Favorite driveability/comfort mods?

T

TejasRunner01

New member
Hey everyone,

I wanted to know what some of your favorite mods are for driveability/comfort on your 3rd gen? Some people have said replacing the seats made a big difference, some suspension and tires...

What has brought your 3rd gen to the next level?

For me it has been my retro projector fit. It made a massive difference in night driving and general look!
 
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The OEM suspension has MUCH to be desired. Half the reason you see so many lifted 4runners is because everybody wants to replace it, and most people use the opportunity to gain a little height while they're at it. My TRD lift in front eats up bumps and dips so much better than stock, there's basically no way to compare the two, like riding in a shopping cart vs an actual car.
New bushings all around makes a WORLD of difference too. Not really a mod, just a tedious task many car owners neglect (if they even realize it, at all).
Another good one is sound deadening material - some people add it in the roof and trunk and it supposedly cuts down the noise by a huge chunk (I'm sure you've noticed your 4runner have an excessive amount of wind/road noise.) Can be quite the weekend job to get it installed, though I've yet to see anybody go through with it end up regretting it, or having anything poor to say. I personally would like to get around to this one day, its pretty ridiculous at times.
Tires make a big difference too - as worn tires cannot trap sound, but too aggressive will cause harmonics on the highway.
 
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Hard not to love the 99+ center console upgrade. Only us 96 to 98 owners will truly appreciate this.
 
1. Bluetooth Kenwood headunit, CarPlay, and new speakers. Nothing modernizes the 20 year old ride more in my opinion.

2. Back up camera. Saved my ass a few times... literally.

3. Projector LED retrofit headlights. As OP stated... night and day difference.

4. Sound deadening. Take a look behind the door panels. Something’s missing...

5. LED interior dome lights. Nice to see the floor of the vehicle when opening the doors and hatch.
 
nobb said:
Which bushings did you replace?
Click to expand...

So far all trailing arms, panhard bar, and both swaybar bushings (and new links). So pretty much everything in the rear, and I'm soon going to replace UCAs and LCAs which will be damn near all of it. All of mine were totally shot with the exception of the swaybar bushings - I just replaced those trying to chase down a clunking sound which turned out to be just a loose sway link lol. Trailing arms were definitely the worst, with practically no visible rubber and made the rear sound like it was falling apart. None of these were hard to do, but the control arms are notorious for being a pain to swap bushings especially with age, and mine are well rusted anyways so why not get a new set and avoid the hassle?
 
Thank you for everyone's replies so far! I really would like to know if anyone would change the way they did sounds deadening after living with it? Would you concentrate harder on certain areas?
Devbot said:
The OEM suspension has MUCH to be desired. Half the reason you see so many lifted 4runners is because everybody wants to replace it, and most people use the opportunity to gain a little height while they're at it. My TRD lift in front eats up bumps and dips so much better than stock, there's basically no way to compare the two, like riding in a shopping cart vs an actual car.
New bushings all around makes a WORLD of difference too. Not really a mod, just a tedious task many car owners neglect (if they even realize it, at all).
Another good one is sound deadening material - some people add it in the roof and trunk and it supposedly cuts down the noise by a huge chunk (I'm sure you've noticed your 4runner have an excessive amount of wind/road noise.) Can be quite the weekend job to get it installed, though I've yet to see anybody go through with it end up regretting it, or having anything poor to say. I personally would like to get around to this one day, its pretty ridiculous at times.
Tires make a big difference too - as worn tires cannot trap sound, but too aggressive will cause harmonics on the highway.
Click to expand...
Yes I completely agree! When I changed out the suspension I redid the bushings and man that really helped!

Sent from my Mi MIX 2S using Tapatalk
 
Spiker's hood struts are worth their weight in gold and are very easy to install if you have a pop-riveter, another idea
Honestly some of the best money ever spent, ****in hate that kickstand!
 
Spiker hood strut, spiker ultra gauge mount, accessory power hot at all times mod, Bluetooth head unit, and replacing all my wood grain out for black trim
 
I got a scratch and dent Bluetooth head unit from crutchfield for like $35, sound quality is so much better than the oem radio and an adaptor, I liked it so much it was one of the first mods I did to my Miata when I got it

Next would probably be a good alignment and tires especially for a lifted vehicle, after many miles driving on crappy alignments from shops that don’t care I found a shop that would let me come in and tell the guy what specs I wanted and only cost me $45 but the improvement in handling and drivability over the toe only firestone alignments is amazing
 
Devbot said:
So far all trailing arms, panhard bar, and both swaybar bushings (and new links). So pretty much everything in the rear, and I'm soon going to replace UCAs and LCAs which will be damn near all of it. All of mine were totally shot with the exception of the swaybar bushings - I just replaced those trying to chase down a clunking sound which turned out to be just a loose sway link lol. Trailing arms were definitely the worst, with practically no visible rubber and made the rear sound like it was falling apart. None of these were hard to do, but the control arms are notorious for being a pain to swap bushings especially with age, and mine are well rusted anyways so why not get a new set and avoid the hassle?
Click to expand...

Oh man, I do wonder what these trucks would ride like with brand new bushings. Are you sure they weren't hard to do? The LCA seems like a b*tch to do after all these years. Definitely would need to get torched out, and possibly a hydraulic press. I hate suspension work in general.
 
Sound deadening and insulating interior.
Less road noise, sound system sounds better, cooler in summer, warmer when it gets to 37*f like it did Friday night was at Expo slept in Runner.
 
- Sound Dampening material in the doors, entire floor board, and rear cargo area/ wheel wells

- Alpine Double Din with Apple Car Play, backup camera and hands free calls

- LED lighting in interior

- Welding the slip joint and shimming the tilt ball in my 240k Mile steering shaft made a major difference for me in drive-ability (not recommended if safety is of utmost importance to you, or if other fam members drive your rig).

- If you're lifted, an aftermarket set of UCAs to get alignment within spec. I was shocked at the improvement when adding mine

- Arguable point, and only my opinion. But, removing the front sway bar made the truck drive much smoother, absorb bumps in the road without as much drama, improved offroad articulation, etc. I don't notice an excessive amount of body roll. I have yet to experience a single downside to removing it, and it's been off for 12k miles. However, literally every bushing in the front end is new, along with new oem steering rack, LBJs, etc (i think removing the swaybar on a worn out 4runner may net you some negative results)
 
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nobb said:
Oh man, I do wonder what these trucks would ride like with brand new bushings. Are you sure they weren't hard to do? The LCA seems like a b*tch to do after all these years. Definitely would need to get torched out, and possibly a hydraulic press. I hate suspension work in general.
Click to expand...

Just did mine last year. Fire pit. Put them in for a while and melted the old out.
 
JLStout said:
Just did mine last year. Fire pit. Put them in for a while and melted the old out.
Click to expand...

I just used the oem bottle jack inside the lca and they popped right out. Make sure you put a ratchet strap around the lca pretty tight so it doesn’t bend though.

Tundra brakes were definitely a nice feeling upgrade, the old brakes felt like they were a bit overloaded with all the extra weight/larger tires.
 
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one of the first things I did was cleaning the MAF and throttle body ( correctly ) and setting the cables for accelerator and kick down correct helps a lot ( often worn and sloppy and out of adjustment). Change out all fluids and filters, plugs and pvc..

Ive done lots of other things too, that too me help a lot in reliability and drivability ( see sig)

Starting later today, upper ball joints, upper control arm bushings, tundra and billies up front and FJ springs and tokico in back, and all the extra steps mods required for the lift.
At least thats the plan,
 
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Looking at upgrading my head unit in my 99' soon. Which Alpine model did you go with?

WeakSauz said:
- Sound Dampening material in the doors, entire floor board, and rear cargo area/ wheel wells

- Alpine Double Din with Apple Car Play, backup camera and hands free calls

- LED lighting in interior

- Welding the slip joint and shimming the tilt ball in my 240k Mile steering shaft made a major difference for me in drive-ability (not recommended if safety is of utmost importance to you, or if other fam members drive your rig).

- If you're lifted, an aftermarket set of UCAs to get alignment within spec. I was shocked at the improvement when adding mine

- Arguable point, and only my opinion. But, removing the front sway bar made the truck drive much smoother, absorb bumps in the road without as much drama, improved offroad articulation, etc. I don't notice an excessive amount of body roll. I have yet to experience a single downside to removing it, and it's been off for 12k miles. However, literally every bushing in the front end is new, along with new oem steering rack, LBJs, etc (i think removing the swaybar on a worn out 4runner may net you some negative results)
Click to expand...
 
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