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

Removed heritage grill and just blacked out stock grill.

 

Thay was THE place to me. Only the coolest kids. I meant it only as a compliment. Your truck has swagger.

 

Oh, Im not offended at all lol. I thought it was a funny call out.

 

Nice I was thinking of doing the same

 

The Original EZ Flares. Universal fender flares

 

It looks good. I’m thinking of blacking out my horizontal trim piece because it’s so full of rock and bug dings.

Did you paint it, cover it in vinyl, or install a plastic overlay?

 

Thanks man. Plastidipped.

 

yes I did the install myself it was really very straight forward! You’ll want a hand getting the bumper up on the front end (unless you are the hulk). Cutting was a bit unnerving. Wiring was all made easy with a Switch Pro

 

beautiful! Looks like a UFO coming in for a landing!

 

did you just order the grille replacements for the top and bottom? I am trying to get this look but with the AG.

 

If I could make the raptor lights, light bar, and fang lights go on sequentially it sure would! My auxbeam has a strobe function that could mimic it. lol

 

@DmackSCV3 that'd be sick depending if you wired your lights to the interior dash; I bet you could t-tap into hazard lights wires!? Similar to tapping into OEM switches for dimming illumination

 

Oil and filter change on the 4Runner. 6.3L of Pennzoil 0W30, Denso 1503020 filter, Dorman 65271 crush washer, Dorman 090049.1 drain plug (factory one was rusty).



Test-fitted the Tacoma stock engine skid for shits and giggles - it fits but interferes with the 4Runner front skid.

 

Replaced the original Denso air filter after 17k miles with a K&N.

 

Got the Avs low pro on. These are smoke, anyone use the matte black? I haven’t seen those in person yet.

 

Hopefully it doesn’t throw a code.

 

Today ends with these weights on....

 

And Saturday ended with these. UV protection for all of the glass in my rig. I had it done at the shop, obviously. And the oil catch can. Easy install. I am not sure about the can, will have to drive with it for a while and see how it works. It will most likely get removed as I am planning on installing the supercharger but for now, let me pretend that I am a huge modder. Lolol

 

I drove her from Gastonia NC to Jacksonville Florida and then to Albany GA and then back to Gastonia. A little over a thousand miles and averaged 20.4 miles on the trip. All to discover I had a burnt-out headlight; I think she was as tired as I was. I replaced both headlight bulbs and gave her a good bath. Glad that grind is over!

 

Changed the earl and rotated the tires. Discovered my Overland Custom Designs front sway bar end link lower boots have already tore open. Only 3 months old...

 

Yesterday drove from Long Island NY to Mooresville NC. 640 miles. This old man does not love long trips for sure but the 4Runner did great. Averaged 19.8 miles with a fair amount of weight in the back. So many friggin bugs on the front and windshield though! I'll be washing them off today, thank goodness for the ceramic coating, it will make getting them off a lot easier.

 

Spray a 'lil baby oil or WD-40 before you leave and it will make getting those bugs off much easier. Caveat, the dust will stick much easier. Pick your poison.

 

Not right now, thanks

 

Please excuse my poor knowledge, but why do we need catch can when 4Runner has port injection (also have direct injection)?

 

Care to expand on this
How does it interfere??

 

Made my old roof basket fit and added the greenlane offroad ladder, next is when i receive my rear bumper w/swing out

 

Great rig! Which rear bumper did you go with? Been looking lately.

 

The catch can will "catch" the oil vapors and collect them instead of them being burned off in the combustion cycle. Adding a supercharger will make running one even more beneficial. In stock form it's not really needed (my opinion on port injected motors) but there is no harm in having it. Boosted motors benefit more from catch cans and boosted direct injected motors benefit even more. I ran JLT on my past 4 vehicles before my 2013 4Runner. I had two F150's, one was the TT 2.7, second was a tuned 5.0, third Nissan Frontier with the direct injected 3.8l V6. My wife had a 2017 Yukon with the 5.7l V8 direct injected and it would need to be emptied monthly. JLT makes a pretty solid product.

 

I bought a one owner 2018 Limited with 60K miles in the last month and did the following as part of having it completely checked out right after I bought it:
- Oil change and filter
- Replaced cabin air filter
- New battery to replace the original which tested below 70% of capacity and likely was on its last legs
- Replaced original serpentine belt which was showing signs of wear
- New rear brake pads and rotors resurfaced
- Tire rotation (Michelin LTX MS with 15K or so miles, original owner had replaced the original tires somewhere in the mid 40's)
- New windshield wipers

Since my golden retriever will regularly ride in the cargo area and often will be wet and/or muddy after hikes (in addition to perpetual shedding), I bought and installed the Canvasback kit over all the carpeted areas in the cargo area and on the back of the back seats. The vehicle came with Weather Tech mats throughout so I have the one for the cargo area that I put a dog bed in. Hopefully 3 layers of protection and occasional wipe downs and vacuuming will keep my dog from making a complete mess of the cargo area. I've also ordered the custom fit Covercraft sunscreen for the front windshield.

I am going to do some more long term maintenance items based on the recommendations of the Car Care Nut on YouTube; I think 60K miles and 5 years is about the right timing for them:
- Transmission fluid change and flush (Car Care Nut only recommends drain and fill, but the shop I'm dealing with recommends flushes and so does the German Toyota certified mechanic who does lots of Toyota videos on YouTube)
- Transfer case/differential fluid change (will start doing it every 30K)
- Replace engine coolant
- Replace brake fluid
- Replace hydraulic power steering fluid

I bought the Cali Raised LED Anytime Backup Camera kit to give me a forward looking view from the front bumper on the navigation screen in addition to the existing backup camera. Best Buy is going to install it this week.

A 4x4 shop is going to do the following changes in the next couple of weeks, after the long term maintenance stuff has been done, to make the vehicle more capable off road (and to protect it from its newbie off road driver)
- Remove running boards and replace with Metal Tech powered steel rock sliders (only ones I could find that fit the Limited without modification)
- Install set of 3 CBI steel skid plates to protect the engine, transfer case and transmission off road
- Delete the chrome roof rails and use the Toyota kit to fill in the holes; strictly cosmetic as I don't need or want a roof rack and think the vehicle will look better without the rails which I'm not going to use. It doesn't cost much and doesn't preclude me from adding a roof rack down the road.

This is about all the maintenance and modifications I plan to do the 4Runner for now. I wanted to get everything done because I'm taking an extended trip west a few months from now that will include a good bit of easy to moderate off road trails. I don't have any plans to do a lift or change anything about the suspension as I like the way the vehicle rides and handles and there are no signs of any leaks with the XReas.