New member into/ build thread from the beginning.

[gshadow325]

Current Configuration
2003 V8 179k as of 3/5/14
-New OEM dealer installed transmission @ 145k
-All OEM red Toyota boxed -Timing Belt, water pump, tensioners, pulleys and acc belts done @ 165k
-Both manifolds replaced with Pacesetters
-O2 Sensor spacer mod after pacesetters were installed
-All 4 O2 Sensors replaced with Denso
-Maf Replaced with AutoZone Rebuilt one
-Magnaflow Muffler
-Quad BiXenon Projector Retrofit part1 Another Projector retrofit - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum Part2 Quad Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofit Part Duex - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum
-Rigid Dually D2 installed in OEM Foglication
-CBI Ditch Light brackets
-Quad 2x2 Hanma LED's on CBI brackets (inner two spots, outer two floods)
-Dual 2x2 Hanma LED's installed in rear bumper in useless reflector location
-Warn VR10000 winch
-5th Gen Bud Built Hidden Winch plate, installed in my 4th gen. by accident Guide for another BudBuilt Hidden Winch Install, kinda. Lots of pictures. - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum
-Curt Manufacturing Front 2" Hitch Reciever. Yes at the same time with the bud built hidden winch mount.
-added second set of steering wheel controls, Bluetooth/answer Buttons mod
-Kenwood Dnn990HD radio
-Kenwood KFCx693 front speakers
-Kenwood KFCxxxx read speakers
-Kenwood X700.5 5 Channel Amp
-Kenwood 8" flat sub in OEM JBL enclosure
-Backup Camera
-OTRTTW Switches
-Cluster always on MOD with dimmer
-Hornblasters TrainHorns and airtank all under the hood
-Stinger SPP1700 HiCapacity battery
-Compustar Two Way Pro 901 Spread Spectrum Alarm Remote starter
-Drone Mobile GPS tracking cellular interface
-Husky floor liners LoL
-BFGoodrich All Terrain TA KO's 285/65/18, no i didnt buy coopers even though wxman says they the best
-American Racing 901 Wheels in black 18x9 with 0 offset
-Invented the 12v door socket MOD lol
-LED Puddle lights
-LED tailgate lights
-LED strip license plate light
-LED 360 degree Dome light MOD
-LED underhood light mod with mercury switch turn on
-FJ Coils
-TRD Tacoma Front Bilstiens
-FJ rear Bilsteins
-Daystar Spacers 2.5/1.5 NET lift with tires 4.5", no body chop either, just fender trimming
-Redline 75w90 Fluid in front and rear diff and transfer case
-Mobile 1 pumped into the driveshaft to remove the thud clunk bang!
- [MENTION=63211]emelianenkov[/MENTION] VSC/Tracs disable Disable VSC, TRAC, and ABS without damaging factory wiring - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

I am sure i am forgetting something i did in the last 10 months
Link to my diy/mod posts
My collection of DIY and MOD threads - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

EDITED: old first post
Hello everyone. My name is Steve. I come from a owning Volvo's for a long time. I recently just sold my 98 S70 T5 to another forum member that flew out to philadelphia from Chicago.

After it sold that same night i was looking for circa 91-97 Toyota Land Cruisers. Narrowed the search down to 95-97 LX450 or Land cruiser. For the Heck of it I looked into 4 runners but mostly 3rd gen. Came across a semi scam sounding Craigslist AD selling a 03 V8 SR5 listed cheap. It had a phone number listed, i call leave a message, emailed and texted. No answer till exactly 1 week later.

Turns out dude listed car when he was on a job site, 700 miles away then realized he was not able to get home for another week. I emailed first and coincidentally, called as he was going to call me back. After a little of back and forth negotiating. finding a blinking ac light = non working ac, no documentation on timing belt service. I stole this car for almost half Nada market value.

So if you read this far, i am going to stop boring you and get to the car.

2003 V8 SR5, Aftermarket Sunroof, Aftermarket Leather, seat heaters, JBL Synthesis, two tier cargo thing in the back, and OEM running boards. long list of going to dealer for service work. dealer replaced reman trans @ 145k and now she is at 164k. several bulbs out, 90% of bulbs out on radio. couple of rattles from passenger side area. need to be detailed, but other wise its a nice running car.

This thread will document, what i did and what it was to what it has become!

First day with it.

Fixed the AC blinking issue. it was not a bad relay or anything. Dealer did a flsuh and refill on the freon and some how reinstalled the MT CLT back in the foglight spot. So previous owner declined a $1750 repair, sold it cheaper because of someone's mistake. I was ready to replace all the crap on the original service order too. A little search on this forum saved my @ss a ton of money :thanks::thanks::thanks::thanks::thanks::thanks::thanks:

 

[gaterose]

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you scored a good deal.

Since you've created a build thread I have to assume you have plans for mods... so what's in store?

 

[Brazenhead]

Good for you! It's awesome to hear when someone scores a great deal and their happy about it. I to am interested in seeing where your build goes.

Sounds like a previous owner should have bought a limited!

 

[gshadow325]

*obtain all service records. especially timing belt service

*inside first
*kenwood DNX890HD
*jbl retention
*backup camera
*tint
*compustar alarm/remote starter/pager/gps tracking

just to start

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Welcome :bravo:

 

[gshadow325]

Thanks!!

So today completed the following

• Compustar Alarm Remote Starter
• Pro 901 Rechargeable 1 Mile Range Remote Control
• Digital Angle Sensor - digital tilt and shock unit
• DroneMobile GPS Tracking and Smart Phone Interface
• Touch RPS - touch sensative pin pad
• EZ-Go - RF ID handsfree remote unlocking and locking.Walk up to the car, it unlocks/disarms..walk away it arms/locks doors
• Remote Rear window Roll Up and Down
• 2013 Kenwood DNX690HD
• Back-Up camera
• Pac-Audio Tato JBL interface..Jbl sucks sooo hard. new stuff when i get some free time
• Pac-Audio Steering Wheel Interface
• Kenwood KCA-IP202 Ipod Cable
• Sirius Sv200 Sirius Tuner
• 6000k HIDs
• Curt 13445 Front Hitch

Thats it for now, oh yeah...had the pleasure of vcs lights coming on too after i did my alarm remote starter...Thanks again to this forum on the paper clip reset procedure!! Also didnt tighten down the gas cap so i got a P420 code

Up next 5% tint all the way around, LEDs everywhere inside and out...

 

[gshadow325]

Work from the last two days.

So i get a P420 code and the vsc and tracs light. This is the only car i ever had that sets off so many lights from one Pxxx code!!

Bought one of these OEM for $15.11

Here are some pictures of the tailgate and the best way to get thru that vapor seal. You razor blade it open to get a flap aka access panel. dont mess with that putty stuff. it will get everywhere and is PITA to take off. i use high quality 3m duct tape to seal it back up. make sure put put the tape on the flap first then put the flap onto the tailgate.

Open the tail gate to do a few things.
First: to run my back up camera i had lying around from my last truck (volvo xc90).

Backup camera close up, you can also see my LED strip lighting for my tag lights Also started to debadge the truck. much cleaner look and give teh truck a little bit more anonymity to go with the license plate.

Better tag LED lighting...love it or hate it...:hurt:

Second: to add extra lighting when the tailgate is closed--into the cargo area. when tailgate is open onto the floor area. Like seen in the pictures.

Cargo area LED's vs passenger area NON leds, yet as you can see, piles of work in trunk for truck

LEDs 3 nine SMD panels in the oem spot

Next I did 5% tint all around the whole truck.
Here is passenger side vs driver side for comparison, taken at dusk/dawn. Also added my stick on rain guards. dont smoke but do like to be able to vent the windows without rain coming in. stick on vs in channel? i sell tons of this stuff, stick on always never have a problem, in channel always ends up having window movement issues.

Next, my favorite MOD. I have done this on customers cars for years.

Door puddle lights, each got a 9LED SMD white panel. Rear doors got a 20" LED strip under the door for this effect.

 

[gshadow325]

Since i am limited to 20 pics per post...here is the rest of the post...

Front doors got a 40" LED SMD strip for this effect

Front and rear doors together

Also in the four doors it got blue accent lighting..
rear

front

Alarm LED

Compustar's Touch Remote Paging System (RPS). It acts as a led blinker and touch pin pad for remote entry to vehicle.

Still have front hitch and rigid industries d2 dually's ready to go in. Going to finish up the window tint, front tint strip, drivers side puddle lights and door accent lighting today

 

[gshadow325]

Forgot to mention also did husky liners front and rear too. I think the weathertechs are still a nicer product right out of the box. BUT husky liners will be the same once you get it on the floor and use a heat gun to get the shape back again. heat does wonders to get plastic back into the original mold

000000.1 and 000000.2 00000.3 is in the garage sitting under a car cover waiting for spring..

but here it is if you were wondering if the tags were real

 

[Adventure Copan]

Very nice and welcome! I've never heard of that alarm company but I looked them up and they seem pretty cool.

-Daniel Kent

 

[gshadow325]

Very nice and welcome! I've never heard of that alarm company but I looked them up and they seem pretty cool.

-Daniel Kent

I have been a fan of their products when i was first introduced to it in 1998, when i opened my retail store. I became a dealer for them. Been selling their stuff since 2003. Great stuff, works well and has a bunch of expandable built in features. It runs circles around the competition!

 

[gshadow325]

Latest Round of mods:

• Finished 5% tint all around
• Curt Manufacturing Front Tow Hitch
• Audiovox MTG Dual DVD Head rest monitors 7"
• Custom Sign Post Holder LoL on roof rack
• De badged sides and rear

Pictures, we all love pictures

Curt front hitch. $80 from forum member on here! nice!

Here it is in workout mode..front hitch that is,

Debadged pics

My Kids favorite MOD, Dual DVD/SD card reader/USB reader...Key thing is SEPERATE DVD units, no fighting and daddy still has his navigation/dvd/sirius unit to use while i drive to where we gots to go!!

Since they univeral units, grey is a shade off and grain is off. with 5% window tint. You will never notice HAHAHA.

This weekend looks like i will looking the brakes over. they suck compared to my Volvo V70R's big four piston brembos. btw i like this truck so much i drove 580 miles in the last 9 days and neglected my wagon

 

[gshadow325]

Now these are the D2's $200 each not the cheaper look alike dually $220 per pair versions!


They are now mounted square and in the hole properly...as you can peep..my volvo V70R has them too guys on volvo forums are *****es when it comes to mods LOL...buncha haters there :/



Since you just scrolled all the way down to see these final pictures of them on at DUSK. night time pics we all seen them before



purposely took it with sun in background just for reference


varying angles



did a write up kinda for the light install here...
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...igid-industries-d2-lots-pics.html#post1354472

 

[timon]

Welcome! Nice mods! Subscribed..

 

[momo.75]

Welcome to the forum. You have made some cool mods.

 

[gshadow325]

Yesterday i fixed three things that annoyed the crap out of me

1. Rocking driver seat
2. non working seat heaters
3. stuck rear brake pad that would make this thud sound when released

So first i did the brakes. Took all four wheels off to inspect them. Boy toyotas gets tons of surface rust! Fronts look good, though eventually i am going to get new rotors and pads all around. Found the right rear brake pads wearing unevenly. Took the pads off, well try to anyways and the one that wore unevenly took a while to get out. turns out idiots that did the brake job before just jamed the pad in with a tiny piece of rusty metal wedged in there. so what happened was the pad did not "float" it just got stuck. with a little dremel tool and some care it "floats" now. Priceless $0 repair!
No pics sorry...

So since i was on a roll, i decided to tackle another annoying thing. My Rocking chair i had for a drivers seat. Search all over and no one found out the reason it rocks and roll LOL. well here is the reason.

There is a bar that runs from left to right. basically behind you butt or the bottom most bar in this picture


or this part that i have highlighted in red


That bar as outlined in red in the above picture is a brace that holds both sides together. it is welded from the factory. Well the welds suck. it doesnt go ALL the way around the bar. it just goes 1/3 -1/2 of the way around. So the welds break and one side just moves back and forth creating a rocking sensation! It broke at the spot highlighted in yellow circle in above picture, in my truck.

in this bottom picture, i am using a screw driver to point to the broken weld.


this weld is broken on the drivers side so it allowed the passenger side to drop down.

I picked up the seat and walked across a busy avenue with it on my shoulder over to my buddies at the body shop and in less than 30 seconds of grinding and welding (took 5 minutes to set it up though) i had a solid seat! The ride home was freaking awesome...priceless $0 repair

Since i had the seat apart to fix the rocking chair. I wanted to fix my heated seats. So boys and girls this is how you do it.

Take a Digital Volt Meter DVM and set it to OHM setting and change it to test for continuity. find the leads going to the seat heater pads, in my case its the ones in yellow circle in below picture.


You take the probes from the DVM and touch them together, your meter should beep. if it doesnt change it to a setting that it does.

You take those same towo probes and touch them to the two pins coming from the bottom seat pad. Some cars have the bottom and the back seat pad wired in a series. so you will have to use your spidey sense to make sure you going directly to the two leads coming from the seat pad or else your DVM will never beep or they maybe both bad.

So you sure you got the two leads coming from the seat pad right? if you connect your probe to them it should beep. if it doesnt that pad may be bad. if it does, then move on to the other one. do the same. this is the way you find out what pad is bad. they usually break here in this next picture. its easy to find. used a flashlight and shined it on it to follow the wires and it showed a break.


So get a piece of wire and reconnect it, solder it for a solid connection. tape it up with some good 3m supper 33 tape, dont use cheap stuff since this will get hot. super 33 holds up very very well. Now you saying how the heck do i put the seat leather back since i dont have hogclips or hogring pliers. Here's the trade secret cheat i will share with you since you read this far into my post! Get some quality 40lb zip ties!! easy peasy!

btw will make a seperate post for the rocking seat seat repair
Thanks for reading, come again!

 

[momo.75]

I had seen another thread where they had fixed the broken weld. I am hoping to have mine re-welded this weekend.

 

[gshadow325]

I had seen another thread where they had fixed the broken weld. I am hoping to have mine re-welded this weekend.

your drving experience will be SOOOOOOO much better!! it was annoying the hell out of me!!

 

[momo.75]

Yeah, it has been annoying me for a couple of years now....lol

 

[gshadow325]

Yeah, it has been annoying me for a couple of years now....lol

WHOA, couple years!! i could not stand it for the month i had this truck!!

Do it, you will NOT regret it. best thing to do is make sure a body shop is open that you plan to take it to for the welding. best suggestion is ask around first for price quotes if you dont have someone lined up to do such a thing for you

btw- feel free to PM me if you need more help.