Inv4drZm's Build Thread

Took a quick trip with a buddy to Colorado. I only put 700 miles on the old girl last year and been a couple years since I've wheeled.

The full size Tundra did great on the trails.

Summary

Wide tires make my truck dirty LOL.

Might transition my truck to more of an overlander. Slightly larger rear fuel tank and fabricate a roof rack and RTT from scratch. Shouldn't be too tricky to make a waterproof hard shell RTT. Sleeping in the truck is quiet but its cramped, I only have like a foot of headroom.

13-15 mpg at 80 mph aint bad. Plenty of power with the 4.88 regear and headers imo. Low profile RTT might decrease that.










Saw my first moose on a trail:



Campsite. Others had tents I slept in my truck like usual.



















 
If my math is correct, I'm averaging around 14mpg between city and highway with a permanent rtt, along with all spare, drawers, etc, with 4.56 gears. I think the biggest highway mile difference will come from 4.88 gears. Once you get up to cruising speeds you're better off under geared from the larger tires. I saw a drop in highway mpg after I went the 4.56 route. I do wish I went with 4.88 gears instead though.. never thought I'd end up as heavy as I did (thats both personally and from the overall rig weight stand point haha)

So anyhow, I think the drop in mpg from a low profile rtt will be negligible


I am very curious to get my total vehicle weight loaded up... need to make a quick trip to my local dump, they have a set of scales I can check.. If I had to guess I'm easily in the 6000+lb range fully loaded.
 
All my CV boots have split open. A couple months ago the inner boots were toast, now during the CO trip the outers are torn.

  • Machined CV cups and rebooted with SDHQ boots on 8/4/2018. Post #389
  • Disassembled CVs and reassembled with +2" Baja Kits axles I think I bought used. 4/19/2020. Post #819
    -The retaining clip that holds the axle inside the outer joint breaks when replacing with +2 or +3.5" axles so I fabricated my own clips from extra inner joint clips. This was a mistake.
Upon disassembly for rebooting this weekend the passenger CV shaft slid straight out of the outer joint. The fabricated clip must have failed. If I was at full lock and droop the axle could have slid out of the splines enough to snap.

These retaining clips are difficult to find online and impossible to find locally. Found a part number that worked for a guy on Tacomaworld and order one. Trail Gear, Inner Axle C-Clip, 27-Spline. SKU: TG140330-1
After emailing Dirt King I have a set coming from them too. Probably should replace both CV's clips and hoping Baja Kits shafts are compatible with Dirt King clips.

4Runner is on jackstands and I need it in a couple weeks for another trip to CO.












Picture of a clip I found on the internet:



 
How are you guys tearing boots? I wheeled my 4runner in Colorado pretty hard the last 4 years and haven't torn a boot...yet. I'm lifted 3 inches on 35s running close to 7,000lbs fully loaded.
 
awhitney1 said:
How are you guys tearing boots? I wheeled my 4runner in Colorado pretty hard the last 4 years and haven't torn a boot...yet. I'm lifted 3 inches on 35s running close to 7,000lbs fully loaded.
Click to expand...

I got 3.5-4 years from mine though last year not many miles. Ribs weren't touching when driving straight.

Probably a few variables but SDHQ boots may not last as long as OEM or I could have more lift than you. Can't remember if I have the diff drop or not.

Anyway I don't drive it daily anymore so they should last 4+ years and its not that bad to replace them.
 
Gotcha, I'm sure my day will come, maybe I should buy new ones next year. I heard the 5th gen OEM CV axles are better for us 4th gens, ever hear of that?



Inv4drZm said:
I got 3.5-4 years from mine though last year not many miles. Ribs weren't touching when driving straight.

Probably a few variables but SDHQ boots may not last as long as OEM or I could have more lift than you. Can't remember if I have the diff drop or not.

Anyway I don't drive it daily anymore so they should last 4+ years and its not that bad to replace them.
Click to expand...
 
awhitney1 said:
Gotcha, I'm sure my day will come, maybe I should buy new ones next year. I heard the 5th gen OEM CV axles are better for us 4th gens, ever hear of that?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't surprise me if they were I've just never heard about it.

OEM CVs seem to work for me. I've never broke one even with a front locker.

The two I have I bought used and rebuilt, still going strong.

Aftermarket CVs, yeah you might want to carry a couple spares with you lol.

Either way you'll want to carry a spare on the trail and they aren't hard to swap out most of the time.
 
Continuing where we left off on our CV rebuild adventure. Got the new retaining clips in, CV's cleaned up, fished out what was left of the old retaining clip, and reassembled with new grease. Can confirm that 27 spline part number works, 30 spline too big.

You can see all that was left of the old clip right below the ball bearings. 1" long shard of metal. Rest of it apparently got ground up into tiny pieces.





Everything is installed now and ready to go.

 
Been 6mths since I've last updated. Still wanting to fix up the truck, create newer lighter skids to replace mangled set, repaint all armor, convert to more overlanding purpose, and figure out some interior rattles. Might even work on the new rear fuel tank again.

What held me up was finding someone to cut and bend the metal. Brother's work should be able to get it done for me.
 
This is the same vibe I was going for with my Tundra some day if I converted it to 4WD.

He hacked up his wheel wells, I'm guessing 315/75r16 but I sent a message to the dealership inquiring, and I even noticed he bobbed the rear of the bed. Who needs a rear bumper when you have that much departure angle. OME rear shocks and Icon UCA.

Previous owner was a fricken legend.

Yeah it has the 4cyl but at least its an automatic. 160hp/180tq. Could only get the automatic regular cab with the 2011 and newer tacos I think.

This truck weighs 3755 stock.

V6 4th gen 4R is 4300 for comparison.
V8 is 4500.
I weighed my 2WD single cab V8 Tundra at 4120.


wildcatusedcars.com



 
Last edited:
Haven't wrenched on my vehicles for a while. Finally pulled the trigger on a lowering kit for my Tundra though.

P.S. its 2wd, don't hurt me.

SOS performance 2.5/4.5 lowering kit. Flips rear axle from spring over to spring under, and adds a 1" spacer between the two. Front lowering is accomplished by disassembling the coilover and installing an extended lower spring perch.

Rusty U-Bolts either snapped or I cut them off:





Both leafs refused to leave their frame pockets, had to use grandpas 5ft pry bar.



New goodies:



Supplied U-Bolts are too short. My truck has another leaf compared to the ones I've seen online.



On the factory shocks you can remove the lower spring perch easily. I figured out I have KYB replacement shocks where the spring perch is welded to the body. Easy fix LOL. The weld left enough meat for the sleeve to grab onto.







End result. Measurements are 3/4" front, 1.5" rear. Not the advertised 2.5/4.5 but my KYB front shocks probably screwed that up. And my rear was already lowered 2" with an extended shackle. At least its level and for now I'm happy with it.



Before picture:

 
Need to measure for custom wheel spacers/ lug adapters but I think it will look pretty cool. Better than the 20" Tundra platinum wheels I had and sold.

Found 4 Tundra takeoffs for $550.

 
Great looking build.
Wondering if you might offer some advice for me (new member and pursuing a purchase of a 4th Gen 4runner)....or point me in the right direction. I have a '04 V8 and an '07 V6 that are available for me to purchase. Both at $16K, which seems pretty reasonable to me (?). Both quite clean and seem to have been well-maintained. Like - "my former owner is an engineer" type clean. The '04 has only 105K miles, while the '06 has 160K miles on it. I've read a bit about the V8 vs V6 comparison....and my takeaway was that they are both solid with a few trade-offs in either direction. Vehicle will not be used for any substantial off-roading....mainly an extra family vehicle that will occasionally be used for towing a couple seadoos. Any thoughts or recommendations that you can share as to which one might be preferable given your familiarity with 4runners?
 
ToYoder said:
Great looking build.
Wondering if you might offer some advice for me (new member and pursuing a purchase of a 4th Gen 4runner)....or point me in the right direction. I have a '04 V8 and an '07 V6 that are available for me to purchase. Both at $16K, which seems pretty reasonable to me (?). Both quite clean and seem to have been well-maintained. Like - "my former owner is an engineer" type clean. The '04 has only 105K miles, while the '06 has 160K miles on it. I've read a bit about the V8 vs V6 comparison....and my takeaway was that they are both solid with a few trade-offs in either direction. Vehicle will not be used for any substantial off-roading....mainly an extra family vehicle that will occasionally be used for towing a couple seadoos. Any thoughts or recommendations that you can share as to which one might be preferable given your familiarity with 4runners?
Click to expand...

Bought my 4Runner for 13.5k 8 years ago with 115k miles. But they are getting harder to find without rust and prices are different in different parts of the country.

This guide is pretty good comparing everything, just make sure there isnt a lot of rust underneath. For the most power, look for an 05+ V8, those get the vvti system. But both V6 and V8 are good motors and should handle seadoos. 03/04 V6s had head gasket issues so I would avoid those.

V8 can have cracked exhaust manifolds, injection pump issues, and if its 4wd, center diff lock can stop working if you don't use it regularly. Plus timing belt maintenance (V6 has timing chain).

The Ultimate 4th Gen Toyota 4runner Buyers Guide
 
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