2019 MGM SR5 Build

I've had the 4Runner for about three weeks now but have been ordering parts for many weeks prior to picking her up. Finally got some time to do work on her this weekend. A little back story on this. I am from Northern California but I am down in Orange County visiting friends, one of whom I used to work on cars with many years ago. He is an ex-FJ owner, so this was fun for him (I think). Obviously this is still a work in progress.

Some of the boxes (6/6/19)


old SR5 wheels and tires in the background with my 285/70/17 Ko2's up front



The before shot of the factory front driver side suspension.



Total Chaos spindle gussets front and back shots after they were welded and before they were coated with VHT enamel. Welding was done by Demello-Offroad in Corona, Ca.


The after shot of the factory front driver side suspension. Parts below:
FACTORY RACE SERIES 2.5 COIL-OVER IFP SHOCK (883-02-025)
Total Chaos Urethane UCA's (#96504)
Total Chaos weld on spindle gussets w/ sway bar mounts (59698-SB)



Finished for now. For some reason I wasn't thinking about rear shocks. Need to order Fox Performance Series 2.0 Smooth Body IFP Shock (980-24-679). Currently have Cornfed 1" spacer in the rear. Currently on order, Demello Offroad Hybrid Sliders.

Other than the rear shocks and sliders, my next big project waiting for me is the Stereo system upgrade. That I will have tons of pictures of.

Here are pictures of this weekends work (6/7/19). Wheels are Method Race Wheels 315 in 17x8.5 w/ 0 offset

 

Very cool, nice touch!

 

Nice!

 

Nice build!

What spring rate did you go with on the Fox coilovers? How do they ride?

 

Not sure on the spring rate. Fox uses adjustable 3.0 Eibach® racing springs. The ride is good so far. Nose dive gone and not getting tossed around on "rougher" city roads.

 

Did you adjust the coil-over or put it in with factory preset settings?

 

Nice start and you have a good friend.

 

Stupid me just realized there was a "5th Gen Builds" section on the forum. Whoops!

 

Driverside engine bay (Firewall)

Apex Overland electrical mounting plate. Currently housing the inline fuse for the audio system amplifier. Will add Spod relay box
here in the future.

Peerless 830667 8" woofers in the front factory door location. Doors and door panels are treated with sound deadening material

AudioControl D-6.1200 amplifier mounted under the passanger seat. The 6 channels will drive the Peerless 8" woofers, Audison Voce AV3.0 (3" midrange) & AV1.1 (1" tweeter)

The audio system wiring is by MIT Cables. Styleline 8 RCA interconnects and Styleline 9 Speaker cables. Out of the amplifier are short (6") 16gauge speaker wire to barrier strips (as shown below) and ran to the speakers.

Kenwood Excelon head unit
Soon to come, pictures of the custom fiberglassed A-pillars for the tweeters.

 

Originally put them in at factory setting and drove around for 2 days, then cranked up the coilovers 2 full turns and went for an alignment.

 

The holes in the A-Pillar were a quick solution for my tweeters before I drove down to Orange County from Northern California to work on the A-Pillars with my friend.


We used the original holes as a guideline to mount the ABS plastic mounting surface with wooden dowels.


We ended up using an old tshirt as the fabric to shape the tweeter pod using super glue to hold in place while we used fiberglass resin to harden the mold.


First pass with fiberglass resin. Set them out in the sun in hopes of speeding up the curing process.


Test fit for clearance.


Sanding the pillars prior to using bondo to contour.


Applying Bondo


Bondo Curing


Sanded down and almost ready to primer, texture and paint.


3 step process (L-R) Flat white Primer first, Carribean Sand Texture, then finally satin Stone Gray to match as best as possible.
All primer, texture and paint by Rust-oleum.


The texture used, if you are wondering.

Applying primer

First fit with tweeter installed (Audison Voce AV 3.0)

Passanger side fit.

 

Looking good! Those spindles are beefy!!

 

For your stock roof rack. Did you paint the end caps? If so what did you use?

Thanks!

 

It's for a better imaging. A good soundstage and tonality are huge components of sound quality in my book. So yes, I would definitely say it's for better sound quality!

 

I did not touch the stock roof rack, that's exactly how it came from the dealer. Shortly after the lift, I ordered my Gobi Stealth rack and today was the mark of my 12th week into my order. I am going to sell the factory roof rack with crossbars once the rack arrives. If you know anyone that is interested.

 

Beautiful truck & build!
I wish I had those skills.
You could sell those pillar pods if you have the time...
Top notch!

 

Thank you for the comment! I wish I could take the credit for these A-Pillars, but I simply was the tool grabber for my friend. lol. Now I wish I had done a video log of how he did it, for those who might want to try it out.

 

Mounted the Gobi Stealth rack this weekend. Joined in on the RCI group buy and got the full skid package and gas tank skid in steel, hopefully I'll find time to install those soon.

 

Installed some RCI skids in powdercoated steel.



Before picture:


After pic (Full skid package):


Gas tank skid:

 

Factory upper vs. Total Chaos upper


Factory panhard vs Total Chaos panhard


I forgot to get a picture of the factory lower link vs. the Total Chaos lower link, but here is a picture installed.



Another picture of the Total Chaos lower link with an RCI link skid.


Total Chaos panhard installed.


Total job took about 2.5-3 hours to do. Some of those nuts and bolts were a pain in the ass to get to.

 

Weather finally cleared up for me to install the bumper, but had a big of an issue with the winch and fitment (my misunderstanding). Trying to get that situated then I can pull the bumper and mount the winch.

Demello Off-Road bumper
Baja Designs Squadron Pro lights
Tactical Recovery Equipment Safety Thimble Fairlead.
Up next:
Motoalliance Viper 13,000lb winch (replacing the Motoalliance Viper 12,000 that doesn't fit. lol)
Tactical Recovery Equipment Safety Thimble II
Victory 4x4 rear bumper with tire swing out (So I can finally take the damn spare off of the roof!)

 

Projects for the past 2 weekends.
Finally got the winch situated. Motoalliance Viper 13,000 winch:

Installed and wired. Also moved the Baja designs Squardron Pro's onto Rago Fab ditch light brackets and put Acro Lights in the Demello front bumper foglight location. Tactical Recovery Equipment Hawse Fairlead and Safety Thimble II.:


Victory 4x4 rear bumper with swingout install:
Things are masked off and ready for the cut.


Cut has been made:

Bumper installed and spare tire on the swing out.


Next planned upgrades:
1) Nitro 4.56 gears installed by YotaMasters in a month or so. (ordered)
2) Relocating rear differential breather into engine bay. (waiting on 1 part)
3) Rokblox mudflaps. (ordered)
4) Rear Toytec 2.5" lift springs. (ordered)
5) Mean Green high output alternator. (ordered)
6) Install new subwoofer (going from Audison 10" standard rectangle box to a Image Dynamics 8" in custom ported fiberglass enclosure). To be installed on next trip to Orange County

Near Future upgrades:
1) Wheelers Offroad front/read Super Bumpstops.
2) Clazzio Napa Leather seat covers.
3) Victory 4x4 driverside swing out with Rotopax Carrier.
4) Rotopax fuel and water storage and locking mounts.
5) Remove the Gobi rack to get the roof vinyl wrapped.
6) Possible move from 285/70/17 to 295/70/17

 

Hey man, your build looks sick!
I've ordered my Gobi and just waiting for it to come. Just curious, why are you looking to get your roof wrapped?

 

Thank you! It's just precautionairy. Sun still bleeds through the rack grid and I live in city with tons of trees. So hoping the wrap will keep the paint on the roof from being warn down by the elements and sap. You're going to love that roof rack! Well worth the wait. I will say though that the accessories, like a high lift jack mount also carries the same wait period as the rack. So order whatever rack accessories you want if you can. I've been waiting since the middle of Feb for my high lift jack mount.

 

Thanks man that's not a terrible idea. Yea I placed my order in the beginning of January. I understand the wait for a made-to-order rack, but for a simple accessory? That's crazy. They sell the tie downs for the rack..do you really need theirs or will any ratchet straps work?

 

Yea, I was a little dumbfounded with the wait for the accessories. I would think with how little material (compared to the roof rack) and how I would imagine a "Stealth series" or "Ranger series" accessory would work regardless of the car and having those things on the shelf would be beneficial to ship out right away. But oh well, the rack was well worth the wait. I was using 1.5" rachet straps I got from Home Depot to tie down my spare while I searched for what rear bumper and swing out I wanted, they held up perfectly. I think their tiedown kit gives you a cleaner connection point to the rack.

 

Also, what window deflectors do you have? They're nice and slim and streamline.. hardly noticed they're there

 

Weathertech

 

Have you been in touch with anyone from Gobi lately? Ive sent a few contact emails regarding my orders and nothing. And I never got a call to confirm an order I made 2 weeks ago. I wonder if they are closed due to COVID.

 

I actually got an email earlier this week saying my rack was done and being turned over to the freight company. (Ordered it in early Jan)