tmcintosh3's Build Thread

[tmcintosh3]

Hi ALL,

I have had my 2003 4Runner for about 10 years now and have gradually been adding mods over time. This past weekend I added some Camburg Uniball UCAs, MaxTrac spindles (chose these over the Camburg spindles because they have a TM on the spindles and those are my initials...haha), and some Powerstop rotors/brakes. I figured that I would share some pics for the group. In addition, I had some questions for future mods.

Tires & Wheels
35x12.5/17 BFG A/T KO2
17x8.5 Method Race Wheels - MR309 Grid Titanium w/Black Lip
Spidertrax 1.25" Hub-centric spacers

Suspension
Camburg/SAW 2.5" Coilovers
ToyTec 1/2" Top Spacer
Camburg Uniball UCAs
MaxTrac Spindles
SAW 1.5" Rear Coils w/ Daystar 1.5" Coil Spacer
Fox 2.0 Performance Series IFP LT Rear Shocks w/ Roost Shield
4Crawler 1.5" Body Lift
Prothane Sway Bar Bushings Front/Rear
MOOG Sway Bar Links
Wheeler's Off-Road Front Bumps
MetalTech 4x4 3" Extended Rear Bumps

Engine/Performance
Volant CAI w/ 5123 Pro 5 Gas Air Filter
Magnaflow Y-Pipe
PowerStop Drilled & Slotted Rotors Front & Rear
Power Stop Ceramic Pads
Dewhel JDM Billet Aluminum Battery Tie Down

Exterior
Custom Pre-Runner Front bumper by [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION]
Baja Rack w/ Hi-Lift (NJC Neoprene Jack Cover) and Spare Tire Mount
Murder Black Badges
SS Extended Brakelines
Body Mount Chop & Folded Pinch Weld
Relentless Fab T4R Body Mount Chop Plates - to be welded on soon
Fiberwerx Fenders - to be mounted soon

Lighting
Opt7 32" LED Light Bar
(2) Opt7 LED Pods
Smoked Headlights
PIAA Extreme White Plus Low Beams
PIAA Extreme White Plus High Beams
Opt7 Interior LED Bulbs
JDM AStar LEDs (Turn Signals/Reverse/Brake)

Electronics
Pioneer DD with DVD, Navigation, Bluetooth, iPod Dock
JL Audio Speakers

Interior
Toyota All Weather Mats
McTunning Auxiliary Light Switches
Speedohealer
BlueDriver Bluetooth Professional OBDII Scan Tool


Here is Mildred...
Front end completed;


Suspension;



Back on all 4s;



Any ideas would be appreciated.

Looking forward to some additional mods. Let me know what you think. :behindsofa:

 

[dkyleb]

Wow, how much lift did you end up with? Looks like a lot!

 

[CHawks_12]

With the height, it reminds me of the Hummers on Cars that go to Old Sarge's offroad school... LOL

 

[tmcintosh3]

I just picked it up from getting an alignment and I am at about 6" of lift in the front. 4" from the spindles and 2" from the 2.5 Coilovers. :lookout:

 

[dkyleb]

I just picked it up from getting an alignment and I am at about 6" of lift in the front. 4" from the spindles and 2" from the 2.5 Coilovers. :lookout:

Were they even able to align it?

 

[tmcintosh3]

Were they even able to align it?

Yup! All in the green :bounce:

 

[truckhigh]

Nice set up. with that much lift in front you might want to go 3 LT icon's or metal techs springs in the rear and maybe a daystar on top. Your still gonna have to do a BMC and pinch weld for sure. Body lift is a maybe cause you can just crank up your camburgs

 

[truckhigh]

I would just color match it or do what chaos runner did and two tone the fender flare.

 

[tmcintosh3]

[MENTION=2243]truckhigh[/MENTION]... Thanks! Appreciate the feedback.
I was thinking of doing a small body lift so I don't max out COs. The BMC is definitely a must.
Yea, that paint match doesn't look too bad. I was possibly thinking of painting the whole truck, but would prefer the solid matching panels to paint over rather than to paint over the current plastics.

Thanks again!

 

[tmcintosh3]

Body Mount Chop by 4WheelParts:
They want $350 for a BMC...Does this sound right or in the range of what others have paid?

Body Lift by 4WheelParts:
They want $800-$1,000!!! Am I crazy for thinking this is outrageous?

I have done all the work myself on my T4R, but after looking at the install instructions for the body lift, it just seemed like a pain in the :moon:.

What have you guys paid for a BMC and/or body lift?

Thanks!

 

[tmcintosh3]

Body Mount Chop by 4WheelParts:
They want $350 for a BMC...Does this sound right or in the range of what others have paid?

Body Lift by 4WheelParts:
They want $800-$1,000!!! Am I crazy for thinking this is outrageous?

I have done all the work myself on my T4R, but after looking at the install instructions for the body lift, it just seemed like a pain in the :moon:.

What have you guys paid for a BMC and/or body lift?

Thanks!

Anyone???

 

[Troymclure]

Body Mount Chop by 4WheelParts:
They want $350 for a BMC...Does this sound right or in the range of what others have paid?

Body Lift by 4WheelParts:
They want $800-$1,000!!! Am I crazy for thinking this is outrageous?

I have done all the work myself on my T4R, but after looking at the install instructions for the body lift, it just seemed like a pain in the :moon:.

What have you guys paid for a BMC and/or body lift?

Thanks!

Thats an insane price from both places. Honestly, Id just cut the body mount yourself with a grinder or sawzall. It looks nice to plate over the cut but its not necessary. I still havent plated mine since I need all the clearance I can get.

As for installing a body lift, its easy to do at home too, assuming you have a jack, and some basic mechanical skills. It took me about 2 hours by myself. If you go with a 1" body lift, and not 1.5", you dont have to install the steering shaft spacer, which saves a lot of time and hassle.

 

[tmcintosh3]

Thats an insane price from both places. Honestly, Id just cut the body mount yourself with a grinder or sawzall. It looks nice to plate over the cut but its not necessary. I still havent plated mine since I need all the clearance I can get.

As for installing a body lift, its easy to do at home too, assuming you have a jack, and some basic mechanical skills. It took me about 2 hours by myself. If you go with a 1" body lift, and not 1.5", you dont have to install the steering shaft spacer, which saves a lot of time and hassle.

Thanks [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION]

I have never done any fab work like that, but definitely not afraid to. I can always have them weld the plate on after I cut it. Do you know if there is any write ups on doing the BMC? I wasn't able to find much of anything on a BMC other than it is required in order to run 35s.

I have basically come to the conclusion that I will do the body lift myself. I called a different 4WheelParts store and they quoted me at $1,200!!!:roadkill::wtf:

I have multiple jacks and the necessary tools, so I will have to just pick a weekend to tackle it. Would I need to go with a 1.25" or 1.5" body lift in order to fit the 35s, or would I be ok with a 1"? I am not to concerned about the front end (especially with one of your sexy baja bumpers :becky, mainly the rear end.

Lastly, I will most likely need to get the icon or metal tech 3" rear springs to replace my 2" SAWs. If I increase the coils in the rear, would I have to increase the size of my rear shocks? or could I still run my current set up (Bilstein 5100s)?

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[Troymclure]

Thanks [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION]

I have never done any fab work like that, but definitely not afraid to. I can always have them weld the plate on after I cut it. Do you know if there is any write ups on doing the BMC? I wasn't able to find much of anything on a BMC other than it is required in order to run 35s.

I have basically come to the conclusion that I will do the body lift myself. I called a different 4WheelParts store and they quoted me at $1,200!!!:roadkill::wtf:

I have multiple jacks and the necessary tools, so I will have to just pick a weekend to tackle it. Would I need to go with a 1.25" or 1.5" body lift in order to fit the 35s, or would I be ok with a 1"? I am not to concerned about the front end (especially with one of your sexy baja bumpers :becky, mainly the rear end.

Lastly, I will most likely need to get the icon or metal tech 3" rear springs to replace my 2" SAWs. If I increase the coils in the rear, would I have to increase the size of my rear shocks? or could I still run my current set up (Bilstein 5100s)?

Thanks again for the feedback!

I dont know of any good write ups for the bmc, basically to fit 35's, it requires cutting as much of the material around the actual body mount in order to clear. I am running a 1.5" body lift, but my friend got away with a 1" and a true 35x12.5. For lift, he has tacoma springs, and a spacer to get about 3". He just had to trim some more off the body mount. Its relatively easy to see where you need to trim too, especially if you have the tires already. You can trim before getting them, but it is sort of guessing. Once you have the tires, just turn the steering wheel, and get out and mark where you need to trim.

The rear end fits 35's surprisingly easy. At one point, I was running 35's, and stock springs in the rear, with the only lift being the body lift. I was able to stuff a 35 into the wheel well pretty well. I think in the end, I took off about 1" on the rear bumper, from the bottom of the bumper to where it meets the body. That was all I needed to clear, no lowered bumpstops or excessive trimming.

If youre planning to go with taller springs in the rear, such as OME mediums or the allpro 3.5 springs, I would get some longer shocks. I believe the Bilstein 5125 are long enough for 3" or lift, as well as the ICON 2.0 Aluminum series shocks which I currently run.

 

[truckhigh]

the body lift is really easy and just intimidating thinking about. You really are just lifting the body 2 in to slide it in. The steering link is the only complex part if you have a rusty column. Do the 1.5 to be safe and not have to cut the pinch weld too much.

For 800- 1000 you can pick up a plasma cutter and slice it off when the body mount bushing is off. If you don't want to spend that much get a recip saw and angle grinder for $100.

 

[tmcintosh3]

Thanks [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2243]truckhigh[/MENTION] I appreciate the info. I think I am going to go with the 4crawler 1.25" or 1.5" body lift. I was thinking the 1.25" would be better so that I didn't have any gap issues with my front bumper. Would purchasing [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION] bad ass front bumper eliminate this "front bumper gap" issue if I did go with the 1.5" body lift?

I figured that while I was doing the body lift, I would upgrade my body mount bushings to polyurethane bushings. Do either of you guys know of any kits for our trucks. I found a couple, but am not sure that these are the correct fits.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Energy_Susp/Body_Mount_Kit/E1284102G.html

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Prothane/Body_Mount_Kit/DEE18102.html

Based on my measurements (and 4crawlers website) I would need 2-2.5"OD,2-3"OD,4-3.5"OD bushings. I wasn't able to find anything using the search tool. Anyone had any experience with upgrading these and what bushing kits you bought?

Thanks!

 

[Troymclure]

Thanks [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2243]truckhigh[/MENTION] I appreciate the info. I think I am going to go with the 4crawler 1.25" or 1.5" body lift. I was thinking the 1.25" would be better so that I didn't have any gap issues with my front bumper. Would purchasing [MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION] bad ass front bumper eliminate this "front bumper gap" issue if I did go with the 1.5" body lift?

I figured that while I was doing the body lift, I would upgrade my body mount bushings to polyurethane bushings. Do either of you guys know of any kits for our trucks. I found a couple, but am not sure that these are the correct fits.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Energy_Susp/Body_Mount_Kit/E1284102G.html

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Prothane/Body_Mount_Kit/DEE18102.html

Based on my measurements (and 4crawlers website) I would need 2-2.5"OD,2-3"OD,4-3.5"OD bushings. I wasn't able to find anything using the search tool. Anyone had any experience with upgrading these and what bushing kits you bought?

Thanks!

I can make a bumper for either body lift, or no body lift, doesnt really matter the size. I make the bumpers mount solidly, and thus dont have enough movement to compensate for 1" from a body lift. Basically, it will only fit a body lifted truck, or not body lifted, not both. No change in design or process between the two, just moves where the upper tube mounts in relation to the grill and fenders.

I dont know if anyone has tried to upgrade the body mounts to polyurethane. I know energy suspension has a kit for the tacoma, but Im not sure if all the mounts will work on 4runners.

 

[truckhigh]

I think your bumper problem is more of an issue if you plan to keep oem bumper. if you get some glass then your gonna have to get a custom bumper anyways so it doesn't matter on body lift to bumper.

from what i read the tacoma body mounts are different. I have been looking for body mounts also and nobody makes them yet. I think people are replacing with oem. i think they would make it of the fj first

 

[jdotlim]

looks so aggressive!!

 

[tmcintosh3]

[MENTION=95421]Troymclure[/MENTION] Gotcha, makes sense.
[MENTION=2243]truckhigh[/MENTION] Yea, it would be nice to find someone who made these. The stock bushings will do, but mine are looking pretty worn.
[MENTION=129545]jdotlim[/MENTION] Thanks!