What did you do to/in your 5th Gen today?!

[Blue 4ever Runner]

Those look great. Model number/where you bought them? There are so many different models for the T4Rs.

Thanks, I like them. My son bought them directly from WeatherTech. They are WeatherTech 80531 front and 81531 rear..

 

[mynameistory]

Made brackets for and installed a Diode Dynamics 30" Stage Series bar and Baja Designs S2 Pro ditch lights on the roof rack. Also installed a front camera and switch by anytimebackupcamera.com

More details on my thread here.

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

I got my Eibach Pro Truck kit from Toytec today. Had fun installing it. It took a few hours working pretty casually.

Removing the XREAS is pretty straightforward if you have the right tools. I did have to cut the front lines to get them out, but the rest of it was a piece of cake.

Pretty stoked on the results and I'll post more pics tomorrow after I get it aligned.

Pics before, during, and after:

.

 

[mynameistory]

I got my Eibach Pro Truck kit from Toytec today. Had fun installing it. It took a few hours working pretty casually.

Removing the XREAS is pretty straightforward if you have the right tools. I did have to cut the front lines to get them out, but the rest of it was a piece of cake.

Pretty stoked on the results and I'll post more pics tomorrow after I get it aligned.

Pics before, during, and after:

.

Every once in a while I catch myself wondering if I should have gone with a Limited. It's usually when I'm sweating in my non-ventilated seats. This is also one of those times. Truck looks killer!

 

[fazer8]

Essentially, they're exactly the same as the OEM ones except the chrome part that doesn't light up with the turn signal is blacked out and the quality is ever-so-slightly less than the OEM (edge finishes isn't as smooth - things you wouldn't notice if you aren't the one installing them).

Can't speak on long term quality, of course but they seem to work exactly the same as the OEMs.

If you want an OEM 2014+ tail light, I'd be happy to sell you mine. Perfect condition, boxed up and ready to ship

Thanks for the info! I have a black 2011 so I think the black out would look decent. I also need the extra wire harness they come with to retro fit to the OG 5th gen, otherwise I would take those off your hands.

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

Every once in a while I catch myself wondering if I should have gone with a Limited. It's usually when I'm sweating in my non-ventilated seats. This is also one of those times. Truck looks killer!

Thanks man! I built this truck in my head a dozen times before I bought it. So stoked with how it's coming out.

I had a '15 Trail before this, so I know your pain, lol. The ventilated seats are pretty great.

I love those brackets you made for the lights. Do you do fab work? I'm a machinist so maybe we can collab on something fun for the trucks.

 

[5Sport]

I got my Eibach Pro Truck kit from Toytec today. Had fun installing it. It took a few hours working pretty casually.

Removing the XREAS is pretty straightforward if you have the right tools. I did have to cut the front lines to get them out, but the rest of it was a piece of cake.

Pretty stoked on the results and I'll post more pics tomorrow after I get it aligned.

Pics before, during, and after:

Looks good. How much lift did you get and how is the ride?
Also, what rims are those?

Thanks

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

Looks good. How much lift did you get and how is the ride?
Also, what rims are those?

Thanks

Thanks man! I got around 2.5 front and 1.25-1.5 rear. It looks like the rear settles with these kits so I'm waiting to see where it ends up. I was hoping for fully level, but I'm happy with it. I normally have a pretty stout bike rack hanging off the back and that'll probably help drop it once it's back on. So far I've only driven the seven miles back from my shop, but the roads in Inglewood are pretty patchy and it's already obviously better than stock.

The rims are Enkei RPT1s. I saw them and fell in love. Managed to get a pretty good deal from 14TrailMike. Took a chance on the General Tires and am pretty stoked so far. Decent ride for E rated and the quietest all terrain tires I've run. Even at 85-90.

 

[mynameistory]

Thanks man! I built this truck in my head a dozen times before I bought it. So stoked with how it's coming out.

I had a '15 Trail before this, so I know your pain, lol. The ventilated seats are pretty great.

I love those brackets you made for the lights. Do you do fab work? I'm a machinist so maybe we can collab on something fun for the trucks.

In very, very small amounts these days. I grew up in my Dad's welding/fab shop and spent my off-time making junk for myself.

Occasionally I'll buy Dad lunch so I can mess around with his plasma-cutter and pneumatic brake on a weekend. A lot harder to do shop days with a wife and kid in tow now.

I have very little practical machining experience so I usually try to design stuff with simple 2D CAD for the plasma-cutter or waterjet. And then weld the rest. Let me know if you have any weird ideas! The brackets were my way of getting the lights to sit as flush as possible to the rack. The supplied ones from BD were nice but they would have poked the lights up and out.

 

[Mutant138]

Made brackets for and installed a Diode Dynamics 30" Stage Series bar and Baja Designs S2 Pro ditch lights on the roof rack. Also installed a front camera and switch by anytimebackupcamera.com

How is the anytime backup/front camera operation. Pretty seamless?

I got my Eibach Pro Truck kit from Toytec today. Had fun installing it. It took a few hours working pretty casually.

I can't wait to throw that kit on. Your rig looks too good low key wishing i got a limited now ha. I assume you didn't do the uca's since you did not mention anything. How is the ride? She track straight? Would you mind sharing the alignment specs?

The kit advertises uca's not being necessary which it clearly is not but I want to know hat kind of tire wear we will expect out of the alignment.

 

[PoopSmith]

Made brackets for and installed a Diode Dynamics 30" Stage Series bar and Baja Designs S2 Pro ditch lights on the roof rack. Also installed a front camera and switch by anytimebackupcamera.com

More details on my thread here.

TRD Valance and black interior trim, without a hoodscoop?

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

I can't wait to throw that kit on. Your rig looks too good low key wishing i got a limited now ha. I assume you didn't do the uca's since you did not mention anything. How is the ride? She track straight? Would you mind sharing the alignment specs?

The kit advertises uca's not being necessary which it clearly is not but I want to know hat kind of tire wear we will expect out of the alignment.

Ha, you caught me! lol I ordered SPC UCAs from Toytec like five minutes after the kit and they had a miscommunication and didn't ship them. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem, but I paid for two day shipping because I'm going on a trip next week. Well, lemme tell you how awesome Toytec is: Anthony was super surprised, then really apologetic, then had me a tracking number for overnight shipping in like five minutes. Over. Night. That's gotta hurt your profit margin... Should be here in a couple hours and that's a quick install. Having them would have saved me some time on the front end yesterday (and a few small scratches on the shocks, lol), but I'm *THAT* kind of impatient with new hardware installs. #NoRegrets

That said, on the stock UCAs everything clears and it tracks *relatively* straight already. But I'd rather have it properly sorted, even if it doesn't absolutely need it. I'm putting in a diff drop too, even though that's not absolutely necessary either because I'd rather have everything in it's happy place instead of anywhere near maxxed out.

I'll definitely share all the alignment info as soon as I have it. And thanks for the compliment! I wasn't sure about the Limited front at first either and was planning an SR5 swap like a few people have done, but now that it's got wheels and lift, I'm really happy with the look. It doesn't have that skinny guy in a large suit feeling any more.

Also, this:
.

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

In very, very small amounts these days. I grew up in my Dad's welding/fab shop and spent my off-time making junk for myself.

Occasionally I'll buy Dad lunch so I can mess around with his plasma-cutter and pneumatic brake on a weekend. A lot harder to do shop days with a wife and kid in tow now.

I have very little practical machining experience so I usually try to design stuff with simple 2D CAD for the plasma-cutter or waterjet. And then weld the rest. Let me know if you have any weird ideas! The brackets were my way of getting the lights to sit as flush as possible to the rack. The supplied ones from BD were nice but they would have poked the lights up and out.

Man, If I had access to a jet and a bender I'd never get any real work done, lol. I really dig the super low-profile S2 brackets. I have a set of the Pros and ditch brackets from Rago coming, but would love to get them even lower...

 

[austinquick]

https://www.amazon.com/WeatherTech-82531-Side-Window-Deflector/dp/B008OIS8JU

Thank you! Ordering a set.

 

[mynameistory]

How is the anytime backup/front camera operation. Pretty seamless?

There's a slight delay when switching cameras, and when you deactivate the front (back to center switch position) the rear camera flashes for an instant. Also, even though I mounted dead center, the perspective seems slightly off- I think the OEM rear camera is slightly offset to the driver's side to give a more familiar perspective to your "eye's brain" so to speak. Great kit though.

TRD Valance and black interior trim, without a hoodscoop?

Traded my scoop for a flat one plus cash. Couldn't stand that codpiece on my hood.

 

[Mutant138]

That said, on the stock UCAs everything clears and it tracks *relatively* straight already. But I'd rather have it properly sorted, even if it doesn't absolutely need it. I'm putting in a diff drop too, even though that's not absolutely necessary either because I'd rather have everything in it's happy place instead of anywhere near maxxed out.

I'll definitely share all the alignment info as soon as I have it. And thanks for the compliment! I wasn't sure about the Limited front at first either and was planning an SR5 swap like a few people have done, but now that it's got wheels and lift, I'm really happy with the look. It doesn't have that skinny guy in a large suit feeling any more.

Also, this:
.

Ah so no alignment yet. Just wondering because eibach says it's not necessary and plenty of people don't install the UCA's. Nobody has given any real feedback to the ride quality and tire wear tho. I suspect it's livable for most but worth the added cost to do it. I daily drove a drift car for a while... poor tracking gets old quick.

I wasn't really into it but with the dark chrome or black out and a proper lift I have to say it looks more aggressive is a less yobbish way then the other models. I'm a fan of the pre face lift trucks too.

 

[Mutant138]

There's a slight delay when switching cameras, and when you deactivate the front (back to center switch position) the rear camera flashes for an instant. Also, even though I mounted dead center, the perspective seems slightly off- I think the OEM rear camera is slightly offset to the driver's side to give a more familiar perspective to your "eye's brain" so to speak. Great kit though.

Solid feedback. Definitely sounds worth it. I hate blindly cresting obstacles and crossing my fingers.

 

[Dr. Monkeypants]

Ah so no alignment yet. Just wondering because eibach says it's not necessary and plenty of people don't install the UCA's. Nobody has given any real feedback to the ride quality and tire wear tho. I suspect it's livable for most but worth the added cost to do it. I daily drove a drift car for a while... poor tracking gets old quick.

Hahaha, I bet that drift car was a real treat on the highway... I used to work next to Chris Forsberg back in 08-09 and I was always amazed that those cars held up as well as they did considering how hacked together most of them were.

Seems like we're on the same page about proper alignment. I can't imagine 4Runners NOT needing an alignment after a lift. The UCAs and LCAs aren't the same length, so it's kinda unpossible that the specs don't change when you're moving it up that far. I know the SPCs had mixed reviews for durability in the past, but they have more than enough adjustment and the shop I go to preps track cars so they're pretty finicky about getting it right. Aiming for 0 camber/toe and 3 deg caster to start.

 

[mynameistory]

Man, If I had access to a jet and a bender I'd never get any real work done, lol. I really dig the super low-profile S2 brackets. I have a set of the Pros and ditch brackets from Rago coming, but would love to get them even lower...

I told Dad we should consider doing a run. The more we make the cheaper they'd be. Maybe I'll put up a thread to see if I can get some folks interested. I'd probably do waterjet instead of plasma to get a cleaner cut. The only part that was a little tough was dialing in the brake, the parts are kind of small and fiddly.

 

[Mutant138]

Hahaha, I bet that drift car was a real treat on the highway... I used to work next to Chris Forsberg back in 08-09 and I was always amazed that those cars held up as well as they did considering how hacked together most of them were.

Seems like we're on the same page about proper alignment. I can't imagine 4Runners NOT needing an alignment after a lift. The UCAs and LCAs aren't the same length, so it's kinda unpossible that the specs don't change when you're moving it up that far. I know the SPCs had mixed reviews for durability in the past, but they have more than enough adjustment and the shop I go to preps track cars so they're pretty finicky about getting it right. Aiming for 0 camber/toe and 3 deg caster to start.

Ran spc uppers and lowers on my daily drifter. I crashed into all kinds of stuff and never busted one. Sounded like they had a bad run for a while (something with the ball joint failing) but have since tweaked it and I haven't heard much else negative. I'll likely be going spc again.