IanB's re-introduction thread

[IanB]

I used to be pretty active on here when I had my '96 Hilux Surf SSR-G, but since then I've had a couple of HDJ81 Land Cruisers and a GX470, so while still checking in from time to time I had no real reason to be on here much.

Last weekend we picked up a '15 4Runner Ltd. in Magnetic Gray and we're loving it so far! I've spent HOURS reading and researching on the forum over the past week, it's so nice to have a good technical forum available, FB Groups SUCK for searching for info!

This will be the wife's DD, no offroading duty, I have my Land Cruiser for that kind of stuff, so mods will be with improved city/hwy use in mind.

I'll be adding a 1" cornfed front leveling kit, 255/75/17 Duratracs on FJ Cruiser 8-hole wheels, and a Xenon Depot low beam HID kit to start. Some sort of rear cargo protection to keep my dog's fur out of the carpet, leaning towards the Canvasback setup so far, but looking for recommendations on other options I should check out in the meantime.

It's good to be back, this was always one of my favorite forums back in the day, hoping the 5th gen guys are a great group like the 3rd genners were back in the day! Long live the roll down rear window!

 

[J.F. Sebastian]

Not the most fun idea but I won't drive anymore without a 2-CH dash cam.

Those running boards may look funny once the wheels are on?

Congrats on your Ltd!

 

[IanB]

Not the most fun idea but I won't drive anymore without a 2-CH dash cam.

Those running boards may look funny once the wheels are on?

Congrats on your Ltd!

Ya, those running boards are something else! I'll keep my eyes open for other trim side steps and may swap them out for something less...clearance limiting down the road.

 

[IanB]

1st mod! Installed a Xenon Depot Xtreme HID low beam kit w/ Phillips 4300K bulbs last night. Found a couple good videos beforehand which allowed things to progress pretty smoothly, and the results are a huge improvement over the sad stock lighting.

Here's a couple before/after pics shining against my garage, the after is in the rain and I noticed later the exterior lights were off, I don't feel the pic tells the whole story, the light output is much brighter, whiter, but the biggest change is the side fill outside of the hotspot, makes for much better useable light when driving. I had expected to have to aim them down from other reviews, but mine were at the same height on the door after the install.

I had this same kit in my GX470 low beams, and it didn't disappoint this time around either.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Yeah, the FB groups are terrible, so many clueless people on there.

As for the dog hair, you can't go wrong with CanvasBack, such a great product and holds up really well. Congrats on the new Runner

 

[IanB]

Yeah, the FB groups are terrible, so many clueless people on there.

As for the dog hair, you can't go wrong with CanvasBack, such a great product and holds up really well. Congrats on the new Runner

Your username seems familiar, did you have a 3rd gen 4Runner, or an Acura EL or something years ago?

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Your username seems familiar, did you have a 3rd gen 4Runner, or an Acura EL or something years ago?

I had 2 x 4th gens an 03 Sport and an 08 SR5, also still have my 97 Acura 3.0CL, have had it for 15 years. I'm also a Senior Mod on Acurazine, not sure if that's where you know me from. :caked:

 

[IanB]

So we headed to a friend's cabin for the weekend, our 1st chance to get the new truck out on the highway. Loaded up the family and the dog, and away we went, its about a 2.5 hour drive to get there, and it gets dark early this time of year already so the new HID lowbeams were a big deal!

I got a chance to drive in the hills and twisty roads of the Canadian Shield (a nice change from the boring prairies), and use the manual mode to hold gears and see what the upper end of the rev range is like...I found the power that was promised in the written specs! I can see a sprint booster or pedal commander in our future, the factory trans shift points serve to hide the power this engine makes.

The big news from the trip though, 21mpg on the highway! Not bad! Better than the GX470's best tank ever by 3mpg!

Because words are boring, here's a few pics from a rainy hike on Saturday.

 

[IanB]

Got some Wagner 9011 HIR1 bulbs for the highbeams. I've used the 9011 bulbs years ago in a Subaru Legacy high beams and was very impressed with the results. They performed well in this application as well.

Here's a shot of just the HID low beams, and another with the 9011 in the driver's side, and stock high beam on the passenger. Out on the road they light up anything reflective for 3X further than the stock high beams, and the fill is much improved.

I hit a deer this weekend in my GX470, which also has excellent headlights (same HID kit in the low beams, low/high factory projectors), and it really drove home how important good lighting is when you're driving in rural areas at night. I had time to slow, but there was nothing I could do to prevent hitting it, just a matter of where it hit me kind of thing, came out of the ditch at a full run and would have hit the side of me if I hadn't slowed, and ended up taking it in the driver's corner of the front bumper, wrecked a lot of sheetmetal. Needs a bumper, bumper support, grille, hood, at least one headlight, foglight, fender, fender flare, likely some fender skirting, and driver's mirror, airbags didn't deploy, and it's potentially going to be a total loss when I take it in for an estimate. My 1st deer in 23 years of driving.

 

[IanB]

Installed the Canvasback cargo liner tonight. I've always had Weathertech cargo liners in other vehicles, but the 3rd row seats would require it be removed to use them, and the wife didn't like that. Looked around at all the options, and settled on this solution as it velcro's down tight to the carpet so it shouldn't allow dog hair to get underneath, and my dog sheds like it's going out of style. Also allows the 3rd row seats to be used without messing with anything else.

This isn't the vehicle that will see anything real messy in the back for the foreseeable future, my only concern is that the canvas will be slippery and the dog's bed will be sliding around back there. I ordered it with the 20" tailgate flap to cover the bumper and protect it from dog nails, and custom flaps so the tie down points are still accessible. Install went smoothly, and I think it's going to work well.

 

[IanB]

Well, it wasn't easy with a broken rib, but I managed to get the Cornfed 1" spacer installed on the front yesterday. Laying on the creeper really sucks, as well as all the up and down off the floor to grab tools and such. Enough complaining, on to the pics.

It goes in for new tires, some 255/75/17SL Duratracs, and an alignment on Tuesday of this week, so I wanted to get the spacer installed to save another trip back for the alignment. I would have loved to do the tires 1st and see if there was any rubbing, but it just didn't work out.

Measured before and after, and gained a full inch in front after things settled, maybe 1.25" even. Install went pretty smoothly, XREAS lines could have been another inch longer though.

 

[IanB]

New shoes day! Ditched the ugly 20's, mounted 255/75/17 Duratracs on FJ Cruiser 8-holes that I'd been running on my GX470, MUCH better!

I'd have loved to get these on before the 1" front spacer lift to see if there was any rubbing, but it just didn't make sense logistically.

I've put a few miles on them, the ride is less firm with the extra sidewall, should be more comfortable. It feels more like a truck with the front levelled and the taller tires, maybe a bit slower off the line due to taller gearing, but once rolling these should be lighter than the 20's and it moves just fine.

These 5th gen fenders really swallow wheels worse than the GX470, I'm going to take some measurements tonight and will likely track down some 1.25" or 1.5" wheel spacers to push them out to the edges better.

 

[IanB]

Pulled the side steps off this weekend as the wife hates them, says she can't get enough of a foot on the step surface due to the big door sills to be sure you won't slip off when things are wet.

I like the look much better without them, but it's a big step up for the wife, and impossible for the 5 year old to get in/out unassisted, which isn't going to work long term.

I'm weighing my options:
-put the stock side steps back on and everyone but the kid hates them
-pick up the set of '10 Trail steps on Kijiji and trim the door sills to fit them $
-pick up the set of '10 Trail steps on Kijiji and convert to Trail spec door sills $$$
-sliders are totally unnecessary on this truck, at this time, it would have to make sense financially for them to be in the conversation. Plus I understand XREAS causes issues with most sliders, but I've done very little research into this.

Any thoughts, or other ideas I may not have considered?

 

[IanB]

Almost forgot, I ordered a Sprint Booster and some 1.25" wheel spacers for it as well!

 

[Cadesun]

Your kiddo just needs to work at it harder! My 3 year old gets in and out of my Trail OK. That said, I am in the market for some step sliders to make it a bit easier.

 

[IanB]

Your kiddo just needs to work at it harder! My 3 year old gets in and out of my Trail OK. That said, I am in the market for some step sliders to make it a bit easier.

I'll be working on this with her, but with winter conditions half the year she's going to get snow/slush/sand/salt all over her trying to do it on her own. And I don't want her using the door sill surface as a step as she'll just be grinding that sand into the paint. I just don't see how it's going to work with no step.

If this was my truck, I'd just lift her in and out, but the wife's shoulder is F'd up and that's not going to work for her.

 

[CookieRoe]

Welcome Back Ian! 4Runner is a beaut!

 

[BIGpharma]

Looks great, cant wait to see the wheel spacers. I’m headed in the same direction for my limited!

 

[IanB]

Installed a Sprint Booster tonight, took about 20 min including the 10min with the door open per the instructions. I insulated the coolant pipe above the pedal harness with some header wrap and zip ties, and zip tied the Sprint Booster to the coolant pipe.

Set to green-9 the difference is dramatic! The truck is so much more eager to accelerate, it feels peppy without having to try to hard, and really changes the character of the truck. Accelerating to highway speed it’s holding gears to 4K rpm without needing to be held to the floor, much more confident, the way it should have been from factory. Best snake oil ever!

 

[IanB]

Well, as predicted, I've been asked to replace the side steps and have complied. It was way too high for the 5 year old to get in and out, and she would have ended up wrecking the rocker covers trying to climb on them. It sure did look cool though...

I did find I missed them when drying the truck off at the carwash, but a sacrifice I would have gladly accepted if it was up to me.

Now to come up with a long term solution that brings the step up closer to the body, probably going to spend some time thinking about cutting the stock rockers, and then track down some steps for a newer SR5 or Trail.

Also, the Sprint Booster is money well spent, glad I pulled the trigger on that "snake oil". Set to green-9 it drives the way it should have from factory.