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

I blew out the rear subs, yayyy

 

I didn't just do this today, it's sort of ongoing. I'm building a storage box for the rear hatch area. Sorry, no pics yet. I didn't think about it while I was working on it early on, but once it's done I'll post some up. It's not as fancy as most I've seen on here. I really wanted to do drawers but the cost on the slides blew me away. It has two doors on top that open from the center up and toward the sides. And at the very front where the rear seatbacks lean back and it forms a triangle there's a small open top compartment that goes all the way across. It's perfect for keeping hiking poles, umbrellas and other small items that are usually just in the way. But my favorite part, which is one of the most important reasons I decided to build this is this: At the very bottom I put in a slide out panel that pulls straight out to make a table. My wife and I spend our summers in the mountains and have picnics daily, usually somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. And I always had to carry a folding table for that purpose. This will eliminate that and give me a little more space. Like I said, it not as nice as some I've seen on here but I expect to end up with less than $150 in it total. As I said I'll try to post some pics once it's finished.

 

I finally finished with the storage box I've been building. It doesn't have drawers, it has two hinged lids. Didn't want to spring for the cost of the drawer slides right now. I also built in an open storage at the front where the back of the seats lean back creating a triangle shaped area. It's perfect for small items but especially good for hiking poles and umbrellas. It also has a slide out table. My wife and I have picnics almost daily when we're in the NC mountains, which is a lot. Having the slide out table means I don't have to haul a folding one with us. I know it's not as fancy as many of the drawer systems I've seen on here but it'll suffice for now. And I've got less than $150 in it. Hope I can remember how to post pics, lol.

 

Great work!

 

Thanks! I've already found a small problem with it. If The lids on the box are fully open, the hatch can't close, (unless the rear window is down partially). I think I'm gonna have to cut the inside corners off the lids and attach them to the box itself so it will look normal when it's closed. I probably won't need to shut the hatch with the box open very often but I do want to be able to. Thanks again for the kind words!

 

I've had a little whine coming from the front of the engine for a little while now. I suspected it was the PS pump since it has a slight leak. So a couple days ago I finally put a stethoscope on it and found it was the idler pulley on the passenger side. Since I'm leaving today for a week in the NC mountains, including hopefully some time on some forest service roads that take you miles from civilization (and cell signal), I went ahead and replaced the idler, even though I'm planning to replace all idlers, tensioner, belt, water pump and thermostat in the next month or so.

 

I replaced my blown jbl sub with a rockford fosgate p3, replaced the front doors with component jl c1's 6×9s and put 6.5 two way jl c1's in the rear, and replaced the head unit with a kenwood excelon 6906s touch screen unit (fantastic setup). I'm getting this thing much closer to sounding like a rock concert, just in time for the baby to arrive so I can't blast anything.

 

03 V8 Sport Edition
Had to buy a new exhaust because the old one had sever rust with holes.

 

Took my '04 V8 Limited out this weekend and hit the trails in the national forest.

 

Got my drawers built, now I just need to finish up the final touches on them.

 

Blasting.........new baby? Oh you'll get blasting...........but on a different frequency

Congrats!!

 

Installed my ToyTec Aluma series lift with JBA Off-road upper control arms this weekend. I had to cut the lower control arm cam bolts so I replaced the lower control arms in the process. Next is Relentless Fab front bumper, warn winch, with two sets of Rigid D2 fog lights.

 

Oh great @RonT4R. Now I've got suspension envy. Unfortunately, my wife and I are trying to save up to get a bigger/nicer place in the NC mountains and it's not in the budget to upgrade my suspension. That really looks great though.

 

Put some 265 70 17 Cooper Discoverer tires on today. Sooo sweet. Beats those old street cruisers that came on it used

 

My Relentless Fabrication Defender front bumper arrived, after cleaning prepping and preventing rust with POR 15 I have it installed. I am having figment issues with the power block for the winch but I think I can fab up a bracket that will work. Finished it off the some Broken Skull IPA’s.

 

Well.

Bought it tuesday, registered and insured it wednesday, bought a cart load of maintenance items in person and online thursday, and today got started.

Knocked out a quick air filter, cabin air filter, replaced the fog lamps, and tightened up a body mount that i’m 99% sure was the awful clunking I heard when I test drove it.

Behind the fog lamp, next to the core support, it was probably 3/4” loose. Yikes.

Also discovered a sheared bolt on the skid plate, yay. Guess I’m breaking out the ez outs tomorrow when I do even more.

 

Similar boat. Air filter, Cabin filter, and driver side fog lamp retaining screw was broken so got to fix that up along with the missing fog light cover!

Also on the list to do (today):
-Replace stock limited grill (bolt plastic is broken so the grill wiggles)
-Detail interior (removing all trim)
-Replace front/rear diff oil
-Clean throttle body

Next weekend:
-Installing 6112/5160
-Adding new shoes (255/75/17)
-Replacing both CV (boot or axle, haven't decided; 2uz axles are ~$450 a piece...)

 

Today was power steering fluid, oil and filter change, and then I had a long fiasco with the front skid plate.

Yesterday I found one of the front bolts was snapped off.. then I snapped the other front when I went to take the plate off. Doh.

So that was 4 hours of drilling and cursing. I broke an EZ out in one of the holes which made it a thousand times worse. Ended up drilling out both bolts, enlarging the hole, and putting in a nut sert. Seems pretty solid but I'll check on in a few hundred miles. Replaced all 4 bolts with new ones, while I was at it. Also took the opportunity to give the plate a good scrub and a quick coat of black paint.

 

Well, was headed to wally world with the fiance this morning for some plant stuff and the dash was lit up like a mofo. Trac, VSC, CEL and a couple others I can't remember. Got home afterwards and plugged in the obdlink and pulled a bunch of codes for the evap system. Well, gas cap was shot. Whoops. $14 at O'reilly's later and we're good.



Also worked on getting some organization going in the rear. Sterilite modular stacker 10 gallon fits perfectly under the cargo deck. Even better is my craftsman tool set fit next to it all snugged up. And, when checking the rear compartments on the side, found an OEM cargo net, bonus score.

 

Today was a big one: I replaced the center console latch

 

By the way for some info on either side of the CV conversation... Mike at Exit Offroad has Dobinsons replacement CV boots for pretty good price, otherwise OEM is always fine. Or, for the whole shebang, your best bet is probably CVJ Reman axles. I went with the full CV since I wanted the peace of mind of all new hardware on a rebuilt Toyota shaft. Got their 'best + red silicone' inner axle boot since I have everything that amounts to a moderate travel lift and not long travel. Pretty sure they're like $240 each after you get your core charge back (you send them your original CV and get back like $115)... way better than Toyota OEM price but same hardware

 

I used CVJ in the past but they didn’t seem to cover their high angle boots if destroyed by off-roading. Nothing negative per se but nevertheless. I went with OEM, I’m limited on space to rebuild. Also found the axles for $356 a piece!! Should be here on the 10th and got the rest of the list to tackle!
Cheers!!

 

It’s the little things…

 

Two nights ago was interior LED swap (dome lights, vanity lights, door lights, glove box light).



Last night was replaced the gummy rear hatch button. Tonight was replacing climate control lights. Hopefully tomorrow and friday brings 4 shipments from rock auto with a looot more maintenance parts and new suspension.

 

Today was front sway bar bushings and end links, front coilovers, rear shocks, and windshield wipers all the way around. One of the upper ball joints is absolutely thrashed, so ordering new UCA's for both sides tonight along with probably some front axles (both inside halves are missing their collars, for some reason, and made an absolute mess of things) and a couple more bits for the rear end. I'm 99% sure the previous 2 owners did nothing aside from oil changes, yay.

Still on the list with parts in hand but just ran out of time today: PCV, plugs, and main belt

 

PCV, spark plugs, and cleaned the MAF and throttle body. What a thrilllllling morning. Idles much smoother now, which is great, though.

 

Aux jack rellocation

So was getting tired of the aux jack and Monster Cable for the mp3 player cutting out. Then it just died. Bought a new jack. So removed the button slot cover between the heated seat controllers and DAC button. Cut the end of the cover, so that the clip that snaps in is left. Used E-6000 adhesive to hold both pieces in (strong enough it aint goin nowhere, but you could still remove it without destroying anything). Just left the old jack in place, to cover the hole. Cable from the harness is long enough, but you cant lift the console/shifter cover up as far. Jack fits tight and flush.

 

Took mine up a mountain. Pretty rough trails. Didn't see anyone else out that far, but found this amazing overlook.

 

Installed a BOSS BCPA9690RC radio. It was a last-year's model that I found for basically clearance on Amazon but still has carplay. Radios are very slim pickings right now. Fairly easy install with the metra harness, solder together a dozen or so wires with the radio harness to make it plug and play no chopping. Did the harness last night and the actual install only took a little over an hour, not bad at all.

Discovered the round USB port I bought fits in the rectangular popout next to the aux input, so that was a bonus, no drilling required tonight. Someday I'll drill it out proper, maybe when I get around to installing a backup cam on it. Mildly annoyed at myself though. I missed on Crutchfield that I needed to get a dash kit to fill in the gaps on the side. Have that ordered and will just live with that gaps for now.

Sorry, didn't take pics, was in a hurry to install it as we're driving 7ish hours in it tomorrow and just needed to get it done tonight.

 

Replaced driver side front caliper yesterday along with new rotor and pads. Caliper piston froze up. Not a bad job at all. Thankfully the weather was good and we were able to knock it out pretty quickly.