Hello, T4R.
I have been lurking here for a while but didn't start a build thread because I thought you had to have more posts to do that. I have recently figured out that was factually incorrect, so here we are.
I am a longtime Volkswagen driver, but I wanted to buy a truck of some sort for basic home improvement duties. I fancied a Tacoma, but the used prices on those were and are hard to stomach, and I didn't want to buy new either.
One day in May 2015, I had been looking for Tacos off and on for over a year and suddenly had the epiphany that the 4Runner is a lot like a Tacoma. On a whim, I did a craigslist search for 4Runners. Since I live in the heart of the American auto industry, there weren't many options, but one caught my eye. A red 1-owner 1996 SR5 with only 113,000 miles.
It had been driven infrequently for the previous few years, but seemed relatively sound mechanically. The owner was a mechanic by trade who had purchased it new for his wife. It had brake grinding noises, brake pulsation, steering off center, and a vibration at highway speed, but I chalked all of these things up to sitting. Most of that was true. It also had the massive negative of being a smoker's car. Still, we agreed upon a price, and I bought my very first Toyota.
My dog was impressed.
I found the original window sticker in the glove box. $31,952 1996 dollars is and was a lot of 2015 dollars. Fortunately I paid substantially less than that in 2015 dollars.
I installed an aftermarket radio as the first mod. No pictures because everyone has seen an aftermarket radio. It's a Pioneer MVH-X560BT. Doesn't have a CD player because this was 2015. Perfect for my needs. http://amzn.com/B00GS80OQ8
Another thing I didn't really photograph was the rear hatch replacement. There was a sizeable rust spot (on a Toyota? you don't say!) and the rear window didn't work. The power rear window is one of the truly killer features of the 4Runner, so I had to fix it. You'll see it later.
The first photographed mod was the ceremonial spray painting of the wheels. Personally I hate the way these wheels looked silver, plus they were super corroded. This hides their ugly shape and is a better look in my opinion. I no longer desire to replace them every time I look at them.
Next up was tires. It came with the factory sized P265/70R16s, but this wasn't doing it for me. I went with LT265/75R16s. They're Primewell Valera A/Ts, which are Firestone's cheaper brand. A little noisy but I'm happy with their traction considering the price. You can see my Jetta in the background, a nod to my roots. Also note the grey hatch on the 4Runner with functional power window and minimal rust.
Next up, I removed the ugly chrome "flares". I use scarequotes because they're not flares. I still have them and would sell if anyone wants them. I really don't want to deal with shipping but I would consider it. Anyway, gratuitous fisheye and a filter to show it off. (follow me on instagram, [MENTION=124639]youngm7[/MENTION])
I installed a cupholder that someone on here was selling. Thanks, person who 3D prints cupholders. This thing is awesome. It can hold 1 double gulp or 2 super big gulps. You can see the radio mentioned above in this picture, but it isn't on. I promise it works.
A trip to the junkyard was the next order of business. Picked up a third member from a limited that was hit in the front to try and fix my vibration on deceleration at 70. SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't the issue. Ended up that the u-joint at the rear axle was seized in one direction. oops. Now I have a spare third member with only 114k on it.
later in the summer, I tackled some frame rust before installing a trailer hitch. what follows is a before/after with POR-15. I'm pretty happy with how it went. I wish I didn't have frame rust, but that's life in the salt belt. I plan to address the remainder of the frame as soon as it warms up in the spring.
At this point, you may be wondering about the title of the thread. Well, I always wanted an orange vehicle. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I was able to make my 4Runner into that vehicle. 4 gallons of Plastidip later, I present the Orange Runner. The name is a work in progress, TBH.
It's not a great dip job, in no small part because 4 gallons wasn't quite enough with my self-thinned mixture. Materials were less than $100, so I won't be sad to peel it and retry this summer. I have a new idea that could turn out awesome, we will see if I can make it happen.
Anyway, I painted the bumpers flat black because chrome is the worst. It was Halloween in September. Also notice the roof rack, an excellent ebay find.
After that, I didn't do much with the 4Runner for the rest of 2015. Life kind of got in the way. Fast forward to 2016, which is to be the year of the 4Runner, at least for me.
First, I installed heated seats. This was not hard if you like hog rings, it's just time consuming. The seat covers were foul because it was a smoker's car, so I threw them in the washing machine after removing all the metal. I have a picture of the nasty brown water that came out of the washer, but I'll spare you. There were also tons of boogers on the seat cushion, pictures of which I will not share (yet).
I put it up on my lift, a Ranger QuickJack BL-5000. This thing is pretty awesome for a garage that can't really accommodate a proper lift. A few minutes to line it up right and I have all four wheels well off the ground with plenty of room to get to the middle of the vehicle. In this picture, I was replacing the inner and outer tie rods. I purchased the vehicle with the steering off center and the alignment shop said the jam nuts were seized. Good excuse to replace everything, I say.
tie rod replacement of course means that toe has to be set. Fortunately, I have just the tool for that.
After replacing the tie rods, I was quite happy with how the 4Runner drove. So happy, in fact, that I decided to turn in the 2015 VW Golf I had been leasing and make the 4Runner my daily driver. To celebrate, I bought all the parts necessary to lift it. I went with KYB Monomax shocks and OME 880/906 springs. Pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I may go with the Toytec top spacers to get rid of the rake and maybe a 1" body lift to finish it out. Here's a before/after as it is now.
While installing the lift, I also replaced the LR axle seal (but not the bearing because I like doing things repeatedly), the front sway bar bushings, and some front brake lines that were not aging well.
On the to do list, aside from the lift stuff I mentioned above:
rear sway bar bushings
more front brake line stuffs
"satoshi" grill (that guy gets a lot of credit around these forums)
timing belt (have the parts, not the motivation)
POR-15 all the things!
other general maintenance
redo the dip?
Anyway, thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, ideas, and/or criticisms are always welcome.
I have been lurking here for a while but didn't start a build thread because I thought you had to have more posts to do that. I have recently figured out that was factually incorrect, so here we are.
I am a longtime Volkswagen driver, but I wanted to buy a truck of some sort for basic home improvement duties. I fancied a Tacoma, but the used prices on those were and are hard to stomach, and I didn't want to buy new either.
One day in May 2015, I had been looking for Tacos off and on for over a year and suddenly had the epiphany that the 4Runner is a lot like a Tacoma. On a whim, I did a craigslist search for 4Runners. Since I live in the heart of the American auto industry, there weren't many options, but one caught my eye. A red 1-owner 1996 SR5 with only 113,000 miles.
It had been driven infrequently for the previous few years, but seemed relatively sound mechanically. The owner was a mechanic by trade who had purchased it new for his wife. It had brake grinding noises, brake pulsation, steering off center, and a vibration at highway speed, but I chalked all of these things up to sitting. Most of that was true. It also had the massive negative of being a smoker's car. Still, we agreed upon a price, and I bought my very first Toyota.
My dog was impressed.
I found the original window sticker in the glove box. $31,952 1996 dollars is and was a lot of 2015 dollars. Fortunately I paid substantially less than that in 2015 dollars.
I installed an aftermarket radio as the first mod. No pictures because everyone has seen an aftermarket radio. It's a Pioneer MVH-X560BT. Doesn't have a CD player because this was 2015. Perfect for my needs. http://amzn.com/B00GS80OQ8
Another thing I didn't really photograph was the rear hatch replacement. There was a sizeable rust spot (on a Toyota? you don't say!) and the rear window didn't work. The power rear window is one of the truly killer features of the 4Runner, so I had to fix it. You'll see it later.
The first photographed mod was the ceremonial spray painting of the wheels. Personally I hate the way these wheels looked silver, plus they were super corroded. This hides their ugly shape and is a better look in my opinion. I no longer desire to replace them every time I look at them.
Next up was tires. It came with the factory sized P265/70R16s, but this wasn't doing it for me. I went with LT265/75R16s. They're Primewell Valera A/Ts, which are Firestone's cheaper brand. A little noisy but I'm happy with their traction considering the price. You can see my Jetta in the background, a nod to my roots. Also note the grey hatch on the 4Runner with functional power window and minimal rust.
Next up, I removed the ugly chrome "flares". I use scarequotes because they're not flares. I still have them and would sell if anyone wants them. I really don't want to deal with shipping but I would consider it. Anyway, gratuitous fisheye and a filter to show it off. (follow me on instagram, [MENTION=124639]youngm7[/MENTION])
I installed a cupholder that someone on here was selling. Thanks, person who 3D prints cupholders. This thing is awesome. It can hold 1 double gulp or 2 super big gulps. You can see the radio mentioned above in this picture, but it isn't on. I promise it works.
A trip to the junkyard was the next order of business. Picked up a third member from a limited that was hit in the front to try and fix my vibration on deceleration at 70. SPOILER ALERT: It wasn't the issue. Ended up that the u-joint at the rear axle was seized in one direction. oops. Now I have a spare third member with only 114k on it.
later in the summer, I tackled some frame rust before installing a trailer hitch. what follows is a before/after with POR-15. I'm pretty happy with how it went. I wish I didn't have frame rust, but that's life in the salt belt. I plan to address the remainder of the frame as soon as it warms up in the spring.
At this point, you may be wondering about the title of the thread. Well, I always wanted an orange vehicle. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, I was able to make my 4Runner into that vehicle. 4 gallons of Plastidip later, I present the Orange Runner. The name is a work in progress, TBH.
It's not a great dip job, in no small part because 4 gallons wasn't quite enough with my self-thinned mixture. Materials were less than $100, so I won't be sad to peel it and retry this summer. I have a new idea that could turn out awesome, we will see if I can make it happen.
Anyway, I painted the bumpers flat black because chrome is the worst. It was Halloween in September. Also notice the roof rack, an excellent ebay find.
After that, I didn't do much with the 4Runner for the rest of 2015. Life kind of got in the way. Fast forward to 2016, which is to be the year of the 4Runner, at least for me.
First, I installed heated seats. This was not hard if you like hog rings, it's just time consuming. The seat covers were foul because it was a smoker's car, so I threw them in the washing machine after removing all the metal. I have a picture of the nasty brown water that came out of the washer, but I'll spare you. There were also tons of boogers on the seat cushion, pictures of which I will not share (yet).
I put it up on my lift, a Ranger QuickJack BL-5000. This thing is pretty awesome for a garage that can't really accommodate a proper lift. A few minutes to line it up right and I have all four wheels well off the ground with plenty of room to get to the middle of the vehicle. In this picture, I was replacing the inner and outer tie rods. I purchased the vehicle with the steering off center and the alignment shop said the jam nuts were seized. Good excuse to replace everything, I say.
tie rod replacement of course means that toe has to be set. Fortunately, I have just the tool for that.
After replacing the tie rods, I was quite happy with how the 4Runner drove. So happy, in fact, that I decided to turn in the 2015 VW Golf I had been leasing and make the 4Runner my daily driver. To celebrate, I bought all the parts necessary to lift it. I went with KYB Monomax shocks and OME 880/906 springs. Pretty happy with how it turned out. I think I may go with the Toytec top spacers to get rid of the rake and maybe a 1" body lift to finish it out. Here's a before/after as it is now.
While installing the lift, I also replaced the LR axle seal (but not the bearing because I like doing things repeatedly), the front sway bar bushings, and some front brake lines that were not aging well.
On the to do list, aside from the lift stuff I mentioned above:
rear sway bar bushings
more front brake line stuffs
"satoshi" grill (that guy gets a lot of credit around these forums)
timing belt (have the parts, not the motivation)
POR-15 all the things!
other general maintenance
redo the dip?
Anyway, thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, ideas, and/or criticisms are always welcome.
