My 00' Highlander build

[TBuzz]

We switched the diffs in the front added some things and moved to the back.

While it was accessible we relocated the shock mounts 1.25" up.

After getting that situated we moved to the rear bumper and skid plate mods.
While taking the bumper off it fell and crushed my arm. I got very lucky that it didn't crush my head. That was inevitably a major hang up and still is not entirely healed.

The rear bumper got a stop pin installed, some gussets under the hinge and clearanced at the tires. The skid plate got modded for clearance under the transfer case like BFAD. Not any pics of the process but there are some at the end..

 

[TBuzz]

Again no pics when I rolled it out. At that point it was on 285/70's and my 3 mile trip home was awesome. The gears were noticeably more responsive than the 4.30's. I only drove it a back and forth to the shop the next day. Then I mounted the new tires and wheels

Hankook Dynapro RT03 295/75r16
LX 450 wheels

At this point the new items that were on the truck
-ECGS 4.88 ARB's
-ARB CKMA12 compressor
-SS limit strap bracket front
-PP 10" and 14" Straps and clevices
-drivers side OEM Balljoint
-drivers side napa cv
-tires and wheels

 

[Fishwerks]

Looks bad ass with the Hankooks and LX wheels. I'm stoked to see what you get done with the front locked now!

Sucks about your arm man, but like you said it could have been worse….

Also those jack stands are ridiculous, I want a set.

 

[TCMach]

Truck looks super good! Makes me want to gear my truck. Any pics of where your rear shocks mounts ended up?

 

[TBuzz]

Looks bad ass with the Hankooks and LX wheels. I'm stoked to see what you get done with the front locked now!

Sucks about your arm man, but like you said it could have been worse….

Also those jack stands are ridiculous, I want a set.

Thanks, If only I didn't have to use the spacers I think it would look better. Front locker has only been tested not needed yet.

Truck looks super good! Makes me want to gear my truck. Any pics of where your rear shocks mounts ended up?

I appreciate that, if you ride in a truck with gears you really will want them!

 

[TBuzz]

Time to catch up alitle

I'm going to try to update this a bit with mostly pics and a few tidbits of info here and there. I did several things to the truck the last couple months, most of them after reading what someone else here has done when faced with the same issue or desire. Thanks to all that post up the info that helps others.

With the install of the ARB's came the compressor. I just put it in the same spot as the PO which is fine for now. it does make checking the tranny fluid even more of a pain but not impossible.

Reworked my sleeping platform with a little inspiration from patioburrito and Gerdo. Here's the beginning stage. I've got the jack there for two reasons. One it wont be a projectile if anything ever happens and two, I don't think I want the weight on my bumper. Right now it swings open very easily and operates great.

I've had these Underglow rocklights for a month now. They are very bright and I got either 5 or 10 extra bc it took them a week to ship. I've measured out and made a harness with them for each side. I also painted them black and hopefully can install soon.

 

[TBuzz]

Round two with the front diff. When we installed the front diff, we made one HUGE mistake. initially when removing the broken 4.30 it was tight so we zipped off the pinion flange. when reinstalling the new diff we did the same thing. I didn't realize the importance of the setting of the crush sleeve in the pinion bearing and I was in a welding shop. Within 15 miles of driving the truck it became obvious something was wrong. After troubleshooting with some friends, it became painfully obvious that the pinion bearing was hosed. At that time my arm was messed up so the truck sat for a week before I could get the diff out and send to ECGS for service. A long 10 days later here it was, the serviced and still warrantied front. I went ahead and got new stoppers for the front diff mount and some Toyota sealant for this attempt.

Guys at ECGS are great and were a lot of help...but the got my name wrong

random pic of bead of sealant on actuator housing

When I reinstalled the front diff I looked to many people and places for tips. J-money had some info but I called and talked to Chase at ECGs. after that I decided to just pull the rear bushing mount and it was incredibly easier and quicker. At that point the truck was back together and everything was buttoned up.

So I started addressing a couple other things. When I got my safari rack installed I just assumed they installed the energy suspension bushings. Well they didn't and the ones it came with were toast.

I found a very good 2nd use for my 35mm socket

 

[TBuzz]

Went up the road just to get it in the dirt and put it in 4wd. No that isn't much flex but I admittedly was very nervous about the front diff after so much went wrong already.

Best pic I have of where the shock mount ended up. you can barely see the limit strap in there too.

Following the lead of Dirtco and Bigfishallday I installed limit straps in the front too. Mostly so I would prevent over extending when three wheeling and also because I thought after being around Nick's truck that they looked beneficial when in need and use.

I found some Rigid D2 amber driving lights and wanted to start finding a spot for them. My initial plan was to put a bar where the wood is and set the led bar on it. The primary goal is to get the LED back out of harms way from rocks as I've almost crushed it several times. we installed the bar but when I put the light bar up there it revealed the winch which I didn't like. So it is how it is for now but eventually the led will be back 2.5" and I think the ambers will be. I cant wait to use these things in the snow, they should really do the trick. You can also see the dual 70264's in there.

 

[TBuzz]

While looking underneath I noticed the grease shooting out around the zerk. Initially I thought I sheared it off again. Turns out it was just loose. Notice pinion angle and the gas tank skid that was chopped for clearance.

Toytec rear UCA's out and adjusted to same length even though the bodies are different lentghs.

Then I loaded the truck up with some of my favorite things and went fishing.

Platform is partially finished but functional. No that's not a dead body under the Mexican blanket, its 180 of sand helping to keep the rear end and 40.5". These 861'2 I have are very tall. I have what u see in there plus the drawers are stuffed including 2 cvs, ball joint, high lift, spare on bumper and a beast floor jack.

 

[TBuzz]

The next weekend we headed up to Silverton for breakfast.

This was on the 14th and you can see the colors were already starting. While we were sitting on the bench on main street my wife says your truck is leaking something. Having noticed the spots under the truck moments earlier I said "no , those were already there I've been watching". Well not 2 seconds later 2 then 3 spots at once like something is burping fluid out under the truck. I pop the hood and see its the front diff breather. Not knowing my or wanting continue further from home we pulled down to the gas station to assess.

Then wired a plastic bottle to the brake booster and routed the diff line into it. Headed back towards home and caught a hike on the way.

The next day after some research. I again followed the build of Dirtco and installed a fuel filter just below the brether and extended it a little more. My fluid level is fine and I no longer have a breather issue. I may have had too mush in there initially having filled it on my sloped driveway.

Then I went fishing..coming up the hill I had one of those moments.

I only caught a couple dinks but I figured out where they are for now and will be back.

I really like home my rear bumper and tire carrier turned out. I can easily access the key to roll the window up/down allowing me to slide the goods in. Operate with one hand when necessary and looks pretty unique.

A few days went by and I decided to do the wheel shake test again. My wife said it looks like its moving at the LBJ and I ha a new oem one so in it went.

Then I went to test drive it, down to my fishing hole.

 

[TBuzz]

Changed front coils

 

[TBuzz]

Fall is here!

And these guys are everywhere

So we headed back up the mountain. This is right at the entrance of Purgatory ski area, no called Durango mountain resort.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Just got back from the vacation and checked my subscribed threads, great pictures man, and I'm glad to see a thorough update. I know we've been keeping up via phone/text, but the post really helps to put everything together.

The last few posts in your thread had a lot of 4Runner goodness and I can NOT believe that I'm the first one to reply in over 24 hours. This forum is getting pretty lame these days. The good stuff just gets looked over with no acknowledgement. I miss the good old days when builds like this one got some attention.

Killer brown, BTW! That's a super nice pre-spawn buck. I can't wait to get a line wet. When we left Miami today it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity, and here in ABQ it's 65 degrees with 37% humidity!!!! Feels SOOOOOOOO good to be home.

I'll look forward to meeting up in the coming weeks and checking out the changes on the rig.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Cool build- I don't think I have stumbled into it in the past. Going to bookmark it and read through it tomorrow morning.

Colorado is so beautiful... I would not be at all surprised if I lived there in the next 5 years.

 

[Climber]

Sweet pics of CO!! Its gorgeous up there. How are you liking the kings compared to the toytecs?

 

[TheArkMaster]

Love the fall pics man. Good to see somebody getting out and enjoying it.

 

[Fishwerks]

Solid brown! Well done.

What happened to the LX wheels and hankooks?

 

[SantaCruzRunner]

Wow man. just went through your build.... all I can say is you are a legend! So much awesomeness!!!! Cool to see someone else running the hankook mts!

 

[TBuzz]

Just got back from the vacation and checked my subscribed threads, great pictures man, and I'm glad to see a thorough update. I know we've been keeping up via phone/text, but the post really helps to put everything together.

The last few posts in your thread had a lot of 4Runner goodness and I can NOT believe that I'm the first one to reply in over 24 hours. This forum is getting pretty lame these days. The good stuff just gets looked over with no acknowledgement. I miss the good old days when builds like this one got some attention.

Killer brown, BTW! That's a super nice pre-spawn buck. I can't wait to get a line wet. When we left Miami today it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity, and here in ABQ it's 65 degrees with 37% humidity!!!! Feels SOOOOOOOO good to be home.

I'll look forward to meeting up in the coming weeks and checking out the changes on the rig.

Thanks a lot and let me know when you're heading north. The fishing is about to get real good. The river is just now coming down and the browns will be heating up. I'm going to post some shots from last October in here later.

Cool build- I don't think I have stumbled into it in the past. Going to bookmark it and read through it tomorrow morning.

Colorado is so beautiful... I would not be at all surprised if I lived there in the next 5 years.

Thanks for stopping by. I've read some of you're posts and just recently realized I had you mixed up with someone else.

We get 300+ days a year of sun, 70" snow, 6500 elevation, dry, 30 mins from skiing, 2.5 hours from moab, 300 miles of single track connected to town, big browns I can ride my bicycle to catch and blah blah. It's not getting any cheaper to live here.

Sweet pics of CO!! Its gorgeous up there. How are you liking the kings compared to the toytecs?

Kings are much different than the toytecs at speed, on the road and normal driving conditions. I haven't rock crawled with them although I expect they'll act about the same there. They do feel like they float across uneven terrain and make you want to go faster. On washboard roads it is evident the faster you go the smoother they get however the back gets a bit OOC before too far. I could easily mash the pedal to 50 if I so wanted on the washboard. Speed bumps, the noticeable different is coming off the backside. The front doesn't buck up like before. I have to think that new rear shocks will make a better ride.

We went and rallied pretty hard yesterday on a FS road. Faster, quieter and smoother than I ever have. I had to take it easy bc skid plate is off. On some of the sweeping mellow sections it was a blast to hit the gas in the moist dirt and rally listening to that sc whine for a sec.

Love the fall pics man. Good to see somebody getting out and enjoying it.

Thanks, Fall is over at 13,000 feet. Silverton ski area got 2' and the ski patrol was already skiing there. Some passes are closed I'm sure. I could see from my couch Monday morning, when the storm had lifted and major dump had taken place. Glad we went up on Saturday. There's snow all over now up there, make for some good pics this weekend.

Solid brown! Well done.

What happened to the LX wheels and hankooks?

Thanks on the brown there are some good ones here. I'll post some pics tonight of last Oct's fish.

Wow man. just went through your build.... all I can say is you are a legend! So much awesomeness!!!! Cool to see someone else running the hankook mts!

Thank you very much sir. But when I'm looking for info I usually search engine with a couple big hitters name and follow their lead.

 

[TBuzz]

I recently bought some used kings. Like many things in my life I learn the hard way. Slightly blinded by shiny and blue and determined to get some when I found them I sprang at the first pair. Although the seller may not have misrepresented them it was obvious when I got them up close that we had different opinions of perfect working order. At minimum the lower bearing in each was rusted solid. I got on the phone with king and talked about what I was seeing and the coils, preload and rusted bearing. I ordered new bearings and put them in yesterday. The hardest part was getting the snap rings out because of the rust. I soaked them with some pb blaster and a little work eventually got hem out. I had to do it with the spacers on which made it more difficult.

I used a 24mm socket which fit the bearing perfectly. On the other side I used a 1 3/16 socket fit just outside of the bearing on the opposite side. I tried a 6" c clamp that bent and didn't work. I then tried my bench mounted vice like I watched I a video. I bent the handle on the vise. Then I tried this and I one light tap the bearing moved and back in the vise it went. The paper towel is to keep pb from splattering. The scratches on the bottom of coil r from po removing them and allowing them to drop onto the shock mount.

Then I pulled the duralast fan clutch I put in last week and replaced it with this