Stan's build thread

[Stan]

Hi all. I've been creeping the forums for a while and figured it was time to show off my build. For the most part I'm just going to copy/paste my build thread from another local site. Enjoy!





This is going to be a slow process but I plan on building this one more than the last. Previously had a silver 2003 v8 sport but ended up finding a low km 2003 v8 limited in the color and trim that I originally wanted! I couldn't resist!

It needed a couple minor things like a mirror and a spoiler (from the previous owner taking her garage door off with the spoiler before the door was all the way open, lol). Found a spoiler and mirror that exact same color in Kelowna so I order them and replaced the parts.

New (gallactic gray) vs. Old (titanim metallic)



First up is wheels and tires.

Had an old set of wheels that I couldn't get rid of, painted them black and bought some brand new 32's for the old 4runner. Ended up keeping them for my new build. The paint job wasn't very good, so this time I had the tires dismounted, took them to consolidated compressor and sandblasted them:



This time I used etch primer to coat them:



They still had the sand blasted texture, which I love! Sooooo happy with how they look after being painted gun metal!! I don't think I'll ever part with these wheels now!




Next step will be to get the 32's remounted and find a lift. No spacers this time, going with lift coils in the rear and coil overs in the front.

 

[Stan]

Not much going on with this "build" yet. Got the MT's mounted though, looks decent.

 

[Stan]

Parts ordered, pics to come.

It hit a milestone the other day too. 99,999km! (62,500 miles for the americans)

 

[Stan]

Picked up all the parts this weekend at the MSO. I was like a kid on Christmas morning unboxing all the goodies!

Smittybilt XRC8 competition series winch w/94' of 21/64" Synthetic, aluminum fairlead and winch cover
Blitzpro 21" LED light bar
Rotopax gas and water w/locking mounts
FJ cruiser rear spring top hats to convert from air bags to coil
Toytec BOSS 3" lift (Toytec front coil overs and Bilstein rear shocks with Toytec superflex rears

Dropping the 4runner off at Cruisin' Offroad in BC in a couple weeks to have all the armor built. Jason's doing this as a one-off project because he's never made armor for a 4th gen before. Just gotta find some time to install all of this after I get the truck back.

 

[Stan]

Repacked the winch with Lucas Xtra grease. Removing the old grease was extremely messy!



You can see the crappy grease they used in this picture. The stuff was like molasses.



Also, just got back from Vancouver tonight. Dropped her off to Jason at Cruisin' for all the armor. Pickup is in 3 weeks.


He already pre-built my sliders because he had jigs for a 4th gen already. They turned out pretty sweet. I had the solid filler plate added to make the sliders act as a step if needed, and brought the angle down from 30 to 15 degrees.



Stay tuned...

 

[Stan]

I had Jason do the body mount chop while it's there because I don't have a welder. Also, one of the sliders is on.




Starting the disassembly..

 

[Stan]

Update:
Rear bumper is coming along nicely. In this picture, you can't really tell the 'special' thing about how the rear bumper will be finished. I'll keep that a secret for now. The swingout is next before it gets final fitment, then off for powder coating. The swingout will also get some cool features (at least, I think they're cool)... an idea that I borrowed from looking at some Jeep swingouts. Lastly, I had him cut a hole for a nice clean install of the trailer plug wiring and one more hole for a reverse camera (frig, I miss having a reverse camera!).





Front bumper is starting to take shape but will go through some itterations. The shackle mounts need to be moved up from where they currently are and I want to reuse the OEM fog/signal lights as well as have the led light bar installed flush, inside of the bumper and above the winch.

 

[Stan]

I'm really pleased with how the front bumper is turning out! Super happy about how the oem fog/signal lights look. I wanted to keep them because on the 2003-2005 4runner, the signal lights are also the daytime running lights.

On to the pictures...

 

[Stan]

Everything is finished and off for powder coating. Final install happens this week and I pick it up on Friday.

pics...

Swing out finished:


Gas tank skid:


Belly skids. Nice and smooth underneath, turned out really well:

 

[Stan]

Armor is all finished! Picking it up tonight!

Hopefully I'll find some time next weekend to install the lift and tires.

What do ya think?




Mounted the rotopax on the swingout behind the spare tire (something I saw on a jeep) and cut up the oem rear bumper cover to use as filler between the body and the new bumper (got the idea from another forum)

 

[Stan]

I installed the lift this weekend all by myself. It was boring and there was a lot of curse words.

On to the pics...



I love Alberta vehicles. This bolt on my last 4runner was a ***** to get out. This one came out so easy and it looked brand new... I couldn't believe it!


Out with the old and in with the new


Toytec "BOSS" coilovers installed into their new home. I ditched the front sway bar too.


FYI: for anyone switching to rear coil from RAS (rear air suspension), there's a clip on the top of the airbag that you can get at by sticking a wrench in the between the body and the frame and knocking it out. After you remove the air line, the air will release and the air bag will come right out.


I made some extended sway bar end links too (not pictured). Why? Cause after I removed the end links in the rear, there was waaaaaaay more droop. Should make the rear of the truck way more flexy off road.


Springs and Bilsteins in their new home.


All done


I think I might upgrade to a 34 or 35" tire. So much room in the wheel wells now, especially with the body mount chop.

 

[Stan]

Next project...

Custom rear sway bar end links. The original plans I followed called for the use of eyebolts, but I couldn't find the right ones anywhere locally, so I ordered heim joints, threaded rod, nuts and heim spacers from McMaster-Carr. This should increase the rear flexiness.

On a side note, I ordered these parts yesterday at lunch and........ the shipping was almost as much as the order, but I can see why now. They showed up this morning!! Shipped over-night air from Ohio. I couldn't believe it!

 

[Stan]

Build update: I ordered the Toyotec HD springs for the rear (this was offered as an upgrade when I originally ordered for $10 and I can't believe I overlooked it). Swapped out the superflex rears for the HD rears. Sits much nicer now with all the weight of the bumper/tire carrier and skids.

On a side note, I read a couple threads on other forms of people swapping from RAS to coil. They mention they made brackets to hold the bottom of the rear springs down. This is completely unnecessary (at least on my rig with the springs I have), because with the rear axle at full droop, the springs are completely seated. The rear axle won't droop enough for the springs to "pop" off their axle mount because the shocks limit the droop well before that would have any chance of happening. I could see if perhaps someone installed stock springs that they might be worried. Long story short, I skipped making this bracket because with the longer springs, I didn't need them as they sat perfectly seated on their perch.

Little bit of rake now, might crank the front coilovers up 0.5" so there's a bit less rake and to fit some 34" tires:




I forgot to post a picture of the finished product of the custom rear sway bar end links. They turned out really good!

 

[Stan]

34's fit! (LT285/75/17 BF Goodrich KM2's)

 

[montana_jeepn]

Stan, I really like how you setup your 4th Gen. It looks like you put careful thought into everything......functional, but still retains "class". Great job!

 

[Theo85]

This is one of my fav builds so far, mainly because of all the fab work and second, because its canadian !

I love those bumpers...wanna trade

 

[brian.j]

Best looking custom bumpers I've yet seen for 4th gens. Nice work.
Both seem well thought out AND still look great.

 

[ebg18t]

Very tastefully done. Awesome job!

 

[kakuno]

Looking really good!! Nice work. Makes me want to get some bumpers done!

 

[scottblink23]

Very nicely done!