Thatbassguy's financially irresponsible build and record of where all of my money went

Introduction:

TL/DR- I grew up with Toyotas, and this 4runner is more than just a vehicle to me.

The long version:

I've liked Toyotas since I was a kid. My Dad had an '82 (I think) Corolla SR5 hatchback, stick. That car never failed us! He even used to tow a fishing boat with it.

Then, in the late 90's, my brother got an '87 Corolla FX16 hatchback, also stick. It had the 4-age out of the MR2, and weighed nothing. I learned how to drive in that little pocket-rocket.

I wanted a fast car (of course) when I was younger, but I was always broke (my fault), so I drove POS cars:

#1- '91(I think) Hyundai Excel- I probably should have kept it actually, but it wasn't cool enough, so I sold it to buy:

#2- '85 Celica notch-back- kinda ugly/weird looking, but had a lot of fun with it!

#3- '85 Celica/Supra- man, I loved this car! I wish I had never sold it!

#4- '87 MR2, stick, with leaky ass T-tops. Also a fun car!

None of these cars were too reliable, and in 2002 my Dad sold me his-

#5- '94 4runner SR5, stick, V6 for $3K!



This was less than trade in value at the time. I drove that for 4 years or so. It was such a perfect vehicle for me, I couldn't help but buy-

#6- 2003 4runner, SR5, V8!



This thing was awesome! It was like a luxury tank! Leather, moonroof, great stereo, torque up the wazoo, and just really nice all around. I drove it 177K miles between November 2005 and March 2017. I can't even say enough about what a great vehicle it was. I was actually emotional when I traded it in for the 2015 Tacoma. I was excited about the Taco, but part of me still misses that 4runner. Being that some of my favorite things in life are driving, fishing, and camping, the 4runner was always part of my adventures. But, I always liked Tacomas, and I got a bug to try a pickup truck, so I traded it in on-

#7- 2015 Tacoma, DCSB, TRD OR.







A great pickup, but it didn't take long for me to realize that the 4runner was more my style. I thought about trading it in several times.

Luckily, I kept it long enough to get inspired by the "off-road" badging and hit some trails. I never thought that I would enjoy it so much, even though it makes sense with all of my other interests.

Aside from that, I joined Tacomaworld, and met some really excellent people. I still hang out there quite a bit, and I organized (with help) a few events, including a camping trip with a trail run in northern Wisconsin, but this was after I had switched back to a 4runner.

After having the Tacoma for a year and a half, the dealership near me put a Voodoo Blue Pro 4runner out front to tease me. I drove past it every day, and decided that I needed a 4runner.

I knew that I wanted a 2014+ Off-road, and started looking around. The prices on used 4runners with the equipment I wanted were so high, I figured it made more sense to buy new. So, I started looking at new ones.

I test drove a silver off-road in October or November of 2018, and even though it was a crummy test drive (it was dark and raining), I really wanted a 4runner now. So, I started reading, and preparing for the purchase.

In my research, I became interested in the KDSS suspension, and decided to find a local dealership with a KDSS 4runner to test drive. I found one at Wilde Toyota and set up a test drive. I took a long test drive, making sure to really get a good feel for the 4runner. I loved it! But, I wasn't prepared to buy. The dealer even offered me an obscene amount for my high mileage used Taco, but I managed to get out of there.

I started emailing local dealerships to try to find the best possible price for the equipment I wanted. I took this information back to the dealership where I test drove the 4runner that I ultimately bought, and they matched the price. But, they came back with a lower offer on the Tacoma. I was ready to walk out, and suddenly they were able to show me another $2K for the Tacoma. So, we started filling out paperwork.

Here's a picture from the service drive at that dealership. They let me pull in both vehicles and transfer over my tools and everything else I had in the Taco.

 

SLIDERS-

I had been looking at SOS armor for the Tacoma, but I decided that I wanted sliders with a step plate. I ran across RSG and liked the look of them. And the price was pretty good as well.

I had purchased an extended warranty for the Tacoma, so when I traded it in, I was able to recover some of the money from that and the gap insurance. It was more than enough for the sliders.

It took awhile to receive the sliders. Once they arrived, I headed to a friend's house (heated garage) to install them.

We prepped the frame and slider mounting plates with Fluid Film, and bolted them on.

 

TIRES/WHEELS

Shortly after buying the 4runner, we had a nasty cold snap, with temperatures in the -25° range.

Then, it was snowing one day, and I nearly lost it on the freeway. I was going probably 55 or so, and it started going sideways seemingly out of nowhere. I was able to steer into it, went back out the other way, and got it straight.

I slowed down and put it in 4H and decided to get better tires. I went to Discount Tire with the intention of getting some mild AT's with good snow ratings. Of course, I couldn't resist the KO2's they had on display. After doing some reading about them, I decided to try them out.



I had been eyeing up some Pro-Comp 05's when I had the Tacoma. I found a picture of a MGM 4runner with them, and decided to order them. A few days later, I returned to Discount Tire to get them installed



Edit: 285/70/17 Toyo AT3's to replace the KO2's installed April of 2020. The KO2's were in excellent shape and are being used on a friend's Ranger.



And, in November of 2020, I ordered a set of Black Rhino Stadium 17 × 8.5" wheels. It took almost 2 months for them to arrive. I wrapped them in 295/70/17 Yokohama Geolander MT's.



The Toyos are now my "Winter" tires.

 

Roof rack-

Shortly before I bought the 4runner, a good friend asked me if I was interested in a roof basket he had lying around. I thought it would look good on a 4runner, but not the Tacoma. So, after I got the 4runner, we installed it in his garage.

The original wind fairing had stickers from a bunch of places he had been, so I told him to hang it on the wall, and I would find a replacement.

After a week of driving around with the roof basket and no wind fairing, I had to do something. It sounded like I was in a 1950's tornado movie above 50 MPH

Rather than spending $100 on a replacement fairing, I thought it would be more fun to spend $50 on material and tools, and spend several hours tracing and creating a copy of the original fairing.



It originally sat on Thule cross bars he gave me as well. I couldn't figure out why it didn't look right at first, but I eventually realized that the cross bars were throwing everything off.

I ordered OEM cross bars and it cleaned up the look significantly.



after a few months, and some abuse, my wind fairing died on the way up to my Mom's boyfriend's river property. I held it together with duct tape to get through the weekend.


I decided not to fix or replace it, but rather replace the entire thing with a bigger basket. I settled on the Yakima offgrid basket, Large with extension. I was quite happy with the look. I'm still debating whether to switch to a flat rack (most likely Prinsu), but for now I'm enjoying the Jurassic Park look



EDIT: update; I sold the Yakima and am working on a low profile homemade rack. So far, I threw something together out of unistrut, but I'm not sure if I'll keep it.

EDIT: UPDATE...

This past summer I decided to buy another Yakima basket. As much as I was liking the idea of a flat rack, the basket was actually quite useful for putting recovery gear in and still being able to load kayaks on top. This time I got the Megawarrior + extension. I like this one better than the Off-grid.

 

Fishing rod rack-

In my older 4runners, I had a Rod Saver fishing rod rack that was a gift from my Dad. I left it in the 2003 when I traded it in, thinking I wouldn't need it again.

While I was in Florida in 2019, I decided to get another one from Bass Pro Shops in Fort Myers.

I wanted to keep the rods up and out of my hair, so I got some flat aluminium stock from Home Depot, and attached the Rod Saver to it. I'm pretty happy with it!



The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep the rods from swinging back and forth and hitting the roof and each-other while I'm on rough roads and trails.

 

Sleeping platform:

I became interested in the idea of a sleeping platform from reading a thread on this forum. It seemed like a good solution for weekend getaways, and road trips where I might not be in the same place for more than a night. I also liked the idea of feeling a little more secure than I would in a tent.

I wanted something that would allow me to retain a good amount of interior storage, while allowing the maximum amount of sleeping area. I made the platform just higher than the wheel wells, so that it could be as wide as the entire cargo area.

I made 4 main rails that followed the exact offset and angle between the cargo area and the folded rear seats. Then, i made a flat piece the for bottom of each area.



And a top platform as wide and long as I could fit in without removing the rear seat bottoms.



It's still only 90% complete, as I planned on sanding the edges and sealing it somehow to protect it from moisture.

I'm also looking into a folding RV mattress. But, the foam mattress topper has been OK to sleep on. Of course, I put bedding over it when I actually sleep in there



The goal is to be able to fold up the mattress and move it to the side or back to make room for my cooler, and whatever else I need to squeeze in there.

There's plenty of room underneath for my tools, recovery gear, fishing gear, and some camping essentials. I put holes in the sides that I can access from the rear passenger doors. I've been using them to keep smaller items accessible.



Altogether, I have less than $100 into it.




Edit: version 2 to allow the spare tire to fit inside the cargo area



And, a different setup altogether. I can't fit as much inside, but it's easier to get at. And, it gets me a bit further from the fishing rods when I sleep in it.





(April 2022) Version 4... Hopefully the final version.

I decided to remove the rear seat bottoms for a little extra space this time. While I was starting to measure and cut pieces, a friend stopped by and said "why don't you remove the seat backs as well? Soo.. I removed those, too.

I built some shelves under the front section where I can store my Hi-Lift and some other gear.



In the rear, I have spaces underneath for drawers similar to version 3. But, I might just go back to keeping everything in little duffle bags and sliding them in like I did on the original.



The section on the left is removable for when I have the 295's on. The 285 spare hangs down low enough already. Plus, I don't like how muddy the spare gets underneath.

I'm working on a jig to support the spare and keep it upright. This will also include securing it in case I have to stop suddenly, and keep it from bouncing around during off-road shenanigans.

 

Armor/bumper/winch

After a day of scouting trails for a camping trip we organized last year, @Ajmogen told me that I better get some real skid plates. I bashed a rock in a small water crossing, and was left with the OEM skid clunking against the sway bar every time I went over any uneven surface. Here's how it looked when I pulled it off the next morning-




I looked at all kinds of skids, and had my mind set on Budbuilt, but they were just a little pricey.

Then, @SOS CONCEPTS had their tax time sale, and it was the perfect time for me to place the order. Then, I saw that they had a special prize drawing for customers who bought bumpers. It would have been irresponsible for me to not jump on that.

Of course, what good is a winch mount bumper without a winch?? Incidentally, I was working with Performance Off Road, a local 4×4/fabrication shop on a suspension setup.

I talked to the guy there, Nate, and he recommended a Warn VR EVO-10S for my application and budget. I had been looking at ENGO, but he swayed me with his personal experience with Warn, their reputation, and the warranty.

So, last Friday, I picked up the skids and bumper from Fastenal, and headed to my good friend's house to prep and paint everything. Here's a comparison of the stock skids to the SOS skids-



We painted the skids and bumper with epoxy primer, and second coated the bumper with Rustoleum truck bed liner.



We made the necessary cuts to the bumper cover, and installed the SOS Streamline bumper. The SOS bumper lined up to the stock bumper structure's mounting bolt holes perfectly, and the winch fit in beautifully!



We installed the skids the next day, which became a wrestling match, as I hadn't realized that they were not compatible with KDSS. We cut them to clear, and I am getting them altered to allow full travel of the KDSS piston




I'm quite satisfied with the overall quality of the skids. They took some work to install, but I feel like they will do the job well.

Gas tank skid to come



Edit: link to custom front skid:

https://www.4runners.com/threads/th...all-of-my-money-went.12919/page-2#post-140065

https://www.4runners.com/threads/th...all-of-my-money-went.12919/page-2#post-140382

 

Suspension-

I have been back and forth and all over the place trying to decide what to do with the suspension. My biggest goal was to get the front differential skid a little higher off the ground so I would quit hitting stuff with it.

Bilstein seemed to be one of the best options, as I wanted slightly more lift in the front than the rear, but I wanted to maintain a slight rake. I considered the Eibach kit as well.

I decided to go with the 6112's with medium duty springs up front and 5100's out back. I skipped the 5160's because I didn't think my driving style really called for reservoirs. I went with 1.5" heavy load rear lift coils.

I hadn't picked upper control arms, but I wanted to install them in case I lift it higher down the road. My guy at Performance Off Road recommended BDS, which I had never heard of, so I looked them up. They are ball joint rather than uni-ball, which makes sense to me for a daily driver in the salt belt. They are grease-able, and have really nice dust caps that protect the grease fittings.



I'm lucky enough to have a friend with a dream garage with a lift in it. I arrived at his house last Saturday morning, and we went to work.

He probably did a good majority of the work, and two other friends helped out as well. I pretty much just handed things to them and looked up torque specs.





By mid-afternoon, it was done. We took it for a ride, and then hung out and had a few beers. I'm damn lucky to have friends like these guys!

We also pulled out the winch line, and I pulled my friend's truck across his yard to get the winch line wound neatly under tension.

 

Lighting-

While I was waiting on my bumper and suspension parts, I ran across a really great deal on some Rigid Dually SS ditch lights. I ordered the driving beam pattern and they showed up within a few days.



I had totally flaked and forgotten to order brackets and a switch. Luckily, Amazon had Caliraised brackets on Prime, and I was able to get them the next day. The switch took a little longer, though, as I had to order It directly from Caliraised.

My buddy and I had the brackets and lights installed in about 15 minute , and spent another 15-20 running the wiring through the firewall. I temped them up with the included rocker switch, and later swapped in the Caliraised OEM style switch.



This was a super easy project. I can't wait to actually use them. They're ridiculously bright!

I'll have to get a picture of the switch later. I guess I didn't take any..

 

Miscellaneous stuff-

I did the high clearance bumper cuts this past weekend. I had mocked this up several times already with painters tape, so it didn't take long.

I started about an inch below the second screw that holds the bumper cover to the fender liner, and tried to match the angle the bumper already curves at, then meeting with the bottom of the streamline bumper.



I cut it with an oscillating saw/mutli-tool/Fein tool. It was actually really easy. Then, I noticed how exposed the windshield washer fluid reservoir now was, so I spray painted it to hide it.



Note, the picture was taken before I painted the washer fluid reservoir

 

Current Photo:

Edited to update photo



New current photo, February '21

 

Not sure I really need all of these, but I just wanted to reserve them while I put this together

 

On second thought, I think I have more than enough spots reserved here.

This is the most I've ever typed in one day in my life

 

I'm going to have to finish this later. It getting WAY past my bed-time

I thought I could get everything done tonight, but I'm beat. There's not much else, really. Just ditch lights and headlights and bumper cuts and eventually a CB set-up, maybe a list of all of the random stuff I pretty much ALWAYS keep in the back.

Thanks for looking

 

Great information and nice rig.

 

Subscribed

 

Nice!

 

I feel like a voyeur! Good stuff

 

Nice job, Thatbassguy!

 

It looks like you trimmed the front bumper cover for a better approach angle. Did you have any problem with what looks to be the bottom of the windshield washer reservoir on the right side?

 

Not really a problem, but it is pretty exposed now. My solution for now was to spray paint it black. I've heard of folks relocating it, but I'm just going to leave it alone for the moment.

 

Well, it’s not a critical component, so probably it’s no problem. It looks great with a better approach angle. You’ve got to ask yourself why Toyota never did that to begin with. Haha. Same goes for offering a spare tire mount that isn’t under the car. That’s a huge disadvantage for so many reasons.

 

Nice work, your Runner is looking great, in and out.

 

Yes! I'm planning on figuring out a way to put it on the roof, eventually, even if it only stays up there during off-roading trips. This is why I'm thinking of swapping out the roof rack. I'm going to experiment with this when I have spare time and some decent weather (hopefully soon!).

 

Haven’t read through the thread yet, but I love the title.

 

Haha! I was trying to think of a clever title, but I couldn't. So, I just told the truth.

 

TL/DR...?

 

Too long... didn't read

 

Coming together very nicely!

Congrats!