Petromaniac's Build Thread / Intro

[Petromaniac]

I have to start by saying that I have been reading the forum now for almost 9 months, and you can see my measly post count of four. I figure I'm past my due to at least give my gratitude and show off my ride.

I owe so much to you guys for your write-ups, pictures and experience. :hail: Not sure I can give much back in that respect but I will do what I can.

I just graduated college last May (older age than most). Right before graduation I got my 2012 TE 4Runner with KDSS and Nav. I was quite excited as I came from driving a 1992 Honda Civic. I loved that car but I was getting married and was adopting her two kids and needed a little bit of a safer ride (good excuse to buy a new car).

I lived in CO nearly my whole life, graduated from Colorado School of Mines, and got a job in the petroleum industry - thus the move to Oklahoma. We spent 6 months in Elk City in Western OK on I-40. That is where I made my first couple of mods.

My wife - who has posted more than I have - joined the forum to ask about seat covers. She got me the Super Hides from Marathon Seat Covers in RealTree camo. They were custom cut and they work and look great. I will take a picture one of these days and put it here --->

We went back to CO for my sisters wedding and I snuck in time to get new wheels and tires. I went with the 17" MB TKOs and Michelin LT ATX2 E Load rated, stock size. I didn't realize I would be getting a lift so soon, but I love the tires as I drive probably 95% highway (unfortunately).

Funny story though, the wedding was in Evergreen and there was a storm that knocked out the power at the reception. I backed up the T4R and powered the DJs equipment for the rest of the night! Left it running, in the rain, for three hours. But it worked great and saved the reception!

Next mod was the Bud Built bump out sliders (not beefy). They are awesome! Can't say I have really beat them up on the trail, but I'm sure they will be functional too. I had to install them in the parking lot of my apartment building in Elk City. Install wasn't too bad minus the lack of garage, equipment to hold them up, and the crazy western OK heat.

Then we took our first wheelin' trip to Texas, a few miles North of Amarillo to an ORV park right off the highway. It was pretty fun - you could drive down the Canadian River and they had some decent hills and trails. I did scratch the crap out of the T4R (even the hood and roof!) but we all had a great time. Our girls had never done anything like that and absolutely loved it! I even pulled a stuck quad out of the river.

Please let me know if you have any questions/comments!

 

[Petromaniac]

Next mod was the Toytec Ultimate lift. I drove back up to Denver to get the lift installed after asking a couple shops around town. First shop didn't know what a 4Runner was, next one thought Toyota was a division of Ford!!:frusty:

Needless to say, I wasn't going to let them touch my baby, so it was well worth the drive. I had a friend in HS who got a bunch of work done from High Country Performance 4x4 and they came recommended from Toytec, so I went with them. Couldn't have been more impressed. Chuck, the service manager, was great. I asked so many questions and he never got tired of answering them. I was particularly nervous with the small time frame I would be visiting but they had all the parts and did a great job.

I decided to do the LR UCAs, might as well not cut corners. I had them set the front about 0.5" lower to keep some rake on it. The alignment came out great and I can agree with everyone that has said it, this is the way the truck should've come from the factory. I love the way it sits and handles. They had no problems with KDSS or warning lights, etc. I have the alignment sheet somewhere if anyone would like to see it.

They took pictures for their website as an added bonus! After the lift I headed up to ToyTec to show it off and pick up some stickers. They are really nice guys too. I would highly recommend both ToyTec and HCP4x4.

 

[philsey]

Nice post, and great pics.

..... but I was getting married and was adopting her two kids.

Nice. Way to man up ..... impressive.

BTW, what's the wife's name, Petrolicious?

 

[Petromaniac]

Thanks for the reply Philsey! She can't remember what name she used (only created to get seat cover advice). I like Petrolicious though!

 

[phillyd2]

Next mod was the Bud Built bump out sliders (not beefy).

It really never gets old :surfer:

Welcome. Nice truck which looks even better dirty :tongue:

 

[KCcarguy]

Welcome! It's great to see another Oklahoma member on here!

 

[scjo06]

Good looking TE! Im new to 4runners myself. Way to get out there and use the truck for what its made for:clap2:

 

[Petromaniac]

Welcome! It's great to see another Oklahoma member on here!

For sure, there aren't a whole lot of guys from OK in here. There was only one other 5th gen in Elk City. I'm actually in Tulsa also. I live out on the east side of Broken Arrow, actually Wagoner County. I read a while ago about some wheeling places out here in Eastern OK but haven't checked anything out. Have you been to the Disney offroad park?

 

[Petromaniac]

I started building a workbench for the garage today and took a trip to Lowes. I have 8 - 2x4x8' and 2 - 2'x4'x.25" inside and 4 - 2'x8'x.75" on the roof. Luckily it was a short trip cause a hard brake would have meant new windshield. I wasn't sure that the roof rack would handle it, but it worked out pretty well. Even if it got bent I figured that would be a good excuse to get a new rack sooner. This thing is a workhorse!

This picture also gives a good shot of the seat covers, great coverage on the back of both rows of seats. I had pipe insulation protecting the rack crossbars but we hit a bump and lost the rear one to the wind.

 

[KCcarguy]

For sure, there aren't a whole lot of guys from OK in here. There was only one other 5th gen in Elk City. I'm actually in Tulsa also. I live out on the east side of Broken Arrow, actually Wagoner County. I read a while ago about some wheeling places out here in Eastern OK but haven't checked anything out. Have you been to the Disney offroad park?

I haven't been to Disney yet. I have a friend that takes his TJ our there quite a bit. I always assumed it was all rack-crawling type stuff, but he says there are some milder trails.

There's also Clayton, which from what I hear has about every imaginable level of difficulty. Hot springs is about 4 hours away and has Superlift Offroad Park. I've heard good things bout it as well.

Right now I'm trying to research the Kiamichi Trail (AKA K-trail) for a trip this spring. It looks like a great trail....more of a overlanding type. FYI That area has a rep for being very isolated and a little dangerous.

Anyway....there seems to be a lot out there if you look. But I'm still learning myself.

K-Trail II, February 2013 - YouTube

Central Overland Trans-Ouachita Day 01 - YouTube

Kiamichi Trail (K-Trail) Adventure: The good, the bad, and the douche-baggery - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Great looking truck man. Very tastfully built. I really like it.

Good to see ya getting it dirty too! These trucks kick some serious boot in the dirt!

 

[Redwolf]

You can't help but like a dirty truck.

Also, how is the ride on the LT rated ones when you drive about 95% on the highway?

 

[Petromaniac]

You can't help but like a dirty truck.

Also, how is the ride on the LT rated ones when you drive about 95% on the highway?

Sorry for the delay in response! Vacation and work got in the way...

I really like the tires. When I first put them on I could tell a difference in ride, but it wasn't bad. Acceleration probably went down a little too, just from the added weight (seat of the pants measurement). Moving to OK, I wanted tires that would theoretically take a little more beating from road/trail debris and not leave me stranded or changing a tire. Wear has been minimal so far with good rotation.

Good to note also is the great wet and snow traction. A couple weeks ago, I drove the family through the snow in CO and KS without issue. I also have to add that I have had no issues with balance or wheel shimmy. I would highly recommend these tires!

 

[Petromaniac]

Ha, I've been pretty quiet on the forum but I have been working on the 4Runner. I thought I would throw up a few more Summit pictures to start. I went on one of the photo runs where we took some extra time to take pictures. It was a blast and the event photographer (Tim's wife I believe) was along and took some great shots.

As has been stated on the forum before - the FJ Summit is incredible, I would highly recommend coming along. I made my hotel reservation this week and registration is in March I believe.

 

[Petromaniac]

I did the breather relocate. Thank you to everyone for their write-ups. I took some pictures that give Antman a run for his money, not only with a cell phone but rather blurry to boot.

I combined the two breathers with a barbed t-joint and ran the new breather valve (OE) up on the filler neck. I didn't like the idea of cutting into the tank filler area so I zip-tied the hose and breather just on the backside. That area is pictured and easy to access through the wheel well. I put a generous loop in the line to allow for suspension articulation and all of the joints are zip-tied or clamped. One other note regarding the clips holding the plastic in the wheel well. Allegedly, there is a tool that allows you to push in the tabs on the backside to slide them out. I took the rip into pieces and destroy method, which worked well but I had to purchase new clips from the dealer at $1.75 or so each. This is a good cheap mod for piece of mind.

For the life of me I can't get the first or last pictures to rotate, my apologies. Let me know if you have any questions, I know the pictures are not terribly clear.

 

[Petromaniac]

Next up for me was the TRD CAI. I think it looks great and sounds pretty good too. At the same time I threw in a Magnaflow 12256 which is the same that Harper7 and Sundog7121 have installed.

I used TOYSTRY's Fantastic Write-Up that is linked. It saved me a lot of hassle and gave me some confidence that I wouldn't trash my engine by installing it wrong. Every thing went smoothly with one exception: I failed to check the parts bag before ripping everything apart and of course I was short one hose clamp. :ybrick: Don't forget to check all the parts before you start taking stuff apart! Luckily I got to the hardware store a few minutes before they closed in the wife's car. I really have nothing to add to TOYSTRY's write-up except that putting the last tube on the throttle body is a PITA. I had a moment of doubt doing that part but it finally went on.

The Magnaflow 12256 muffler was put on by a local shop. It probably could have been a little cleaner but they also turned the pipe to the side for no extra charge. I had them notch out the fin behind the mudflap in order to tuck the outlet as high a possible. It is much louder now, probably a little too much for some peoples liking but it needed something more than the stock sound IMHO. I'm sure the next size up is a little quieter if that's what you want.

I ordered the CAI from TRDParts4U.com and the muffler from Amazon. They had the best prices I could find at the time.

Again, sorry for the crappy pictures. I have a nice camera but I never remember to use it! Ooops.