My Money Pit (Build Thread)

[Tango71]

Started planning on how to throw away my hard earned money the day I picked this thing up

1998 4Runner 5 speed 3.4L V6. Here she is in stock form when I brought her home.

and just so I have a side by side comparison here she is today (about 2 months later)

The color is a matte metallic black

Mods so far include OME 3" suspension lift, Toytec 2" body lift, 1.25" Spidertrax wheel spacers, new steering column to rack rubber coupler, Toyota tundra brake upgrade, 285/75/16 Duratracs

I also made some custom flares/mud flaps out of some 10mm thick conveyor belt rubber I once picked up from a dumpster (thought it may one day come in handy, was I ever right)
After everything was cut and fitted I painted the rubber with rockerguard and then a coat of black paint.

Front

Rear

Mounted

This is it for now but I'm definitely not even close to done. As in my signature, the plans are to swap in a VW Diesel in to her, Re-gear to 4.88's or 5.29's depending if I opt to get 35's in the future or not.

Hopefully this weekend I can get started on a custom front bumper, Not sure what I'll do for the rear bumper yet. I'm definitely going with a custom roof rack and light bar eventually. Anyway I'll have more to come soon.

 

[mswscco]

Ha, ha, using Fido's pad as a paint backdrop would NOT fly at my house. And every dollar you put into the truck increases its value by $1.25

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Did you paint it? It looks glossy in the first picture. Truck looks good though, very similar to one of mine.

 

[Tango71]

Ha, ha, using Fido's pad as a paint backdrop would NOT fly at my house. And every dollar you put into the truck increases its value by $1.25

This dog house is actually sitting in the pile of crap we're supposed to take to the dump. Rex, our lab doesn't even use it.
So far I have about 6 grand in to it including the truck itself. Diesel swap will cost me another 1500 or so and a re-gear will set me back about the same. So I'm looking at a $9000-$10,000 truck once all is said and done.

Did you paint it? It looks glossy in the first picture. Truck looks good though, very similar to one of mine.

Yes I painted it after some minor body work. The only reason it has metallic in it is that they only had 2 quarts of matte clear and 1 quart of metallic clear. I needed 3 quarts to paint the truck with. Kinda my wife's idea as well and it turned out awesome.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

How did you go about painting it? Paint both or...? It looks pretty cool. I've been wanting to do a matte gray on mine for a while.

 

[absalom]

If you do the VW diesel swap, please for the love of god, detail the entire process.

 

[4ever4running]

First off I love the title and I'm sure 95% of us on the forum feel the same way. Second, the custom mud flaps look great! I could definitely use a set of those since my stock flaps just don't cut it with 12.5" wide tires that sling mud, rocks, etc. all over my truck (and anyone unfortunate enough to be behind me). Third, I like the matte black look, it is definitely unique and something I haven't seen on here before.

Would you mind posting up what parts (if any) you needed to install the 2" body lift? I currently have a 1.5" body lift and will probably have to step up to a 2" body lift when I upgrade to 35's. I have just heard some conflicting information about what all is needed so some clarification would be appreciated.

 

[Tango71]

How did you go about painting it? Paint both or...? It looks pretty cool. I've been wanting to do a matte gray on mine for a while.

It was a single vehicle garage bay I rented. Not really designed to be used as a spray booth so I had to take extra precautions to keep the dust down as much as possible. A matte gray with metallic would look pretty badass too.
I used the Duplicolor automotive paint which comes pre-reduced in quart cans and is ready to spray. 3 quarts of jet black, 2 quarts of matte clear and 1 quart of gloss metallic clear. If you want a matte gray then just use their silver metallic and spray just the matte clear on that. Should turn out really nice.

If you do the VW diesel swap, please for the love of god, detail the entire process.

I will try my best to detail as much as possible, when and if I even get around to this. Its kind of a tossup as we own a newer VW diesel for our trips and this truck is pretty much staying here in this small town the rest of its life.
My wife asked me if I could build it so its at least capable of towing 2 horses in a small horse trailer. So if I dont end up buying a new truck just for that then this will be the truck I need to do it with. In which case the V6 will get modded to make some more power. For now a re-gear to 4.88's is priority.

First off I love the title and I'm sure 95% of us on the forum feel the same way. Second, the custom mud flaps look great! I could definitely use a set of those since my stock flaps just don't cut it with 12.5" wide tires that sling mud, rocks, etc. all over my truck (and anyone unfortunate enough to be behind me). Third, I like the matte black look, it is definitely unique and something I haven't seen on here before.

Would you mind posting up what parts (if any) you needed to install the 2" body lift? I currently have a 1.5" body lift and will probably have to step up to a 2" body lift when I upgrade to 35's. I have just heard some conflicting information about what all is needed so some clarification would be appreciated.

Thank you. That means a lot. Its only the 4th vehicle I ever painted and this was the first one I opted not to use single stage farm/rust paint on.

The custom mud flaps are easy to make. If you live anywhere close to a concrete factory you should be able to get the rubber for free. They use conveyor belts and once they get a bit worn they change them out and since rubber costs money to dispose of they just let the old belts sit there on the property. It would be a shame for me not to make something and destroy the paint job, there is still some mud over spray but at least it keeps all the big stuff away.

As for the body lift all I bought was the 2" lift from Toytec. It mostly comes with everything you need. Nylon pucks, hardware, radiator relocation brackets and a steering spacer. I did have to fabricate my own bumper relocation brackets. Its pretty straight forward so I'm not sure on what conflicting info you're getting.
In your case you could get 1/2" spacers fabricated to add to your lift but in all honesty it may be cheaper to buy the 2" lift and sell your 1.5" lift afterwards.

 

[that$pit]

First off I love the title and I'm sure 95% of us on the forum feel the same way.

Meh... Just jokin, purdy rig, nice to see one completely different

 

[Hepar]

Just keep throwing money into the pit. It's a fun activity.

Rig looks great.

 

[Tango71]

Teaser shot of what I have been up to. Will take some day time pics tomorrow.

 

[SJC]

Your mudflaps look badass man :guitar3:

 

[Tango71]

Your mudflaps look badass man :guitar3:

Thanks, although I had to remove them unfortunately as they were too heavy and I kept ripping off the fronts going through thick brush, after many attempts to rectify the problem, the plastic clips would not hold up.
Ended up loosing one and so I said screw it and took the rest off. Replaced them with simple fender arch liners made from edging so the fender arches remain protected when I scrape against small trees. Now I'll just put regular mudflaps on and call it a day, I would love to get my hands on some plastic from a limited but where I live its rare to even see another 4runner let alone buy parts for one, Anyway. I'll have more pics soon.

 

[jmildoc]

Very NICE!!!

 

[4ever4running]

Teaser shot of what I have been up to. Will take some day time pics tomorrow.

Nice! Bummer about the mud flaps not working out, you can always send them to me, I'll put them to good use

 

[Tango71]

Sorry for the wait. Here are a couple of the rig as she sits now. Also did a couple mods. I will try to get some pics next time I go off road.

Bye bye ash tray, hello pitch and roll gauges!

There was a sale on these FIAMM trumpet horns so I decided to give them a try. They aren't too bad, I am only running a single trumpet. Its no train horn but its definitely louder than stock.

 

[farmerjon]

Where did you get those pitch and roll guages? I've LOVE some for mine, I never use my ashtray lol.

Nice rig, looks different... The mudflaps were an interesting touch...Though I will be honest, your front end looks a little bit...ghetto?

VW Diesel swap would be SICK!

 

[Tango71]

Where did you get those pitch and roll guages? I've LOVE some for mine, I never use my ashtray lol.

Nice rig, looks different... The mudflaps were an interesting touch...Though I will be honest, your front end looks a little bit...ghetto?

VW Diesel swap would be SICK!

I'm sorry I am not willing to dish out the cash on an ARB bumper. Its not meant for looks. Needs to get me from A to B on varying terrain usually muddy trails and very dense forests. The front end needs to be able to handle deer strike and push through thick brush. I'm also not 100% sure I'm doing the diesel swap yet.

 

[Tango71]

Been a while since I posted. Here is some progress with the build, I needed more storage so I built a full size rack. Made of 1" I think, Shc40 Black Pipe. Total rack weight is about 100lbs or more. I know, not light But it will eventually become a part of my exo cage.

Oh and Canadian winters sucks!

 

[absalom]

Super bummed about lack of diesel swap!