My better late than never build thread

[gm350reratliff]

So I've owned this 2008 4Runner since 2008. I also became a member of this great forum around the same time but I never made a build thread for it. I'm not sure why I never made one but tonight I decided to make one. For starters, I'm terrible at taking pictures. Not necessarily the taking part but the remembering to take them part. The other thing is I didn't have a smart phone (or even a phone with a camera) until 2011. Unfortunately, my digital camera at the time was clunky and finicky to use. I do take more pictures now though.

A little history first. My wife and I are the second owners. We initially had our hearts set on a white sport edition but the dealers around us wanted full MSRP for one not to mention, practically stealing my trade from me. There also wasn't much of SE 4Runners in the used market either. Finally, this one appeared in an online ad at the Honda dealer. 6 months old, not even 10k miles yet, locally owned. After an all afternoon negotiations, we said goodbye to our G6 (actually my wife didn't, she gave it the bird) and drove home in our new-to-us 4Runner. Not exactly what we wanted but we did save a ton of money. So it's black instead of white, tan interior instead of grey, SR5 instead of SE but we did get the 4x4 and the V6, yes, we did in fact specifically want the V6.

I'll slowly be adding pictures to this thread as I come across them and hopefully adding some new stuff.

This pic is not too long after we bought it. IIRC, the windows were tinted a few days before this pic. This is also it's first trip to Bluewater lake.

This is the most current pics;

There were mods completed before I ever had a build thread (I will try to find the "in progress" pictures) they include: 15% tint all around, Huskyliner weather beaters, Escort 8500 blue hardwired, countryjoycrafts.com radar detector mount, Avital remote start/alarm, axle vent mod, OEM block heater, exhaust resonator delete with re-route to side, Pioneer AVH-3300BT with XM, Kenwood backup camera, FJ Cruiser springs, Bilstein 5100's set at 1.75", Daystar 1.5" rear spacer, map light mod, anytime fog light mod, OEM steps deleted, 2014 Trail Edition wheels, BFG KO2 tires, led license plate lights, Sound ordinance sub.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Picked up some SE wheels and used them for a while. Also had Hankook ATs for while.

I ended up swapping the SE wheels for the TE wheels after we installed new wheels on our 5th gen.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I tried wet-sanding, a few different polishes, and sealers but the OEM headlights just continue to yellow and get hazy. I finally gave in and purchased these black housing headlights off of ebay. I think the look is much better.

 

[Dbart82]

Not too bad. Where do you go wheeling around NM?

 

[97BlackAckCL]

"Welp, better late than never"

 

[gm350reratliff]

Not too bad. Where do you go wheeling around NM?

Mostly on Mt. Taylor and the Zuni mountains. I really want to make a trip to Montecello/Box Canyon though.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I jumped on the Tred group buy last month and picked up a pair. I wanted to be able to carry them when I go offroad and take them off completely when I don't need them and still have a perfectly flat, unobstructed rack. I know Tred makes mounts for these but I wanted to see if I could come up with something first. Below is what I came up with to mount them. Note, at some point (hopefully) I will be adding either a Gobi or Baja rack (EDIT: I was checking out the Eezi-Awn K9 racks on the internet tonight. Definitely the way I want to go now) to this thing and come up with a litte different way to carry the Treds.

The point of no return.

Once the holes were drilled, I filled the open areas around the holes inside the crossbar with black silicon. I let it cure for a few days but surprisingly, even with the near triple digit heat, the silicon inside was not fully cured.

 

[swanny]

Looks great! Love the look of the new black headlights.

 

[Dbart82]

Mostly on Mt. Taylor and the Zuni mountains. I really want to make a trip to Montecello/Box Canyon though.

I would like to make a trip out there too, but I heard that they closed it down.... https://www.facebook.com/TheHeraldNM/posts/1001803123187165

Hopefully they will look into opening it back up again.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I would like to make a trip out there too, but I heard that they closed it down.... https://www.facebook.com/TheHeraldNM/posts/1001803123187165

Hopefully they will look into opening it back up again.

Yeah, I heard that as well. I guess that's what we get when idiots by the groves go out there tearing up and trashing the place. I also heard that you can still get in there (to at least some of it) going a different route.

EDIT: I just read on Facebook that it is still open on both ends. The closure won't take effect for another month or so. Now I really want to go!

 

[gm350reratliff]

Looks great! Love the look of the new black headlights.

Thanks! They look soooooo much better than the yellow OEM lights. Next up, is a satoshi grill.


Back to mounting the Treds.

I used a large punch to poke through the holes that I filled with silicone. Only the top and bottom were cured after nearly a week in blazing hot sun but it left the holes exactly how I wanted them. The crossbars are sealed from any dirt, water getting in through the holes I drilled.

This is what I'm using to hold the treds on; four 4.5"x .5" trailer hitch pins, two springs I had laying around, some 1/2" washers, two rubber shock bushings cut in half, two small Masterlocks. I painted the pins, washers, and springs so hopefully they wont rust too bad. I'm Not going to leave them on all the time anyway.

 

[gm350reratliff]

So far the springs are doing a good job keeping the Treds rattle free. Does anybody know how the Treds hold up to constant sun exposure if I were to leave them on permanently?

 

[gm350reratliff]

Decided to de-badge today. Hit a snag however. It seems that the SR5 has left its mark for life. All around the letters the paint is pitted. The 4WD letters came off perfectly and have left no trace whatsoever. I've owned this 4runner since 2008, no wrecks, but it almost looks like the SR5 was put on when the paint was tacky and the 4WD later or the sand and tiny rocks only found there way behind the SR5. Kind of bummed and a little nervous the rest of the emblems will turn out this way so I'm holding off on those. I've tried 3 different polishing compounds and a foam buffing wheel to get it this good but the pitting is deep and I don't think its gonna buff out.

My friends, I need your help and opinions of what to do next. Do I,
1. Leave the letters off and live with it.
2. Put the letters back on and live with them
3. Put the letters back on and plasti-derp them
4. Cover this mess with some sort of sticker
5. Trade it in and be done with this and the irritating sunroof rattle from hell :frusty:

Below is what it looks like.

 

[cloudrunner]

I vote #3. I plasti-dipped and love the way they came out.

 

[wnelax04sr5]

try windex and a razor blade on whats left behind, it'll take off even stuff compound won't

 

[gm350reratliff]

I vote #3. I plasti-dipped and love the way they came out.

That's kind of what I'm thinking at this point. If I do that, I'm thinking of using a dark grey. Did you remove the letters from the 4runner or just mask around them?

try windex and a razor blade on whats left behind, it'll take off even stuff compound won't

I'll have to try that but unfortunately I think the paint is pitted.

 

[Be_Original]

Decided to de-badge today. Hit a snag however. It seems that the SR5 has left its mark for life. All around the letters the paint is pitted. The 4WD letters came off perfectly and have left no trace whatsoever. I've owned this 4runner since 2008, no wrecks, but it almost looks like the SR5 was put on when the paint was tacky and the 4WD later or the sand and tiny rocks only found there way behind the SR5. Kind of bummed and a little nervous the rest of the emblems will turn out this way so I'm holding off on those. I've tried 3 different polishing compounds and a foam buffing wheel to get it this good but the pitting is deep and I don't think its gonna buff out.

My friends, I need your help and opinions of what to do next. Do I,
1. Leave the letters off and live with it.
2. Put the letters back on and live with them
3. Put the letters back on and plasti-derp them
4. Cover this mess with some sort of sticker
5. Trade it in and be done with this and the irritating sunroof rattle from hell :frusty:

Below is what it looks like.

I know the feeling, mine was the same when I de badged. Took it to two body shops and one detail shop after many failed attempts at removing it at home. No one could remove it or the pitting. I grew to get used to it...its not like the scratches all over my truck from off roading help either.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I know the feeling, mine was the same when I de badged. Took it to two body shops and one detail shop after many failed attempts at removing it at home. No one could remove it or the pitting. I grew to get used to it...its not like the scratches all over my truck from off roading help either.

Did the rest of the emblems leave a mark like this? I would carry on if I knew the rest of the emblems wouldn't be like this. I could probably find something to put over it but I don't want to have to do that for all the emblems.

 

[Be_Original]

Did the rest of the emblems leave a mark like this? I would carry on if I knew the rest of the emblems wouldn't be like this. I could probably find something to put over it but I don't want to have to do that for all the emblems.

Not as bad. But from very close you can definitely tell there used to be an emblem in place. It only bothers you because you know its there, I assume from far its hard to spot like mine. 99% of people are looking at your truck as a whole, not where you took the emblems off

 

[gm350reratliff]

Not as bad. But from very close you can definitely tell there used to be an emblem in place. It only bothers you because you know its there, I assume from far its hard to spot like mine. 99% of people are looking at your truck as a whole, not where you took the emblems off

I think you're right. I washed it today and unless you're really close or at the perfect angle, you can't really tell. It still bugs me because I know it's there. Not sure if I want to try my luck on the rest though.