Weight reduction and 4th generation 4Runners
- Thread starter Steve Theodore
- Start date
xtremewlr
Member
If you have a 2003 or 2004 V8, the non-VVTI motor, swapping the aluminum intake for the later, 2005 up VVT plastic intake, cuts 12.5lbs off the top of the motor. And gives a small performance bump. MPG remains pretty much the same.
It's a direct swap too. You need the intake, fuel rails and throttle body from a 2005 to 2009. New throttle body has to be flipped on the intake to be able to plug into the harness without doing lots of wire splicing.
This is on my 2003.
It's a direct swap too. You need the intake, fuel rails and throttle body from a 2005 to 2009. New throttle body has to be flipped on the intake to be able to plug into the harness without doing lots of wire splicing.
This is on my 2003.
If hasn't already been brought up, amd you're serious about weight, the hood swap to a fiberglass hood would net quite a few pounds...that sucker is heavy.
If you don't mind extra fuel stops, pull the tank and install a 5 gallon fuel cell. Pull the spare and all the tools.
If you don't need to pass an emission test get rid of your exhaust and do a full titanium short runner. The full supra titanium exhaust can literally be lifted with a pinky..lol.
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If you don't mind extra fuel stops, pull the tank and install a 5 gallon fuel cell. Pull the spare and all the tools.
If you don't need to pass an emission test get rid of your exhaust and do a full titanium short runner. The full supra titanium exhaust can literally be lifted with a pinky..lol.
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Steve Theodore
New member
Well, as a somewhat out-of-place weight weenie in this world, I knew I'd have something worth sharing sooner or later...and here it is.
Over the holiday break I worked with my friends at Antigravity batteries to source a Group 35 battery for my trusty 2008 Toyota 4Runner, still having its original 13 year old factory battery in place (but failing steadily for the last year, down to 200 CCA at last point of measure in December).
Although I'm definitely aware that many won't like the cost of this battery compared to its peers, there are actually some super handy features that may not be obvious.
- 31 pounds lighter than stock (probably obvious)
- Built in RE-START technology (has a reserve just for emergency starts)
- Long service life, and based on Smart Lithium-Ion
- 1500 Cranking Amps! (this sucker starts in a big hurry)
- Remote control for RE-START activation
- Smart technology to monitor battery health via Bluetooth and smart phone
Every time I approach my 4Runner and get within range, the smart monitor sends a message via Bluetooth to my phone and it reports how healthy the battery is. You can configure it to send you a variety of alerts and do performance data management over time.
Although it's very true that the weight weenie in me primarily wanted this battery to lose 31 pounds off the nose of the truck, there are so many other cool features to make it worthy of consideration. It's my second AG battery and the team there is truly awesome, and I recommend their product wholeheartedly.
Anyway, I have a few pictures to share. If you have any questions, just let me know and I'd be happy to help if I can. In case you want one for your 4th generation 4Runner, it's the Group 35/Q85 application that works for us.
Over the holiday break I worked with my friends at Antigravity batteries to source a Group 35 battery for my trusty 2008 Toyota 4Runner, still having its original 13 year old factory battery in place (but failing steadily for the last year, down to 200 CCA at last point of measure in December).
Although I'm definitely aware that many won't like the cost of this battery compared to its peers, there are actually some super handy features that may not be obvious.
- 31 pounds lighter than stock (probably obvious)
- Built in RE-START technology (has a reserve just for emergency starts)
- Long service life, and based on Smart Lithium-Ion
- 1500 Cranking Amps! (this sucker starts in a big hurry)
- Remote control for RE-START activation
- Smart technology to monitor battery health via Bluetooth and smart phone
Every time I approach my 4Runner and get within range, the smart monitor sends a message via Bluetooth to my phone and it reports how healthy the battery is. You can configure it to send you a variety of alerts and do performance data management over time.
Although it's very true that the weight weenie in me primarily wanted this battery to lose 31 pounds off the nose of the truck, there are so many other cool features to make it worthy of consideration. It's my second AG battery and the team there is truly awesome, and I recommend their product wholeheartedly.
Anyway, I have a few pictures to share. If you have any questions, just let me know and I'd be happy to help if I can. In case you want one for your 4th generation 4Runner, it's the Group 35/Q85 application that works for us.
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xtremewlr
Member
Very cool. Pricey tho at $830. But I'm familiar with the benefits of light weight batteries coming from the sport bike world.
That's cool tech but at what point is the price worth the weight?
I mean you're loosing 30lbs at the cost of around $1k. Where the goal is to have less strain on a tired engine you're getting into the price of a rebuild with only 30lbs of weight savings. Add wheels and tires and you're kinda there.
In other words.... doing this is kinda cool. Less weight, less stress, maybe noticably better mpg. But when the goal is to have a better performing engine why not just get a better performing engine, especially when you're already spending thousands?
Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
I mean you're loosing 30lbs at the cost of around $1k. Where the goal is to have less strain on a tired engine you're getting into the price of a rebuild with only 30lbs of weight savings. Add wheels and tires and you're kinda there.
In other words.... doing this is kinda cool. Less weight, less stress, maybe noticably better mpg. But when the goal is to have a better performing engine why not just get a better performing engine, especially when you're already spending thousands?
Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
Steve Theodore
New member
The battery swap isn't something you can just quantify easily by cost alone...it's more of my passion of being a weight weenie and a tech junkie that makes it worthwhile personally.
For the record, I do manage to jump on their seasonal discounts so the price isn't quite as high as you think from their website, but let's not kid ourselves to believe that it's affordable...because it's not.
However, I still had my stock OEM battery after 13 years of faithful service, whereas I know others who may have gone through 2-3 batteries in that same period of time. So I suppose that could be considered. :yo:
For the record, I do manage to jump on their seasonal discounts so the price isn't quite as high as you think from their website, but let's not kid ourselves to believe that it's affordable...because it's not.
However, I still had my stock OEM battery after 13 years of faithful service, whereas I know others who may have gone through 2-3 batteries in that same period of time. So I suppose that could be considered. :yo:
Ed_C
Senior Member
What do you think of that Battery Tracker? I have a InduraPower battery that basically has those tracker's features built-in, but unfortunately the app doesn't work (engineer I talked to said they're still working on it), which was one of the reasons I bought the battery in the first place...the vehicle I have it in is in storage.
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Steve Theodore
New member
So far so good but I have to admit the feature I'm using the most from it is just the real-time health snapshot as you approach your vehicle.
We had a power outage for 26 hours a few days ago that led me to do some phone/device charging in my driveway (several hours worth) and when I approached the truck to start it the next day I saw my battery was down to 82% power. That was interesting to see as I have never had any metrics to note previously. Generally when I approach my 4Runner the battery is at 99% or 100% normally.
I have noticed the app has asked for updates twice since I've had it, and the notable downside to an update is that it informs you that your performance history metrics will be lost. I'm not studying those regularly, but it's a little bit of a bummer that it will reset your history at the time of the update.
Other than that, all is well and it's a neat add-on.
AuSeeker
Elite Member
Is it not possible to save the performance history to a file before doing the updates, maybe some kind of screenshot if nothing else?
Steve Theodore
New member
As a true newbie to the software, the answer is just that I don't know. When I'm not in range to be connected to the battery by Bluetooth (such as right now), I don't really see any way to read historical graphs anyway.
SherpaEquipmentCo
official vendor
4runner06az
New member
Older thread but i like the subject. I tried to keep weight in mind with my truck. Went with levl 8 Mk6 wheels (average weight) and the BF goodrich A/T's in load C (way lighter than most offroad tiers). Even though it does add weight/ I went with aluminum skid plates from RCI. Other than those 2 I haven't found too many other places to lose weight.
Steve Theodore
New member
Glad you like the thread. I have learned that the 17" Volk TE37 (6 lug, large PCD) weighs about 11 pounds less per corner than my stock wheels. I plan to buy a set of those and keep my tire sizes consistent (stock), but that is a total of 44 pounds of rotating weight to be lost...which is a really big deal and should be quite noticeable in acceleration, braking, and allowing the suspension to work better too.
meltdowner
Member
I think what Sherpa said they did is the way to go. Most of that interior stuff weighs the most.
Once my wife gets her own car I'll probably strip mine out and add some cheap ass plastic seats on the back and leave the rest bare.
Once my wife gets her own car I'll probably strip mine out and add some cheap ass plastic seats on the back and leave the rest bare.
