Supermoney's 02 Thundercloud Sport Build!

Supermoney

New member
Now that we had to get a new 4Runner, I figured we will document the build here, unfortunately I missed some photos in the beginning but will have plenty as time goes on.

Lets begin.

2010 - 2016: Our original 2001 IJM Sport:

b4MCg8t.jpg


Drunk driver hit it in his suburban while it was parked, we were sleeping at the time and nobody was hurt although it sucked to lose it. Was a great truck.

c0Wtr0m.jpg


After a month of searching for the right 4Runner to replace ours, we finally found the one. We were extremely picky as we wanted a pretty much identical truck. We don't like leather, needed the gray dash, sport edition, rust-free, automatic, etc.

July 24th: We had it shipped from across the country, presenting our new 3rd gen.
2002 Thundercloud Sport, Supercharged and rust free! When we received it, it definitely needed some love:

XOWB2m4.jpg


yDa5W4B.jpg


L7YCvqX.jpg



August 12th: Less than 3 weeks later, the parts have been swapped.
  • Bilstein 5100 / Tundra Springs / OME 890 3" Lift
  • 16x8 Procomp 7069's
  • 285/75/16 BFG KO2s
  • 231mm Tundra Brakes
  • New radiator w/ Toyota red coolant
  • Stainless steel brake lines
  • Running boards removed
  • Clear corner lights
  • 01 Sport seats swapped (removed 02 sport seats)
  • New head unit and XM antenna installed (Alpine CDE-HD149BT)

XUsDWnI.jpg


f04RxOK.jpg


August 15th: Now that we got the parts swapped over and finished dealing with insurance we can try to enjoy the rest of the summer and get some camping / wheeling in!

Maintenance still to be completed:
  • Supercharger rebuild (preventative as we don't have much history)
  • Synthetic fluids in whole drivetrain
  • Replace K&N CAI with stock airbox (safer with mud/water and everything else lol)
 
Register to hide this ad
Getting the alignment done today, surprisingly the truck drove fairly straight even after the lift and tires getting added.

Tomorrow we are getting a new windshield installed, this one seems like the original it is severely pitted and has 2 cracks in it.
 
New Rig is looking good, too bad about the old one. I wish my paint still looked that nice!

Thanks! While we were looking for green again, we always loved thundercloud so it was definitely being considered. I'd dare say the paint on this one is in a tad better condition overall as well.
 
Got the alignment done, I was surprised that he was able to get as much caster as he did because on our last 4Runner either the tech didn't know what he was doing or simply couldn't even get more than 1.2 caster.

I can really tell how much it pushed the tires forward, barely rubs on the pinch weld which I still need to flatten over and now rubs more on the bumper which is some easy trimming until we get an aftermarket one.

Truck drives great now, tech doing the alignments at Toyota is A++.

zhg0MdD.jpg
 
With a name like "Supermoney02", I wasn't expecting this level of detail. Looking forward to future updates. Damn shame about the green Runner. Drunk drivers, making the transition to self-driving cars happen a little quicker every day.

Sincerely,

XxX420headshotxelitechronicpurpXxX
 
With a name like "Supermoney02", I wasn't expecting this level of detail. Looking forward to future updates. Damn shame about the green Runner. Drunk drivers, making the transition to self-driving cars happen a little quicker every day.

Sincerely,

XxX420headshotxelitechronicpurpXxX

LMAO I know right, thanks!

Yours truly,

OpTic FaZe xGamerx420
 
Got the alignment done, I was surprised that he was able to get as much caster as he did because on our last 4Runner either the tech didn't know what he was doing or simply couldn't even get more than 1.2 caster.

I can really tell how much it pushed the tires forward, barely rubs on the pinch weld which I still need to flatten over and now rubs more on the bumper which is some easy trimming until we get an aftermarket one.

Truck drives great now, tech doing the alignments at Toyota is A++.

New truck looks great, glad you stuck with a 3rd gen.

What's your front fender to hub measurement? I've always been really close to getting my truck's caster in the green, but never in it if I remember correctly.
 
A little more maintenance to make this 4Runner ready to go another 100k.

Parts:
  • 2x Front Wheel Bearings
  • Full Timing Belt / Water Pump Kit
  • Full Supercharger Rebuild Kit
  • 3 New OEM belts
  • New OEM Fuel Filter

The fuel filter that was pulled off looked to be original, and we were getting a little prolong crank on 1st startup so figured throw this on just to see.

Timing belt was last done 90,000 miles ago however the belt looked in surprisingly good shape

Driver side wheel bearing started to hum and got progressively worse, we might of accelerated that wear by slapping on the 33s tires and hitting some rocky mountain passes.


63CKced.jpg


SpIlofX.jpg


The internals of the Supercharger looked pretty clean, however the bearings and the tensioner bearing specifically was making a ton of noise.
tKLNqMj.jpg



Now time to take it out on a few good trails before hunting season ends and some trails close up.
 
Now time to take it out on a few good trails before hunting season ends and some trails close up.

That thundercloud metallic looks super clean, by far one of my favorite colors

If you dont mind me asking, what trails have you found in the Bozeman area? I ran Flathead pass last year and was a little disappointed and all of the other forest service roads I know of all closed up at the beginning of hunting season.
 
That thundercloud metallic looks super clean, by far one of my favorite colors

If you dont mind me asking, what trails have you found in the Bozeman area? I ran Flathead pass last year and was a little disappointed and all of the other forest service roads I know of all closed up at the beginning of hunting season.

Hey thanks, yes we always wanted this color, love it!

So ya flathead is fun for just something close to town and quick but pretty easy and a little short but you can have some fun up there.

Was thinking about heading down to Mcalister / Ennis area and go up to South Meadow Creek Lake and maybe some others over there. There are some good trails around there but ya beside that and maybe just some easier trails to just go exploring with our dog, as lot will be closed at the end of hunting season. Then its just some fun snow wheeling on whatever trails are left open basically lol

If you ever want to meet up and do some trails let me know. We always see so many 3rd gens in Bozeman but only found a few to be on the forums / facebook group!
 
Ill definitely hit you up next time I plan out a trip. I have been thinking about running down to Mcalister as well and probably running North Meadow Creek up to twin lakes next summer.

Im really surprised how few Montana members there are with how many I see around town. The other morning I saw a fully built SAS 3rd gen but cant seem to find him on any of the forums.
 
Ill definitely hit you up next time I plan out a trip. I have been thinking about running down to Mcalister as well and probably running North Meadow Creek up to twin lakes next summer.

Im really surprised how few Montana members there are with how many I see around town. The other morning I saw a fully built SAS 3rd gen but cant seem to find him on any of the forums.

Yeah you can't drive through town without seeing at least 5-10 of them every time haha
 
Ill definitely hit you up next time I plan out a trip. I have been thinking about running down to Mcalister as well and probably running North Meadow Creek up to twin lakes next summer.

Im really surprised how few Montana members there are with how many I see around town. The other morning I saw a fully built SAS 3rd gen but cant seem to find him on any of the forums.

Almost forgot, when we were up at North Meadow Creek Lake this summer with some UTVs we noticed at the top was a bone stock 4Runner there which was pretty impressive considering there are some pretty big rocks to get over in some areas heading up there!

oVeTsP9.jpg


WLBXmSt.jpg


How it sits currently:
GsTylqO.jpg


I think a front bumper is in store soon!
 
Last edited:
Sad to see the Green Machine gone, but digging the new ride!

Good to see some other people on here from Montana!!
 
Last edited:

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
278,310
Messages
3,554,080
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top