Gift for my son

P

PBR1

Member
With my son turning 16 this year I've been feverishly looking for a vehicle for him and I narrowed it down to a 3rd Gen about 8 months ago. I looked at more than a dozen before I found a 2000 SR5 2wd (yes 2wd) with 170k miles. It's not perfect but it's pretty clean in and out.

He turned 16 yesterday and my wife and I totally surprised him and he was beside himself. He's a great kid who works really hard and deserves it.

After MANY hours of research I figured out what lift I wanted and which tire/wheel combo to run. I called Wheelers and the outstanding people there really helped me get exactly what I needed. Also a huge thanks to T4R and it's members, what a wealth of knowledge.

Here's what I ended up with:
Bilstein front and rear
OME 881/890
SPC Upper
Pro Comp AT 285/70r17
Pro Comp Rockwell wheels 17x8.5 0 offset
Replaced LBJ with factory parts
New rack bushings

Here are a few before and after pics:
 

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I'd rip on you for getting a 2wd but honestly this is pretty awesome. Question is did you rope him in when you did all the suspension work or was that part of the surprise?
 
Looks good. He should enjoy the ride. :] I prefer the OEM rims myself but those are decent after market ones. :]

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk
 
TCMach said:
I'd rip on you for getting a 2wd but honestly this is pretty awesome. Question is did you rope him in when you did all the suspension work or was that part of the surprise?
Click to expand...

The idea for the 2wd is less maintenance for a first vehicle.

The plan was for him to do the lift with me but because we decided to surprise him I did the lift without him. He's been spinning wrenches with me since he was walking and he will be doing all the work with me going forward.
 
brillo_76 said:
Looks good. He should enjoy the ride. :] I prefer the OEM rims myself but those are decent after market ones. :]

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I too am a fan of OEM wheels but with the 285s I need a wheel with more width and offset because it would have rubbed on the upper arm without spacers.
 
That is excellent. Looks great. Hope your son realizes how lucky he is. My first car was a Pontiac Sunbird station wagon for a year. At least he didn’t get that Camry sitting on the street.
 
Awesome. Now you need to get him a profile on the forums here so he can learn how to take care of, fix, (and possibly slowly modify) his ride in the future!
 
Pretty awesome first set of wheels!

Their acceleration being so abysmal is actually a good thing for a 16 year old.
 
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that is a luckily son lol I had to wash dishes when i was his age, and saved up for my first car.

I can't wait to have a son....this makes me envious. But I will be holding the beer while I watch him learn he hard way of doing it your-self lol

Then paid my way through school got a bachelors in mechanical engineering now all I drive is clunkers and my wife gets the new cars. What happened there :love:
 
He is one lucky boy! Good for u dad! Love it.My daughter is 12 but already claimed my 4R, she needs to wait 5 yrs.
 
Nice ride and transformation. You really hit the ground running on that one. It wont be long until he may want a 4wd, ha.
So 285x70x17 tire, and 17x8.5 zero offset rims. Any clearance issues? Would you do things differently next time around?
I agree, your sone needs to join this forum next
 
That is an awesome gift (truck looks great) and he sounds like a good kid.

Also great to see a parent giving their child a reasonable first car. I have had family members buying their 16 year olds $20k-$30k vehicles and I am just dumbfounded.
 
I brought my oldest the 96 4 runner limited that is now our car again. He drove the hell out of it throughout hs and part of college. Evidently he offroad the thing all over Tucson with his friends and camped in the desert with girls. He said it was the perfect hs car in the desert. When they had big parties in the desert he never got stuck like many of his friends...lol. Now he is purchasing a new TRD pro 4 runner trw and becoming a full Toyota 4 runner offroad member.
 
bought a '98 for my daughter

Thought I'd piggy back on this thread about buying a '98 SR5 4x4 for my 14yo daughter. I bought this about six months and been hiding it at a buddy's house since it'll be a surprise when she is of driving age, which is when she turns 15. The price was too good and the mileage was low given the age so I couldn't pas it up.

I'll keep scouring the classifieds for a set o fuse Bilstein 5100 lift combo for a 2" or so lift. I'd like to present it to her with the running boards removed and a mild lift.
 
PBR1 said:
With my son turning 16 this year I've been feverishly looking for a vehicle for him and I narrowed it down to a 3rd Gen about 8 months ago. I looked at more than a dozen before I found a 2000 SR5 2wd (yes 2wd) with 170k miles. It's not perfect but it's pretty clean in and out.

He turned 16 yesterday and my wife and I totally surprised him and he was beside himself. He's a great kid who works really hard and deserves it.

After MANY hours of research I figured out what lift I wanted and which tire/wheel combo to run. I called Wheelers and the outstanding people there really helped me get exactly what I needed. Also a huge thanks to T4R and it's members, what a wealth of knowledge.

Here's what I ended up with:
Bilstein front and rear
OME 881/890
SPC Upper
Pro Comp AT 285/70r17
Pro Comp Rockwell wheels 17x8.5 0 offset
Replaced LBJ with factory parts
New rack bushings

Here are a few before and after pics:
Click to expand...

2wd 3rd gens are still super capable offroad, especially if you air down. How well does the stock 2wd gearing handle those 285s?
 
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