jpless Build Thread

[jpless]

Blacked out Emblems

Blacked out my emblems using the same stuff I did my lights with. I was debating blacking out or doing another color, like the Sizzling Crimson Mica so its got a burgundy look for the Redskins but since Advance didn't have the paint, I just went with black. Might change in the future but not sure, I kinda like the black!

Supplies:

Used some 3m Molding Tape on the Rear Emblem to get it back on:

Front:

Back:

Had a TRD emblem on the right rear, took it off and will probably be putting black 21s on the Rear and Doors but undecided on that.

 

[Autbond]

Looks great, looking forward to doing my headlights and my rear emblem.

 

[8086bruce]

Your going to love the fj stuff I put the same in mine with a 1/2 spacer.

 

[eskimochaos]

You think you can get a clearer shot of the front? Sun's kind of ruining it. I have the same color and wonder what they look like. I too have moisture in them.

 

[jpless]

i've been trying to get better shots but i'm not the best photographer and its hard to keep the reflection out. How's this:

here's another one I took on a recent trip to the beach. My girlfriend and I saw the sunset and and thought it would be a good photo op. It doesn't highlight the headlights but more the overall look.

 

[SkylineGTRracer]

Looks great man! I really like the dark gray and black. I'm trying to do that as well but I got silver.

 

[eskimochaos]

i've been trying to get better shots but i'm not the best photographer and its hard to keep the reflection out. How's this:

here's another one I took on a recent trip to the beach. My girlfriend and I saw the sunset and and thought it would be a good photo op. It doesn't highlight the headlights but more the overall look.

Its OK lol, high noon would be the best prolly.

Thanks!

 

[4Runner8]

then I must have the TRD off road. Blue Bilsteins, guy just advertised them as "trail team". I can't wait to get them on. I'll either level with the 1" or maybe do something like a 2/1. I won't have time to get them on for a while so we'll see what I end up going with.

I also won an eBay auction for a gibson muffler (only $6 +$19 s/h!!!). That might delay my suspension work. I'll probably have the shop weld that on and route the exhaust out the side when I get my condenser and have them vacuum and fill it.

im about to install all my new suspension in prob the next 3 weeks, ill be taking out my toytec 2.5'' front spacers. i also have rear spacers but i need to see the stance before i say im selling those as im afraid i might need them still. but the fronts are def. going to be up for sale if you wanna buy em? i will prob just sell the whole front coil over as i will have no use for it and i dont have a spring compressor to take it out.

your buid is looking good, wish i had a limited, maybe someday, i plan on buying a sport or limited 4th gen when i get outta college.

 

[jpless]

that's more than I want to put. I'm probably doing the 1" up front and 1.5" in the rear. That'll reduce the rake slightly. This wont be for a while as I'll be getting an alignment after doing a wheel swap with mpower3 (hopefully). That'll mean I'll probably wait until I do my alignment next year to install the FJ stuff.

 

[4Runner8]

oh gotcha well it will look good none the less when you reduce the rake

 

[andyman32392]

Quick couple of questions on the rear emblem.
How did you take it off?
Was it hard getting it back on straight?
Does the 3M tape hold up well?

 

[jpless]

Thanks for the props all.

Skyline: I think it looks good on the Silver too but probably more so with Tinted windows and blacked headlights.

Andyman: The rear emblem was easy to take off, it was 95 degrees when I did it. I squirted a little goo-gone in there and tried to get dental floss in but couldnt. I ended up using the scraper on the top of the goo-gone bottle to pry it up a little. Then I worked my way around until I had the edge disconnected and carefully pried the rest off.

I took less care with my TRD emblem and ended up snapping it in a couple places (didn't care, it was going anyway). Make sure you take your time if you want to put it back on.

As far as hold, I posted the day after I put on and it hasn't fallen off yet The more tape you use the better it will hold. The emblem is so light that I dont think there will be any issues.

As far as getting it straight...did I? I didn't even pay much attention to it, it was easy. The impression it's designed to go in makes it hard to put it back on crooked.

 

[Mpower3]

Looks good. Might have to do my emblems now.

I'm seeing my mechanic tonight and am going to discuss the sensors and scheduling with him.

 

[jpless]

eskimo, here's a better shot for you, I hope. It's cloudy today so no sun reflection!

I'm disappointed that the replacement condenser I got was silver because, as you can probably tell, thats what kinda ruins the blacked out look.

 

[eskimochaos]

eskimo, here's a better shot for you, I hope. It's cloudy today so no sun reflection!

I'm disappointed that the replacement condenser I got was silver because, as you can probably tell, thats what kinda ruins the blacked out look.

Thanks man, that looks awesome. Im sold.

I need to get a color matched grille too.

 

[jpless]

Putco Jet Yellow Fogs Installed

So my generic yellow fog light off ebay blew a week or so ago so I bought the putco jet yellows. MUCH brighter look in the daytime, the difference is huge. This yellow is so much brighter that I definitely need to do HIDs now! The pics below may or may not show the difference well (I can see it).

Putco vs Generic:

and Putco in both fogs:

I'll update with more pictures with the sun down later...

 

[jeffrosheen]

just noticed the pic of fed ex field. I am right down in st. marys county! do you ever go to green ridge or GW national to off-road?

I'm in Baltimore/Annapolis area! Looking for someone to offroad with.

 

[jpless]

I needed new tires so I went out and got a set of 265/65/18 Bridgestone Dueler RH-S. I wanted to get the firestone destination a/ts but they've been backordered and I couldnt wait any longer!

Picked these up for $240 installed at a used tire place. They look practically brand new, with the nobs still on them! There's NO rubbing at all, even with the larger tire. Handling is more truck-like but I also need an alignment and/or re-balancing because very minor shake starts around 60mph now. Not too bad but noticeable so I'll address it soon-ish. Might just be the change in handling due to a/t vs the h/ts i had stock.

Here are closer shots that illustrate how well the tires fit in the wheel well without rubbing:

Straight on:

Cranked to the right:

And to the left:

Also added a thule snowboard rack for the season.

UPDATE: After getting my alignment done, most of the shake was gone. The dealer said the two fronts were cupped so I took them back and hand picked their replacements. It rides MUCH better now. Much smoother, no real shake or anything. Also, the loud noise is gone (made sense when I found out the other tires were cupped). I'm very satisfied now! They handle great, look great and were $300 for a set of 5 mounted and balanced (I kept one of the slightly cupped tires as my spare).

 

[jpless]

Husky Liners

Well I bought my sister a Sienna and had to buy her mats, remotes, etc from ebay. In doing so, I ended up buying some Husky liners for my truck too!

The Husky liners are great, fit well, look good and work well. I paid a total of $215 for the Front, Rear and Cargo Liners. One thing to note is that the Grey does not exactly match our grey interior but it looks great. I thought black would show too much dirt and so far I am very happy with grey!

The Cargo liner is specific for models with the shelf in the trunk. As a result, it fits best when the shelf is up. If the shelf is down, the sides of the mat (that drop down into the little storage spots on the sides of the trunk) do not sit flush with the trunk (slightly raised due to the extra height from the shelf being down). This will probably keep me from being able to place drinks in those spots during tailgates unless I have the shelf down.

Front Seat:

Rear Seat:

 

[jpless]

K&N 77 Series CAI

While on ebay buying the mats and stuff mentioned above, I also came across a good deal on a k&n CAI (part number 77-9023KP). I ended up getting it for $129.99 shipped on a Buy it Now deal since it was a display model and the tube was slightly scratched.

Installation was a little tedious, however, this was my first intake install as I opted to do the deckplate mod on my 98. I found myself undoing some parts to adjust certain things that I only found out needed to be a certain way once I had already done it.

For example...other members have mentioned that the engine cover does not line up with the hole on the k&n tube and I found this to be the case at first. I was able to take it apart a little and adjust the angle of one of the brackets so that it fit perfectly. I could not, however, remove the stud from the original airbox so I used one of the bolts from the original airbox to secure the engine cover to the k&n tube, works perfectly.

After about 2 hours, I was all done and very pleased. It sounds so good when you punch it but you can also barely notice it unless you're over 2,000 rpms. It gives my truck a little bit more of a v8 sound sometimes and I'm very happy with it.

One thing to note is that when my girlfriend got in the truck the first time after the install, she said "it doesn't sound like a 4runner starting anymore!" and gave me a sad face. With my multiple runners, she's become accustomed to the loud intake noise the t4r makes when you first start it. With the k&n, this startup noise is nearly eliminated and it sounds very smooth and quiet!

Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase, especially since I got such a good deal. I do not know about mileage yet and it may be hard to tell as I never did a good mileage calculation after installing the duller a/ts.