nihkon's 4Runner
- Thread starter nihkon
- Start date
rubbertoe
New member
Great choice ! this mount location should provide a great amount of forward lighting as well as great trail side lighting .if deflection on the hood or in your line of sight should become an issue you can always diffuse them with a lens cover ,the yellow color is great for penetrating dusty conditions .The d2's are awesome ,i would run them a bit a-skew to pick up good trail side lighting ,to fill in where your stock lights don't.
BrianSD_42
New member
Yep a good alternative mount location may be just drilling and mounting directly on the front bumper.
nihkon
Member
Thanks for the concerns and tips dudes. I just finally got the light installation wrapped up. I haven't had a chance to take them out for a test run yet though. If they do happen to put too much glare on the hood, then I'll try turning them outwards a bit. I was really looking for side coverage while going around blind turns at night anyway. If that doesn't work out, then I like Brian's idea of just mounting them to the bumper.
Here is a crappy instagram photo of the lights installed:
(Since the cowl had to come off to install the light brackets, I went ahead and shot it with a coat of SEM trim paint. Looks new again!
I think I mentioned before that after having switched from my original OME 890's in the rear to the 891's recently...I still wasn't happy with how the rear was sitting. Still a bit to saggy, with all the added weight of the bumper and full size spare.
So I ended up picking up a set of OME 861's, and I just installed those this past week. They ended up raising the rear end by 2.25-2.5" over the 891's!
I'm now at about 40.5-41" from the ground to the underside of the SR5 flares.
They were kind of a pain in the butt to install since they are so damn long. It required disconnecting the lower and upper links, as well as using a springs compressor.
Even off the truck, you can tell that the 861's are a lot longer than the 891's:
And here's a shot of my 4Runner, all shiny and clean, with the lights and rear springs installed:
Here is a crappy instagram photo of the lights installed:
(Since the cowl had to come off to install the light brackets, I went ahead and shot it with a coat of SEM trim paint. Looks new again!
I think I mentioned before that after having switched from my original OME 890's in the rear to the 891's recently...I still wasn't happy with how the rear was sitting. Still a bit to saggy, with all the added weight of the bumper and full size spare.
So I ended up picking up a set of OME 861's, and I just installed those this past week. They ended up raising the rear end by 2.25-2.5" over the 891's!
I'm now at about 40.5-41" from the ground to the underside of the SR5 flares.
They were kind of a pain in the butt to install since they are so damn long. It required disconnecting the lower and upper links, as well as using a springs compressor.
Even off the truck, you can tell that the 861's are a lot longer than the 891's:
And here's a shot of my 4Runner, all shiny and clean, with the lights and rear springs installed:
nihkon
Member
^Thanks man!
Measuring from the ground to the bottom of the flares, it looks like the rear is about 1" taller than the front. Of course, that's assuming that the bottom of the front and rear flares are actually at the same height from the factory.
Also...I have my front coilovers cranked up to roughly 3.5" of lift.
Measuring from the ground to the bottom of the flares, it looks like the rear is about 1" taller than the front. Of course, that's assuming that the bottom of the front and rear flares are actually at the same height from the factory.
Also...I have my front coilovers cranked up to roughly 3.5" of lift.
BrianSD_42
New member
Truck is looking sick dude!
Are you interested in the UT trip coming up soon?
Here's the link just an FYI ----> 2014 Rock Therapy - Official Thread - Tacoma World Forums
I'm driving out there with a buddy. SHould be a huge meetup.
Are you interested in the UT trip coming up soon?
Here's the link just an FYI ----> 2014 Rock Therapy - Official Thread - Tacoma World Forums
I'm driving out there with a buddy. SHould be a huge meetup.
nihkon
Member
^Thanks again for the heads up Brian. I won't be able to make it out, but I'm looking forward to hearing how it is!
In the meantime, here are a few little updates:
I picked up a set of '01-'02 tail lights:
I also recently picked up all the parts to add a CB radio to my 4Runner. I ended up going with the Cobra 19DXIV, since it's cheap, and can be easily mounted in the ash tray location. I haven't yet mounted the radio or run the antenna wiring...but I did install the antenna this weekend. You can see it a bit in the photos above. Here are a couple close ups:
Lastly, the ball joints in my rear sway bar end links are about done, so I figured it was a good time to get something a bit longer installed. I followed a thread here (I'll add the member's name here once I find the thread again). Here are a few photos:
Energy Suspension 9.8121R 4 1/2" links, extra set of Energy Suspension bushings, and a couple eyebolts:
Eyebolts cut down and assembled:
New setup compared to the stock one:
And a few installed photos:
In the meantime, here are a few little updates:
I picked up a set of '01-'02 tail lights:
I also recently picked up all the parts to add a CB radio to my 4Runner. I ended up going with the Cobra 19DXIV, since it's cheap, and can be easily mounted in the ash tray location. I haven't yet mounted the radio or run the antenna wiring...but I did install the antenna this weekend. You can see it a bit in the photos above. Here are a couple close ups:
Lastly, the ball joints in my rear sway bar end links are about done, so I figured it was a good time to get something a bit longer installed. I followed a thread here (I'll add the member's name here once I find the thread again). Here are a few photos:
Energy Suspension 9.8121R 4 1/2" links, extra set of Energy Suspension bushings, and a couple eyebolts:
Eyebolts cut down and assembled:
New setup compared to the stock one:
And a few installed photos:
TheArkMaster
New member
This thing is beyond sexy! I love it man!
DizzyDoyle
New member
Amazing 4runner man! I wish mine could look like this one day. Keep up the awesome work!
98LtdT4R
New member
Nihkon, that is one awesome runner you have. I am saving up for armor now that I've got my lift done, and seeing your truck sure makes me wish they still made the ODL front bumper! Also, hows the ride with the new 861's? I will likely be swapping out my Superflex rear springs when I get a rear bumper to better handle the weight. Did you get new rear shocks as well?
Lil_Gravey
New member
sweet ride
Mr Nihkon, I'm digging your ride. Cool pics too. Love the action shots.
Mr Nihkon, I'm digging your ride. Cool pics too. Love the action shots.
nihkon
Member
Thanks dude! Good to hear you have the 01-02 tail lights too. I think they look great!
Thanks man! Sorry for the delay in replying. You can have my ODL front bumper if you order me a Shrockworks front bumper! haha I didn't really notice a difference in the ride quality when I installed the 861's. My CRX has super stiff springs, so I'm used to a more harsh ride in general. Still getting used to the feel of a "soft" truck suspension! lol I didn't replace the shocks though. I'm still running the Bilstein 5125's that I originally got with my Toytec Ultimate kit.
Oh Lil_Gravey. Of course you like the action shots. You were there! lol
nihkon
Member
It's been a couple months since I posted any photos, so here are a few updates of what I've been up to recently....
I had previously posted pictures of the CB antenna that I installed. I hadn't mounted the radio itself yet at that point though. I mounted it in the ash tray location. Thanks to @ugamurph for his writeup on mounting it there. I followed his thread pretty much verbatim. For those who are interested, here is his thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/132905-cobra-19-install-place-if-ashtray.html
I didn't take any photos of the modification process, since he already has it pretty well documented. But here is a photo of it installed (yet to be wired up though):
I also finally continued work on my front grill modification. I hesitate to call it a "satoshi" mod, since I'm not using the same year Toyota emblem as the original, and I might get yelled at by the Satoshi purists! haha
Anyway...I bought a new grill and cut out the middle, then glued in some plastic backing plates and bondo'd the holes for a smooth finish. Here is a photo during that stage:
I followed the process that @BigFishAllDay provided here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...one-2001-sport-ed-trd-scd-51.html#post1211398
And thanks to @rickashay for his help in sourcing the mesh and the toyota emblem.
Here is a shot of the grill after sanding and primer, and before cutting/painting the mesh:
And here is after cutting/painting the mesh (satin black) and doing a test fit of the mesh and emblem within the grill:
I found some oem color-matched black paint from Duplicolor. It went on well, but I realized that I didn't go fine enough with the sand paper, and I can still see some of the sanding marks. So I'm going to sand off all the paint and start over. I'll post photos once I complete that. Though, it took me the better part of a year to finish this part, so don't hold your breathe for a quick update! lol
Next on the update list is my new led light bar. I picked up a 40" led light bar from MicTuning. It's Chinese, but it's cheap, and should suit my needs just fine. I ordered mounting brackets from @downpour11. For some reason, the light bar was hitting my roof. So I ended up drilling new mounting holes in the brackets. I found a barbed plug to fill in the original hole. The zip ties in the photos are just to hold the wiring out of the way. I haven't yet wired up the light. Most people tend to get the spot/flood combo led light bar. But since I already have the Rigid Dually's in a flood pattern, I decided to go with a pure spot pattern led bar.
Here are some photos:
The light bar:
Drilling new holes in the brackets:
And mounted to the truck:
I had previously posted pictures of the CB antenna that I installed. I hadn't mounted the radio itself yet at that point though. I mounted it in the ash tray location. Thanks to @ugamurph for his writeup on mounting it there. I followed his thread pretty much verbatim. For those who are interested, here is his thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/132905-cobra-19-install-place-if-ashtray.html
I didn't take any photos of the modification process, since he already has it pretty well documented. But here is a photo of it installed (yet to be wired up though):
I also finally continued work on my front grill modification. I hesitate to call it a "satoshi" mod, since I'm not using the same year Toyota emblem as the original, and I might get yelled at by the Satoshi purists! haha
Anyway...I bought a new grill and cut out the middle, then glued in some plastic backing plates and bondo'd the holes for a smooth finish. Here is a photo during that stage:
I followed the process that @BigFishAllDay provided here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...one-2001-sport-ed-trd-scd-51.html#post1211398
And thanks to @rickashay for his help in sourcing the mesh and the toyota emblem.
Here is a shot of the grill after sanding and primer, and before cutting/painting the mesh:
And here is after cutting/painting the mesh (satin black) and doing a test fit of the mesh and emblem within the grill:
I found some oem color-matched black paint from Duplicolor. It went on well, but I realized that I didn't go fine enough with the sand paper, and I can still see some of the sanding marks. So I'm going to sand off all the paint and start over. I'll post photos once I complete that. Though, it took me the better part of a year to finish this part, so don't hold your breathe for a quick update! lol
Next on the update list is my new led light bar. I picked up a 40" led light bar from MicTuning. It's Chinese, but it's cheap, and should suit my needs just fine. I ordered mounting brackets from @downpour11. For some reason, the light bar was hitting my roof. So I ended up drilling new mounting holes in the brackets. I found a barbed plug to fill in the original hole. The zip ties in the photos are just to hold the wiring out of the way. I haven't yet wired up the light. Most people tend to get the spot/flood combo led light bar. But since I already have the Rigid Dually's in a flood pattern, I decided to go with a pure spot pattern led bar.
Here are some photos:
The light bar:
Drilling new holes in the brackets:
And mounted to the truck:
TheArkMaster
New member
Looking good man. Is there any concern with movement in those lightbar mounts? They look really close to the glass. Look good though!