The LandShark
New member
I have had my 2003 4.0 V6 Sport for about 7-8 years now and have only accumulated, at this point just under 83k on the clock, it has already had all new ball joints up front, CV axles, front brake calipers due to the stuck piston phenomenon and this morning I will be swapping out an upper idler pulley that is squealing like a piggy. It has been a good truck to us, I've had it up in the 14k foot high areas of the country and done other exploring with it and have gotten into some remote areas. I love finding these areas and shutting off the truck and enjoying the true silence of nature. That is the greatest noise to me ever and I love loud music. It has been a great replacement for the FJ60 I had, and GREATLY miss and will replace one day mark my words.
So I've been lurking on this site and had registered before under a name I can't remember using one of the thousands of email I open and close so I'm back as The LandShark, I'll post a picture to give the name credence.
I do as much wrenching on this thing as I can, I'm not intimidated by just about all repairs and I fix sh|t for a living anyway so what the fark.
I disappeared from the interwebs as I had to go be re-educated so that I could get back to making the kind of money I like making and not working my balls off to do so and now I am back and after having sold off most of the toys to restructure and make school easier I am now left with the 4runner and my motounicycle.
I am lucky to have a)a wife that is ok with me being stupid and b) I have amassed a stack of loot to possibly build my 4Runner to look like a giant radio controlled truck, one of my other money wasters I want to get back to. I have been able to get us debt free while going to school and had an unfortunate windfall that has added to my build the truck/by another motorcycle fund.
I have the OME suspension under it now and it is ok, not stellar, but ok, and with it the truck can now handle high speed on ramps like no trucks business. The truck has been paid for now fer a couple of years and it really has been trouble free outside of me using it hard at times and then replacing/fixing things as needed due to my "miss use".
I want to either buy or build bumpers front and rear with the rear to hold the spare and maybe some fuel cans or a good sized cooler.
Re-gear to either 4:56 or 4:88's depending on if I stay at 33's or go up to 35's. Probably add ARB's for strength and the added bonus of lockers.
I want a complete Bud Built skid set underneath and would like to add another fuel cell where the stock spare should go for added range for exploring.
I have drooled over the Total Chaos and Camburg Racing long travel front kits and would do some work in the rear to get a similar amount of travel to try to keep it balanced.
As I said before I fix sh|t for a living and have very good friends that are extremely competent professional fabricators one of which just got his Professional Engineering Certificate(I think that's what it was called) so he can ok my/our suspension plans (hahaha).
There is some other sh@ I would like to do like take out the back seats as they are down 99% of the time for my giant a$$ dogs so That would give me a load floor and room to hide a couple of 8" subs behind the front seats as well.
You guys that have built some of the fine trucks on here, if you are still around, and all of the rest of you I would like your input on this. Talk me out of it if you feel you must or let me know which parts people have had good luck with. I know this will take a mountain of cash and just when it's looking good it may need another small hill's worth of cash to really do right, I don't care, I plan on keeping this truck for a long time. This is going to be a work in progress as I will be daily driving it when the weather is really crappy or when I'm not recovering from surgery, I have some warranty work to have done on myself. I am also finishing up the rebuild of the front suspension under our old Mercedes and it looks like my wife will be getting a new ride as well soon so this will be driven here and there after a while but I want it to be every day drivable no less. I much prefer two wheeled conveyance myself either moto or pedal.
I am open to all suggestions and input, I'm not looking to build the baddest truck that can do every trail on the planet and jump 40 feet into the air and land like its on a pillow, I want it to look fu*king sweet and get us out to some even more remote spots for camping with the dogs. I would also like to be able to haul a$$ out on the prairie lands around my brothers place in southwestern South Dakota.
We have been thinking of getting some kind of adventure trailer/small hard shell camper to drag behind us so I will be adding a large trans cooler for that.
I would like to add some oomph to the V6 as well but that is looking like its going to be harder than taking a dead baby seal from a polar bear. I have spoke to TRD(they are a worthless bunch of non-informed turds), I've been talking to Mike at LC Engineering and waiting to see if I get a reply from Gadget at URD. I've already had enough folks tell me that I should have gotten the V8 but when we test drove both trucks, they were identical outside of one was a 6 the other had the 8, and the 6 just felt like it had better midrange oomph. According to the specs the 6 has about 10mm more stroke so that could be part of the reason and its around 300 pounds lighter cuz of the all aluminum build. I will be making sure the cooling system is stout so I don't over heat and warp the engine. My friend has given me his idea for added power and we will talk this over later as I would rather get the suspension and armor parts done first.
I used to live in Colorado and regularly visit there and we are planning to move back out to that area, I also have family in the Badlands and Black hills and find the truck runs out of breath as I get up to those altitudes in those areas so that is one of the reasons I'd like to add some boost to the engine. It will also add to the fun quotient.
I have wired in Kliv's VSC off button and I am going to dig up his email and see if he could do one that will disengage the traction control either at the same time or, better, using a separate button. That would be AWESOME.
Thank you much for all advice up front and let the input roll in.
Thanks again.
Ryan
So I've been lurking on this site and had registered before under a name I can't remember using one of the thousands of email I open and close so I'm back as The LandShark, I'll post a picture to give the name credence.
I do as much wrenching on this thing as I can, I'm not intimidated by just about all repairs and I fix sh|t for a living anyway so what the fark.
I disappeared from the interwebs as I had to go be re-educated so that I could get back to making the kind of money I like making and not working my balls off to do so and now I am back and after having sold off most of the toys to restructure and make school easier I am now left with the 4runner and my motounicycle.
I am lucky to have a)a wife that is ok with me being stupid and b) I have amassed a stack of loot to possibly build my 4Runner to look like a giant radio controlled truck, one of my other money wasters I want to get back to. I have been able to get us debt free while going to school and had an unfortunate windfall that has added to my build the truck/by another motorcycle fund.
I have the OME suspension under it now and it is ok, not stellar, but ok, and with it the truck can now handle high speed on ramps like no trucks business. The truck has been paid for now fer a couple of years and it really has been trouble free outside of me using it hard at times and then replacing/fixing things as needed due to my "miss use".
I want to either buy or build bumpers front and rear with the rear to hold the spare and maybe some fuel cans or a good sized cooler.
Re-gear to either 4:56 or 4:88's depending on if I stay at 33's or go up to 35's. Probably add ARB's for strength and the added bonus of lockers.
I want a complete Bud Built skid set underneath and would like to add another fuel cell where the stock spare should go for added range for exploring.
I have drooled over the Total Chaos and Camburg Racing long travel front kits and would do some work in the rear to get a similar amount of travel to try to keep it balanced.
As I said before I fix sh|t for a living and have very good friends that are extremely competent professional fabricators one of which just got his Professional Engineering Certificate(I think that's what it was called) so he can ok my/our suspension plans (hahaha).
There is some other sh@ I would like to do like take out the back seats as they are down 99% of the time for my giant a$$ dogs so That would give me a load floor and room to hide a couple of 8" subs behind the front seats as well.
You guys that have built some of the fine trucks on here, if you are still around, and all of the rest of you I would like your input on this. Talk me out of it if you feel you must or let me know which parts people have had good luck with. I know this will take a mountain of cash and just when it's looking good it may need another small hill's worth of cash to really do right, I don't care, I plan on keeping this truck for a long time. This is going to be a work in progress as I will be daily driving it when the weather is really crappy or when I'm not recovering from surgery, I have some warranty work to have done on myself. I am also finishing up the rebuild of the front suspension under our old Mercedes and it looks like my wife will be getting a new ride as well soon so this will be driven here and there after a while but I want it to be every day drivable no less. I much prefer two wheeled conveyance myself either moto or pedal.
I am open to all suggestions and input, I'm not looking to build the baddest truck that can do every trail on the planet and jump 40 feet into the air and land like its on a pillow, I want it to look fu*king sweet and get us out to some even more remote spots for camping with the dogs. I would also like to be able to haul a$$ out on the prairie lands around my brothers place in southwestern South Dakota.
We have been thinking of getting some kind of adventure trailer/small hard shell camper to drag behind us so I will be adding a large trans cooler for that.
I would like to add some oomph to the V6 as well but that is looking like its going to be harder than taking a dead baby seal from a polar bear. I have spoke to TRD(they are a worthless bunch of non-informed turds), I've been talking to Mike at LC Engineering and waiting to see if I get a reply from Gadget at URD. I've already had enough folks tell me that I should have gotten the V8 but when we test drove both trucks, they were identical outside of one was a 6 the other had the 8, and the 6 just felt like it had better midrange oomph. According to the specs the 6 has about 10mm more stroke so that could be part of the reason and its around 300 pounds lighter cuz of the all aluminum build. I will be making sure the cooling system is stout so I don't over heat and warp the engine. My friend has given me his idea for added power and we will talk this over later as I would rather get the suspension and armor parts done first.
I used to live in Colorado and regularly visit there and we are planning to move back out to that area, I also have family in the Badlands and Black hills and find the truck runs out of breath as I get up to those altitudes in those areas so that is one of the reasons I'd like to add some boost to the engine. It will also add to the fun quotient.
I have wired in Kliv's VSC off button and I am going to dig up his email and see if he could do one that will disengage the traction control either at the same time or, better, using a separate button. That would be AWESOME.
Thank you much for all advice up front and let the input roll in.
Thanks again.
Ryan
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