need to put some spice in my 4runner

[ct03si]

i have had my 08 4runner SR5 for almost 2 years now and im beginning to get a little bored with it, it is bone stock with the 6cyl so its nothing special.
im thinking that if i can make it look a little bit rougher i will fall back in love with it again like i did when i bought it.
i HAVE to get new tires in the next month or so, so i figured i would start there, im looking that the nitto terra grapplers,in the OEM 17" size while im down in that area i was thinking of some spidertrax spacers to widen the stance a little without breaking the bank. and last i want to do something to make the front end a little meaner, im deciding between the defiant light bar with 4 lights or just doing something with that ugly chrome grille, maybe blacking it out or clearing it and adding mesh to make the open grille look.
basically im trying to find some fairly inexpensive things that together will change the styling of the truck a bit. i dont want to get into performance stuff, and im a little leary of doing suspension because that can get costly really quick.
any other ideas?? do you think that the items im looking at will have an impact on the look of the truck enough?

 

[NJshadow93]

I would recommend a leveling kit for the front. Would make it much more aggressive. You could try to Plasti-Dip your grille, even your rims if you choose. Possibly an exhaust or a muffler that would suit your taste. The beauty of owning a 4Runner is you have so many options. Look through the picture threads and you should get many ideas.

 

[Dougtoms01]

I have a V6 2008 and was in the same place last year. I put a 1" spacer in the front (resulting in 2" of lift) and a 1.5" coil spacer in the rear. It only cost me like $80 for the parts.
I slapped some Michilen MS/2 265/65/R17 tires on. It looks much better with the lift and was inexpensive.

I also went with Bilstein 5100's, but have them set at stock height so you don't need to spend the bucks for them. I got them to help with towing bounce pulling a pop-up.

You can look at my profile for before and after pictures and write ups under my threads.



Best regards,
Doug

 

[ct03si]

ok, im dead set on the tires and wheel spacers, it only goes off road during hunting season and when i go to the shooting range so maybe once or twice a month, i think the low wide stance will look good for a mostly street driven truck.
im having one of my coworkers black out all of the chrome on the truck ( grille, emblems, rear trim) that is a start i guess, im trying to go pretty easy on this truck because once i pay it off the wife wants it and i will get something new
i may do the front light bar later on when i have about $500 to spare

 

[ghostridr]

ok, im dead set on the tires and wheel spacers, it only goes off road during hunting season and when i go to the shooting range so maybe once or twice a month, i think the low wide stance will look good for a mostly street driven truck.
im having one of my coworkers black out all of the chrome on the truck ( grille, emblems, rear trim) that is a start i guess, im trying to go pretty easy on this truck because once i pay it off the wife wants it and i will get something new
i may do the front light bar later on when i have about $500 to spare

Start with meatier tires and wheel spacers or rims with more off-set for that meaner look you desire.

 

[<<<<]

You'll love Terra Graplers, size up to 265/70/17 from 265/65/17. GL

 

[ct03si]

You'll love Terra Graplers, size up to 265/70/17 from 265/65/17. GL

wont i have rubbing issues with a taller tire and no lift??
im already worried about the wheel spacers causing some rubbing

 

[ran]

Running 265/70/17 on a stock '07 Sport, no rubbing, no problems.

 

[NJshadow93]

wont i have rubbing issues with a taller tire and no lift??
im already worried about the wheel spacers causing some rubbing

If you have the spacers and taller tires, then yes you would definitely count on rubbing. You would have to move the fender liners forward and possibly remove the front mud flaps.

 

[<<<<]

Do 265/70/17 without spacers. Nitto TerraG wont rub in stock setup.

 

[Kalva]

Here's some Spice, I had to do it

 

[2007toyota4runners]

I had this same predicament in march and blacking out the headlights and grill is inexpensive and very effective. Also a set of xenon's should finish up the front end. Last month i got new tires Nitto Terra Grapplers in 265/70/17 and WOW all i can say is they beef up the look a lot and no rubbing here either. I am wanting to get a leveling kit but my dad doesnt want me to rip into the suspension even though he was a mechanic and I am highly capable of doing so but 3/2 spacers should get the aggressiveness you may want.
As she sits now before the Terra Grapplers

 

[ct03si]

ok, it will actually save me a couple of bucks to go with the 265/70/17 instead of the 265/65/17 so as long as there wont be a rubbing issue i think ill go that route, and i still do want to do the spidertrax spacers.

 

[AleksV]

my 265 70 17 duratracs just barely rub, with smaller offset rims though, but barely wider than stock. you would need a lift if you want to run spacers. I don't know if that would rub then, and I'm looking for that answer as well.

 

[zimm]

Do the 70 profile Terras and spacers. Here was mine at that stage...

You can get a grill from a Limited 4runner for about $200 and it'll be painted to match your truck. I love mine.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

So tell me what you want what you really really want

 

[ct03si]

-ok, grille is getting taken off and given to a friend to sand and spray black on saturday, still debating if i wanna do the rear chrome trim too and if i want to try to paint or just remove the name badges.
-ordered red led bulbs for the doors and interior roof lights, to match the outside color, not sure if they will stay but for the price i figured why not have a cool red glow when i open the doors. they will be here saturday
-currently saving up for 265/70/17 nitto terra grapplers and spidertrax spacers, hopefully it all works, i am willing to trim some fender liner spots but if the spacers cause any big issue on the first fitment than they will probably be up for sale here pretty fast, al tho i really hope they work okay

 

[ct03si]

update!! grille is installed back on the truck and looks awesome, purchased a bunch of plasti-dip for my oe wheels i hope to get that done this weekend and than ill take some pics.
as for the rest, i have been looking into daystar front leveling kits, it seems that if i do a 2.5 front spacer kit it will level things out and may help with tire rubbing issues when i put in the new tires and wheel spacers.
im a little worried about thhe leveling kit tho, what are the long term effects of spacing out my front struts like that, will i ruin ball joints or wear out axle boots or something like that?

 

[Chad T]

Cinnamon is my favorite spice, so I got a cinnamon air freshener. Simple mod that really spiced it up.

 

[boondoggle]

Let me get this straight. If you put 1.25" spacers on stock wheels/tires - 265/65/17 - they will likely rub? Seems counter-intuitive.