I’ve been wanting to put together a build/maintenance thread for a while, but I always tell myself, “I want to get this done first” and then, “Wait, after I finish this mod I'll start a thread…” As we all know, if I wait until I’m “done” modding the truck, I’ll never have a build thread. So here we go.
I knew little about 4Runners when I started looking for it, but I did drive a ’01 Tacoma Prerunner in college and loved it. So I knew I wanted Toyota. I did the luxury import thing for a few years after college, but I just found that I couldn’t save as much money as I wanted with a car note. And I hated finding fresh scratches on a $30K automobile. So I started looking for a 4Runner.
I wanted ’01 or ’02 (because I didn’t want an older vehicle than I had in college) and a sunroof. I also thought the hood scoops looked cool, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. After a few months I found mine in Austin. It’s a Thundercloud 2002 Sport Edition 2wd. I bought it bone stock on Memorial Day 2008 with 53K miles. No pictures from when I got it. That Christmas I treated myself to a brush guard I found on CL for $60. I had to remove the aluminum skid plate from the front since it wouldn’t fit with the brush guard. I had no idea it had any value, so it went in the trash (still kicking myself for that move). But this is the earliest picture I have, running stock everything except the brush guard.
The only time I take the truck off road is to go on parking lot, so I didn’t need 4wd. But I like the look of a lifted Runner, so I started researching lift options. That’s when I found T4R.org. I still use it as a DD, so I didn’t want to go too high. Decided on the Sonoran Steel 3.0 kit and had it installed at a local stealership. At the same time, I found some 5 star rims, painted them with Duplicolor flat black, and wrapped them with some BFG AT in 265/75/16. Here’s a shot with the boards taken November 2009.
And without.
And just the wheel and tire
I didn’t put any clear coat because I wanted to make sure I like it first. After a few months, the black started to fade, so I put another coat of flat black and a few coats of clear, only this time, I used Rustoleum. They turned out pretty bad and only got worse when the paint started to chip and bubble and flake off. I’ll never use Rustoleum again. So, shortly after I got my painted 5 stars, I began planning to repaint or replace them.
My brother and I have summer birthdays, and in 2010, we got each other some Wet Okole front seat covers. I like how the all black looks, but man, they can get hot in the summers.
Fast forward to Feb, 2011. I used some of my tax refund to do the Tundra brake upgrade. Got some remaned calipers from Advance Auto and some Brembo blank rotors. Went with the 231mm since the 5 stars will clear them. Returned the 4Runner calipers and got the core deposit back with no problems. No pictures, but we all know what they look like.
At the end of the summer of 2011, with Baylor fresh off its first bowl game in 15 years, I ordered season tickets for the 2011 season for $180. That’s 2 tickets to all 7 home games for $180 total. So there's one good thing about Baylor being so bad for so long. And I got to watch the Heisman winner run all over everyone. But I figured with all the trips to Waco, I’d get some lighter highway tires for the truck. My dad needed tires for his Tacoma, so he took mine, and I got some Michelin LTX MS2. I noticed a negligible difference. But not enough to recommend it or do it again.
In Sept 2011, I got the rear axle seal leak, and since I had 89K miles, I went ahead and got the timing belt and water pump replaced at the same time.
For Christmas of 2011, I got a B&M 70268 external cooler, which means I also got to crawl under the truck and get my hands dirty.
I knew little about 4Runners when I started looking for it, but I did drive a ’01 Tacoma Prerunner in college and loved it. So I knew I wanted Toyota. I did the luxury import thing for a few years after college, but I just found that I couldn’t save as much money as I wanted with a car note. And I hated finding fresh scratches on a $30K automobile. So I started looking for a 4Runner.
I wanted ’01 or ’02 (because I didn’t want an older vehicle than I had in college) and a sunroof. I also thought the hood scoops looked cool, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. After a few months I found mine in Austin. It’s a Thundercloud 2002 Sport Edition 2wd. I bought it bone stock on Memorial Day 2008 with 53K miles. No pictures from when I got it. That Christmas I treated myself to a brush guard I found on CL for $60. I had to remove the aluminum skid plate from the front since it wouldn’t fit with the brush guard. I had no idea it had any value, so it went in the trash (still kicking myself for that move). But this is the earliest picture I have, running stock everything except the brush guard.
The only time I take the truck off road is to go on parking lot, so I didn’t need 4wd. But I like the look of a lifted Runner, so I started researching lift options. That’s when I found T4R.org. I still use it as a DD, so I didn’t want to go too high. Decided on the Sonoran Steel 3.0 kit and had it installed at a local stealership. At the same time, I found some 5 star rims, painted them with Duplicolor flat black, and wrapped them with some BFG AT in 265/75/16. Here’s a shot with the boards taken November 2009.
And without.
And just the wheel and tire
I didn’t put any clear coat because I wanted to make sure I like it first. After a few months, the black started to fade, so I put another coat of flat black and a few coats of clear, only this time, I used Rustoleum. They turned out pretty bad and only got worse when the paint started to chip and bubble and flake off. I’ll never use Rustoleum again. So, shortly after I got my painted 5 stars, I began planning to repaint or replace them.
My brother and I have summer birthdays, and in 2010, we got each other some Wet Okole front seat covers. I like how the all black looks, but man, they can get hot in the summers.
Fast forward to Feb, 2011. I used some of my tax refund to do the Tundra brake upgrade. Got some remaned calipers from Advance Auto and some Brembo blank rotors. Went with the 231mm since the 5 stars will clear them. Returned the 4Runner calipers and got the core deposit back with no problems. No pictures, but we all know what they look like.
At the end of the summer of 2011, with Baylor fresh off its first bowl game in 15 years, I ordered season tickets for the 2011 season for $180. That’s 2 tickets to all 7 home games for $180 total. So there's one good thing about Baylor being so bad for so long. And I got to watch the Heisman winner run all over everyone. But I figured with all the trips to Waco, I’d get some lighter highway tires for the truck. My dad needed tires for his Tacoma, so he took mine, and I got some Michelin LTX MS2. I noticed a negligible difference. But not enough to recommend it or do it again.
In Sept 2011, I got the rear axle seal leak, and since I had 89K miles, I went ahead and got the timing belt and water pump replaced at the same time.
For Christmas of 2011, I got a B&M 70268 external cooler, which means I also got to crawl under the truck and get my hands dirty.
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