Hi-desert Cheapskate build thread

[Hi-desertT4R]

Welcome to my thread. My name is Matt. I’m originally from Salt Lake City, UT. I have lived in Southern Nevada since 2005. I’m an Environmental Compliance Technician for a hazardous waste landfill. I’m also an Emergency Medical Responder in Nevada. I love the outdoors and spend as much time as possible.

My 2007 SR5 4WD V6 was purchased new from Findlay Toyota in Henderson, NV in Feb. 2007. It is titanium metallic with stone gray interior. Sunroof, Homelink, compass and cargo net…pretty basic.

The 4Runner stayed mostly stock until 2015 when I finally lifted it. This forum was a huge influence in my rigs progression. I appreciate all the members who have taken the time to post maintenance and mods for all our benefit.

The dealership did all the routine maintenance for the first two years and replaced one inner cv boot. Except for a couple alignments I’ve done all my own maintenance and modifications.
If it’s not broken, fix it till it is.

Her name is The Silver Cow cause she’s big heavy and slow

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Quick list of mods/upgrades:

Suspension

Bilstein 6112 w/650# springs
Dobinsons 1/4” spacers
JBA upper control arms
Whiteline LCA bushings
Toytec diff drop
Durobumps front
Supreme Suspension sway bar
relocation brackets
Icon 2” springs rear
Toytec 3” HD rear springs- removed
Icon 2.0 Aluma-series shocks
Toytec 2” rear bump stop spacers- removed
GX rear bump stops
eimkeith PCK
Energy Suspension pan hard bushings
Energy Suspension poly sway bar bushings-rear
YotaMafia extended ss front brake lines
Toytec extended ss rear brake lines
Dobinsons adjustable lower rear links
Freedom Offroad adjustable upper links

Toytec 3” lift springs front-Removed
Bilstein 5100 fronts @ .85”-Removed
Toytec adjustable pan hard-Removed

Wheels

KMC XD 17” 0 offset
Falken Wildpeak M/T 285/70r17
Kenda Klever 285/70r17 spare
TPMS off mod

American Racing Baja 17”-Removed
Ironman All Country M/T 285/70r17-Removed

Armor

True North Fabrication kit bumper- front
North West Trail Innovations kit bumper-rear
Hot Metal Fab rock slider kit
DIY engine & mid skid
DIY lower link skid
RCI T-case skid
RCI Metalworks gas tank skid

Lighting

Auxbeam FT-1 LED low/hi
GS Power Tacoma ditch light brackets
Nilight light pods w/yellow Lamin-X
40” light bar-roof
Sealight RGB rock light kit
Auxbeam 6-way chase lights
Lasfit LED reverse lights

DIY

Body mount chop
Body lift 1/2” UHMW
Rear link skids
Skid plates
Splash guards
Rear diff breather mod
Cabin air intake screen mod (critter mod)
Running board delete
Mud-flaps chopped
Hitch mount tire carrier
and Hi-lift mount
Rear bumper chop
Console radio/accessory mount


Performance

Nitro Gears 4.56’s
ECGS solid spacers and bushing
Eaton E-locker- rear
Super Pro steering rack bushings
HCF delete
K&N intake filter- removed
Cowl intake mod
Resonator delete
$8.00 side exit exhaust

Storage

Armrest hidden console
Pelican storm case
Rigid packouts
Yakima Mega-warrior roof rack
Monkey Fist

Interior

Pioneer FH-S700BS head unit
Crux SWRTY-61S SWC interface
Metro DDXL-8202 gap fillers
ScanGuage 2
LED dome and map lights
ottratw switches
DAC relocate to dash
8 ball shifter knob - removed/replaced
Circion Designs cup holder insert
Center console hidden compartment
Lev-O-gage
HDPE cargo liner
3D printed TEQ shift knob
DIY dash radio/phone mount
Ram mount
Slip-grip 2-way radio bracket

Gear & Recovery

Smittybilt XRC 9500 winch
True North Fab recovery point/
frame tie ins
Hi-lift 48” farm jack
Viair 300p compressor
ARB Speedy Seal 2
Raymond Innovations TireEQ
MaxiTrac deflator
Husky 10k 30’ tow strap
RhinoUSA 8’ tree saver
Husky D-ring shackles
D handle shovel
X-bull traction boards
Tred board
Cold Steel trail axe.
Sven Saw collapsible bow saw

Comms

Midland MXT275
Midland FRS
Baofeng UV-S9PLUS
Nagoya UT-72 mag mount antenna

Maintenance

Valvoline Max Life- Transmission
OEM transmission filter @ 164070
Lucas 80w-90- T-case
Power steering flush w/Maxlife atf
Lucas 85w-90 diffs
Denso SK20HR11 spark plugs
Brakes-
Power Stop KC137-36 Z36 kit- front
Power Stop kit- rear
BrakeBest E-brake kit
Lucas synthetic dot 3
Napa V-power serpentine belt & idlers
5th gen Cv boots
Left CV replaced-twice
Axle tube seal Timken 710595
Outer axle seals SKF 28739
ECGS solid bushing
SuperPro poly steering rack bushings
Throttle body and MAF douche
Moog rear upper control arms
Moog inner/outer tie rods
Factory Toyota clock spring
EverStart 27f AGM
GM diode

Needs:

Coolant flush
Valve cover gasket

In the works:


Marlin Crawler HD LCA brace kit
Rock Rash Performance spindle gussets


Wishlist:

3.0 D-4D 1KD-FTV turbo diesel
FJ T-case
Werewolf Portals
Marlin RCLT
Swing out tire carrier

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Fog light mod

Living in Las Vegas at the time,
tint was the first necessity.
I went with 35% ceramic tint all around
with a brow on the windshield.
Never really cared for the running boards
so off they came.
Installed a Yakima Mega warrior roof rack.
Did the HCF delete and K&N filter.
Removed K&N and run a stock Toyota filter. We have some really fine dust in the desert and the K&N just doesn’t cut it.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Fog lights

Fog light independent on was the next mod following J.A.’s guide. Later on I added Lamin-x amber film. Hated the orange. Removed shortly thereafter and installed Sealight 3000k LEDs.

Edit. Fog lights removed after front bumper build.
Fog light mod reversed.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Lift

In 2015 I installed a 3” Toytec lift with front Bilsteins set at 0”, rear HD Superflex coils and their Boss shocks. Also installed Toytec’s adjustable panhard bar.

Currently I’m on my second set of Bilstein 5100’s up front set at .85”. The rears were replaced with Icon 2.0s in 2021.

I have JBA upper control arms and installed Whiteline bushings in the LCAs.

Dobinson’s adjustable lower trailing arms.

Toytec rear bump stop spacers and extended stainless brake lines in rear.

 

[TLar25]

Got any current pictures of it?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Runnin on E]

Just curious how much off road driving you did before the Bilstiens stopped working?

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Current pics

Today as of 12/18/21

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Just curious how much off road driving you did before the Bilstiens stopped working?

Thousands of miles on harsh Nevada backroads and intermediate difficulty 4 wheeling. I have property in northern Nevada and it’s 25 miles off pavement so it gets a lot of time on washboard and rough embedded cobble roads. I had them installed for about five years till the right side started leaking and then the shaft came loose from the valve inside the shock.

One thing I wouldn’t do again is set them above .85”(second from bottom).
It has a lot of pre-load and rides terrible in the front. My next set of shocks will most likely be Dobinsons IMS.

You may be able to see oil all over and the plastic cap on the shock body pushed up. You can also see how bad my stock upper control arms contacted the spring.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Body mount chop

So in 2018 I bought new wheels and tires. I went with American Racing Bajas in black 17”x9” with -12 offset and Kenda Klever a/t 285/70r17. I bought five of each to have a matching spare.

First few times wheeling I found that I had tire contact with the left body mount.

I used an angle grinder and reciprocating saw to cut it back then I made a filler plate with flat stock and booger welded it. One of these days I’ll cap the end. Edit: finally capped the end

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Body lift

BMC worked great. No more contact there. I was however getting tire rub other places. I decided to research body lifts. Being cheap I decided on diy. I followed someone else’s write up. Basically I used 1/2” UHMW to make pucks. I used 2-1/2” and 3-5/8 hole saws to cut them then reamed the centers in increments with drill bits till they fit. 31/64th
I believe. I used 1/2x7-1/2” bolts for the two rearmost mounts, all other stock bolts were reused.

While I was at it I removed the front mud flaps and chopped the rears. Also I folded back the left pinch weld.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Roof rack

Yakima Mega Warrior roof rack was added early on, not the greatest but has served me well. I’ve made a number of different brackets over the years to attach tools and lights. I like the Quick Fist brand Monkey Fists to hold tools. I also like to use firearm cable locks to secure the tools. I made some basic brackets out of some random L shaped brackets I had laying around and some 1/4” stainless u-bolts to attach them. Currently I have a t-handle shovel, a traction board and a 40” light bar mounted up there. There are two rear facing KC lights that are currently disconnected.

For a short period of time I had my spare up there. That sucked. Getting a 60+Lb wheel off and on the roof was a pain. My wife would have been SOL had she gotten a flat if she was driving it. I made a tire carrier but that’s a bit later.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Cabin air intake

On multiple occasions I had rodents get into my cabin air filter. I used basic hardware cloth and some 5mm bolts and nuts to secure it to the intake under the cowl. Seeing how others have done this makes me want to redo it cause it looks lame.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Side exit exhaust

I bought a 2-1/2” 90° exhaust elbow from Auto Zone for about $8.00. I cut the resonator off about 1/4” in front of the inlet. I cut the hangar off the resonator and cut the left leg off the “A” shaped bracket. I trimmed it to fit around the elbow and booger welded it.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Sway bar relocate

Supreme Suspension sway bar relocate brackets were cheap off of Amazon. Just the ticket.

Amazon.com: Supreme Suspensions - Sway Bar Brackets for 2005-2022 Tacoma 2003-2009 4Runner and 2007-2009 FJ Cruiser 2WD 4WD T6 Aircraft Billet Aluminum Sway Bar Drop Brackets (Silver) : Automotive

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Rear link skids

Made these lower link skids with inspiration from mikestang.com. I cut them from 3-1/2” .25 wall square tube. I left short tails on them to extend under the mount a bit.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Rear sway bar end links

I played around with the rear sway bar end links. First I used 1/2” round tube to extend them. Ran it this way for a number of years. Second I pieced together a pair out of heims, threaded rod, misc hardware and energy suspension end link bushings.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Push bar

Got a set of Smittybilt bumpers for a Wrangler for free. Sold the rear for fifty bucks, installed the front one on the 4Runner. I removed the lower grille opening and cut the lower center section of the bumper out. Mounted it directly to the crash bar using 1/2” grade 8 bolts.
Now removed

Made an aluminum filler plate to help protect the radiator out of 3/16” aluminum sheet I got for free.

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Whiteline lower control arm bushings

I replaced my lower control arm bushings in 2020 with Whiteline W53312 bushings following this tutorial by [MENTION=429038]y=mx+b[/MENTION].

Whiteline Lower Control Arm Bushing Tutorial (120+ Pictures)

 

[Hi-desertT4R]

Upper control arms

I went with JBA upper control arms. I like the HD Chevy/GM style ball joint. These corrected the alignment issue I’d had since it was lifted. It drove straight but the steering wheel was crooked. Now perfect.