TRDHULK Build Thread - 2020 Army Green TRD Pro

[TRDHULK]

I've had my 4Runner for almost exactly 2 years now. I have most of my build on my Instagram [MENTION=536139]TRDHULK[/MENTION], but I wanted to start a build thread on this forum since I get a lot of questions, and its icy outside today, so we are very slow at work and I'm bored.

Here's day one, still sitting on the lot with 6 miles on it. I think this was March 12th or 13th 2020.

Here's day 2 with darker tint added on top of the factory tint. I think it measured to be about 10% on the front and 5% on the rear.

You can also see my 2015 Yukon Denali trade-in sitting on the other side.

Day 3 or 4 I already installed Spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers because I cant stand how Toyota's have the wheels set so far inward on their trucks and SUV's.

And the very next order of business was getting rid of the ONLY chrome on the entire vehicle with these matte black emblem overlays.

Still looks damn good even basically stock

And here's the first time it saw mud, with just a couple hundred miles on it.

 

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Ceramic coating was done at about 500 miles. This nearly changed the color, and made the Army Green truly glow.

 

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Next was the removal of the mud flaps. I don't like the look of them, and they just collect a bunch of mud when off-road.

The fronts can simply be removed; nothing needs to replace the mud flap.

When you remove the rear, there is a big empty opening. I solved that with the Rev-Tek mud flap removal kit, which includes an ABS plastic wheel well liner with all correct push in plugs. Easy install and looks great.

I also added some red D-Rings from Gear America. These were mainly for looks since most people recommend not to recover from this area.

 

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The first major changes came around 2k miles.

I did a BMC and never welded the area since my long term plan was to have a shop do a more aggressive BMC or do the full blown relocate.

This is a hard area to get to with a cut off wheel, so I had to cut in pie shape sections; don't judge the work too much lol.

I also had to cut some of the plastic liner above the body mount.

In addition to the body mount and wheel liner, the front bumper needed to be trimmed and the wheel liner needed to be pushed forward.

Here is the cut that is done from the factory on all TRD Pro's....... kinda sloppy.

I cut a little more here and made the cut look cleaner. I used a box cutter.

I pushed the liner forward about 2" and added new mounting holes where the liner attaches to the front bumper.

 

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Now comes the lift. I wanted to utilize the stock Fox suspension for a while before going with a whole new coil-over set-up, so I went with a 2.5" front and 2" rear spacer lift kit from Jason Burtman.

Before and after:

Looks like it skipped leg day :lmao:

Getting alignment

Testing clearances

I'm not much of a sticker fan, but I didn't like the blank black hockey puck look, so I added these weather proof TRD stickers that I found on Etsy.

I did all of the work myself, except for compressing the front coil to insert the spacer puck. The rental spring compressors from AutoZone do not work on the TRD Pro suspension; the tolerances between the shock and the coil are too narrow. $50 and 1 hour at a Kwik Kar and they were done. Then I brought them back home and installed back on the 4Runner.

The rear springs were a little hard to re-install with the huge 2" spacer attached to the spring. I used a 2x6 and a bottle jack against the frame and axle to articulate the suspension enough to squeeze the spring back in its place. Worked like a charm.



I also ordered my Sprint Booster from Jason Burtman and saved on shipping.

I mounted in the blank spot below the ignition button.

 

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Now for my favorite upgrade; the 285/75r17 (34") Yokohama Geolandar G003 Mud Terrain tires!!! :frisky:

Next to a stock TRD Pro

I upgraded the front and rear bump stops to avoid the MT's tearing off the wheel flares and damaging areas when flexing off road.

For the front I used an inexpensive bump stop from Energy Suspension off Amazon.

For the rear I just used Toytec billet bump stop spacers.

Testing for clearances again

A little too close for comfort. This is fully articulated. I had to do a little more cutting on the body mount.

At this time I also installed some rear shock skids from FJ Toyman.

I ended up cutting off about another inch from the front bumper, so about 2" in total including the first cut I did previously. I call it, the "Hulk Cut" and much prefer this over the high-clearance cut or the "Viper Cut."

Once again, just used a nice sharp box cutter on a warm day.

This picture shows the relocated bolt holes for where the liner connect to the bumper.

Before

After

 

[rdruss]

Just so you know where your suspension is now compared to stock, go out and measure your front center of wheel to lower edge of fender and record. Then jack up the front under the frame until the front wheel is off the ground, take the same measurement. The difference between the measurements is the available down travel of your front suspension.
Stock is like 3.75", the Factory Fox setup may allow a little more. How do you compare with your lift?

 

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Random pics showing off lift, tires, and ceramic coat.

Glass screen protector recommended by TRDJon

LED headlight bulbs from AUXITO. I love these lights, but only the low beams work. I tried installed their high beams as well and they cause the lights to flicker and act finicky.

The camera makes the lights look a little more blue here, but they have more of a white tone.

USE CODE "TRDHULK15" FOR 15% OFF YOUR AUXITO LIGHTS

 

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Some dirty pics

My photographer (and beautiful fiance) got some mud in her hair and down her shirt during our shenanigans

Before these pics were taken I added an ARB rear diff breather. I T'd off the breather close to the rear axle to also connect to the rear locker.

I T'd off the breather to also work as a breather for the rear locker

 

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Some detailing pics.

I use a SnowFoam foam cannon off Amazon with Chemical Guys Cherry Maxi Suds. I LOVE the Maxi Suds. It brings out the color in the paint and also makes all of the plastic and tires look new again.

I had a Chemical guys foam cannon briefly before the SnowFoam cannon and it was garbage.

I also use an Adams micro fiber wash mitt and drying towel.

No other chemicals or detailing stuff is used; not even tire shine.

 

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Time for new wheels!

These are called "Trailite" from Motegi Racing and are 17x8.5" with 0 offset. I kept on the 1.25" Spidertrax wheels spacers.

Ironman 4x4 America hooked me up with these awesome frame mounted front recovery points. Install was fairly easy, and they look amazing.

 

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Here are my rock sliders from Cali Raised LED. They are hand built in Fort Worth Texas by Apex Fabworks using DOM tubing. They are AWESOME and super strong; no flex when using the Hi-Lift jack. I have a young boy and girl, as well as a short fiance, and these sliders work great as a step for them to get into the truck. I can also fit my size 12 on the sliders to access the roof if needed. The powder coating looks awesome as well, and perfectly matches the black finish on the TRD Pro roof rack.

USE CODE "TRDHULK5" FOR 5% OFF YOUR WHOLE ORDER FROMK CALI RAISED LED

I mounted the Hi-Lift 48" jack to the roof by drilling a hole through 2 of the roof rail cross bars. I used stainless hardware and a steel spacer to get it to sit right where I wanted. It sits just below the highest point of the Pro roof rack so clearance is no issue. I used Hi-Lift locking knobs at each mounting point, and a Hi-Lift polyurethane jack handle holder to keep the handle still and from rattling on the roof.

Picked up these cool 3D printed roof rack tools off of a Facebook group

I also added a rear hitch recovery point from Agency6

 

[Saker]

Here are my rock sliders from Cali Raised LED. They are hand built in Fort Worth Texas by Apex Fabworks using DOM tubing. They are AWESOME and super strong; no flex when using the Hi-Lift jack. I have a young boy and girl, as well as a short fiance, and these sliders work great as a step for them to get into the truck. I can also fit my size 12 on the sliders to access the roof if needed. The powder coating looks awesome as well, and perfectly matches the black finish on the TRD Pro roof rack.

I mounted the Hi-Lift 48" jack to the roof by drilling a hole through 2 of the roof rail cross bars. I used stainless hardware and a steel spacer to get it to sit right where I wanted. It sits just below the highest point of the Pro roof rack so clearance is no issue. I used Hi-Lift locking knobs at each mounting point, and a Hi-Lift polyurethane jack handle holder to keep the handle still and from rattling on the roof.

I also added a rear hitch recovery point from Agency6

Looking good, "Real Good!"

 

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Pics from last years "Snowmageddon"

 

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Photo dump with the Motegi Wheels

 

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Time for new wheels again!

These wheels are the RR6H from Relations Race Wheels, or RRW.

These are the wheels I wanted from day one of getting the 4Runner, but they are almost always out of stock and hard to get.

These are what they call Hybrid wheels, meaning they can be ran with or without the protection ring and with or without a true beadlock ring.

Mine are 17x8.5" and -25 offset, in satin black. This is the perfect offset in my opinion and allowed me to remove the Spidertrax spacers.

I also ceramic coated the wheels myself before installing.

Here are pics of the wheels fresh out of the box, with no protection rings or beadlock rings.

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And here are the wheels with the black steel protection rings added. These bolt right on and do not require rebalancing of the wheels and tires.

USE CODE "TRDHULK" FOR $25 OFF RRW WHEELS

 

[Mr Rutherford]

Sexy as hell, I've seen your IG randomly too.

 

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The next cool mod I installed was the front camera from Anytime Backup Camera.

This kit allows me to switch to the front or rear camera at anytime, including while driving. Very cool mod and with the OEM style switch it looks like it came this way.

My 4Runner had this random bracket from the factory. I'm guessing this is where non-TRD Pro models had some type of shield or skid plate mounted.

I drilled the hole out a little larger to make it a perfect spot for the front camera.

The install was pretty easy, but getting the thick wire harness through the firewall was a little difficult. It was so stubborn that I ended up tearing the harness and had to order another. Customer service was great and they had another one out to me within 2 or 3 days. I made sure to cut the hole in the firewall rubber a little larger, and used a little dawn soap to lube it up and didn't have any problems this time.

Shortly after the camera install I added these "TRD" ABS sensor covers on all 4 corners. The ABS sensors are kind of exposed, and apparently are very expensive if/when you break them. These were about $100 off ebay and where pretty easy to install.

 

[BigOleTree]

Favorite 5th gen right now. Any pics of the front camera operating? Curious if it integrates with the OEM display...

 

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Photo dump