MStudt's 01 SR5 Build

That's it. You are hired to build me a plat forum for the truck. When are we meeting up and where in MO. Great work on it man! Truck is looking good.

 

It's for sale for $75 if you want it? I'm still wanting to hit Glade Top sometime this fall. I think you where just out there a couple months ago with a local group Mo4wd. I would have been there, but I was one of the few who where at the Lone Star Jamboree.

 

Sweet, Lets do it. I'll guide you through Glade Top. I love it down there. I'm looking forward to that place in the fall it's going to be amazing.

There is a local gathering by the city of Ava Mo. It is pretty cool.

I'll PM you.

Blue

 

I'm not on here that much, but I'm going to make it a point to try to keep everything updated here as well. I've been working on several things, and have been limiting my time between projects. Now for my series of posts and descriptions about what I've been doing.

 

DRL Disable MOD 2.0

This is not your typical DRL MOD where you just cut a wire and through in any kind of switch you can find. This MOD will allow you to control your DRL's from your headlight stalk. In order to achieve this MOD you'll need a headlight stalk from a 99-03 Toyota Solara. If you have fog lights, then you'll need to make sure you get a stalk with the for light dial on it as well. There are newer switches that go from 04-06, and I'm not sure on these. A simple test would be able to determine if these will work.

This is the switch that I'm using, and it was purchased off eBay for $13.


You can see in these pictures that the 4runner stalk (top) and the Solara stalk (bottom) don't have matching pins. However, this is nothing to worry about.



You can see in the picture below that the 4runner stalk does have pins in the same place that the Solara stalk does. However, these pins do not have wires going to them.


After testing the Solara stalk I found the two pins in red are the pins that control the DRL. I did this by using a test probe and 9v battery. The pins with the red circles around them are the ones you want to use for the DRL MOD.


Here is the plug on the 4runner that connects to the headlight stalk. The two red circles are the terminals that you need to add wires to. These terminal locations match the pin locations on the Solara stalk.


You'll still need to perform the regular DRL MOD for this to work. You just need to cut the from the DRL module, splice in two pieces of wire, and run those wires up your steering column to you new stalk. Connect the wires to the pins I have matched, and you're good to go.

I can not take total credit for this. Here is a thread that member velomatt started in March of this year, and his question didn't see one response. So I decided to give it a try. [MENTION=83128]velomatt[/MENTION], the Solara stalk does work for disabling your DRL with a little work.

DRL Disable MOD
Here is information on how to disable your DRL's.

• (96-00)
• Disable DRL on your 3rd gen. (01-02)

If there is anything that I missed, or something you need clarification let me know.

 

Eagle Eye 3W LED's

Needed just a bit more light in the back. I added a couple Eagle Eye 3w LEDs to the back hatch along with a SPST LED rocket.I need to work on the wiring still but you get the idea. There isn't a lot of room to work with on the hatch. I had to make sure that each of the three holes wouldn't contact the hatch at all. There are three grommets behind the hatch trim. I popped those grommets out, and made sure the LEDs and rocker where situated directly in the center of those holes.




Just showing you how bright 2 of these are.

 

CB Antenna Mount

I couldn't wait any longer, so I installed my antenna mount today. I'm going to be running a hatch mount rather the Drifter mount that I'm making. The mount is an OPEK Am 204 7SM. I'm using this mount with a Firestik medium duty spring, and a Firestik II 3' tunable antenna. It's mounted on the driver side and I routed the coax through watertight loom connecting the hatch to the body. I just need add some liquid tape to where the coax enters to loom to close it up.


Wire coming out on the inside of the cab. I had to remove the rear light, and pull the center section of trim off to access this area.


All mounted up.

 

Sleeping Platform/Storage Build

Getting closer.

Top is on and the openings are sanded.


Boxes in place.



The three boxes are completely removable. They can be used for seats, stools, and storage. Just need to add the hinges.


I plan on picking up the rest of the metal on Friday to finish the front section. Just need to get carpet, Kakuto style clamps, screws, and some spray adhesive.

 

Rear Control Arms.

Fixed 3rd Gen rear LCA's.


Adjustable 3rd Gen rear LCA's.


These are for sale, just PM for pricing and details.

 

I'm not sure how long it took, but it's finally done. I can't decide if I should carpet the front of the drawers to match the rest, or leave them alone?



Finished carpeting.

 

So this is a couple weeks old, but I'm bad about posting. I did a transmission swap since mine was toast.



A little add insurance this time around with the B&M 70268.


I received my new transmission temp gauge from Glow Shift, OEM thermostat & o-ring, and my new to me transmission.



The swap is complete, and everything is running great.

 

Getting some things ready for the road trip, and moving the 4runner into something that would be more comfortable for our future plans.

In about 18 or months or so we'll be hitting the road until the money runs out. No idea how long that'll take, or where it'll take us. Here are some of the latest developments in money spending.

I picked up this 4xInnovations bumper off Craigslist for $450. Only 4 months old, primed, and bedlined.


I was able to get in on the Cyber Monday special CVT was having, and took the opportunity to get a 55" awning. Rook rack will be in on Thursday.


Also picked up some used Fox/Fabtech coilovers from a member on T4R.

 

Hard to believe that I haven't been on here in over 2 years. So much has changes, and many adventures have been had. I'll try to recap what's changed, and post some pictures as well.

 

Last summer my wife and left St. Louis, and moved to Eugene Oregon. So some things needed to change on 4runner to allow us to live out of for 5 weeks.

Up first is the new sleeping platform. It'll be made from 1 x 1 x .065 box tubing, and will be completely welded. It'll have a 1/2" deck, and some kind of cover for it. The back section will have two 32" long drawers, and a few compartments up front. I should be able to get started on this Wednesday, and hopefully complete it on Thursday.

This is what I have to work with.

 

I got done what I thought I would today, but I was still hoping to be further along. I only had about 3 hours to spend on the platform today, and I'll be back at it around 6 am tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish off the metal frame tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be able to get started on the wood portion.

The rear section has two drawers that are 34" long. The driver side drawer is 18.5" wide, and passenger side is 17.5" wide.

 

Day 2 is complete, and I still haven't had a full day of work yet. I wasn't able to start today until about 12:30 do to having to move a little this morning, and I called it a day at 8 pm. Tomorrow will be my first full day of work since today's full day was a bust, and I plan on starting around 8. I need to finish the front lids, side compartments, and extensions.

Today I managed to complete the rear section, and the front is about 75% percent done. The rear looks a little off, but it really isn't. I'll get some more pictures tomorrow once all the metal work is done, and painted. I'll make sure to get some pictures of how this mounts as well.

 

The metal frame is complete, and painted. This ended up taking a bit longer than I had hoped, and that was do to running out of wire for my welder. As of now the welding is completed, but the wood portion will have to wait. The 4runner is now loaded up with our load to clear out the house. Come Sunday will be working from the inlaw's shop until everything is finished.

 

Finished Platform

 

Today I was able to get rear end prepped for the new bumper. Getting the old bumper off was pretty easy with the exception of one bolt. I was also able to clean up the frame, and get it painted. In addition to that I was able to address the leaking rear axle, and get the driver side pulled apart.





While I'm working on the driver side of the axle I might tackle the passenger side as well. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find these parts locally or not so this project may have to wait for a few days.

 

We had quite a bit delivered yesterday, and now have even more to get done. I should have the bearings for the rear shafts tomorrow, and will drop those off on Saturday to get pressed in. I'm hoping to have them back on Monday, and if that's the case I'll also get the rear brakes installed.

Yesterday our new bumper, tires, and springs showed up.

 

Over the last week we've done an overhaul on the 4runner. We started with cleaning up, and painting the entire frame including the gas tank skid. Next we paint the old 4xInnovations front bumper at the same time we painted the new 4xInnovations rear bumper. We'll we worked on the bumpers I pulled both rear shafts, ordered parts, and took them to a machine shop for new bearings to be installed. Once those were back we install new drums and shoes, and bled all four corners. Next was installing some CaliRaised LED pods on CBI ditch light brackets. Next came installing our ARB compressor, Blue Sea fuse, Blue Sea breaker, and switch on aluminum panel I made. Last night we finished the suspension by adding some Toytec Superflex springs, and today we finished with installing the bumpers.

Here's what I remembered to take pictures of along the way.

The newly painted frame. While we couldn't get everything we did the best we could given the time frame. We spend a good 8 hours wire wheeling, chipping, cleaning, and painting everything.



Next was installing the new bumpers. Both were painted with Herculiner due to availability to us, durability, and cost. The rear bumper has the optional fold down cooking tray.




Here's the fuse panel setup that we mounted to the driver side fender.


Here's the ARB compressor mounted to the passenger side wheel well.


I still need to put my RCI skids back on, swap the jerry can holder, mount the propane tank, put the shower on the roof, and pack. These plus more need to be done by noon on Friday.

 

After a long couple weeks we've starting to get settled into our new location. That also gave me a little time to get some of our pictures uploaded to share. Here's a brief look at some of the things that we were able to see along the way. There were a couple days that we didn't take on any photos on, and that was from Montana/Idaho board to Idaho/Washington board into the Gorge.

The SuperFlex springs didn't like the weight we were carrying, and we limped to Washington with the bump stops around an inch from the axle.



Missouri



Colorado

 

Utah


Wyoming


Montana

 

Washington






[MENTION=116467]Rock_Rat[/MENTION]


Oregon

 

Since being in Oregon the 4runner hasn't has much done it, nor has it really been driven much. Last September I started experiencing some shifting issues, hard shifts, slow shifts, and transmission noise. Next week a new to me transmission will be getting installed, and hopefully things will be good to go. I have some other issues going on with the gas tank, and will be dropping it to do some repairs. Once all repairs have been finished I'll most likely put the 4runner up for sale.

Times have changed, and so has our direction. Time to move onto a 5th Gen by the end of the year. I'll try to remember to keep this updated as much as I can.

 

Hope for the best, enjoy the 5th gen as I've enjoyed these updates.

 

Not much going on with 4runner lately. I have some summer projects planned like fixing rust, running some new wiring, and repainting some items. Until that happens these pictures will have to do.

Camping at Hills Creek Reservoir


Sparks Lake - Mt Bachelor view


Sparks Lake - Camping


Hosmer Lake





Waldo Lake

 

This past weekend was only the second time in nearly 2 years that I took out the 4runner. With long commutes for my job, and my my wife biking/running to work. The 4runner has been a lot of sitting, and not much driving.

This past weekend we take a 3 hour drive to the Cascade Lakes area for a couple nights of camping, and some good paddling.

 

Out with the old. I started working on the front suspension last night for some much needed work. I was able to remove the sway bar, brackets, bushings, and sway bar links in about an hour. Took me more time to sand the sway bar to bare metal than to remove everything.

Today I'm picking up parts from the dealer, and will hopefully get everything put back together by the weekend (if parts show up).

*Note: these are the very first set of sway bar links I ever made! Been on for over 4 years, and still going strong.

 

In with the new.

I'm very fortunate to have access to a powder coat line through my work, and it makes powder coating quick and cheap. The sway bar was sanded, acid sprayed, and powder coated flat black, and the link were painted a custom color called tri-smoke. I went with all new OEM parts including mounts, bushings, bolts, and nuts.

OEM parts numbers below:
Driver Bracket - 48829-35120
Passenger Bracket - 48824-35150
Bushing - 48815-35100
Bolt - 90119-08C26
Nut - 90182-08003





These are OEM bushings (bottom) vs bushings from Wheelers (top). You'll notice the difference in size, and quality.