Jarrett's (slow) po' boy build.

[j.james]

So I've had my 4Runner for about two years I think, it's hard to remember exactly. I'm a grad student that's getting married soon, so I don't have terribly large amounts of money to spend, but that should change soon enough. Bought it stock with bald tires and beat up interior. First thing I did was slap the 265/75R16s on. Firestone Destination A/T, super cheap and I love them.

Wanted easier access to shocks and oil filter and a bit more room to tuck the tires in, so I put on a ToyTec 1" body lift.

Cut off the front corners of the lower bumper valance just so I can act like a need a better approach angle. And rattle-canned the wheels black to hide the corrosion.

I welded my Rola basket into one solid piece, and mounted it straight to the rails on the roof. I'll put a pic of it when I get one, it's low-profile and super sturdy.

And that's where she stands right now, in the next few weeks I should be changing a lot. Hopefully.

Here's some glamor shots from a recent trip behind the local farm.

GIF of the crossing: (I guess flickr doesn't allow animations :/ still a cool pic I guess)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494618601/" title="water by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6494618601_b7d8b9b83c.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="water"></a>

Couple shots of the big girl posing for the camera:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494576913/" title="DSC_0250 by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6494576913_89f4313a46.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="DSC_0250"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494570943/" title="DSC_0219 by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6494570943_b38a1f7599.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="DSC_0219"></a>

So here's my flex, and a clear shot of where I backed into a tree on the gate:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494559631/" title="DSC_0201 by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6494559631_6d7f19b434.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="DSC_0201"></a>

You can see the low-mounted one piece basket here:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494820843/" title="IMG_0014 by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6494820843_e197cd258b.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_0014"></a>

I made some tiny steel squares and used heli-coils to thread them, slid them down the stock rails, and screwed this aluminum L bracket into it. The hardware are just stainless u-bolts, but with 4 of them, I can easily load a few hundred pounds in the basket now.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71892381@N03/6494820565/" title="IMG_0012 by j.jamesstevens, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6494820565_576ed8eec7.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_0012"></a>

 

[Alabamaguy]

Jealous of the black bumpers.

 

[Hepar]

Looking good so far!

 

[j.james]

My first order of significant business I believe is to copy what erikb over at pirate4x4 did and weld a crossmember to the front of my frame and mount my winch directly to it. It's no longer going to be my daily driver in just a few weeks, so then I'll be free to mod it however I so please, wallet permitting.

I think it's a sweet way to do things.
relevant part is a little less than halfway down the page