What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

Played in some deeper snow today to see how the Terra Grapplers fared. They did pretty well, but, I think the Grabber ATX I had previously handled these conditions a little bit better.

Amazingly enough, Fedex and UPS were able to make it out today. Let the upgrades begin anew:

 

My old non traction control 07 tacoma couldn't accelerate fast enough. Note that it's snowed under, while moms 4runner plays

https://youtu.be/bSayUlrpf44

 

I had a chance to give them a bit of a workout today on a logging road that was full of pot holes. I didn't notice much of a difference, if any. I'm guessing my Elka suspension has something to do with that because some people say the difference is night and day.

 

What do energy bumps do?

 

"energy" is just the brand. they're like any other after market bump stop. they're taller than the factory ones and help absorb harder impacts.

 

LED amber DRL..

 

rustproofing.

 

Got the new windshield installed. Less than 48 hours passed from reporting the accident to having it ready to be picked up.

$639.99 - Windshield
$25.00 - Adhesive
$57.97 - Mouldings (2)
$39.76 - Tax

No labor charge was listed. $0 deductible.

 

Ordered full CBI skids.

 

Here in the UpState of South Carolina, at least in my county, all loads must be covered. Even if going to the service place where you dump household trash and such it must be covered. A plastic garbage can in the back of a truck is a NO. Not covered. Sheriff deputies will get you. Heck, I've seen them wait at the entrance to the service center for uncovered loads. New people moving into the area get caught.

 

That happened to me once, pulled the gravel truck over and his insurance paid up. He was empty, gravel was coming from his tires.

 

The morning's work went just fine... TRD Intake, Red Billet Oil Cap, Battery Clamp and Radiator Cap Garnish... Pull the upper grill in preparation for a Pro Grill... replace the Door and License Plate bulbs with Auxito LED 194s, and the Puddle Bulbs with Alla End-Fire 194s... Ellis Precision Stealth Shifters, steering wheel logo blackout and rear logo/lettering blackout. So far, so good...

After lunch, I mounted the Pedal Commander, routed the cable, an tried to connect it. After several attempts to remove the stock connector from the pedal, accompanied by the uttering of many Klingon curses, I gave up for the day, and moved on to changing the front Turn Signal and Marker Light bulbs...

Whomever designed the front end sheetmetal, and came up with the "fold back the fender liner, and try to replace bulbs by feel" plan needs to be whipped for life with half cooked fettuccine! What an absolute monkey mating ritual! I never could get the marker sockets to turn, and there is zero room to get any sort of pliers up in there for a better grip. The turn signal sockets were only marginally better, but at least I got the bulbs changed... except that they don't work with the fancy computerized turn and flasher system. So I got to scratch the he!! out of my arms AGAIN changing them back. At least everything worked then... I'm thinking real seriously about full all LED headlight replacements. Expensive yes, but if I have to remove the OEM light assemblies anyway, why not just go all in...

I was going to get some pics, but by the time I got the thing fit to drive again, it was dark... and its supposed to pour rain all day tomorrow... maybe Saturday...

 

I feel your paIn, Keep trying with those lights, I felt the same, but after you get it, its kinda like this.

 

So now that its good and dark, I went out to check the new Puddle Bulbs... Far superior to the cheap OEM, and having all the chips on the end really works well. I used these bulbs that I got from Amazon... And yeah, getting the mirror housing apart to get at the bulbs is a scary adventure, but all went well, and I'm glad I did it.

 

hope you upgraded your springs

 

I hear you! Whoever designs electrical connectors for cars should be drawn and quartered. It's not rocket surgery, but car makers insist on using connectors that can't separate with ease. I tried for 40 min to get fog light disconnected and I even had the entire front grill off. Ended up cutting and putting new fast disconnect connectors on.

 

I had to get my windshield replaced last month. My insurance works through Safelite but I read the reviews of my local shop and said nope. Too many reports of scratched paint and sloppy work. They hire “techs” to do windshield replacement along the same caliber that Toyota dealers do with oil changers.

So I researched and used a local guy who specializes in high end sports cars, Mercedes, etc.; careful and superior work. Insurance covered it minus my deductible. I don’t know about other states but in CA that’s the law, you don’t have to use what the insurance company suggests.

 

Used the snow day down here in TX today to learn how the 4R drives in light snow/ice. Though I hate the factory Bridgestone duelers they actually performed decently in the snow. Managed to get around just fine in 2H

 

Also got to play in the snow and ice.

 

Had a Prinsu rack installed.

 

i hear you on this! Luckily most of the hwy in Ca are multi lane so I just move to the furthest away from them. I heard gravel stones bouncing off my hood and windshield a few times. Luckily my entire front is PPF’d. Trying to find PPF to wrap my windshield.

 

I agree, especially in sunny SoCal where most of my driving is on the freeways anyways. but they're BUFUGLY

 

Stuck on some black overlay emblems!

 

Which one did you get? Mine is more yellow than amber.

 

I read it up on this thread..a few others have them and recommended as well..

https://www.4runners.com/threads/led-drl-for-2021-trd-pro.20722/page-3#post-319958

auxbeam..

 

New the Alpha Foxtrot rack installed

 

I have the same one. That was my picture in that thread.

 

haha nice!

 

Finally got the cable connectors for the Pedal Commander connected, and the little Magic Box tested out.

First off... getting the @#$%^&* OEM connector off of the pedal. I simply could not get the thing to budge, so I did the same thing that T4R did (although they say you don't need to) and took the pedal off the firewall... a pair of 10mm nuts. And even getting at those was a pain. After that getting the latch on the connector loose was a breeze. I also pulled the trim panel beside the pedal to get more room to work.

A word of warning... there is a bare metal tube oriented vertically, just to the right of the pedal. It is apparently a hot water line for the HVAC, and its easy to burn the &%^$@# out of yourself on it...

Now for how it works... WOW! At stock settings, there is no difference... OK for in town, but anemic nonetheless. Adding a couple of notches of boost with the lower buttons picks up the performance nicely... all on the "City" mode. Next I selected "Sport", and without any extra notches, it is perfect for me. Mind you, I'm an older guy, but I still take corners like I'm Lewis Hamilton... but I have the MX5 for that. Just for grins and giggles I tried "Sport+" with no extra notches... Yayzoo H Kreestos!!! If you want to drag race Corvettes, here you go... And I am suspecting that the "Eco" mode, with a depressed setting will be excellent for technical crawling.

 

Yeah, Sport+ is a ride, that's for certain. *laughs* When I first installed mine I figured "What the hell! Let's give it a go." and set it straight to Sport+ at the +4 setting. *laughs*