kevindurb's 1999 4Runner "Barney" Build Thread

[kevindurb]

kevindurb's 1999 4Runner SR5 "Barney"
Stellar Blue Pearl
3.4L V6 5VZ-lFE

Upgrades / Mods: (as of August 2, 2017)

Suspension:
Front:
- Toytec / Eibach springs
- bilstein 5100 shocks
- Toytec 1" diff drop
- Swaybar removed
Rear:
- Toytec Superflex springs
- Bilstein 5125 shocks
- Toytec panhard drop bracket
- Swaybar removed

Wheels & Tires:
- Stock 16" wheels
- Hankook Dynapro atm

Drivetrain:
- Rear e-locker
- 4:30 gears
- Toytec rear extended brake line

Exterior:
- Truck liner'd bumpers
- Tinted corner markers & tail lights
- Corner DRL's rewired as blinkers
- 4' Firestik CB antenna
- Removed lower half of front bumper

Lighting:
- Amazon light bar
- JW Speaker LED oval work lights

 

[kevindurb]

The body shop

About a month and a half ago I got rear ended by a teenager in a jeep patriot... Im finally at the body shop now... Luckly I only got my bumper bent under and my hitch dented (it took most of the damage)! Also one of the front seat bolts got ripped out of the floor. Im planning on just taking what ever money they can get me and just getting the seat fixed somewhere else.

Here is Barney dropped off at the shop this morning.

 

[kevindurb]

My lift kit

On a better note my wife and I drove up to denver on monday and grabbed all my lift parts from the fantastic people at ToyTec! Thanks ToyTec!! Also Yesterday I picked up some new lower ball joints from Toyota and got some new spring isolators in the mail from amazon! Its gonna be a fun weekend!

Part List:
- Toytec / Eibach Front Coils
- ToyTec Superflex Rear Coils
- Bilstein 5100 Front Struts
- Bilstein 5125 Rear Shocks
- Diff Drop Kit
- Panhard Drop Bracket
- Extended Rear Brake Line
- Left and Right Lower Ball Joints
- Energy Suspension Poly Spring Isolators

 

[kevindurb]

#liftedlife

On Saturday I got a chance and started lifting barney! Heres Barney in the garage prelift.

Building the front struts was a piece of cake, and they look sweet too... Thats gotta be an extra +20hp!

And getting the front end back together was pretty easy too! I used a bottle jack to push the UCA down so I could get the bottom bolt of the strut connected to the LCA. Super sketchy but it worked great! Sketchiness gets an extra at least +50hp...

Finished the front and it looks so much taller! Now I just need bigger tires...

And here is a comparison shot of the front lifted and the rear not lifted. #stancelife

Now the rear was a different story... I dont have very many pictures cause my rage blinded my camera... I went to disassemble the right side and the old shock just snapped when I went to remove it, so im glad im getting rid of it. There was a TON of dirt caked in the mounts and I took time to clean it all. Also the new rear springs are a solid 6" taller than the old ones which is super exciting, but it took a bunch of work to get them in... But that all pales in comparison to the work it took to tighten the top nuts on the shocks! It was terrible and I would love any advice for getting them tight! I got the passenger side one tight but it got too late while doing the driver side so I gave up for the day. Heres a pic of Barney hanging loose this morning as I left for work.

I dont have time to work on it tonight so I'll be getting back to it tuesday! Stay tuned for lifted pics! Also on a side note I got $1000 from insurance for the accident I was in so im looking for a new bumper to replace the bumper/hitch I have. Im thinking about going with addicted offroad since its only $650 new! If anyone has a used bumber they are selling PM me and maybe we can work something out.

 

[Scramble]

Putting in my 8 wraps was a sucky experience so I feel your pain. Tightening the top shock nut was pretty easy though with a 1/2" ratchet & deep socket. You dont want them too tight because the bushings need to allow movement otherwise you could snap the threaded portion of the shock off. I went by feel, maybe someone smarter than me can give a more technical answer.

 

[kevindurb]

Putting in my 8 wraps was a sucky experience so I feel your pain. Tightening the top shock nut was pretty easy though with a 1/2" ratchet & deep socket. You dont want them too tight because the bushings need to allow movement otherwise you could snap the threaded portion of the shock off. I went by feel, maybe someone smarter than me can give a more technical answer.

Yea thats what ive seen on the forums! Im gonna pick up a deep 24mm after work. I only own a regs 15/16th socket and that didnt get them all the way. Also the Bils come with a stud to eye bracket for the top mount that has to be tightened all the way. Heres a pic:

You can see the mounts on the right of the pic. Thanks for the tip to use the deep socket!

 

[Scramble]

Yea thats what ive seen on the forums! Im gonna pick up a deep 24mm after work. I only own a regs 15/16th socket and that didnt get them all the way. Also the Bils come with a stud to eye bracket for the top mount that has to be tightened all the way. Heres a pic:

You can see the mounts on the right of the pic. Thanks for the tip to use the deep socket!

Thats interesting, I've seen those adapters on various web sites but had no idea that Billys come with them. Are those 5100's valved for the 4runner? Where did you buy the shocks?

But yea, you'll need to get that top nut tight.

 

[kevindurb]

Thats interesting, I've seen those adapters on various web sites but had no idea that Billys come with them. Are those 5100's valved for the 4runner? Where did you buy the shocks?

But yea, you'll need to get that top nut tight.

They are 5125’s! I got them from toytec! I’m pretty excited for them!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kevindurb]

#stancelife

Finally finished the lift last night! I got a deep 24mm socket and it made it so much easier to tighten the bolts (Thanks [MENTION=7105]Scramble[/MENTION]). Heres the passenger side with the spring, shock and panhard drop.

And heres a sunset shot of Barney with the lift finished.

Ive got some seriously bad positive front camber so im gonna take it in this afternoon for an alignment. But I love how the new suspension feels and how it absorbs speed bumps and I cant wait to take it off road. But until then heres me trying to get a flex pic...

 

[sambishop]

Thats interesting, I've seen those adapters on various web sites but had no idea that Billys come with them. Are those 5100's valved for the 4runner? .

I run these as well. They've been great for me the past 4 or so months. If I remember right they're valved for a 1-3 inch lift or something like that. Yes, they are valved for our 4runners.

 

[Friday88]

For 3" of lift it looks SO high. How does it feel in corners? Do you feel any less stable?

 

[kevindurb]

For 3" of lift it looks SO high. How does it feel in corners? Do you feel any less stable?

Its supposed to be ~3" in the front and 3-4" in the rear. It deff feels taller and a little more tippy but not bad at all. But I also removed my sway bars so that probably contributes to the more tippy aspect. As for driving over bumps it feels amazing, I went over a couple speed bumps and it just absorbed them and was so comfortable. But I havent gone over 30 yet so I'll post more of a review after I get some more drive time in.

 

[kevindurb]

Alignment, Seat bolt and FINALLY CAMPING!

Hey everyone! Its been a pretty crazy couple weeks so I havent gotten a chance to post an update so here you all go! The lift is still really great, I'm overall very happy with the ride and as its had time to settle its gotten even better and it doesnt feel like I'm gonna roll the truck through the corners any more. I got it aligned at my local les schwab and Im not super impressed by them... They told be that they maxed it out trying to get it all aligned but when I looked at the bolts they look no where near maxed out... So Im planning on taking it to a place that regularly aligns lifted trucks so try again but that wont be for a while. For now Im good with it being close. Heres the spec sheet I got from les schwab.

Now a couple months back I got rear ended by a kid in a jeep patriot. It bent my bumper but also ripped a seat bolt out of the floor on my driver seat. Im planning on getting it welded back together the correct way but Im going wheeling this weekend so I decided to go ahead a do a cheap fix for now. I took the other three bolts out of the seat and took a good look at the damage.

I took the old nut off the seat and found the 3 little tacks that previously held it to the floor...

I did a little research on the forums and found a couple guys that fixed it with a toggle bolt... So I ran over to my local ace and got some parts. I cant remember the exact size but if you all are curious I can find out!

I ended up having to cut about 1.5" off that screw for it to fit in the floor and I cut some carpet out to give me some room to work.

But after some work Im pretty happy with the final product!

Now Its time to get some camping in! Im taking my wife on her first off road trip this weekend with my brother and his wife. We are all super excited and it will be barney's first trip with the lift installed. My brother will be driving his lifted Nissan Frontier on 33's. We are gonna be heading to Western Colorado, should be super pretty! I'll take some pics for you all. But for now heres Barney all loaded up.

 

[maxbrown11c]

kevindurb's 1999 4Runner "Barney" Build Thread

The same bolt/nut broke on my drivers seat as well. Didn't pull through like yours but it was getting there. I ended up cutting a small hole on the back side of the hump where the nut is tacked to and used the original nut with a 2inch wide fender washer kind of like you did.

 

[kevindurb]

Paradise and Tincup

Sorry guys I got super busy over the last couple weeks but I finally got a chance to post! A couple weeks ago my brother and our wives went out to Crested Butte area in Colorado and did a two nighter of wheeling and camping and it was a blast! The first night we drove 4 hours out to Paradise Valley and found a solid camping spot and spent the night and it was so beautiful up there!

My wife and I slept in the 4Runner! I took the bottoms of the seats out before we left and we had a ton of room. I think a sleeping platform is gonna be built sometime soon...

The next day we drove to emerald lake and enjoyed the day there and it was beautiful!

That night we moved over a camping spot and got a better view

The next day we drove through the rest of paradise valley into Tincup then drove over tincup pass. It was my wife's first blue rated trail so we just took our time and still had fun! But I forgot to take any pictures...

Overall it was a great weekend with some really great camping and wheeling and even better family. And the 4Runner did so well! Im still super happy I got the lift I got!