Mendoncyclesmith
Member
Hey folks, so I can finally post my own, promise, I'll behave! :biggrin1:
Long story sorta shortened, since I'm new here.
Bought my '96 SR5 about 5 years ago, from a small dealer in Southern NJ. Vehicle is one owner, from Boston, it's whole life. Why it was so utterly clean and rust free, is beyond me, but she had 95K on the clock when I took possession. Traded my '05 Taco that was already rotting away, and happily overpaid to get back into a Japanese built truck. LOVE the 4Runner platform, just never had one before, always did Tacomas (and pre Taco pickups) with an extra cab.
My dogs love the extra space, and the window that drops down so they can make friends out the back at stop lights!
Life changed, and I needed something that gets more than 16MPG, so I picked up a VW TDI Sportwagen.
I'd had a "toy" car for quite a while, and had been using Hagerty for classic car insurance, and enjoyed the cheap rate.
I couldn't stomach paying close to a grand, each, annually, keeping both vehicles on the road, and the wagon did well enough, dog duty wise, that I decided to sell the 'Runner.
Tried all summer, couldn't even get $4K for it, despite being super clean, having two full sets of wheels, steels with big snows, and the OEM alloys that have never seen salt. Just did a timing belt too, and it's barely got 120K on the clock.
I'd been bugging Hagerty to carry my 'Runner, based on how old it was, they kept on tossing it back as too young.
I got sick of people low balling me without even coming out to see the the truck, so I tried, one last time, with Hagerty. To my surprise, they finally said yes, and for just under $400 a year, I now can afford to keep both vehicles, yippee!
So I started throwing a bit of cash at it. New OME suspension all around with a 2" lift, full tune up (plugs, wires, filters, etc), and man is she running great, I LOVE this truck!!!
Suffice to say, my VW is now my sacrificial winter car, and this won't see salt ever again if I can help it. A bit of orange nastiness has developed in the several winters I drove it, but low miles in general, have kept it to a really dull roar.
If you're still with me, here we go.
Thing that has bugged me for along time is the headlights. Just not as bright as my VW, hell, my night riding lights for my mountain biking are way brighter.
I've seen the LED light bars, and the little cubes that folks mount near their windshields, and man, I just can't do it. For my aesthetics, they just look like hokey bolt ons that teenagers with fart pipes and oversized ground effects bolt on to look cool.
Curious if there's anyone who's found a stealthy way to mount the above, while still keeping decent performance, or, alternately, an LED conversion for the EOM lights, that keeps full performance, but steps things up a bit, lumen wise?
What I've seen with the LED bulbs is that they aren't dimmable (high and low beams) or something similar. Maybe that's changed, no idea.
Worth noting, I'm not a car mechanic, I don't have a nice garage to work in (as in, no garage at all!), and ripping apart the vehicles electrical system is decidedly NOT something I'd undertake myself. Looking for clean and easy, which, I understand, may not be possible.
I seriously appreciate any input folks might have.
Pics are from this past Spring, so pre OME lift etc....
Long story sorta shortened, since I'm new here.
Bought my '96 SR5 about 5 years ago, from a small dealer in Southern NJ. Vehicle is one owner, from Boston, it's whole life. Why it was so utterly clean and rust free, is beyond me, but she had 95K on the clock when I took possession. Traded my '05 Taco that was already rotting away, and happily overpaid to get back into a Japanese built truck. LOVE the 4Runner platform, just never had one before, always did Tacomas (and pre Taco pickups) with an extra cab.
My dogs love the extra space, and the window that drops down so they can make friends out the back at stop lights!
Life changed, and I needed something that gets more than 16MPG, so I picked up a VW TDI Sportwagen.
I'd had a "toy" car for quite a while, and had been using Hagerty for classic car insurance, and enjoyed the cheap rate.
I couldn't stomach paying close to a grand, each, annually, keeping both vehicles on the road, and the wagon did well enough, dog duty wise, that I decided to sell the 'Runner.
Tried all summer, couldn't even get $4K for it, despite being super clean, having two full sets of wheels, steels with big snows, and the OEM alloys that have never seen salt. Just did a timing belt too, and it's barely got 120K on the clock.
I'd been bugging Hagerty to carry my 'Runner, based on how old it was, they kept on tossing it back as too young.
I got sick of people low balling me without even coming out to see the the truck, so I tried, one last time, with Hagerty. To my surprise, they finally said yes, and for just under $400 a year, I now can afford to keep both vehicles, yippee!
So I started throwing a bit of cash at it. New OME suspension all around with a 2" lift, full tune up (plugs, wires, filters, etc), and man is she running great, I LOVE this truck!!!
Suffice to say, my VW is now my sacrificial winter car, and this won't see salt ever again if I can help it. A bit of orange nastiness has developed in the several winters I drove it, but low miles in general, have kept it to a really dull roar.
If you're still with me, here we go.
Thing that has bugged me for along time is the headlights. Just not as bright as my VW, hell, my night riding lights for my mountain biking are way brighter.
I've seen the LED light bars, and the little cubes that folks mount near their windshields, and man, I just can't do it. For my aesthetics, they just look like hokey bolt ons that teenagers with fart pipes and oversized ground effects bolt on to look cool.
Curious if there's anyone who's found a stealthy way to mount the above, while still keeping decent performance, or, alternately, an LED conversion for the EOM lights, that keeps full performance, but steps things up a bit, lumen wise?
What I've seen with the LED bulbs is that they aren't dimmable (high and low beams) or something similar. Maybe that's changed, no idea.
Worth noting, I'm not a car mechanic, I don't have a nice garage to work in (as in, no garage at all!), and ripping apart the vehicles electrical system is decidedly NOT something I'd undertake myself. Looking for clean and easy, which, I understand, may not be possible.
I seriously appreciate any input folks might have.
Pics are from this past Spring, so pre OME lift etc....
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