My 4Runner Mods!

[Av3ng3]

I've recently done several customizations to my 2007 Limited V8 4Runner so I thought I'd share a few photos.

1) Sport Hood Scoop: My 4Runner is a Limited, and it didn't have the Sport hood with the scoop, so I purchased a 3D Carbon pre-painted hood scoop. I used some mesh grille that I cut to fit and painted with some red PlastiDip.

2) Matte Black Racing Stripes: I used PlastiDip to paint the 2 racing stripes on the hood. The grille needed a bit of a refresh so I painted it as well.

3) Chrome Emblems: I used red PlastiDip to paint all of the chrome emblems red.

4) Wheels: I put red Scuffs wheel rim edging on each wheel and eventually plan to paint the rims with a dark metallic gray PlastiDip called Anthracite Gray.

5) Front Grille Mods: On the lower grille you can see some aftermarket billet aluminum chrome grille accenting, the upper portion of the grille had it as well but I removed it to paint the grille and decided to paint the chrome on the billet grille with red PlastiDip as well but ran out so I'll post more photos when that's finished. But I inserted 8 Eagle Eye LED's as you can see into the lower billet grille that I wired up as Daytime Running Lights, the chrome on the lower grille will be painted red eventually and I painted the V8 Emblem black so that it stands out on the red billet grille.

6) Steering Wheel: I purchased a black leather stitch on steering wheel cover with red accent stitching, it wasn't difficult to put on, it was just time consuming but looks way better than the usual slip on covers! I used some red trimming around the controls and once again painted the chrome Toyota Emblem with some red PlastiDip.

7) Toyota Grille Emblem: The part I'm most excited about is the front Toyota Emblem which I'm replacing with a custom Punisher Emblem that I've had custom fabricated and will be backlit with another LED connected to the DRL's, as well as a pulsing red LED that will be wired to my Viper Smart Start Alarm.

As soon as the Punisher Emblem is in and I have a chance to install it I'll post some more photos along with the red painted billet grille. I've got a few other ideas that I'm still working out but as soon as I get things planned out I'll post those ideas as well. If any of you have any questions, comments, or recommendations for any further modifications let me know, I look forward to hearing some feedback!

 

[Mytoy4]

Looking good! Love that steering wheel cover!

 

[Av3ng3]

Punisher Grille Emblem Update.

I got my Punisher Skull replacement emblem in and put it on so I've added 3 more photos. I still need to paint the billet grille inserts red and put them back on as well as to wire up the backlighting for the emblem and figure out how to mount the LED's.

I got the design for the emblem from MetalMiller but after reading about all the problems everyone was having with him taking their money and at best fulfilling the orders in over a year with many people never receiving their orders at all! I looked elsewhere and I just couldn't find a Punisher Skull Emblem that I liked anywhere near as much but I found Fred at www.frednelsonfabrication.com who was willing to custom fabricate it for me with my own tweek of the design for the backlighting. He kept me updated with photos every step of the way sending me the finished product in less than 10 days! Over all I'm very happy with the work he did, he even sent me a few extra bare metal cutouts that he had rejected for the final product due to some minor flaws which is great since I had wanted to order another one to make up a trailer hitch cover so all I need to do is sand it, paint it, and put it on. The only thing I was a bit disappointed with is that the emblem doesn't have the nice beveled edges like the one from MetalMiller but I paid less for a product that I actually received and I'm happy with it! So if you're interested in a Punisher Emblem like this one or happen to have your own idea for an emblem that you'd like to have fabricated I'd definitely recommend www.frednelsonfabrication.com he's a good guy, let him know I (Nate Miller) sent you.

 

[Av3ng3]

Steering Wheel cover.

Looking good! Love that steering wheel cover!

I purchased it through eBay, here's the link for it if you're interested? They have different designs and color schemes if the black and red isn't your cup of tea.
Steering Wheel Cover

 

[Mytoy4]

I purchased it through eBay, here's the link for it if you're interested? They have different designs and color schemes if the black and red isn't your cup of tea.
Steering Wheel Cover

Thanks! :hug:

 

[Av3ng3]

Painted Grille

I finished painting the grille inserts, I didn't put the bottom insert in yet because I still have to wire up the Punisher Emblem LED to the Daytime Running Lights that are attached to it.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Very unique, truck is looking good. I really like the LED's in the lower grille

Semper Fi Brother

 

[Ol'Blue]

Semper Fing Fi brother.... I know what it means to wear a CAR (I even have the gold star with it) So many will never understand or ever GET IT like we do.

FREEDOM HAS A FLAVOR THE PROTECTED WILL NEVER KNOW.

Blue
0369,8511
1/4, Task Force 27, 13MEU, 15thMEU, 3rd CAG
Iraq,Afghanistan, and a couple other places too......

 

[Av3ng3]

Very unique, truck is looking good. I really like the LED's in the lower grille

Semper Fi Brother

Thanks!
Semper Fi.

 

[Av3ng3]

Semper Fing Fi brother.... I know what it means to wear a CAR (I even have the gold star with it) So many will never understand or ever GET IT like we do.

FREEDOM HAS A FLAVOR THE PROTECTED WILL NEVER KNOW.

Blue
0369,8511
1/4, Task Force 27, 13MEU, 15thMEU, 3rd CAG
Iraq,Afghanistan, and a couple other places too......

Really, you were with 3rd CAG? I was with 4th at the Gov Center in Ramadi with 1/6 Bravo! We replaced 3rd, don't tell me you were in Ramadi? That'd be a real small world!

Semper Fi!

 

[Ol'Blue]

Really, you were with 3rd CAG? I was with 4th at the Gov Center in Ramadi with 1/6 Bravo! We replaced 3rd, don't tell me you were in Ramadi? That'd be a real small world!

Semper Fi!

No I came to the unit just after they got home from the Gov Center. One of my guys I took to the Stan was hit on the roof top there and got his Purple Heart at that place.

Blue

 

[tbones1369]

Semper Fi

 

[Ratubbs]

[MENTION=118689]Av3ng3[/MENTION], Hello friend I'm really diggin your build ! I have a few questions, when your using plastidip is it in a aerosol form and are you removing the emblems to paint them? Also how did you go about painting the matte racing stripes ?
Thank you ,

Richard

 

[Av3ng3]

[MENTION=118689]Av3ng3[/MENTION], Hello friend I'm really diggin your build ! I have a few questions, when your using plastidip is it in a aerosol form and are you removing the emblems to paint them? Also how did you go about painting the matte racing stripes ?
Thank you ,

Richard

Hey Richard, sorry it took me so long to see this, I hadn't logged in for some time as you can see. But I used the Aerosol Plastidip that just comes in a can. It's REALLY easy to use and if you eff up too bad you can just peel it all off. But you don't need to remove the emblems or even mask right up to them, leave about an inch around them and the only reason you have to mask at all is to catch overspray. Then when it's dried you just peel it all off and the Plastidip peels perfectly around all the letters, numbers, or the emblem, you'll have to use a tooth pick or something to peel areas within the emblem or letters. There are lot's of how to vids up on YouTube if you haven't already found them and done it let me know and I'll find a link for you.
To do the racing stripes I masked them but since Plastidip peels off you have to focus most of your spray to the center of each stripe and avoid the edges as much as possible on the first several coats, then on the last coat you spray the edges pretty thick, not too thick to where it creates pooling or other deformaties, just enough to get a good layer down, then you'll want to peel the masking off immediately before the Plastidip dries and that's how you get the clean edges. Again I found a how to vid on YouTube for this so if you still need help let me know and I'll find a few links for you!

Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Av3ng3]

It's been quite awhile since I've logged in so here's a quick update:

I was busy with various medical issues, surgeries, and physical therapy so it took me quite a bit longer to get around to the things I've been working on than I wanted. Here's a picture of the current status of my 4Runner (it needs a wash!). The Punisher emblem is still not yet backlit however the good news is that I finally got back to working on it about a week ago and all of the wiring, soldering, and electrical work is complete and working great!!! It'll be going into the 4Runner in the next few days as time off work permits and I'll upload a video of it all working as soon as it's done. The wiring was a bit trickier than I had expected to get it all to function properly, I had to solder in a little pulsing circuit to make the red LED pulse, and then I had to use a 12v coil relay (which I'd never worked with before) to solder in so that when it detects the daytime running light circuit is on it will turn the red LED off and switch over to the white LED, then when the DRL circuit is off it turns the white LED off and switches back over to the pulsing red LED circuit. Sounds kinda confusing but once I figured out the 12v coil relay it wasn't so bad. I'll upload a video of it in action on my electronics tinkering bench as soon as I get home from work.

Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

[Av3ng3]

Well I finished the backlighting and here is what it looks like on my electronics bench. It's already been wired up into my 4Runner and I'm just editing a video so I'll post that in a bit.

https://vimeo.com/172146059


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

[Av3ng3]

Without further ado, here it is!
There are a few little behind the scenes tweaks that I'd like to do still but here is the final result of this venture. I've always been skilled with electronics but I'd never played around with relays before so that was initially a slightly confusing experience but I quickly figured it all out, it's doing exactly what I had set out to accomplish a year ago and I couldn't be happier with the results. So if anyone is interested in doing anything similar and needs any advice or help just let me know and I'll be happy to depart my wisdom on you!

https://vimeo.com/171661160


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

[83wonder]

how is that plastidip holding?

 

[Av3ng3]

how is that plastidip holding?

It's holding very well actually, there's only one spot on one of the matte black racing stripes that got peeled up a little bit from a rock that bounced out of a semi while I was driving, but it seems to have protected the actual paint from any scratches so I'm pretty impressed! I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

[Ratubbs]

Nate i wish I had read your post prior to attempting the racing stripes on the hood. After the tedious task of taping them off I laid down a few coats evenly and let it dry a few hours then went to remove the tape and it just frayed the edges something terrible so I got pissed and pulled it all off. What a waste of time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk