nmrunners build v2.0

Over the last two months we haven't had much time to get out and wheel but I have knocked out a few projects on the 4runner. First off, I finally made some brackets to mount the rock lights.


Once I had them painted and mounted I was able to get them wired up. These pictures only show the output on the passenger side prior to wiring up the driver's side. I need to get out and take more pictures of them all on.


Overall I'm really pleased with the output of these lights. They will add plenty of auxiliary lighting to see wheel placement on the trail at night if we need it. I also had a bit of maintenance to do since the front wheel bearing on the driver's side went bad.


From what I could tell during disassembly, this was still the original Toyota bearing which I found impressive as it had close to 230k miles on it. For peace of mind I went ahead and replaced it with another Toyota bearing and pressed everything back together.

 

Well the 4runner finally hit 230k annnd the water pump decided go out. After doing some research I ended up ordering an OEM parts kit and the SST's needed to complete this install.


The p/o had the timing belt replaced with a gates belt at around 179k and it looks like a remanufactured water pump installed at the same time. It's hard to say if they also did the camshaft and crankshaft seals when this service was last performed but I plan on replacing everything while I have it opened up. Upon initial inspection, the timing belt appeared to be in good shape besides being somewhat dirty and probably would've lasted until the service interval if the water pump hadn't failed.



Luckily there are tons of write-ups out there for the timing belt replacement which make this job relatively straight forward. The most difficult part is just ensuring you keep all of the hardware organized as you remove it which will make reassembly much easier.

 

It's been a while since I've updated the build! Not much has actually changed with the 4runner in the last year or so, just been getting out and exploring new trails with it! As for future mods, we're currently looking into gears and a locker as well as possibly going up a tire size sometime over the next year.