SFAngus' non-Build thread

[SFAngus]

Hey Everyone-

I figured I might as well do a build thread, even though my 4Runner isn't really going to be "Built."

The only action it's going to see will be family vacations, and trips to Tahoe in the snow, so I'm not planning on doing a lift or any major modifications.

Most of what I'm doing are just little things to make it "Mine," and things that improve the livability or usefulness of the truck.

Here's what I'm starting with:

2001 Toyota 4Runner 4x4 Limited. I believe it has just about every option available, including the locking diff, heated seats, 6-disc in-dash changer, and black pearl emblems.

I am the third owner, and it has just over 77,000 miles on it. The original owner was supposedly an older lady from Vallejo, who just took it to go grocery shopping. The second owner, (Who I bought it from) was a young guy with a family, (Like me). He told me that he spent a LONG time finding one with all the right options, in good condition, with low miles. He only had it for about a year, and then they had a second child, and bought a Honda Odyssey.

It's my first ever 4Runner. I've always loved the looks of the 3rd gen, and I've always wanted one, ever since my mother bought a brand new 1996 Anthracite 4Runner 4x4 5-Speed, when I was 13.

Here's a few photos from the day I brought it home:

(Sorry, these are re-posted from my first-ever t45 post)







I immediately started ordering things for it the night I brought it home

:biggrin2:

 

[SFAngus]

The seller disclosed to me that the radio antenna was having issues, and wouldn't retract on its own without a little assistance.

The first thing I bought was a replacement antenna from Raderra on eBay, after reading a bunch of useful info on this forum.

Old vs. New:

 

[SFAngus]

It took some time for things to start arriving, since I was ordering everything the week before Thanksgiving, but now it's starting to look like Christmas came early:

 

[SFAngus]

Before I installed anything, I wanted to get the 4Runner cleaned up. It's already a pretty "clean" truck over all, but I decided to have someone professionally detail it.

I usually clean my own cars, but working takes up most of my time, and my 5 month old daughter takes up the rest of my time when I'm not at work, so I decided to pay someone else to do it.

I searched around on Yelp and found a local guy who will drive to your house to do it, which is HUGE, to not have to drive somewhere and wait for it.

I paid him $150, and he did a great job.

For anyone who's in the SF Bay Area and interested in using him, his name is Willem, and here's his yelp page:

Magicalz Mobile Auto Detailing - SoMa - San Francisco, CA

I didn't actually get to meet him, since I was at work when he came, buy my wife said that he was very nice, and showed her everything that he did on the interior, including refinishing some of the overhead reading light lenses, which had been scratched.

Here's some interior pictures after his work:

















Bottom line: CLEAN

 

[SFAngus]

The next thing I added was the WeatherTech Floor Liners:





I did all three rows... I'm pretty happy with how they fit, and they should do a good job of protecting the interior.

 

[quicksilvr]

Looks great! That's a very nice 4runner, great miles too. Keep it!

 

[TheArkMaster]

Ooooh. Detailer wasn't playing around. Nice

 

[paddlenbike]

so I'm not planning on doing a lift or any major modifications.

Good luck with that. :


There is something very addicting about modding 3rd gens.

 

[SFAngus]

I've had K&N air intakes on a few of my cars/trucks, and always been happy with them, but after reading some threads on here and discovering that the Injen intake has a dry filter, I decided to try one.

I opted for the "Mirror Polish" version, which I kind of regret, just because it's so flashy. I ordered the dry filter with it, the heat shield, and the "Hydroshield" cover.

I ordered it from New Level Motorsports, and it was about $320 including tax, with the accessories.



Engine bay, pre-install:



Found that my old air filter was pretty dirty:



After the install:



(Sorry the lighting isn't great)





I found the instructions to be less than great... they missed a bolt that I needed to remove for the stock airbox, and the photos in the directions were horrible, as well as just not being worded very clearly.

Luckily, air intakes are easy to install, and it went in without any issues.

One thing that I found to be strange, is that the two replacement hoses they they provide are excessively long, and I ended up wrapping them under other hoses, just to take up some of the slack, so they wouldn't be flopping around.

Before being re-routed: (Note the hose lying on top)



Here's the larger hose, after I re-routed it:



One other area of concern, is how close the heat shield sits to the wires on the back of the headlight... I'm a little concerned about potential rubbing/fraying.

I positioned it as far away from the headlight, but it's still pretty close. I'm going to monitor it closely and remove the heat shield if it looks like they're making any contact.

Heat shield by the wires:

 

[SFAngus]

So, after finishing the install, I started my car up and saw this:



I wasn't particularly surprised to see the Check Engine light, but I have no idea why the VSC OFF and VSC TRAC lights are on...

Any ideas??

I ended up disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, which reset all the lights.

 

[SFAngus]

So, I took it for a drive to check out how it felt and sounded, and it is LOUD. I've had K&N intakes before, and I've had Eurosport intakes on a few of my VW's, and they all sounded deep and throaty.

This has a much more raspy, high-pitched sound, that I'm not particularly fond of.

I recorded a video from inside the car, with the windows up. After listening to the video, I think it actually doesn't sound as bad in the video as it does in real life.

I'll try to post the video here:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vMvNzZxX8f0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My plan for now is to keep it for a little while, and see if it grows on me, and see if I notice a difference in my fuel economy. So far I don't notice any difference in perceived acceleration performance, or throttle response.

 

[zacattack20]

So, after finishing the install, I started my car up and saw this:



I wasn't particularly surprised to see the Check Engine light, but I have no idea why the VSC OFF and VSC TRAC lights are on...

Any ideas??

I ended up disconnecting and reconnecting the battery, which reset all the lights.

Those lights all come on together when the check engine light comes in.

 

[SFAngus]

Those lights all come on together when the check engine light comes in.

Ahh... got it, thanks!

 

[awpsome]

i bet it might just be a vacuum line out of place considering you were moving a bunch.

 

[SFAngus]

Got my WeatherTech window deflectors on...

Pretty happy with them. This was the first time I've seen the new style that fit inside the window edge instead of just sticking them on the outside with tape. Pretty slick!

It does seem like it makes the window fit a little tight when it rolls all the way to the top... I'm hoping this doesn't cause any type of wear or strain issues on the window motors, but I'm assuming it doesn't since they seem to be a popular product.

After install:

 

[SFAngus]

Got some more boxes yesterday:



Including some miscellaneous accessories:

 

[SFAngus]

This was also among my new goodies:





I don't know if anyone else has one of these, but they're great...

They're about $60 from AutoAnything.com. I have one on every car I own, and I've been very happy with them. They give the steering wheel a nice thickness and heft, and they're high quality leather. Of course, they also protect your factory steering wheel from wear and tear that is difficult to fix.

I originally ordered the "Tan" color, but it was pretty off from my interior color. I returned it, and got the "Oak" color, which was a much closer match.

Here's some before and after shots:







Some close-ups of the stitching:










I highly recommend that you wear gloves while installing it... you have to pull very hard to get each stitch tight, and the thread tears into your hands unless you protect them.

 

[SFAngus]

My new WeatherTech bug deflector also arrived:



Unfortunately, I ordered this before I read a bunch of posts suggesting that the OEM bug deflector is probably the best option out there... I debated returning this one, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle, and I'll give it a shot.

My naked front end:



Unfortunately, I noticed that there's a good bit of pitting/damage to my grill:



It's a little more visible here:



Not sure if there's an easy way to fix that, but I'm guessing not...

In a few of the bug deflector threads that I read, I noticed that some people had issues with damage on the front edge of their hood from the bug deflector. Hoping to prevent that, I ordered a roll of 3M ScotchGuard door edge protector from Amazon. (It's the plastic octagonal package in this picture).



I applied it to the edge of my hood, before installing the bug deflector:



(I'm also planning on installing it on the edges of my doors)...

New bug deflector installed:







I'm happy with how it looks overall. I'm not thrilled about how visible the WeatherTech logo is though. On the bug deflector, it's printed in contrasting white, and it stands out a bit too much:



Compared to my side window deflectors, where the logo is black on black, and much more subtle. I don't know why they didn't do that on the bug deflector.

 

[SFAngus]

Got a few more little things installed...

My Satechi hands-free phone holder. (Highly recommended... I think it's probably the best suction-cup mount out there).



And, a necessary accessory for the baby:



And, my rear window, before and after my piece of flair:

 

[SFAngus]

That's all for now... My next big project will be the stereo. I just ordered an Alpine INE-927 HD double-din DVD Receiver, and I'm debating whether to upgrade the factory speakers, and whether or not it's worth it to add an amp.

I'd also like to install a Bazooka bass tube underneath the driver's seat... I need to make sure there's room for it though. I'm going to do some searching, but if anyone has any tips, they're always appreciated!