G.I.G.'s Build Thread

[G.I.G.]

I figured I have finally done enough mods and upgrades to my 4Runner to justify a build thread. I've been getting more PM's with questions regarding my lights, lift, etc. so I figured this would be a good reference thread. As always though, please feel free to PM me with questions.

Here is my '07 4Runner Sport Edition V8 4X4 when it was bone stock. I bought brand new in June of '07. This picture was taken just a few months after I bought it....

First real upgrade was going up to P265/70/R17 Bridgestone Revo's....

Then came the Toytec 1" leveling spacer lift up front. I also added Spidertrax wheel spacers shortly thereafter....

 

[G.I.G.]

Lights

I installed a set of PIAA 520 ATP off-road lights last year with the help of A10MileHusker. Bracing the lights from underneith the plastic bumper so they wouldn't bounce around was a pain, but other than that the install went very well.

I used an OEM Tacoma fog light switch in one of my blanks next to the center diff lock switch to give it a clean, factory look. I spliced into the center diff lock switch so the Taco switch would illuminate with the rest of the gauges when the parking lights or headlights are turned on.

 

[G.I.G.]

Removed resonator, rerouted exhaust out the side

A cheap, practical mod is to remove the resonator and reroute the exhaust out the side. It has two benefits. 1) It drastically reduces, if not all together eliminates, the sulfur smell inside the truck when driving with the rear window down and 2) It reduces the chance of scraping the tail pipe on the trail. The poor departure angle of the 4th gen 4Runners combined with the rear exiting exhaust pipe made it a prime target when 4-wheeling. For the new exhaust tip and labor I was only out about $100.

Here is the old resonator with the Toyota exhaust tip. You can see where it had taken more than a hit or two out on the trails....

New exhaust tip....

 

[G.I.G.]

Fire Extinguisher

Another quick, cheap, and practical mod is to install a fire extinguisher in the rear cargo area.

Here is the fire extinguisher before the install with the parts and mounting hardware....

After the installation....

 

[G.I.G.]

OME 3" Lift

I just recently installed an Old Man Emu 3" suspension lift and a Toytec diff drop kit with the help of some great members here and on RM-4wd. Below is the list of OME components I used.

2 x OME885 Front Springs
2 x Front shocks 90000 Nitrocharger sport shocks
2 X OME895 Rear Springs
2 x Rear shocks 60004 Nitrocharger Sport

We also installed a Toytec diff drop kit while doing the lift.

Below are a few pics from the install....

Front before:

Front after:

Rear before:

Rear after:

 

[G.I.G.]

LT285/70/R17 Goodyear Silent Armor Tires

With the new lift installed, I wanted to move up to a 33" tire. I stuck with an AT tire because my 4Runner is still my daily driver, but I did go with a LT-rated tire rather than a P-rated tire for more sidewall strength and durability while 4-wheel'n.

With my old 32" Bridgestone Revo's....

With the new 33" Goodyear SA's....

 

[ric]

:guitar2: looking Mr.Cater,, now time for some sliders and armor :guitar2:

 

[G.I.G.]

:guitar2: looking good Mr.Cater,, now time for some sliders and armor :guitar2:

Thanks, Ric! Yup, Shrockworks sliders and Budbuilt skids are next on the list, along with some Light Racing UCA's....

 

[K.C.]

Love the 3" lift & 33s...that's how the 4Runner should have came from the factory!!

...a few questions if you don't mind...

1) What made you choose GYSA vs something like BFG KM2?
2) Are you running a spare?

 

[WhiteChevelle]

Thanks, Ric! Yup, Shrockworks sliders and Budbuilt skids are next on the list, along with some Light Racing UCA's....

if you want your sliders in a year from now, you better order now- cause its gonna take that long to get them!! haha

 

[G.I.G.]

Love the 3" lift & 33s...that's how the 4Runner should have came from the factory!!

...a few questions if you don't mind...

1) What made you choose GYSA vs something like BFG KM2?
2) Are you running a spare?

Thanks, K.C.!

1) My tire choice was based on several different factors. First, I wanted to stick with an AT tire over an MT because my 4Runner is still my daily driver. I'd always like to go wheel'n more, but the fact that I commute about 50 miles a day in the city and that the 4-wheel'n season here in CO can be relatively short for some of the better trails that take you above timber line (some trails are not passable until late June or July) made me realize that an MT just wasn't a good fit for me yet.

I had my AT tire choice narrowed down to the Goodyear Silent Armor, Bridgestone Revo 2, Nitto Terra Grappler, and Goodyear Duratracs. I wanted to stick with a Load range C or D tire because I felt a load range E tire would be too stiff for a mid-size SUV that is not running aftermarket bumpers, a winch, dual batteries, etc. That eliminated the Revo 2 and the Nitto TG that only come in load range E in the size I wanted. The Duratracs were very tempting because they seem to be the perfect balance between an MT and AT tire. Something I noticed about the Duratracs when I saw them in person is that the siping only goes down about an 1/8 of an inch in the tread blocks, which leads me to believe that they will loose significant wet and snow traction after about 10k-15k miles of wear. That combined with the fact that they are relatively new tires and they do not come with a treadlife warranty steered me towards the SA's. Also, the Goodyear tire shop I went to actually quoted me less for the SA's. I'll give the Duratracs a good look again when I need to replace the SA's because users will have more miles on them at that point. There are a lot of glowing reviews on the DT's right now but I think they are still too new for me to have taken the gamble. I also think a lot of people are still in the "honeymoon" phase with their DT's so I'll wait to see what people have to say about them when they have 40k or 50k miles out of them. Anyway, that was my thought process.....good, bad, or indifferent.

2) I am running a full size spare and it barely fits with the receiver assembly that comes with the V8 4Runners. Anything bigger would require the spare to be mounted on the roof or a rear bumper swing arm.

 

[G.I.G.]

if you want your sliders in a year from now, you better order now- cause its gonna take that long to get them!! haha

Yeah, I've heard the lead times for Shrockworks sliders can be long but I've never heard a year. 2-3 months seems to be a pretty standard turn-around time from what I have read.

I'm also going to go up to Slee Off-Road in Golden to see if they can make me a set. Last year when I was there they said they don't make sliders for 4th gen 4Runners but I don't know if that has changed. I wouldn't mind being the guinea pig either if they needed my 4Runner for a while to take measurements, do custom fabrication, etc. We'll see but I'm not holding my breath....

 

[G.I.G.]

Light Racing UCA's

After doing my lift, the shop couldn't get the alignment all the way back within factory specs. The only way to solve that problem was with new UCA's. After-market UCA's also provide additional clearance over the factory UCA's when you are 4-wheeling and are fully extended in the front suspension, causing the factory UCA to contact the spring if you are running a lift.

There are several companies that make after-market UCA's for the 4Runner, but I had two criteria when shopping for new UCA's to narrow my search. 1) I didn't want UCA's that used a uni-ball design because they are prone to squeaking and 2) I didn't want to spend a small fortune for them. That led me to the Light Racing UCA's. Just holding them side-by-side to the factory UCA shows how much more beefy the Light Racing UCA's are over the stock UCA's. Not to mention the adjustable caster and camber, the attractive price point, along with the additional clearance they provide, made them a no-brainer for me.

 

[PTY507]

you really have spend some time with your ride. It looks great. Congrats.

 

[G.I.G.]

you really have spend some time with your ride. It looks great. Congrats.

Thanks. It has consumed a lot of my time (and money) over the last couple of months but I am pleased with the progress. A K&N intake, sliders, and skids are next on the list....

 

[G.I.G.]

Volant CAI

I installed a Volant CAI intake earlier this summer and just got around to taking a few pics of the finished product.

When I installed my lift and went up to the larger Goodyear SA's, I obviously lost some MPG's and a bit of the responsiveness that I was accustomed to with my mostly stock 4Runner. The Volant CAI was able to retrieve most of the MPG's and the responsiveness that I lost when I added the lift and tires.

I was initially looking for the K&N CAI, but after talking to Jason at Burtman Industries I decided I would give the Volant a try. The Volant is a complete box rather than the K&N that just uses a partition to separate the warm air of the engine bay and the intake filter. Not to mention, when I go 4-wheeling a lot of water and mud gets kicked up into the engine bay, so I thought the Volant protects better against that than the K&N would.

The Volant has an additional intake port on the front of the box which is apparently there for the optional ram air intake for the Tacomas. I e-mailed Volant to find out if they make (or plan on making) a ram air option for the 4th gen 4Runners that have a hood scoop but no dice. I got the idea from Chaz to seal off that additional port with a rubber end cap you can buy from Home Depot in the plumbing department. This should keep most of the warm air from the engine bay out.

The tone of the CAI is nice at higher RPM's and under moderate to heavy acceleration. It reminds me what I have under the hood! However, the sound is fairly quiet under gentle acceleration and unnoticeable at idle.

 

[Toy4R4Me]

truck looks great!

if you don't mind me asking what was your mpg after lift/tires and after the volant addition? (according to the onboard computer)

 

[G.I.G.]

truck looks great!

if you don't mind me asking what was your mpg after lift/tires and after the volant addition? (according to the onboard computer)

It's hard to say exactly, because you are actually traveling about 5% farther than your ODO and MPG calculator are reading by going to 33" tires vs. stock 31" tires. I was running 32" inch tires before the lift, so it was a slightly smaller difference than going from completely stock to the new lift and tires.

From my best estimation, I lost about 2 mpg's going with the lift and 33" tires, and I gained about 1 mpg back by adding the Volant. Sorry I can't be more specific than that, but it's not a huge difference overall.

 

[G.I.G.]

Bud Built Front Skid

Replacing the front skid on my 4Runner has been on my list of things to do for a while, and I finally got around to it. I ordered a Bud Built front skid with the black powder coating from Bud Built a couple of months ago. From the time I ordered the skid to the time I received it, it was under a week. Bud was very responsive to my questions and my order shipped the day after it was received. I highly recommend Bud Built. Here it is brand new right out of the box.

You can tell just by holding this skid plate that it is very well made and extremely durable. It is cut from 3/16" steel and is much beefier than the stock skid plate. The fit and finish are flawless, and it aligned perfectly to the factory mounting points. It's a shame that something so well made will be for the most part unseen, but it is well worth the piece of mind. Installation was simple, and is no different than installing the factory skid other than the added weight of the Bud Built. Below are a couple of pictures of my factory skid showing the amount of abuse it took.

Since I have the V8, I am hopeful that I will not have to remove this skid plate in order to reach the oil filter from now on. The factory skid plate comes up much higher on the sides than is really necessary, making it impossible to reach the oil filter without removing the skid. The Bud Built skid still offers protection on the side, but leaves a little more room between the skid and the sway bar. I waited until I needed to change my oil to do the Bud Built install since it required the removal of the factory skid, but I will report back after my next oil change to see how it goes with the Bud Built skid installed.

Here is a before shot with the factory skid. Notice how uneven it is from taking more than a couple of blows on the trail....

After the Bud Built install....

Seeing the quality of the Bud Built front skid first hand, I would like to eventually replace all of my skid plates with Bud Built skids.

 

[Bigrupp]

Looks good. I'm gonna need to replace mine. It looks a lot like yours did- all crooked and beat up.