RennSport’s ‘05 Limited build thread

RennSport2UZ

New member
Hi guys, I’m new to the forum and wanted to kinda just document and share stuff I’m doing with my 4th gen.

This is my first Toyota. I’ve always wanted a 4Runner, but just haven’t ended up with one until a couple weeks ago.

I found this ‘05 Limited locally at a dealer who was planning to auction the truck. It had been traded in and placed on the retail lot, where it quickly sold. They took a deposit and still had to inspect the truck. In their inspection, they found it needed a front end rebuild, axles, AC compressor, manifolds, a license plate lamp, the rear wiper fixed, and brake rotors. They refused to sell it to the buyer and returned her money. It was placed on their on-site auction lot, which is where I saw it.

My parents have bought two cars from that dealer - one of which was a Cayenne which had a bad battery and was placed on the wholesale auction lot for that reason - after the dealer had the local Porsche dealer change the battery and do a full service.

I contacted the salesman they’ve worked with and before I even told him what I was calling about, he said “if you’re calling about that black V8 4Runner, you don’t want it.”

So here I am. I now own my first Toyota. That black V8 Limited 4x4 with 158k miles, zero frame rust, and a perfect interior.

Their caveat was the truck needed to be trailered off their lot due to the issues they’d found. No problem. We put it on my dad’s trailer and pulled it to a parking lot about halfway home. I had to drive it.

Honestly, it drove beautifully. It felt great. The brakes didn’t feel warped at all like the dealer claimed. The front end was tight and the alignment was good. I couldn’t even hear the manifolds.
 

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The next day, I was supposed to go help out with an event at the farm my parents run, which is about 25 miles from my house. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind what I was gonna take.

The 4Runner drove beautifully. I didn’t know the condition of the timing belt, and there was no service sticker I could find, so I drove very, very gently. I never cracked 2500rpm, but it honestly did just fine.

I had numerous people come up and compliment the truck. It shows very well for its age. That said, I knew I needed to get some progress made so I could start driving the thing for real.

I ordered SPC UBJ’s for the existing UCA’s, Sankei 555 LBJ’s, and SKF unit bearings. After parking the 4Runner for a week or two, we finally got a day to install the parts. As it turns out, only one LBJ was in need of replacement, and the rest of the ball joints were okay. The wheel bearings didn’t seem bad either.

After we installed all the new components, I pulled the timing cover and man, I’m glad I did. This belt is TRASHED. I don’t think it’s been replaced in its 21 year, 158k mile life. I ordered the Aisin kit and some sway bar end links and my dad bought some axles. I limped the truck to my house and parked it.

While I was working, my dad and my wife installed the new axles in the truck. I found a local Toyota specialist, and decided to have them tackle the timing belt.

A couple years ago I helped my dad and my brother change my brother timing belt in his’86 944. We can do it. The problem is just finding the time to tear it down.

A couple days ago we loaded the truck up and took it down to the shop and that’s where she sits now. I did get a call from the shop that they need to replace the serpentine belt, radiator crossmember, and the bushings on that crossmember. I can’t wait to get the thing back.

Also, cause I’m sure people will ask. So far I’ve found the following mods:

Bilstein 5100 coilovers with OME lift springs. They’re the heaviest/stiffest springs OME offers on the 5100 kit in front and rear. SPC upper control arms - not sure if those are gonna stay forever. I just don’t wanna buy JBA’s while I’m trying to baseline this truck that I already really didn’t need. 17x8.5st0 Icon Alpha wheels in Titanium with brand new 285/70r17 Falken WildPeak AT4W’s. 2007-2009 taillights. Prinsu roof rack. Westcott Designs 10* open sliders.

So I’d argue the truck is actually mostly stock. The only future plans I have right now as far as mods go are JBA UCA’s and a Dr KDSS track bar bracket.

I will need to have the rockers done in the spring. They’re really not bad, but this truck is extremely cool to me and it’s in great shape aside from the inner rockers just in front of the rear tires.

I’ve had a heavily modified OBS 7.3 Powrstroke, a heavily modified ‘06 TJ Rubicon, a Civic Type R, and I now have a 2013 Raptor, a 2001 C5 Z06, and a Cayenne as well as this 4Runner. I actually am more enthusiastic about this old 4Runner than I have been about most of the other cars I’ve owned. I love how small, light, and cheap it is. I love that it doesn’t have all the screens and crap. I’m so excited to drive this thing.
 

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Congratulations, very nice and very desirable T4R!!! :love:

What did you have to pay for it?

Show us some photos of the frame.
 
Okay, I’m rushing to get ready for work after getting this thing home, but I finally got to really drive it and I love it.

Took some cool shots of it too.
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Congratulations, very nice and very desirable T4R!!! :love:

What did you have to pay for it?

Show us some photos of the frame.
Definitely not gonna impress guys from AZ or CA, but it’s very clean for a Missouri truck.
 

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That thing is absolutely mint lmao. "You don't want it"

FYI big rust spots are gonna be the inside of the frame next to the cats (very easy to miss!), rear suspension mounting areas, and then front and rear frame sections (rad support, bumper support)
 
lol yeah, when he said, “You don’t want it,” and then told me the issues they knew of, I went from being mildly interested to being pretty dead-set on buying it.

I’ll give the dealer credit, and especially my salesman, they didn’t withhold any info on it and they didn’t try to take advantage of me at all. The dealer first wanted like $7200 for it and I just wasn’t planning to buy one at all before I saw this and I tried to leave. The salesman asked where I wanted to be and I told him. He told me to go home and think about if I was truly serious about buying it and said if I was, he’d go in to the sales manager and fight for me, but I’d need to be completely sure I would buy it.

I called him by the time I got home and told him to do it. He got me the price I wanted for it. He said he wasn’t sure what they paid, but said he thinks they sold it to me at cost. He said he made the case that this is the third vehicle they’ve sold my family, we keep coming back, and they would do better helping a repeat customer vs selling it to a crappy buy-here-pay-here who is just gonna flip it.

I was planning to wire wheel and treat all areas with rust with POR15. Then, after it dries, spray all the areas I can reach with WoolWax, liberally. Then, use WoolWax with a straw and spray liberally inside the frame. Then, because it’s not as thick, go over every hard to reach area with FluidFilm Black so it hopefully goes where the WoolWax may not.

I did that with my ‘13 Raptor and my bed supports were looking pretty rough before I did it. Now they look brand new.

I’m most worried about the rockers and body mounts on the body side. I need to get the rockers done in the spring or summer so it doesn’t spread and get into the body mounts.

The rear body mounts are clean, but the rockers are bad. The front body mounts have rust but are still solid and aren’t rotten. I *think* I can do my plan and save the fronts, and I think the rears can be cut out and repaired.

The wheel wells and actual outer rockers look perfectly fine.
 

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