Hellatronic's 2000 Runner

[Hellatronic]

Well, I've been lurking here on the forum for quite some time, and I figured it was time to post up my "build." My original goal with this truck was to get a project my bf and I could work on together so I could learn a little more about autos and also end up with a cool camping/expedition rig. Over the course of ownership my goals and priorities have changed a bit, but I think I'm still staying true to my original purpose.

For my project I knew I wanted a 3rd gen. In my opinion they're just the best looking and they had the right mix of off-road capability, aftermarket support, affordability, and creature comforts. After reading this forum a bit and studying the insanely handy 3rd Gen 4Runner Buyer's Guide, I had my heart set on a 99-00 4WD runner, preferably with the rear locker - because, why the hell not?

So, after a bit of a search I finally found the one in September of 2015. Here she is in all her glory, pretty much stock with 175K miles on the odometer:

There were some things that needed to be done right away. Namely disabling the radio antenna motor (it was of course broken and made that horrible grinding noise every time you turned on the truck), removing the shitty decals on the back window the previous owner had, and replacing the burned out passenger side marker light bulb. Other than that, I had a pretty blank slate to start my project. I just needed to smog it and get new plates...and that's when the real fun started.

 

[Hellatronic]

The "fun" begins....

I took the truck to DEQ to pass emissions and get tags/plates and was surprised when they let me know I failed the test. The reason? My MIL was on. "But...It's not on on the dash!" I cried. The tester replied, "well then it's burned out." So, I returned home empty handed with a problem to solve. The excitement and joy of my new purchase was quickly fading.

I'll leave this part of the story brief. In summary someone had effed with this truck and after some digging we found that the MIL wire had been cut. We fixed that and plugged in a scan tool to read the codes. At various times there were codes P0420, P0125, P0120, P1133, and P1135. But the most common and persistent code was that bastard P0420. So, I replaced the A/F sensor and took the truck back through DEQ. I was able to pass, but P0420 popped its ugly ass head back up on the drive home from the station. A new O2 sensor, clean MAF, O2 spacer, and finally 2 new cats made the damn light go away. :redbrick:

 

[Hellatronic]

Time for some more updates. Since I started this "Build" quite some time before this thread, there is some catching up to do. I will try to stick to the bullet points, and not mess with the little things.

Our basic list of goals is as follows:
-2" lift
-32" Tires and spiffy wheels
-Rock sliders
-Bumpers and a swing out tire carrier
-Winch
-Projector retrofit
-Possibly a petite roof rack to mount our RTT and Awning
-Possibly a sleeping platform and drawers for storage.

A few less exciting things done:
Weathertech floor mats, Scanguage II, B@M Trans cooler and new OEM Radiator, Several new sensors and new cats, Double Din stereo with some Watts hidden and a backup cam, OEM Timing belt kit, 231mm Tundra front brakes, Deka Intimidator AGM battery and custom battery hold down...and more

First off, we want to go with a fairly modest and un-assuming look. Smaller lift and armor that doesn't protrude much. V1.0 started with a 1.5" spacer lift on all 4 corners and some fresh 265/75/16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs. Heres a before and after we installed the lift.

Then we decided to put some SCS F5 wheels with the 3.5" backspacing

Now for some of the more cool stuff. My BF is a machinist and fabricator by trade, so that allows us to have some neat custom stuff. He built these low profile sliders and they will be installed pretty soon. They will be tucked in real tight and just serve as basic rocker protection and a nice step to access the roof rack a little easier.

We're also going to make custom bumpers and a swing out tire carrier later on, but he is really picky so until he nails down something that looks right, that will be put on hold. Im hoping he can pull off Aluminum bumpers to keep the weight down.

Suspension V2.0 will now consist of Old Man Emu 906 rear coils and Bilstein 5100's F/R. Today he got the rear installed and it rides surprisingly well! We went this route because we wanted to keep about the same lift as the spacers provided, but delete them and some of the complications that come with spacer lifts.
Saturday we're going to a good friends suspension shop to install the front 5100 struts and new OEM lower ball joints. Excited to see how it looks afterwards :guitar3:

Another thing on the to-do list is a projector retro-fit. We have these laying on deck ready to be installed soon.

 

[Hellatronic]

Heres a few photos of some of our adventures in our trucks. We really enjoy wheelin', camping, and "Overlanding". Hopefully with some of the new upgrades, we can start doing more of it in my truck.

Heres out RTT in action on top of our 85 pickup, and a couple from 2017 Easter Jeep Safari in Moab Utah. Its our 2nd year going and we hope to go many more!

Here are a couple photos from our most recent snow wheelin' trip. I was really impressed with how well it did. It got around a little easier than our truck did

And a couple more stray shots from various trips that have taken us off the pavement

 

[TonyB66]

There were some things that needed to be done right away. Namely disabling the radio antenna motor (it was of course broken and made that horrible grinding noise every time you turned on the truck)...

If you didn't address the power antenna yet, this can help, last post in particular:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/127343-stereo-wiring-diagram-color-power-antenna.html

I just cut that wire today, and it's ready for a switch...

 

[ElectroBoy]

Nice job on the build!:clap2:

 

[ElectroBoy]

Great pics. How did that pickup ever climb out of that vertical gully in Moab?

 

[Hellatronic]

Great pics. How did that pickup ever climb out of that vertical gully in Moab?

Thanks! The pick up was so close to climbing out - I think if we had a front locker or a little longer wheelbase it would have walked right out of it, but in the position we were at the front was taking some hops we weren't comfortable with (we had to drive it back home to Oregon after all) so we just backed out instead.

 

[Hellatronic]

If you didn't address the power antenna yet, this can help, last post in particular:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/127343-stereo-wiring-diagram-color-power-antenna.html

I just cut that wire today, and it's ready for a switch...

Thanks! This will come in handy.
Cutting the wire to the motor was one of the first things we did so the antenna just doesn't move. For now, we just roll around with the antenna pulled up half way. I have a tacoma whip antenna waiting to be installed but haven't gotten to it just yet. I still need a couple small parts for it.