Timberland
New member
LOVE the subtle design of your bumpers. Great build.
Sunpilot's 4Runner Official Build Thread
- Thread starter SunPilot
- Start date
bombventure
New member
Love that front bumper!!
SunPilot
New member
Snorkel Install on V-8
So, I just finished my snorkel installation on my rig. I'll try to document it as much as I can for those of you who want to add a snorkel to your 4Runner.
I used a snorkel kit I got from Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B90PPGY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It was originally intended for older Land Cruisers and Lexus LX450's. From what I read, it is the easiest to adapt. I do believe there are custom made snorkels for the 4th gen 4R, but the prices are very high, so I went with this unit and did my best. After finishing, I am very satisfied with the job.
After the kit arrived I looked it over. There are NO instructions in the kit at all. You're on your own here. I also noticed that the template I received did not fit the snorkel... the bolt holes didn't line up, so the template was pretty useless.
Basically, in the kit you get the snorkel, the intake, a bracket, a piece of rubber hose, some screws, three hose clamps, a couple pop rivets, and the useless template.
20180414_092635 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Well, that was enough for me... I knew it would be work, but I'm up for the challenge. One way or another that snorkel was going to live on my fender!
The first thing I did was remove my airbox and see what I had to work with in the engine compartment
20180414_094938 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
So, I just finished my snorkel installation on my rig. I'll try to document it as much as I can for those of you who want to add a snorkel to your 4Runner.
I used a snorkel kit I got from Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B90PPGY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It was originally intended for older Land Cruisers and Lexus LX450's. From what I read, it is the easiest to adapt. I do believe there are custom made snorkels for the 4th gen 4R, but the prices are very high, so I went with this unit and did my best. After finishing, I am very satisfied with the job.
After the kit arrived I looked it over. There are NO instructions in the kit at all. You're on your own here. I also noticed that the template I received did not fit the snorkel... the bolt holes didn't line up, so the template was pretty useless.
Basically, in the kit you get the snorkel, the intake, a bracket, a piece of rubber hose, some screws, three hose clamps, a couple pop rivets, and the useless template.
20180414_092635 by sunpilot1, on FlickrWell, that was enough for me... I knew it would be work, but I'm up for the challenge. One way or another that snorkel was going to live on my fender!
The first thing I did was remove my airbox and see what I had to work with in the engine compartment
20180414_094938 by sunpilot1, on FlickrSo, I just finished my snorkel installation on my rig. I'll try to document it as much as I can for those of you who want to add a snorkel to your 4Runner.
I used a snorkel kit I got from Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B90PPGY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It was originally intended for older Land Cruisers and Lexus LX450's. From what I read, it is the easiest to adapt. I do believe there are custom made snorkels for the 4th gen 4R, but the prices are very high, so I went with this unit and did my best. After finishing, I am very satisfied with the job.
After the kit arrived I looked it over. There are NO instructions in the kit at all. You're on your own here. I also noticed that the template I received did not fit the snorkel... the bolt holes didn't line up, so the template was pretty useless.
Basically, in the kit you get the snorkel, the intake, a bracket, a piece of rubber hose, some screws, three hose clamps, a couple pop rivets, and the useless template.
Well, that was enough for me... I knew it would be work, but I'm up for the challenge. One way or another that snorkel was going to live on my fender!
The first thing I did was remove my airbox and see what I had to work with in the engine compartment
Eagerly awaiting the remainder of your write up
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
SunPilot
New member
After I got the airbox out (sorry, no pictures of it completely removed, but it's a straight forward operation), I knew I would need to work under the fender. I jacked up the vehicle and removed the wheel so I could have room to work. Next, I removed the fender molding because as I was trying to position the snorkel I saw that the best place for it would be low enough that it was going to require trimming the molding. A note here... I would advise you to have some extra molding clips available in case you break some. I already had some spares, which I also got from Amazon, for an earlier job. With the tire removed and the molding off it was easier to position the snorkel and mark the fender for the drilling that was to come.
20180414_105136 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
You might notice in the above photo that a bracket broke off the back of the molding. Sometimes this happens, but don't worry, it can be fixed. I use JB Weld and just glue it back on. Give it a day to set and it's stronger than original. I used this technique on the other side when I built my front bumper, and the repairs have held up beautifully.
I also removed the plastic filler between the inner and outer fenders, shown in the following pic.
20180414_100115a by sunpilot1, on Flickr
With the molding and fender filler piece off it is time to locate the snorkel. I just used my eye for this job. One concern is that the snorkel tube was going to be way above the inlet on the airbox. The alternative would be to place the snorkel so low on the fender that it would not fit properly. I just drew a vertical line on the fender in line with the airbox inlet actually I used the big round hole in the inner fender as a guide. That gave me forward and aft position. The angle of the snorkel lines up reasonably well along the windshield frame, so I had my front-back position. Next thing is how high or low to mount the snorkel. Since the snorkel has the air tube coming out the back of it, you can't really just place it on the fender. You have to judge where it will look the best with the fender lines and trust your eye. After holding the snorkel in different positions I decided to place it where I thought it looked best, and I marked the top and bottom of the snorkel tube on the vertical line I drew earlier. I used the center of those makes on that line as my center for the big hole. I can't give you exact measurements, but if you look at the following photo you can see where the hole ended up. I would advise you to place yours in approximately the same position. Yes, the hole will be above the airbox inlet, but that can't be helped and we can still make it fit.
20180414_115138 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_135310 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180414_105136 by sunpilot1, on FlickrYou might notice in the above photo that a bracket broke off the back of the molding. Sometimes this happens, but don't worry, it can be fixed. I use JB Weld and just glue it back on. Give it a day to set and it's stronger than original. I used this technique on the other side when I built my front bumper, and the repairs have held up beautifully.
I also removed the plastic filler between the inner and outer fenders, shown in the following pic.
20180414_100115a by sunpilot1, on FlickrWith the molding and fender filler piece off it is time to locate the snorkel. I just used my eye for this job. One concern is that the snorkel tube was going to be way above the inlet on the airbox. The alternative would be to place the snorkel so low on the fender that it would not fit properly. I just drew a vertical line on the fender in line with the airbox inlet actually I used the big round hole in the inner fender as a guide. That gave me forward and aft position. The angle of the snorkel lines up reasonably well along the windshield frame, so I had my front-back position. Next thing is how high or low to mount the snorkel. Since the snorkel has the air tube coming out the back of it, you can't really just place it on the fender. You have to judge where it will look the best with the fender lines and trust your eye. After holding the snorkel in different positions I decided to place it where I thought it looked best, and I marked the top and bottom of the snorkel tube on the vertical line I drew earlier. I used the center of those makes on that line as my center for the big hole. I can't give you exact measurements, but if you look at the following photo you can see where the hole ended up. I would advise you to place yours in approximately the same position. Yes, the hole will be above the airbox inlet, but that can't be helped and we can still make it fit.
20180414_115138 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_135310 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
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SunPilot
New member
I don't have pics of me fitting the snorkel except the one earlier showing the holes. Since the template was useless, I drilled the large hole first. Then, I could place the snorkel tube into that hole and rotate the back up and down so it fit along the windshield properly. I then made some locations marks on the body. The next step was to drill the 6 bolt holes that the snorkel uses to secure it to the body. Instead of making a new template I inserted the mounting studs in the snorkel upside down. (I say upside down because if you look at the studs you will see that on one end they have an opening for an allen wrench. That end would normally face away from the snorkel and it is used to tighten the bolts. By placing the studs in upside down there was the whole flat area of the stud to make marks on the fender.) I put a drop of loctite on the end of each stud and then placed the snorkel into the large hole I earlier drilled. Using the location marks I made earlier I pushed the snorkel against the fender. After removing it I had a nice drop of loctite where each stud would end up. I used those drops as my marks to drill the stud holes. I drilled a little larger than the actual studs and it worked out fine. After turning the studs around the proper way, I did another test fit and was happy. Then I primed all the holes and let them dry. I don't have pics of this work except the one shown earlier and here
20180416_135310 by sunpilot1, on Flickr.
Here is how the placement ended up with the snorkel loosely bolted to the fender
20180414_125856 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_135310 by sunpilot1, on Flickr.Here is how the placement ended up with the snorkel loosely bolted to the fender
20180414_125856 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
SunPilot
New member
The next step was locating the bracket to the windshield post. The bracket is bent at an angle and both sides are flat, but our windshield post has a curve to it.
20180416_114739 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
With the snorkel bolted to the fender I placed the bracket against the post and made some marks to locate the top and bottom of the bracket. Then I took the snorkel off and started to bend the bracket to fit the contour of the post.
20180416_114720 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_114724 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_114734 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_114730 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
I don't have an anvil, but I do have a section of railroad track that I picked up long ago. It serves as my anvil. I just kept lightly hammering the bracket on the anvil until I got a shape that fit the windshield post. It didn't take much at all.
20180416_114739 by sunpilot1, on FlickrWith the snorkel bolted to the fender I placed the bracket against the post and made some marks to locate the top and bottom of the bracket. Then I took the snorkel off and started to bend the bracket to fit the contour of the post.
20180416_114720 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_114724 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_114734 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_114730 by sunpilot1, on FlickrI don't have an anvil, but I do have a section of railroad track that I picked up long ago. It serves as my anvil. I just kept lightly hammering the bracket on the anvil until I got a shape that fit the windshield post. It didn't take much at all.
SunPilot
New member
I loosely bolted the bracket to the snorkel and bolted the snorkel to the fender and made accurate marks where the bracket holes would go, then removed the assembly. The kit gives us pop rivets to secure the bracket, but I don't like using them, so I used rivnuts, which I got from my local Ace Hardwrae store. I used #10 rivnuts and some short stainless machine screws to fit. I drilled the holes and installed the rivnuts. Usually rivnuts take an insertion tool, but I dont have one. I used a technique I saw on YouTube that uses a nut on the bolt to draw the rivnut tight. It worked like a charm, and cost nothing.
20180416_135245 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_135250 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Here is a pic of the rivnuts installed
20180416_135259 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
I put a dab of silicone on each rivnut before I installed the bracket to prevent water intrusion
20180417_111842 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Here is the bracket installed
20180417_112017 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_135245 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_135250 by sunpilot1, on FlickrHere is a pic of the rivnuts installed
20180416_135259 by sunpilot1, on FlickrI put a dab of silicone on each rivnut before I installed the bracket to prevent water intrusion
20180417_111842 by sunpilot1, on FlickrHere is the bracket installed
20180417_112017 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
SunPilot
New member
Now that the snorkel is located and the mounting bracket is in place the next step is to hook the snorkel to the airbox. Since the snorkel sits above the airbox inlet, I needed a way to make the transition. You can se in this pic that the angle is about 45°.
20180414_125926 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
The top of the inner fender hole is too low for the hookup to work, so I made some marks on the inner fender and cut the fender to allow enough room for the hookup
20180416_140554 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_140559 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
I then bent the piece I cut up out of the way to create enough room for the hookup. To hook the snorkel to the airbox, I used the original air intake as a sleeve, and inserted a 45° elbow from Ace Hardware.
20180417_104037 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180417_104007 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Don't use the heavy stuff, the thin wall elbow is perfect
20180417_104145 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180417_104200 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180417_105151 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
It fits snuggly inside the the airbox scoop, which then attaches normally to the airbox. The snorkel tube will slide down inside the elbow easily.
20180417_105733 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180417_105739 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
You can probably see in these pics that I had to trim some of the inner fender to raise the elbow so it fit. After the trimming, when I put it together, it went in easily and fit nicely
20180417_105749 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180417_105801 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180414_125926 by sunpilot1, on FlickrThe top of the inner fender hole is too low for the hookup to work, so I made some marks on the inner fender and cut the fender to allow enough room for the hookup
20180416_140554 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_140559 by sunpilot1, on FlickrI then bent the piece I cut up out of the way to create enough room for the hookup. To hook the snorkel to the airbox, I used the original air intake as a sleeve, and inserted a 45° elbow from Ace Hardware.
20180417_104037 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180417_104007 by sunpilot1, on FlickrDon't use the heavy stuff, the thin wall elbow is perfect
20180417_104145 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180417_104200 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180417_105151 by sunpilot1, on FlickrIt fits snuggly inside the the airbox scoop, which then attaches normally to the airbox. The snorkel tube will slide down inside the elbow easily.
20180417_105733 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180417_105739 by sunpilot1, on FlickrYou can probably see in these pics that I had to trim some of the inner fender to raise the elbow so it fit. After the trimming, when I put it together, it went in easily and fit nicely
20180417_105749 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180417_105801 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
SunPilot
New member
As an added measure of sealing, I used some Orbit pipe sealing tape, about two inches wide I think. It is a rubber type of tape that adheres well. I just wrapped the joints with the tape, although I don't think it actually needs it. Is this setup completely waterproof? I'm not sure, but I believe it is very adequate for my needs to prevent water from getting into my engine. I should note, I don't plan on driving with my engine submerged, so it will work for me. You should use your own best judgement before you use this snorkel for deep water driving. Also, you might wonder why I didn't use the rubber hose provided in the snorkel kit. The answer is simple. Since the connection is not straight through from the fender to the airbox, and needs a 45° bend to hook up, the hose won't work without collapsing. I think the rigid plastic elbow is the best remedy. You may want to fabricate your own solution, but mine works and I am satisfied with the outcome. As I said earlier, it's up to you to decide how waterproof your installation is and whether you should drive in deep water.
SunPilot
New member
The last phase of the project is to securely bolt the snorkel to the fender, and to the windshiled bracket, install the top on the snorkel, and reinstall the fender molding and inner fender splash piece. I had to trim the molding about half and inch or so to get it back into place. I just took my time and trimmed a little at a time until I got the fit to where I was happy. Then I installed the trim clips and popped the molding in place. Here are a few pics of the finished installation:
20180420_101850 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180420_101859 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180420_101915 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_140249 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
20180416_140257 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
I took two days to do the job. I work slowly. I also needed to JB Weld the broken tab back on, and I let the JB sit overnight. No sense hurrying a job when a little extra time makes it easier. I hope you get some ideas from my installation if you decide to do your own. I think it is a worthwhile project and most anyone can do it if they take their time and have some basic skils. Good luck and happy wheelin' !!
20180420_101850 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180420_101859 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180420_101915 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_140249 by sunpilot1, on Flickr20180416_140257 by sunpilot1, on FlickrI took two days to do the job. I work slowly. I also needed to JB Weld the broken tab back on, and I let the JB sit overnight. No sense hurrying a job when a little extra time makes it easier. I hope you get some ideas from my installation if you decide to do your own. I think it is a worthwhile project and most anyone can do it if they take their time and have some basic skils. Good luck and happy wheelin' !!
SunPilot
New member
Any chance you could fix all of the bumper pictures? None of them seem to be showing up
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Really? I'll go back and see what I can do. Photobucket changed their user agreement some time ago and started charging a fee, so I have to reload all the pics again from Flicker. I'll try to get them re-posted as quickly as I can
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SunPilot
New member
I'll try to finish uploading today.
5vzT4R
New member
Nice build! I had a hard time with trying to hook up the snorkel to my air box that I just ended up using the rubber hose that was supplied in the kit, cut a few inches off of it and used some of that stretchy pipe tape and hose clamps and I finally got it on there after a few hours. I didn't think a 45* pvc elbow would work like you used, glad to see more ideas for hooking up the snorkel to a v8.
SunPilot
New member
4Runner Communications Installs
I did a radio swap that now gives me a bluetooth and GPS radio in my dash. I'm not going to go through the whole install here because there are a bunch of threads outlining the procedures already.
I also added a Ram mount to my windshield to house my Galaxy Tab2 tablet which will be running an off-road navigation app, probably GAIA or something similar. My dash mounted radio has GPS and that is well suited for the roads, but I needed better nav for when I'm off road, that's the reason for the tablet and it's app. I can easily remove the tablet mount when not needed.
I also installed a HAM radio and a CB radio for road and trail communications. I searched for a long time trying to find adequate places to mount the radios that would not clutter my cabin, and there isn't much room around the dash, more on the dash in a moment. I noticed a lot of people mounting their CBs on the side of their consoles, on the passenger side. I felt this might be too uncomfortable for the passenger, so I looked for alternative places for the radios.
My solution was two-fold. The HAM radio I am using is a small dual-band unit made by Yaesu. It has a detachable face plate that can be mounted away from the body of the radio. I placed the main radio box under the driver's seat and ran the remote cable to the inside of my console and placed the radio head on the console. The mounting will be shown in the following posts.
The CB was a bigger nuisance. I have an old, but very good, export radio from the early 1980s. I love this old radio because it has multiple bands, AM, FM, upper and lower sideband. These old radios are really great, but they are pretty large. I am selling this radio and I am going to replace it with a smaller unit because I don't need all it's capabilities. So, where to mount this full size radio? As I said earlier, I didn't want to mount it on the side of the console for passenger comfort reasons. There is also another good reason not to mount radios on or near the dash. There are a lot of sensitive computers and electrical components mounted in and around the dash that the car depends on for proper operation. It's possible that any radio transmitter might interfere with those components' proper operation, so it's best not to mount them too closely. The further away, the better. I opted to mount the CB on the center arm rest and it is working out well for me. It fits nicely and isn't in the way of anything. I can actually rest my arm on top of the radio and it's not uncomfortable. The controls are close, although they are not easily seen, but I know the controls from years of using them, and when running, I rarely have to adjust anything anyway. This install will be outlined more in the following posts also.
I did a radio swap that now gives me a bluetooth and GPS radio in my dash. I'm not going to go through the whole install here because there are a bunch of threads outlining the procedures already.
I also added a Ram mount to my windshield to house my Galaxy Tab2 tablet which will be running an off-road navigation app, probably GAIA or something similar. My dash mounted radio has GPS and that is well suited for the roads, but I needed better nav for when I'm off road, that's the reason for the tablet and it's app. I can easily remove the tablet mount when not needed.
I also installed a HAM radio and a CB radio for road and trail communications. I searched for a long time trying to find adequate places to mount the radios that would not clutter my cabin, and there isn't much room around the dash, more on the dash in a moment. I noticed a lot of people mounting their CBs on the side of their consoles, on the passenger side. I felt this might be too uncomfortable for the passenger, so I looked for alternative places for the radios.
My solution was two-fold. The HAM radio I am using is a small dual-band unit made by Yaesu. It has a detachable face plate that can be mounted away from the body of the radio. I placed the main radio box under the driver's seat and ran the remote cable to the inside of my console and placed the radio head on the console. The mounting will be shown in the following posts.
The CB was a bigger nuisance. I have an old, but very good, export radio from the early 1980s. I love this old radio because it has multiple bands, AM, FM, upper and lower sideband. These old radios are really great, but they are pretty large. I am selling this radio and I am going to replace it with a smaller unit because I don't need all it's capabilities. So, where to mount this full size radio? As I said earlier, I didn't want to mount it on the side of the console for passenger comfort reasons. There is also another good reason not to mount radios on or near the dash. There are a lot of sensitive computers and electrical components mounted in and around the dash that the car depends on for proper operation. It's possible that any radio transmitter might interfere with those components' proper operation, so it's best not to mount them too closely. The further away, the better. I opted to mount the CB on the center arm rest and it is working out well for me. It fits nicely and isn't in the way of anything. I can actually rest my arm on top of the radio and it's not uncomfortable. The controls are close, although they are not easily seen, but I know the controls from years of using them, and when running, I rarely have to adjust anything anyway. This install will be outlined more in the following posts also.
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SunPilot
New member
GPS and Radio
Here is a picture of my radio installed in the dash. It gives me bluetooth, SD card slot, USB inputs, and has a nice Nav system built in. I use this nav for all my road driving.
20180503_105340 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Above the dash I have a nice Ram mount for my tablet, which runs apps for off road driving, I will probably be using GAIA for the topo and satellite features when I'm on the trail. I also have a holder for my cellphone next to it. There are two USB ports installed in the console to power these items
20180503_105345 by sunpilot1, on Flickr
Of course, these windshield mounts can be removed easily when I don't need the tablet giving me an uninterrupted forward view on the road. I can easily reinstall the mount when I head off road.
Here is a picture of my radio installed in the dash. It gives me bluetooth, SD card slot, USB inputs, and has a nice Nav system built in. I use this nav for all my road driving.
20180503_105340 by sunpilot1, on FlickrAbove the dash I have a nice Ram mount for my tablet, which runs apps for off road driving, I will probably be using GAIA for the topo and satellite features when I'm on the trail. I also have a holder for my cellphone next to it. There are two USB ports installed in the console to power these items
20180503_105345 by sunpilot1, on FlickrOf course, these windshield mounts can be removed easily when I don't need the tablet giving me an uninterrupted forward view on the road. I can easily reinstall the mount when I head off road.
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