This is nowhere near as great as some of the build threads I've seen on here, but I hope it becomes that one day. I just wanted to create a thread to track my upgrades, mods and maintenance to the 97 T4R Limited I purchased last summer. I purchased it as a nice daily driver and plan to build it into a pretty nice offroad/camping truck. No plans to do any crazy lifts, etc. but who knows what the future will bring.
I bought the 4Runner in Sept 2017 for $2900 with 254k miles. 1 owner since 99 and mainly an Arizona car, so no rust anywhere except surface stuff on the underside from a few Chicago winters.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/39709102005/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_000"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/39709102005_43388234e8_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_000"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Within a few days of ownership, I did a full interior detail, exterior wash and removed the running boards...
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/38794251760/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_001"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/38794251760_ef9fc36a25_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_001"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/39709101645/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_002"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/39709101645_250c7e1748_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_002"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Few days after that was a tire balance and alignment, all while reading this forum religiously.
A couple weeks after ownership I did the first oil change and also did the "lazy" power steering fluid replacement (suck old fluid from reservoir only and put in new).
In between all this I was randomly purchasing maintenance items. I ended up spending about $500-700 in parts (all fluids, filters, full cooling system with radiator, pump, etc, Timing belt kit... basically ALL maintenance items). A friend who works at a dealership hooked me up with labor of only $300 for full cooling system, timing belt, etc. After I got it back from him I personally replaced all the simpler stuff like air filter, fuel filter, all the drivetrain fluids, etc.
I bought the 4Runner in Sept 2017 for $2900 with 254k miles. 1 owner since 99 and mainly an Arizona car, so no rust anywhere except surface stuff on the underside from a few Chicago winters.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/39709102005/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_000"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/39709102005_43388234e8_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_000"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Within a few days of ownership, I did a full interior detail, exterior wash and removed the running boards...
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/38794251760/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_001"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4648/38794251760_ef9fc36a25_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_001"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/130074049@N07/39709101645/in/album-72157692344848661/" title="File_002"><img src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4629/39709101645_250c7e1748_b.jpg" width="1024" height="768" alt="File_002"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Few days after that was a tire balance and alignment, all while reading this forum religiously.
A couple weeks after ownership I did the first oil change and also did the "lazy" power steering fluid replacement (suck old fluid from reservoir only and put in new).
In between all this I was randomly purchasing maintenance items. I ended up spending about $500-700 in parts (all fluids, filters, full cooling system with radiator, pump, etc, Timing belt kit... basically ALL maintenance items). A friend who works at a dealership hooked me up with labor of only $300 for full cooling system, timing belt, etc. After I got it back from him I personally replaced all the simpler stuff like air filter, fuel filter, all the drivetrain fluids, etc.
. I did a full HID retrofit with TYC headlights and DDM tuning HID components. I documented the process a bit as well as posted some photos in Brian's thread here... 
