The Frankenstein College Budget Build

[JohnBill53]

I bought my 2001 Toyota 4runner SR5 2WD in 2007 with 140K on her

FRANKENSTEIN:




Mod's

Suspension:
-Toytec/Eibach Springs & Billstein 5100's
-OME 890 Rear Coils
-Custom Drive Shaft

Wheels & Tires:
-Stock Wheels Painted Matte Bronze
-285/75/16 National Commando A/T
-1.25" Spidertrax

Armor & Lights:
-Smittybilt Front Tube Bumper
-2nd Gen Rear Tube Bumper
-Whitson Metalworks Rack
-Stock Skids
-Sylvania Silverstar Ultra Headlight Bulbs
-LED License Plate Lights
-3" HID Driving Lights

Accessories & Interior:
-Alpine CDA-105 Head Unit
-Alpine MRP-M500 Amp
-12" JBL W12GTi MkII Subs
-Custom Cargo/Tire Carrier Box

On Deck:
-Locker
-Winch
-Projector Retrofit



As she sits as of 2-10-14:





Got some 3" Toytec Spacers for the front & some OME 890's





Then came the Smittybilt







Put on the 1.25" spidertrax with ease in the parking lot of my fraternity house



Before:



After:



The after photo doesn't really do them justice, they helped out so much with the rubbing on my UCA's though. You can see where I zip tied my (now removed) wiper reservoir. Even after the spidertrax and beating the hell out of my pinch welds my tires still found a way to rub on it.

 

[whataboutno]

I think your lug nuts are on backwards...

 

[JohnBill53]

I think your lug nuts are on backwards...

I'm not sure if that's a picture of the one..but one of them I did mess up on

 

[TCMach]

Norman eh? OU? I'm up in Bartlesville during the summers. Will you still be in OK this summer?

Truck looks really good! I can't imagine how good those SCS wheels will look when you get them.

 

[JohnBill53]

Norman eh? OU? I'm up in Bartlesville during the summers. Will you still be in OK this summer?

Truck looks really good! I can't imagine how good those SCS wheels will look when you get them.

Boomer, I'm not sure on the summer yet, I have a house up here but depending on the internship situation I may be in Norman or Dallas. If I end up having to stay with mom and pop I'll be in norman like every other weekend. We should defiantly get together.

Ps...hope you have a winch

 

[JohnBill53]

oh yeah [MENTION=82211]TCMach[/MENTION] got any spare parts you're brinin back haha

 

[TCMach]

Boomer, I'm not sure on the summer yet, I have a house up here but depending on the internship situation I may be in Norman or Dallas. If I end up having to stay with mom and pop I'll be in norman like every other weekend. We should defiantly get together.

Ps...hope you have a winch

Do I seem that prepared to you? :biggrin1:

Its on the list. Hopefully will get done this summer along with my rear locker. And yea that was my idea too. I'm trying to get all the OK guys together, maybe hit Hogans Offroad Park. On the parts side of things I'm actually hoping to find alot once I get back to OK. Yotas are pretty popular up here and parts get picked over if they're a good value. Modding yotas is less popular back home and I assume parts will be more available. CVs, manual hubs, maybe even a supercharger. I know I'll be spending some time at the pick n pull yards!

 

[JohnBill53]

Do I seem that prepared to you? :biggrin1:

Its on the list. Hopefully will get done this summer along with my rear locker. And yea that was my idea too. I'm trying to get all the OK guys together, maybe hit Hogans Offroad Park. On the parts side of things I'm actually hoping to find alot once I get back to OK. Yotas are pretty popular up here and parts get picked over if they're a good value. Modding yotas is less popular back home and I assume parts will be more available. CVs, manual hubs, maybe even a supercharger. I know I'll be spending some time at the pick n pull yards!

Forsome reason in my mind its like my rig<<<<<<<<<everyother built up t4r
haha and yeah, I'd be down to make a trip with you, hopefully some trd tundra coils maybe a little bit of a 98 grill for the future satoshi, and I've never heard of that park, I know I'm probly an embarrassment to all the okies out there but anywho, would my 2wd handle it?

 

[TCMach]

Forsome reason in my mind its like my rig<<<<<<<<<everyother built up t4r
haha and yeah, I'd be down to make a trip with you, hopefully some trd tundra coils maybe a little bit of a 98 grill for the future satoshi, and I've never heard of that park, I know I'm probly an embarrassment to all the okies out there but anywho, would my 2wd handle it?

I've personally never needed a winch so it isnt too high on my list. I never wheel alone where i could get that screwed so I just carry a tow strap. And I'm sure you can find that stuff atleast. I'm banking on the fact that most okies dont want to rebuild their yotas and we can find what we need!

Hogans offroad is pretty sweet. The majority of it you can do in 2wd no problem. Some of the more interesting trails towards the back you may want to pass on but I'm sure you could ride along with one of us. Hopefully it will be a good sized group. I'm gonna throw up a thread around the beginning of may-ish.

 

[JohnBill53]

I've personally never needed a winch so it isnt too high on my list. I never wheel alone where i could get that screwed so I just carry a tow strap. And I'm sure you can find that stuff atleast. I'm banking on the fact that most okies dont want to rebuild their yotas and we can find what we need!

Hogans offroad is pretty sweet. The majority of it you can do in 2wd no problem. Some of the more interesting trails towards the back you may want to pass on but I'm sure you could ride along with one of us. Hopefully it will be a good sized group. I'm gonna throw up a thread around the beginning of may-ish.

I'm so freakin in

 

[JohnBill53]

check out what my first paycheck of the summer/brown/toytec did for me

 

[Park]

Get those beauties on!

 

[JohnBill53]

Updates: Toytec/ Eibach springs, bilstein front shocks, & procomp rear shocks

Installed new shocks and springs to do away with the toytec spacers upfront as well as some procomp rear shocks that were so very pleasant to put on HAH :frusty:



I painted the eibach springs cause I'm lame knowing good and well they would chip haha don't judge.



This is the only picture I have of the instal, mainly because I was trying to get it done at nights after work. aka too lazy to take pictures.



Just some teaser flex pisc on this baby hill in my alley. I'll take this time to say that I am so very pleased with the ride with these parts as well as the amount of lift & travel they gave me





I know this is a terrible picture but I have more to come, this is how she sits after the toytec/eibach springs, the bilsteins, & the procomp shocks were installed.



Finally took the time to build a cargo box/ spare tire carrier

 

[JohnBill53]

Finally got this guy fabed up, painted, and on the rig



I had to modify the brackets since it was made for a 2nd gen




This is my welder buddy cheddar, he'll do most fab/ welding work within reason for a 24 of carona's.
He lays turf in upscale neighborhoods for his nine to five haha



Bedlinered the son of a gun, just like the front



And I'm loving how she rides & looks. It feels like I hopped in a Lexus after driving a chuck wagon!!

 

[JohnBill53]

Hogans Offroad Park Disney, Oklahoma

This is a place we decided to stop and swim when we were adventuring. [MENTION=82211]TCMach[/MENTION] & his rig along with my rig and Tyler's XTerra buddy haha



I cut the drive from Dallas in half stopping in Norman Friday night to spend the night at my house up there and making the rest of the trip Saturday morning.

I'm sad to say that of ALL the things I had to forget in Norman. I forgot my new camera so my iPhone was all I had. Unfortunately this is all I gathered from all the gnarlyness





just a bit of three wheelin..Or I guess one wheelin technically [MENTION=82211]TCMach[/MENTION] HAH!



Credit: [MENTION=78909]alexb[/MENTION]

I'm happy to say despite my baby being only 2WD, I made it through just about everything the 4wd guys made it through. I believe it was the driver, but who am I to say...

 

[rideexileex]

Curious - what kind of spray paint did you use for the wheels?

 

[Bandit Runner]

Curious - what kind of spray paint did you use for the wheels?

Yes, tell us. They look great! Do you know the exact name of the color?

 

[JohnBill53]

[MENTION=83356]rideexileex[/MENTION] [MENTION=55891]Bandit Runner[/MENTION] I was trying to achieve the matte bronze color like the [MENTION=88453]SCSPerformance[/MENTION] wheels to see if the color was forsure what I wanted to go with. The answer to that question is yes haha but anyway I'm sure there is an easier way to achieve this color however I used 3 cans of Rustoleum metallic copper

I did three 4 coats on each wheel of just this color. Honestly it looks pretty sweet, but it was a little too Gold for me. it looked almost like I painted my rims with like a gold bass boat paint.

After that I used some satin black rustoleum and literally just over sprayed them. Quality control is definitely an issue, but in the proper lighting with all 4 wheels next to eachother it makes it a bit easier. The satin black over spray darkened the gold look as well as took away a bit of the bass boat metal flake look too. Like I said, I'm sure there's an easier way to do it but I love the way they turned out. Not to mention how freakin cool they look with the anodized blue spidertrax accent haha

 

[dustin Keeler]

I love the looks of the rear bumper. How much modding did you have to do to get it to mount up? It is the Trail Gear one right? I have my rock sliders going on in a week and have been trying to save for a rear bumper but cant seem to get there. The trail gear one would be easy to make happen sooner. Here is my Rig


Your pics were from Disney right? I used to live there every weekend it seemed. I wheeled it all the time

 

[JohnBill53]

I love the looks of the rear bumper. How much modding did you have to do to get it to mount up? It is the Trail Gear one right? I have my rock sliders going on in a week and have been trying to save for a rear bumper but cant seem to get there. The trail gear one would be easy to make happen sooner. Here is my Rig


Your pics were from Disney right? I used to live there every weekend it seemed. I wheeled it all the time

Yes the pics are from disney, I had so much damn fun. probly some of the most challenging stuff I've ever done. amazing how capable my baby is given the obvious.

Also yes it's trailgear. Open season ladies let's hear how shitty they're stuff is and how much of an idiot I am for "wasting" my money :flipoff: :moon:

anyway. Despite how much everyone bashes on their stuff, I'm pleased with my purchase, reasonably priced, DOM, minimal fab, you don't have to wait for a freaking life time. yadda yadda yadda. To answer your question it was pretty easy. I guess the second gen frame sits about 4-6 inches higher then the 3rd gen cause when I threw it up there first off it looked like my truck shit it self.



I cut the mounting brackets you see there to where it was just the straight part



As you can see when you cut the brackets like i did the bumper just slides in the rear frame. It leaves a little gap from the bottom of the lift gate which you may or may not have a problem with after I cut the brackets for it to just slide straight in i shaved down the top of that straight piece of steel to try to minimize the gap I previously mentioned. I did not think it would be that big of a deal as far as compromising the strength because you have access to weld the bumper on inside of the frame as far back as where the OEM brackets bolt on. I figured if anything, I'm going to bend the hell out of my frame or total it before anything irreversible happened to the bumper. It was all fairly easy mostly time consuming but whats not with these things haha, If I had one piece of advice if you take this rout it would be this. when you cut your brackets to slide directly into your frame make sure the top is level, you'll want to have the bumper sitting flush the the under side of the top of the frame, if you don't have the top of the bracket filed down even its not going to sit right because you'll want to weld it to the top of the inside of the frame to minimize that gap I mentioned earlier. It took me a while with a bastard file but it'll be worth it trust me haha . All in all I love it, I think it looks great, I've towed jet skis with it, I have no complaints...hope that helped my man