I found "The One", 2001 Sport Ed. TRD SC'd

[SCRunner12]

Great job with everything BFAD. That sucks to hear about the issues with CBI especially since before this I've hear only great things. O well it all worked out in the end.

I guess great minds think alike because I was thinking about those 1st gen graphics for the past few weeks. I even checked out the vendor on TW that Ripcord linked. I think I would go with it if I didn't have the cladding on the side. It would be too much going on with mine, but it would look awesome on yours. Sockmonkey does great work, but his prices are a bit high so you'd definitely have to make sure you wanted to do it.

Also don't put anything on the lower portion of the rear door. That black part in the 1st gen picture is a piece of plastic and not part of the decals.

 

[Stockwell45]

when do you plan to make it out? Let me know.

I was just out at the Expo in Flagstaff, I thought about messaging you but I figured that was still way too far away from you...

I'll definitely be out there though sometime in the fall, I will let you know!

BTW, those graphics would be pretty sweet, I'm all for them.

 

[smallfry]

Did you use any sort of rust reformer of any sorts to get the remaining rust before you primed it.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Well my first thought is that COB got a hell of a deal grabbing that clean first gen for $900......I am pretty sure you can buy a super clean 1st gen for $5000 or less.

I think you missed the point.

BFAD, as always you do great work. What you got on me is 2 things: 1.) overcoming adversity with the bumper, mine was a pain to get lined up....but pry bars and slight hole opening got it done. 2.) You DID the wiring, I never did it.......some reason I am just not motivated to get it wired. Does the wire simply go under the tail light and then out along the back of the swing away? Where is the light mounted?

The wires are tapped into the tail light wiring on the P/S, and feed out through a plug beneath the hatch door trim. From there I zip tied them in place and they feed out beneath the corner of the hatch, then down along the swing away, where I put some quick disconnects just before the light. I can get some better pics for you if you're interested. It's easy though.

Hope you like the 861's. I am very happy with mine. We are carrying close to the same cargo, and it brings it back up to almost stock SS 1.2 ride height.

Look forward to seeing it

I just got them in today, and so far they seem to fit the bill.

I'm 50/50. Keep in mind only true T4R owners will understand what you did and others will just think they are "old man graphics".

I'm going to be 31.... I almost qualify as an old man. Thanks for your input.

Nice rear bumper. Sorry to hear about your troubles, I would be super pissed if I spent $600+ on a rear bumper that didn't fit perfect as well.

I've actually thought about how those graphics would look like on a 3rd Gen as well. Might not be so bad in person, but at the same time if no one has ever seen them on a 1st Gen they won't be able to understand it and they'll think you got some Autozone sticker special.

Try $1400+. Yeah. I know. RE the graphics, I always start brainstorming during the time that falls between having installed all of my existing parts/mods, and ordering the next round. I'm building this thing to suit my taste, so if I choose to try the graphics the folks that don't get it can just keep on not getting it.

I think the graphics might look good. So hard visualize though but it would be a travesty if it turned out looking like a "Autozone" special. I think it would depend on the colour you chose to do it with.... I was thinking that dark grey's fading to almost body colour might look cool. I saw a blue 2nd gen Tacoma on TW with these decals and it actually looked reeeaaaalllyyy sweet. Always innovating aren't you BFAD?!!? This is good.

Thanks for the input on the graphics. Like I said above, I was just kicking around ideas, but the nice thing about vinyl is that if you don't like it, you can just peel it off.

there is a vendor on TW that sells decals like that.

Thanks for the link. I checked those out, but the ones he offers are the truck style, not the 4Runner style. Some of those pics helped w/visualizing it though.

Great job with everything BFAD. That sucks to hear about the issues with CBI especially since before this I've hear only great things. O well it all worked out in the end.

I guess great minds think alike because I was thinking about those 1st gen graphics for the past few weeks. I even checked out the vendor on TW that Ripcord linked. I think I would go with it if I didn't have the cladding on the side. It would be too much going on with mine, but it would look awesome on yours. Sockmonkey does great work, but his prices are a bit high so you'd definitely have to make sure you wanted to do it.

Also don't put anything on the lower portion of the rear door. That black part in the 1st gen picture is a piece of plastic and not part of the decals.

Got you on the lower rear door. I just added that to see what it would look like if I blacked out that section. I used to have an '84 pickup that had those black plastic parts on the bed in the same spot.

If I decide to do it, I'll just get some 12 inch strips of vinyl cut locally, then use the strips to create the graphics myself. Working with bulk vinyl is cheap, and you can get great results if you take your time.

I was just out at the Expo in Flagstaff, I thought about messaging you but I figured that was still way too far away from you...

I'll definitely be out there though sometime in the fall, I will let you know!

BTW, those graphics would be pretty sweet, I'm all for them.

Right on, man. You made a good call on Flagstaff. That's a bit far to drive on short notice, but I'll look for a message from you later this year.

Did you use any sort of rust reformer of any sorts to get the remaining rust before you primed it.

No sir. I removed as much as I could without spending 2 days on it, then applied self etching primer over the whole axle housing, including the small amounts of rust that I didn't remove.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Some of you may have noticed that all my photo links are dead. Well, for the first time in all my years using photobucket, I exceeded my allotted bandwidth. The bandwidth meter resets on the 7th, so the pictures will be back soon for anybody who cares.

I went ahead and opened a second photobucket account to (hopefully) prevent this problem in the future.

Today was a productive day for the '01. First, I got the 861's installed.

Notice the difference in the height of the two coils. The "A" coil is the shorter one on the left, and the "B" coil is the taller one on the right. I installed the "B" coil on the driver's side to help compensate for the additional weight of the gas tank, cargo box, and my fat ass.

OME 861 vs. LC 7.5 wrap that came out. (P.S. Amening, check out the jack technique! It worked great, thanks!)

Installed! Notice that I re-installed the factory "Cone Bumpstops". I did this to net the extra bit of lift height and to keep metal off metal to prevent any noise, wear of the finishes, and corrosion.

I also took the rubber sheaths off the bottoms of the LC coils and installed them on the 861's for a "factory look" and some protection against metal on metal wear.

Ride heights before the CBI w/LC coils (ground to fender)

P/S Rear: 39 5/8"
D/S Rear: 39 5/8"

Ride heights w/the CBI w/LC coils (ground to fender)

P/S Rear: 39 3/16"
D/S Rear: 39 1/4"

Ride heights w/the CBI w/OME 861's (ground to fender)*

P/S Rear: 40 1/4"
D/S Rear: 40 1/2"

*Note that these measurements would be about 1/4" lower if I had not installed the cone bumpstops.

After the 861's were in I started working on a long standing issue: the coil/spindle interference I've been fighting with. I bought a Limit Strap setup, but (still) being without a welder, I have not been able to install them.

I decided to try another solution to get me by in the meantime, and that was to rotate the coils 180 degrees. Others who are running the Tundra coils up front have reported no contact between the spindle and the coil. Rickashay comes to mind, so I checked out his OME/Tundra-LC review, and sure enough, his coils were installed exactly 180 degrees from how mine were.

I started with this (bottom terminal end of the coil oriented toward the frame):

And after rotating the coil 180 degrees, I ended up with this:

A close up of the clearance I gained:

The driver's side came out a little differently, even though I rotated the coil exactly the same way as the passenger side. It is still a huge improvement though, because only one corner of the spindle hits and only at MAX droop (shock @ maximum extension).

I was excited to see if the problem was solved, so I buttoned it up and took it on a short drive around the neighborhood. There are big speed bumps in my neighborhood that always produced the "CLUNK" at speeds above 20 mph. I rallied over the same speed bumps at up to 30 mph and what do you know.... NO MORE CLUNK!!!!

I still plan to install the limit straps, but in the meantime, I don't have to put up w/that annoying noise, or worry about the interference stressing my UBJ's. The limit straps should be helpful in extending the lives of the CV's though, because I actually gained about 2" of droop @ the tire by removing the spindle/coil interference from the equation.

That's it for now... More parts are on the UPS truck as I type.

 

[FrankM23]

you have a ton of useful writeups and I'm glad you got pictures fixed seeing as how I was trying to look at the 231 tbu write up :bigok:. A small request. I have an ss 1.2 as well that I plan on installing soon but I'd like to get limit straps at the same time of install. Will you be doing a write up on that install:biggrin2:

 

[ameining]

OME 861 vs. LC 7.5 wrap that came out. (P.S. Amening, check out the jack technique! It worked great, thanks!)

Nice!! Glad I could offer maybe some help! At least your shop time went smooth compared to mine!!

Looks great

 

[ameining]

The wires are tapped into the tail light wiring on the P/S, and feed out through a plug beneath the hatch door trim. From there I zip tied them in place and they feed out beneath the corner of the hatch, then down along the swing away, where I put some quick disconnects just before the light. I can get some better pics for you if you're interested. It's easy though.

I don't want to jack your thread, but I would like to see how you wired them in a little more detail. I am not a fan of wiring projects, and am still a little confused on what wires to tap and where you breached the taillights.....maybe throw them on my build or pm me?

Thanks!!!

 

[rickashay]

It's funny you did this just now. I was actually under my truck yesterday trying to find marks on my coils to see if they were making contact with the spindle. I saw nothing! I'm glad the 180 degree spin worked for you as a temp. solution. I also plan on doing the limiting straps in the future to completely negate the problem.

I'm curious as to what "parts" are in the mail as you typed?!?!!? Oh, do tell.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

you have a ton of useful writeups and I'm glad you got pictures fixed seeing as how I was trying to look at the 231 tbu write up :bigok:. A small request. I have an ss 1.2 as well that I plan on installing soon but I'd like to get limit straps at the same time of install. Will you be doing a write up on that install:biggrin2:

Dirtco went through it in his build thread, so you might check that out in the meantime, but I'll definitely take pictures when I install mine. Thanks for reading.

Nice!! Glad I could offer maybe some help! At least your shop time went smooth compared to mine!!

....................

I don't want to jack your thread, but I would like to see how you wired them in a little more detail. I am not a fan of wiring projects, and am still a little confused on what wires to tap and where you breached the taillights.....maybe throw them on my build or pm me?

You definitely helped on that one. Thanks again. I'll get some pictures for you and send them to you in a PM, assuming you haven't knocked it out already.

It's funny you did this just now. I was actually under my truck yesterday trying to find marks on my coils to see if they were making contact with the spindle. I saw nothing! I'm glad the 180 degree spin worked for you as a temp. solution. I also plan on doing the limiting straps in the future to completely negate the problem.

I'm curious as to what "parts" are in the mail as you typed?!?!!? Oh, do tell.

The parts are a full 2-way alarm & remote start w/all the bells & whistles, some shackles for the rear bumper, and some locking lugnuts for the wheels. All security related stuff. I probably won't post too much about it, but I'll post some info on wiring up the alarm since I'll be doing that myself (... I am NOT very excited about it, but it'll be a learning experience).

RE the 180 on the coils. I agree that the limit straps are still needed. I've since found that with the extra droop, a new problem emerges, which is that the added droop really stretches and pulls on the UBJ boots and makes them puke out grease. If it isn't one thing, it's another.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

12 days…

1310 miles…

14 Mountain Passes… for total elevation gain of about 28,000 feet. (Cumbres, La Manga, Stunner, Elwood, Spring Creek, Slumgullion, Cinnamon, California, Hurricane, Corkscrew, Ophir, Imogene, Independence, Poncha)

8 Rivers… (Chama, Conejos, Rio Grande, Gunnison, Uncompahgre, Colorado, Frying Pan, and the Arkansas, not to mention the lakes)

The ’01 is officially broken in.

The truck produced one CEL, which came on @ about 11,500 feet, climbing Cinnamon Pass: P0505 Idle Control System Malfunction. I cleared the CEL with the Scanguage, and it did not return. I believe it was simply a hiccup due to a combination of an already low idle (the truck normally idles @ about 600 rpm), and the elevation. We reached much higher elevations multiple times later in the trip, and the truck had no issues.

Highest engine temp: 207 degrees, climbing a 15 degree incline @ 12,700 feet near the top of California Pass. The engine cooling needs some improvement. The temps regularly read between 202 and 204 degrees on the Scanguage. I think a good coolant flush, along with a water pump @ the next timing belt change, and some Red Line Water Wetter should help bring the temps down. I’ll probably replace the radiator as well, as preventative maintenance. BTW, I opened up the hood scoop to see if it would help w/engine temps and it did nothing.

Highest transmission temp: 217 degrees @ the send line, climbing Slumgullion Pass @ roughly 11,300 feet. Truck was rounding a sharp turn @ a switchback, airflow decreased, and the truck downshifted, temps returned to around 200 degrees within 30 seconds. Climbing passes in 4WD, low range, in first gear, the trans temps hovered between 160 and 180 degrees. On the long steep ascents of the paved passes, the temps would push up to 190-200 degrees. As long as the torque converter was locked up, the temps stayed down, but if I tried to climb a hill at speed w/the overdrive on and the torque converter unlocked, the temps would shoot up FAST. I was unable to use overdrive on hills at speeds of less than 75 mph. The transmission cooling is just BARELY sufficient. I will be adding a bigger cooler, and probably go in line w/the in radiator cooler once I replace the radiator.

The upper and lower Ball Joints on both sides puked some grease from the abuse, and I think the Limit Straps will provide some welcome relief for those parts. The “clunk” in the front end is gone.

After all the driving, on and off road, with a full load of cargo, the OME 861’s have settled in nicely. Unloaded ride height is now 38” in the front and 40” in the rear. The truck never once got a saggy butt no matter how much cargo I threw at it, and the ride is great. I was able to put them through their paces, and the 861’s performed very well off road.

I never realized the ’01 would draw so much positive attention. Outside of a liquor store in Lake City, at the top of Cinnamon Pass, outside a grocery store in Telluride, at the Toilet Bowl on the Frying Pan near Basalt, and at several other places along the way, people commented, smiled, and stared at the 4Runner.

It was a great trip, and I finally feel like the ’01 has earned its place in the stable. Enough out of me though, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Pulling up at the family cabin, rolling fat & heavy on the 861's... No butt sag.

Fully loaded... full car camping gear, propane tank, 5 gallons water, full cooler, lots of drinks, a 30-pack of beer, camp chairs, table, sleeping bags, clothes, 2 dogs, full recovery gear, guns & ammo, dog food & supplies, a ton of fishing gear... etc, etc.

Near Chama, NM

Between Stunner Pass, and Elwood Pass... crossing from the Conejos drainage to the Rio Grande drainage. I took a shot in this same spot w/my '97 years ago.

North Clear Creek Falls...

Slumgullion Pass..

The "Horns", a bunch of CO 14-ers... Matterhorn, Wetterhorn, etc..

Headed up Cinnamon Pass... Bighorns.

The American Basin, below Handies Peak.

Cinnamon Pass... The passes in the area are rated on a scale of 1-5. Cinnamon is rated as a 2, pretty mild, but very scenic.

Animas Forks...

Headed up California Pass... the truck was starting to run pretty hot right about here. Funny with all the snow, I thought.

Video from the top of California Pass...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0Ky0NOaQKi4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Just past Hurricane Pass, headed for Corkscrew Pass...

BIG snow...

Corkscrew Pass, about to head down Corkscrew Gulch down into the Ophir side of things. Corkscrew Gulch was rated a 3. I'd say a 3+. It got a little hairy in certain parts.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Ouray, CO...

Camped on Mineral Creek, north of Silverton, CO...

That's one way to keep the beer cold..

Next day, up Ophir Pass. Ophir is a 2.

It's steep on the way down...

After Ophir Pass, we stopped in Telluride for lunch, then started up Imogene Pass, back toward Ouray. Imogene is the second hardest pass in the area. It is considered a class 4/5, the only one rated higher is Black Bear which is rated a 5.

Peice of cake.

Black Bear, from Imogene...

Telluride, from Imogene...

Yup, got that.

Tomboy Mining Site/Ghost Town...

Imogene...

Video from the top of Imogene...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rnOjpgtyuUU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've never spent so much time behind the wheel w/the shifters like this...

Coming down the Ouray side of Imogene was a blast. We hit it on opening day, so everything was fresh and ROUGH. There were lots of fun obstacles that were challenging going down, but would have been much more fun going up. Next time, I'll go UP the Ouray side and down the Telluride side...

And just when I was starting to think my 4Runner was a real bad a s s sum bi tch.... I ran across this thing. These are what they use to go through the 20-30 feet of snow that's up there in the spring and open up the passes so that all of us can go play. Now that's an unstoppable machine.

 

[SCRunner12]

These pictures really want to make me leave CA and move to Colorado. I know we have the Sierras, but that just looks so peaceful and beautiful. I wish my road trip this last weekend was like that, but unfortunately I had LA traffic as my scenery. Great pics and the 01 is looking awesome.

Are your front windows tinted?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

SCRunner12, you replied before I could finish... Thanks for reading, but check it out, I added more. RE the windows, yes, tinted on all sides except the windshield.

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Imogene was the last of the really rough passes, but the trip continued on. From there we continued North, exploring new places along the way. Most of the remainder of the trip was sightseeing and fishing related, but we did get one more fun stretch of off roading in on the trail to Granby Lakes on Grand Mesa. That stretch was way too hairy to take pictures, so just look it up if you'd like to see it.

The following are a few more pictures from the rest of the trip that I thought were cool...

Fish...

Wifey's fish... with gratuitous free cleavage.

Another Fish...

Grand Mesa...

This valley of the north side of Grand Mesa is called "Death Valley". I didn't think it was too bad..

Some random location in the White River National Forest...

Happy dog...

Happy dog loves riding in the 4Runner...

Independence...

That's a lot of bugs...

Just looked cool peeking down at us...

All journeys come to an end... a parting shot as we left the Cabin for NM.

Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read through this.... It's back on the road again for me tomorrow... backpacking for cutthroats.

 

[SCRunner12]

Woops, definitely looks like an amazing trip. Once my daughter is old enough we will be making a trip out to Colorado in the 4runner. What kind of mileage did you average this trip?

 

[4Running Daily]

Your rig is so sick... I love the slight rake to it.

 

[4-Ripcord]

WOW, what a trip!

Those are awesome pictures, very beautiful country. I can't get enough every time I go up.

Glad to hear you are starting to warm up to this 4runner, haha. I know you always thought of it as the adopted child compared to the good 'ol 97, lol.

Those temps are actually pretty good considering what you were doing. But if I may suggest the 170* thermostat in addition to all the stuff you mentioned? I have nothing but awesome temps from that thing.

Anywho, great photos. That landscape is awesome, and that one shot of you standing by the runner at the top of that 13k pass deserves to be a profile pic IMO.

:thumb3:


Edit: did you get my PM about the tensioner plate?

 

[smallfry]

Nice. Looks like you all covered alot or grounds and saw some great places.


Was Black Bear Pass not open yet?

 

[LittleCaesar]

Love the fish and the pics.

When I lived in Boulder for a year and trained in Durango, on the way back people would stop off 550 for the Ouray hot springs. Mountain bike riders swore that it helped their sore legs.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Great trip pictures man!

Thanks for the detailed report. I am definitely going to save this trip report. Those places look amazing.

.