Snow’s 2001 Sport Edition (Sly) Build

[solsnowbarger]

08/15/20 - Tiny update.
Finally finished my lift last week on 08/09/20.

TRD Tundra coils/906 OMEs/5100s, all stolen from my wrecked white 01. New factory LBJs, energy suspension sway bar bushings at the same time.

08/13/20 - Picked up these bad boys from a super nice guy in KC, taken off his trail edition 5th gen.

08/15/20 - Oil changed at 158xxx with OEM filter and Mobil 1 Full Syn 5w30. Got around to swapping out my rusty gas tank skid for one from my 01. I also tried my hand at replacing my fuel filter, but it turns out I got one for a Tacoma and I couldn’t for the life of me get the hard lines to thread in, so I cheated and got a cheap one from autozone for the time being.


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[solsnowbarger]

08/25/20 - Finally got my new wheels and tires on!

265/70/17 Falken Wildpeak AT3s on some take off Trail Premium wheels from a 5th gen. I love it, it looks updated, but still factory clean. Road noise is honestly no louder than my worn-out HT from the PO, and I think it looks perfect.

08/30/20 - Changed out my autozone fuel filter with a OEM one finally.

Attempted to change plugs and wires today. The plugs all came out easily, and they appeared to have been changed recently.

Pictured here is new vs. old

As I was putting in the new ones, I found that I couldn’t seat the new wire onto the #2 cylinders spark plug. After some mild pushing, I finally realized that the damn gasket from the spark plug socket had somehow come out and wedged itself around the spark plug [emoji19] I’ve had the whole socket get stuck, but I’ve never had this failure before.
As I was preparing to blow my brains out, I got called into work, so I’ll come back to this problem later. Pray for me.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Long-overdue update:

09/01 - I did finally get my plugs changed by using a buddy’s set of long picks and fishing the rubber spark-plug gasket out of the spark plug tube. And just in time too.

The following Friday my girlfriend and I and the 4Runner took a 1,500 mile round trip vacation to New Mexico, and the truck was perfect. Even loaded down with camping gear it handled all the mountain roads well, and I fell more in love with my setup.
Here we are in the freshly snow-covered Carson National forest, which is an area I definitely want to return to.

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[solsnowbarger]

11/2 - It’s been a slow few weeks. My rear hatch latch had been previously sticking and acting up, and it finally gave up completely a couple weeks ago. The plastic coating on the latching mechanism was wearing off, and there was enough crap in there that it wouldn’t function. Luckily, I still have my crap white one sitting around, so I was able to cannibalize that and replace it. Old and sad one pictured.

This past week I planned to replace my radiator. I didn’t have any reason to think the old one was failing, but I determined it was the original, and I had no desire to tempt fate, or the pink milkshake.

Before replacing, I wanted to determine what my coolant temps were to start with. I’d wanted one for a while, and I knew to not trust the factory temp gauge, so I ponied up for this bad boy.

I played with the Scangauge II for a while, and used a few threads here on the forum that allowed me to program it to show my trans temp and a few other things. I also played around with mounting locations, and didn’t like any of them. After some research I decided on spending the money for the Spiker Engineering Mount, and it was DEFINITELY worth the money. The Scangauge is out of the way, and in a perfect space to easily keep an eye on it. (Note: I need to figure out how to tag people on here).

I bought my new radiator, cap, and hoses from Camelback Toyota. The radiator was the cheaper new version, and I was a little off-put by the cap’s appearance, but the part numbers all match, so we’ll go with it.

Radiator replacement was straightforward, following @%1;as always, and I was only frustrated by how much of a mess I always make when dealing with fluids. I did flush the system 3 times with distilled water, and refilled with Toyota red, cause factory.

I opted to forego the external transmission cooler for now. From my reading, extremely low temps can be a little detrimental if this is done, and my area of Kansas had consistent weeks of 15° and 25° days last winter. I don’t really tow either, so I’m hoping the new radiator will be sufficient.
I did buy a cheap radiator funnel on amazon, and was really pleased with how easy it made burping the system.

After burping and replacing the small amount of transmission fluid lost, I gave it a small test drive, and everything worked as it should. My coolant temps didn’t differ from before the radiator change, staying around 185-190°. Still, it gives me peace of mind.

 

[solsnowbarger]

11/5 - I took advantage of an unusually beautiful day here today and babied Sly a little. Hand washed, clayed, and waxed for the first time since owning it. I’m religious about washing, but this was a noticeable improvement.

I do need to actually polish this paint, and I’d like to go in for a professional ceramic coat eventually, but this’ll do for now. The paint is noticeably smoother to the touch, and I hope the shine reflects that.

Also changed the oil today with full synthetic and an OEM filter. We’re sitting at 164xxx almost exactly.


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[4Runner4Leon]

I played with the Scangauge II for a while, and used a few threads here on the forum that allowed me to program it to show my trans temp and a few other things. I also played around with mounting locations, and didn’t like any of them. After some research I decided on spending the money for the Spiker Engineering Mount, and it was DEFINITELY worth the money. The Scangauge is out of the way, and in a perfect space to easily keep an eye on it. (Note: I need to figure out how to tag people on here).

You didn't tag me, but I noticed your name and checked out your thread - great build! I'll keep an eye on your progress.

 

[solsnowbarger]

You didn't tag me, but I noticed your name and checked out your thread - great build! I'll keep an eye on your progress.

Thanks brother! Haha I’m still getting the hang of this.

And thanks again for the mount, it’s perfect.


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[solsnowbarger]

11/28 - Got my second alignment at Firestone. It had been a while and I felt like I was out of alignment, and I had messed with a few things since my last time, so it was due. I’m for sure getting my money out of this darn lifetime alignment [emoji23]

11/30 - After much delaying, I finally got my differentials and transfer case fluids changed out.

I went with Royal Purple 75w-90 maxgear all the way through.

From my reading this seemed to be a pretty good choice, and seeing as this isn’t going to be a frequently changed item, I wanted to go with something high-ish quality. Plus, I found a decent deal for these on Amazon.

Now... I have some good and some bad news:
The good news is that all my plugs came out without any drama using a good Allen head on my ratchet for the front, and a good 6 side socket in the others. I did pre-spray with PB blaster, and started by pulling the fill-plugs first, of course.

The bad news is I doubt any of this crap has been changed before it. It all smelled burnt and was black as hell. The best part was what I found on the drain plugs.
This is the front differential drain and fill, with a healthy dollop of something on the drain plug.

And here’s the rear differential drain and fill. Note the 2 nice little slivers of metal found on the drain plug.

I cleaned everything as well as I could, and replaced all the baskets and crush washers with replacements from the stealership, and refilled with the royal purple.

I don’t know enough to know how concerned by this I should be? If anyone had words of wisdom they’d be appreciated. At this point, I’ll keep an eye on it and maybe come spring time I’ll do another drain and fill and see how the fluid looks.


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[Bad Luck]

Looks like a normal amount of debris on the magnet for really old fluid. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Looks like a normal amount of debris on the magnet for really old fluid. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you.

Gotcha. From the little research I’ve done I was hoping the same thing.
Thanks, I do appreciate the vote of confidence, haha.


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[brillo_76]

I agree with bad luck. No big chunks or pieces so Its most likely normal wear and tear mine looked like that the first time around. Almost like a paste metal. Extremely fine.

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[solsnowbarger]

I agree with bad luck. No big chunks or pieces so Its most likely normal wear and tear mine looked like that the first time around. Almost like a paste metal. Extremely fine.

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Awesome. Again, thanks for the reassurance. I love your build by the way, a lot of inspiration in there sir.


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[rickashay]

Great build! Thanks for sharing.

I laughed when I read through your truck names... I do the same. Sly is certainly a great example of a clean 3rd Gen. I can appreciate how picky you were when looking for one and it’s so cool to see all the original documentation and the immaculate interior it had when you purchased it - all signs that I look for that say “someone gave a shit” about this vehicle.

Stoked to see it stay clean and progress. And those “Phone Dial” wheels are so nice on there!

Addison

 

[solsnowbarger]

Great build! Thanks for sharing.

I laughed when I read through your truck names... I do the same. Sly is certainly a great example of a clean 3rd Gen. I can appreciate how picky you were when looking for one and it’s so cool to see all the original documentation and the immaculate interior it had when you purchased it - all signs that I look for that say “someone gave a shit” about this vehicle.

Stoked to see it stay clean and progress. And those “Phone Dial” wheels are so nice on there!

Addison

Thanks for the kind words, brother!
Once I put that level of work and love into something, I feel that it’s entitled to a name! And having had so many 4Runners, it helps being able to distinguish between them, haha.

And the PO really must’ve loved this too. I bought it from his son, and recently send him a message and picture, just to let them know it’s still being well loved.

And thanks again. I’ve felt a few urges to modify, but I honestly love the factory look too much to go crazy... That being said, I’ve been eying some more JDM-esq mods like the Burtman spoiler. So we’ll see.


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[solsnowbarger]

12/11 - Non-update. I Fluid Filmed the underside on 11/27. No pictures, as it just looks like a greasy mess, but I hit everything I could with the spray. I also used the included attachment to get inside the frames as much as I could. We haven’t had any big storms yet, but I have another few cans saved in case I want to reapply later in the season.

The process was easy, but the lingering smell of Bee-farts was a little annoying. My backyard helpers liked it though.

This weekend I plan to take care of a few odds and ends, including messing with the fogs and maybe the deck plate mod.

I’m other news, I have it from a reliable source that this package under my tree MIGHT be from an elf named @%1; and contains some hood struts. I guess I’ll find out come Christmas.

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[brillo_76]

Lol. Love the update. Yes those backyard helpers can make a mess.

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[solsnowbarger]

12/16 - So I was sitting at work today, minding my business, and passing the time by doing one of my routine internet searches for stuff I don't need (Other projects, parts, accessories, ect,). I had migrated from looking at supercharger builds to looking at roof-top tents, when tragedy struck. I found one. Only a couple hours away from me, its nice, and not ridiculously expensive.

The guy is selling what looks to be a very clean ARB Simpson III for a pretty decently discounted price. He claims it's been opened 5 times, and slept in twice.

I was NOT trying to spend any more money this year outside of maintenance items... But this might be too convenient to pass up. I've been dreaming of a RTT for years, I love the idea of the cleanliness of being up and out of the mud and dirt and flood waters that always plague my camping trips.

Pray for me, dear ones, that I might be strong.

 

[solsnowbarger]

12/19 - It was a slow weekend, and I was on call and couldn’t really go anywhere, so I took a little time and finally installed my deck plate.

Here are the parts used, straight from amazon for not very much money.

The install was straight forward enough. If I’d had a 4” hole saw that would’ve been the best option to cut the hole. I used a series of smaller drill bits, and it was a mess. The end result is clean though, so I’m happy.

I doubt I’ll ever notice a difference, but I had been itching to do something.

12/20 - The itch, mentioned above, persisted till the next day. I realized the only real way to itch it would be to buy the damn rtt that had been haunting my dreams for the previous week, so I went for it.

I got a buddy to cover my on-call, and drove the 2 hours to manhattan, KS to take a look at the ARB Simpson III, and I loved it. The guy selling it was middle-aged, and in the army. He was moving out of state next month, and selling off some things he didn’t want to take with him, the tent among them.

It was super clean, and he reassured that he’d only opened it 5 times, and had slept in it twice since buying. Here it is pictured on his amazing LC80.

I folded, happily gave him all my money, and took it home. There’s no picture of the tent at home because it’s still sitting on the floor of my garage.

After a bit of research, I’m looking at purchasing these defender mounts to slide into my rails and mount the tent to. My understanding that these are one of the nicer quality, and most minimalistic, ways to attach the tent. As I’m still wanting to look as factory clean as I can, this seemed like a good choice.

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To top it all off, I got a rare chance to wash my vehicles by hand this weekend, and it’s safe to say I’m feeling pretty grateful for such a good period of life.

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[fortysixandtwo]

Nice Runner. I got a 99 a few months ago and have been upgrading it in a similar path as you. Wish mine was black. lol.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Nice Runner. I got a 99 a few months ago and have been upgrading it in a similar path as you. Wish mine was black. lol.

Thanks brother! And don't wish that on yourself, haha. It looks great in the rain and when recently washed, but damn does it get nasty looking after just a couple days of highway driving. Good luck with your build man, and definitely look after maintenance first if you can.