Cowboy's First 4Runner and Chronicle of Mods/Upgrades

Forum Mates,

Below I will record my acquisition and mods to my first ever 4Runner. I hope this provides some helpful information to others on this forum that may be considering similar mods.

At the link below you can see what the cost of each mod is.
4Runner Mods / Costs


Links to sub build items:
Install of the ARB Breather Kit for Rear Diff and Rear Locker
License Plate LED Light Addition for Hitch Mounted Tire Carrier
Cowboy's Dual Battery Install
CSF Performance Radiator Upgrade
SSO Slimline Bumper & Warn Winch Install


Feb 2020

Took delivery of my new 4R from the dealer.



I purchased my new 2020 TRD Off-Road Premium w/ KDSS and the Predator package. I had sold my 2007 Jeep JK Wrangler to my son. My lovely wife and I want to spend the next few years exploring our great nation, while also visiting our children who live in three different areas of the US.

My goal with all the mods I will be making is to improve our travel experience and afford us a comfort level when going off-road to those scenic areas that are inaccessible to passenger cars. My goal is not to be a serious mud bogger or rock crawler. I do want to explore less traveled areas, and be able to get out of difficult situations and minimize potential damage to the 4R.


MAR 2020
First order of business is a few interior protections and amenities.

Canvasback Cargo Liner. Carpet collects dirt and never fully vacuums out. The Canvasback velcro liner is top notch. Cost: $190.
canvasback.com




Next was the Weather Tech floor liners. I have had these on my other vehicles and they are long lasting and good quality. Cost: $180.
weathertech.com




I live in Florida where the summer heat in a parked car is brutal, so a windshield sunscreen from Heatshield. I really like the quality of their protector. Cost: $40.
amazon - heatshield






Added window tinting to the windows on all doors. Cost: $115

Now for a few interior conveniences.

A center console organizer from Amazon to turn a deep hole into usable space. Cost: $16. Original product link no longer available.




A glove box organizer for the same reason. Cost: $16. Original product link no longer available.




Need a holder for my phone, so a cup holder phone caddie is needed. Cost: $19.
amazon - phone holder




Interior lighting is yellow and dim, so a LED pure white interior light kit from H.I.D. Kit Pros is needed for these old eyes to see better. Cost: $46 + shipping.
Original product link no longer available.



Don't want to depend on someone being around should my battery die, so a portable jump starter from Audew would be wise. $60 on sale at Amazon.
Original product link no longer available.

March Total Costs: $682.00

May 2020
Came back from a trip out west to see our son and realized a bug/stone deflector would be a good idea. So I added the Auto Ventshade Bug Deflector. Easy install, as it makes use of existing holes. Cost: $45.
Original product link no longer available.



First true off-road mod - an ARB diff breather kit - I like fording rivers and streams when safe. Cost: $74.00
Original product link no longer available.

You can see how to install the kit at the link to my forum post below:
https://www.4runners.com/threads/in...ther-kit-for-rear-diff-and-rear-locker.16968/

May Total Costs: $119.00

Nov 2020
I didn't like that the license plate had no frame, so I added a silicone plate holder. Cost: $14.
Original product link no longer available.



Sometimes we sleep in the car. Found this really neat rear window vent thanks to the recommendation of another forum member. A bit of hassle to store, but works great. Just lower the window, put it on and raise the window. Cost: $120.
visualautowerks.com



Every now and then you do something just because it looks good. Most of my mods have a purpose, but this next one is just because it looks better.

Here is the 4R before the mod:



Notice the silver valence?

Here is the 4R after the mod:





I plasti dipped the valences and they I think they turned out great. Cost: $50 - included handle for spray cans.

After seeing numerous comments on the forum regarding the ease with which the info screen can be scratched, I added a screen protector. Cost: $20.

Not long after purchasing the 4R, I took off the predator side steps. I found the foot plate to be in wrong position and really wanted sliders. So off they came and sliders were ordered from RCI in November. Cost: 1,008. I will update this post, when they arrive. I also ordered an aluminum skid plate. Cost: $380.
rcimetalworks.com

I am waiting on Molle panels from Rago Farication. Cost: $346. I ordered a Rigd rear tire carrier with a 4 gallon Rotopax, which arrived on 2/24/21. Cost: $1,578. The Rotopax is on backorder. Should have it in 4 to 6 weeks.
rigdsupply.com

I will provide an update once installed.

In anticipation of the rear tire carrier, I ordered a matching rim and tire. Cost: $404. Installation of tire was $25.00.
Original product links no longer available.

The rear tire carrier requires the backup camera be relocated. So I ordered the relocation kit from Aiden-James. Cost: $125.
aidenjamescustoms.com

The relocation kit has you place the camera on the rear brake light. I did not like the location, so I reversed the bracket on the camera and mounted it to the bottom of the rear wiper blade cover. I think it turned out well. I emailed Scott at Aiden-James to see if he had any concerns regarding my install modification. This was his reply:

Good morning,
Nicely done and I’ll have to try that out myself.
Have a great day!
Scott​

View from the rear camera after relocating it.




Nov Total Costs: $4,249.00

Total Spend for 2020: $5,050.00


Stay tuned for more updates.

 

Do you have a link for the rear window vent? I like that!

 

Here's one: https://www.yota-club.com/product/toyota-4runner-5th-gen-hatch-window-vent

 

I have added product links - thanks for the suggestion.

 

Feb 2021

Mounted the Rigd spare tire carrier today. Build quality is excellent. Everything is machined very well and their installation video on Youtube is very good.

Waiting on the Rotopax 4 gal. fuel container and will be adding max trax boards.

 

Looking good

 

March 2021

Friday Mar 5th - received my sliders from RCI. Installed them on Saturday and Sunday. Why two days. My 4R has KDSS and needed my friend's help after church to put on the driver side. Too hard for me to handle getting the slider safely under the KDSS hydraulic lines. Could not afford to make a mistake. Here are pics of the final install. I really like the build quality, and size of the sliders. These are the 5 degree sliders.

 

Sweet ride!

 

Do you have a picture of how's the view of that camera looks like? I need to relocate my camera.

 

Great write up!

 

April 2021

Received my RCS skid plate and my molle panels from Rago Fabrication. The costs for these items is listed earlier in this thread, when the items were purchased. An itemized list of items and prices for all upgrades can be found at this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1S6Wxy5wsti24BRTaO-KYZTkvqT4Un4VVIhAzCx880kg/edit?usp=sharing

Installing the skid plate was easy enough. It helped having the 4R on jack stands. It would have been easier with another foot of clearance. If you order this skid plate, I recommend installing the middle two bolts first, so the plate is supported in the middle. Makes installing the remaining bolts much easier.

Below are the two factory pieces that were removed. You will see a plastic piece at the top. That went back on and actually did not need to be removed, but I was having difficulty getting the front plate to come off, so I removed the plastic piece to ensure I did not break it.





Here is the newly installed RCI aluminum skid plate w/ powder coating.







Installing the Molle panels was straight forward after watching the Rago installation video. Install was a little time consuming due to all the the little nuts/bolts that had to be loosely assembled and then tightened. But no problems at all and it is very functional. Packaging of parts was excellent.

 

What did the camera look like before you relocated it? Was there any visibility at all?

I am going to get the ultraswing soon and I am trying to decide if I want to relocate the camera. I only use it now to align myself in a parking spot.

 

The factory camera is under the rear hatch handle. That camera is still in place. The kit I bought provided a new camera that takes the place of the factory camera. The new camera wiring is hooked up in place of the existing wiring, which remains in place. If you do not relocate the camera, it will be completely blocked by the tire carrier.

Relocating the camera takes a couple of hours if you have never done it before, as it takes time and patience to take the plastic interior cover off of the rear hatch and then carefully cut through the mastic glue to remove the plastic covering. Be sure to check out the Aiden-James installation video. You can find it on their website. None of it is terribly difficult, it just takes time and patience. It does take a little effort to pull the rear hatch spoiler loose. Though the resistance is hard, don't be afraid to pull. Also, a good set of interior panel tools are very useful. The most difficult part is fishing the new wiring through the tailgate. As Scott from Aiden-James suggests in the video, a stiff metal wire from a wiper blade is a very beneficial tool. I went to the local auto parts store and an employee had just replaced a customers wiper blades and pulled an old one for me from the trash. If you buy the kit and need help, you can private message me and we can do a web meeting, where I can walk you through the scary parts.

 

Sub'd. Love what you are doing. FYI Amazon has a center console cover by a company called IJDMTOY. I don't know if you have dogs or not but it works well and acts as a cushion for your arm too. Meso customs also has some nice interior stuff if they have it in stock. I have their dual color dome light and black door handle covers. Waiting for their dual color map lights to be back in stock.

 

Nice build so far!!!

 

Looking good

 

How durable is that CanvasBack product? I bought an all weather cargo liner for the rear, but like that idea of covering the backside of the rear seats as I carry my dog back there.

 

I got the ones that cover the rear fender area as well. Has held up nicely against my 4 dogs. I love them. So much easier to get hair out of than the carpet.

Note that if you do the side ones you may have to use some glue to get the velcro tape to hold. I had to put some along the back hatch portion but that was it. The other spots held nicely.

 

What screen protector did you use? Can you provide a link or brand name and any photos of how the display looks after install?

 

The Canvasback liner has been extremely durable for our use. We do not have dogs, but if we did I believe they would hold up well. We had dogs previously and I would not hesitate to put them on the Canvasback liner.

 

Very nice ride. Are the nittos the stock size? SL, C or E load?

 

build is looking good. forsure buying myself a set of the canvasback liner now

 

@6uam671_T4R

Here is the screen protector I used.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083JT71BB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8

Here is a pic. I find it actually makes the screen appear more sharp. It goes on just like a screen protector on your mobile phone.

 

@Trd361

Stock size and load rating
Nitto Ridge Grappler 265/70R17

 

Its very durable.

 

A couple of updates to my build page - I have been a bit slack updating it.

When I installed the RigD tire carrier, I failed to add a link to the license plate LED lighting that was necessary.
Here is the link to the LED lighting post: https://www.4runners.com/threads/li...ddition-for-hitch-mounted-tire-carrier.18995/

The following items were completed in:
September 2021

My Dual battery install: https://www.4runners.com/threads/cowboys-dual-battery-install.21998/

Installed the Aiden-James gear plate to place a fridge on. I was going to make my own gear plate, but I ran out of time as we were leaving for a 3 week trip.

The fridge/freezer I purchased is the ICECO VL60. This unit has the same compressor as the Dometic fridge.
Here is the link on Amazon: ICECO Firdge/Freezer

When I bought it, it was $749 and included a free cover. We have been on several trips with the unit and it has performed flawlessly. We have gone 3 straight nights thus far without having to charge the secondary battery (by driving). The secondary battery was still producing over 12 volts on day three.

Below is the final result. We pull an off-road 5x8 trailer, so hence the arrangement of the fridge, which gives us easy access. I used properly weighted Nite-Ize aluminum Cam-Jams to secure the fridge.




Almost 6000 miles as of the end of October and many nights of camping, the dual battery system and fridge have worked flawlessly.



Here is a link to spreadsheet of all mods thus far:
My 4Runner Mods / Prices

 

November 2021

I ordered a pair of Maxtrax extreme recovery boards a while back. However, at that time the GP Factor mounting plate for the rear tire carrier was out of stock. They are back in stock and I installed mine today. Perfect place for them, as I did not have to mount them on top of the vehicle and they are not taking up space inside the vehicle.

 

Sweet build!

 

Thank you Chris

 

Back in September when I completed my dual battery install, I failed to mention that I added a RedArc Brake Controller for our off-road camper. I also had a welder friend of mine modify my lock-n-roll hitch to allow my Rigd tire carrier to swing open. The bracket with the bolts attached to the main hitch was removed. It was then shortened about 1.5 inches and then welded back on at a lower level. The bracket was shortened so that the bracket did not hang lower than necessary. Below are pics of the finished work.




As you can see below, the Rigd carrier just clears the hitch now.



Redarc Brake controller knob and controller unit.

Etrailer.com has a great install video at the link below.
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Redarc/RED44FR.html