I know where you are coming from.
Excuse the longwinded post, but it will give you an idea of why my build has gone the direction it has.
When i first bought my 4Runner in the Fall of 2002, i was coming from a line of owned cars. We were newly married and planning a family. I had always wanted a 4Runner but the previous models were a little small for me. When this body style was released i knew that was what i was going to get. At the time i was looking there were hardly any black ones to be found, so when i came across this one i got it. At the time I didn't really care that it was 4x2 since i was more into detailing than off roading. I had done my share of off roading growing up in my old '83 SR5. I liked it for the on road handling and styling. When i got in on the T4R.ORG site, in the beginning, i made a few little mods but nothing special. At the same time i was big into off road RC racing and traveling a good bit.......
Jump forward a few years. My twins were born in '07. Since I was working from home and my wife traveled a lot with her job, it just made sense for me to become "Mr. Mom", so i was keeping the kids and kept working from home. Needless to say i didn't have much time for anything else, not even surfing T4R.ORG. I was pretty much off the site for 3 years, until they were a little more independent. Once i got back in the groove and hooked up with gaterose, zstampe and jaybird, i was a little hooked. At the same time i was starting to phase out the RC racing, as i didn't have the time to devote to it. Since i spent all day at home, either working or chasing kids, T4R.ORG became my source for my hobby. As i sold off my RC gear it allowed me to make more mods. Sure i wish i had a 4WD but since i have what i have i decided to make it a little different than the norm. I know most people would see it as a waste to do what i have done to a 2WD, but it was unrealistic to sell it just to buy a 4WD. Not to mention it makes it stand out more than the other SUV's in the carpool line...ha! My kids really like it and it make me happy to drive around in it. I also love it when people ask me what year it is and i tell them it is over 10 years old.
Most of my mods are pretty simple mods, besides the lift, tires and wheels. You really don't even notice most of them unless you knew what it looked like stock. Headlights, tail lights, turned out exhaust, led's, painting all the trim/door handles black, switching running boards to step tubes, changing the stock roof rack to an Urban Runner rack. Even smaller things like wrapping the Yakima fairing with black vinyl and cutting a Toyota decal for it. I have tried some things and removed them because felt like it would take away from the clean look i was going for.
If i had my wish, i would live out west and have a trail rig like [MENTION=15853]Redswan[/MENTION] or [MENTION=69441]Dawg4Runner[/MENTION].
There are also some nice street builds like [MENTION=67365]Whitebeauty[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5149]riceandpho[/MENTION].
It is just a matter of preference. i don't think people frown upon people throwing 20's on a 4Runner. There are other sites that are much more anti-street than T4R.ORG.
Again, sorry for the longwinded post....I am just enjoying a rare 24 hours where the wife and kids are not in the house, so i could think clearly/ramble....lol
