MPGs as well... Plus, I think it's the perfect height and I'm a fan of leaving most things stock... (depending on what it is! )

So I don't think I'll be able to run 285's without trimming or lifting, since (I think!) they'll rub too bad. Sounds like 275's will work though, thanks for confirming man! This set is brand new and I actually really like them - best set of tires I've ever owned, GREAT in the rain (wasn't afraid to drive faster in the rain on the interstate coming home, since I new I had good traction) so I'll probably drive these until they're worn down...

After that, considering some Duratrac's in a 275 or something similar...Not looking too hard for tires right now. Might even upgrade the rims, I really like yours!

Are Duratrac's considered snow tires or mud tires or can you use them year round? Where I live, I feel it's good to have year round, because you're constantly experiencing weather extremes, you can see snow and rain and sunny skies in the same day - wet roads and black ice and snow...

So yeah... and YES, taking off the running boards eventually! Not sure what it'll look like on my own 'Runner! Worried it might look naked or something

 

[tbst]

I would look into Treadwrights. They are retreads. They are safe. Literally tens of hundreds of thousands of tires have been produced and I have never read a negative review online.

It is what I plan to buy.

 

[Millerad1651]

Duratracs are considered all terrains. From countless reviews I've read they are good in all weather. I plan on getting a set eventually. With no lift, you can run a 265 75 16 with no to very little rubbing.
As for the lift, you can do something similar to mine, which netted me 2". No mpg decrease, and drives the same as stock, actually better since the suspension is upgraded. But a new set of duras and taking the running boards will give you the look of a lift...still looks good IMO.

 

[tylerbaird]

Hey! Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it! I'm not really planning to lift this thing, since it is my daily driver (or will be after I get rid of the Lumina - as stated before, I need it to commute to a summer job that's only 1.5 miles away - want to save the city miles/wear and tear on the 'Runner), the stock lift is enough for me and I'm content...

I'm actually content for a number of reasons, 1) don't want it higher profile, because we have a lot of wind and it's already harder to drive in with an SUV, so if I raise it, it'll attract more wind (in theory, anyhow) and 2) raising it will probably lower my MPGs as well... Plus, I think it's the perfect height and I'm a fan of leaving most things stock... (depending on what it is! )

So I don't think I'll be able to run 285's without trimming or lifting, since (I think!) they'll rub too bad. Sounds like 275's will work though, thanks for confirming man! This set is brand new and I actually really like them - best set of tires I've ever owned, GREAT in the rain (wasn't afraid to drive faster in the rain on the interstate coming home, since I new I had good traction) so I'll probably drive these until they're worn down...

After that, considering some Duratrac's in a 275 or something similar...Not looking too hard for tires right now. Might even upgrade the rims, I really like yours!

Are Duratrac's considered snow tires or mud tires or can you use them year round? Where I live, I feel it's good to have year round, because you're constantly experiencing weather extremes, you can see snow and rain and sunny skies in the same day - wet roads and black ice and snow...

So yeah... and YES, taking off the running boards eventually! Not sure what it'll look like on my own 'Runner! Worried it might look naked or something

I'd definitely recommend the Duratrac's to anyone. They look awesome, perform great, and are actually pretty inexpensive.

 

[farmerjon]

Hauling

Yesterday, I hauled a load of firewood home - with O/D off and ECT on, and set the cruise for 55 MPH - the 'Runner handled it like a champ! I'm very impressed with it!

Trailer looks sagging because the hitch receiver is low... (weird how high the receiver is without a trailer, then it looks low with one...)

Pictures!

 

[farmerjon]

Broke 20 MPGs!!

Driving cross country, I only got about 17-18 MPGs on the interstate - going 75-80MPH. Of course, the gas most places was junk (or I'm spoiled) but now that I'm home and using ethanol-FREE fuel, MPGs have gone up.

I broke the 20 MPG barrier, I got 20.1 miles per gallon on the last tank. and that's with aggressive driving, going 70, along with hauling a 700 LB load in the back for about 50ish miles of the tank.

 

[farmerjon]

Wheeling photos!

Did some awesome off road today! All kinds of stuff - it was a blast! The 'Runner handles rock with ease, clears all kinds of stuff, and climbs super!

Notice I still have the running boards on. Didn't even scrape them up at all...

I love this thing!

Of course: :worthless:

Photos - all from today... First three are testing my flex, the rest are various places I was...

 

[farmerjon]

You know you drive a Toyota when...

You know you drive a Toyota 4Runner when...someone asks you how tall your lift is and you say... STOCK!

 

[farmerjon]

The Lumina died....

Well, my Chevy Lumina died last week. It needs a new alternator, this will be it's 3rd one will we've had it since about 180K... My friend who is a mechanic is coming over in a few weeks to help me replace it and hopefully I'll have my external transmission cooler installed on my 4Runner as well!

Looking forward to working on the 'Runner!

Coming soon (hopefully all in the next month/month-and-a-half):

• sleeping platform
• Chassis treatment (still torn between POR-15 & VHT rattle can stuff)
• external transmission cooler
• Running board removal - CHECK! (6/10/12)
• Ultraguage
• Radio pocket
• Front Mud flaps

 

[farmerjon]

Running boards! Yea or nay?

I need some help here! Should I take off my running boards or not? So far, I've taken off the passenger's side and I have mixed feelings about it...

You can see more of the chassis underneath, it almost looks naked without the running boards... Also, I am concerned about more gravel hitting the side of my 'Runner without the running boards there...

EDIT: the look is starting to grow on me. It looks like a free 4-6" lift!

Thoughts?

Before and after:

 

[farmerjon]

Not really T4R related, but I just pulled this 1.5" nail end out of my BFG front passenger tire... NASTY thing!

 

[farmerjon]

As I mentioned above, I took off my running boards, finally. If I thought I liked this truck before, I love it now! It looks awesome without and so much higher... While I was under there, I noticed that my sway bar endlink on the passenger side was broken, I have no idea how long it has been like that...

After taking the running boards off, I HAD to go wheeling... :lookout: So I went! Some pictures:

Flexin'!

Poser shot (notice the stormy clouds...)

And some others...

This was after we got out... some serious mud... Used 4H and got out!

 

[4-Ripcord]

lookin good. :thumb3:

 

[Hepar]

I dig it too!

You might want to get some front mudflaps though as your running boards acted as the same when they were on.

 

[farmerjon]

lookin good. :thumb3:

I dig it too!

You might want to get some front mudflaps though as your running boards acted as the same when they were on.

Thanks Ripcord & Hepar!

 

[farmerjon]

My T4R made it to Toyota's T4R page!

Toyota said that if we T4R owners posted a picture of our T4R on their Facebook page, they would add it to their timeline, in the respective years the vehicle was made (i.e. the 1998 SR5 goes to the 1998 section of the T4R page)...

So I submitted two of mine, and one made it! Totally rad!!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...set=a.211763377104.138082.181224177104&type=1

To enter, just post a photo with the model year in the caption...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...set=a.211763377104.138082.181224177104&type=1

 

[farmerjon]

Coming up...

Coming up this weekend, I hope to install a tranny cooler, radio pocket, and new front sway bar links... Excited!!

 

[farmerjon]

Well... Only the radio pocket got installed this weekend. The sway bar endlinks were too expensive locally so I had to order them online...

I broke my rear passenger rear shock - due to rust and stress, it just snapped. So I'm in the market for two new rear shocks... No lift...

And my camera got drowned by my CamelBak, so I don't have one of those either...