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

I installed the TRD catback exhaust on my 4Runner today! I got out there early in the morning, and I didn't finish until 1:00PM, but I did it! I almost gave up when I couldn't get the two bolts loose between the tailpipe and the muffler, but I loosened some hangers to let the whole thing hang a bit lower so I could work on the bolts while sitting under the back, and I got them loose enough finally! I used a lot of WD40! There's nothing it can't do! I got the wrench on the nuts as securely as I could from the back above the axle, and I looped a cheater bar in there and just pulled a whole lot, and I did it! It was so cool! I didn't think I could do it, but I did! I feel like this guy right now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfSUQpV13I

I had to know if I could do it. I always wanted to be a mechanic when I was a kid, and my mom wouldn't let me, and I know that this is kind of expensive Legos level of mechanic work, but I did it! I'm so happy! I had to know if I could do it, just for my own satisfaction, and I did it! I did the crap out of it! I got the truck up on the jackstands! I got the spare tire out! I put extra bricks under the rear tires and put the spare tire under the frame off to the side for extra protection! My truck stayed up there! No problems! I got to work on it safely! I felt a little bit like a guy lifting weights on a bench without a spotter when I took the original muffler down, and I kind of wished I went to the bathroom before I took it down because it was big and heavy and pushing on my belly, but I got it out! Then I put the new one in there! I did it! Yeah!

Just a couple things while I was down there.

1. I'm actually not 100% sure that there was a gasket between the muffler and the catalytic converter. Looking at things online after the fact, I think there was one, and it was in really good shape with only 3,000 miles, but it was a lot harder than I expected a gasket to be. I guess that's just how this type of gasket is. I'm sure nothing fell out, and there was nothing in the pipe on the old muffler, so it probably always was in there.

2. My frame actually looks to be in really good condition. Granted, I haven't gone through salty road conditions with it (except for one extremely brief instance), but I didn't even see any surface rust. I'm happy about that.

 

Congrats! That's awesome! How do you like the sound?

 

Good for you! Yes working on a vehicle is very rewarding and doing this yourself is a good way to get started. Those bolts at the rear are tough but you figured it out and got 'er done. Nice work and now you might feel comfortable doing more work on your Runner.

 

Thanks nimby! It sounds pretty good, I think. It quiets up at speed, but it gets loud when you're pushing the gas pedal. There is a smell, but my understanding is that it's just the anticondensation coating and my WD40 burning off. I'll see how it smells as time goes on.

And thanks again, Blue Man! Again from the other site. I got 'er done for sure! I wasn't even expecting to loosen the bolts the way I did, but I saw them from above the axle and thought "hey, maybe this will work" and it did! I didn't have the leverage out to the side, but I definitely had the space to play tug-o-war with the bolts. Once I got them a little loose, they went without too much more trouble. Totally cool!

 

Installed prinsu rack. Used butyl tape and ptfe instead of silicone like in all the youtube videos. We'll see how it'll work.

 

When I traded in the Tundra I kept the PUTCO LED blade tailgate light bar. Extra light to the rear - Correction, extra lights everywhere is a must. Hooked it up to this cargo carrier so you don’t ass tap.

 

Anybody know where to find the best price on Diode Dyanamic fog lights?

 

Way to go and congratulations!
So how did you make your decision on which brand? … Where did you purchase?
I want to replace my exhaust but just undecided on a brand.

 

That smell doesn't take long to go away. I did take it for a highway cruise to help burn it off

 

I got some cheaper than retail on Ebay.

 

Thank you, DrewMan! I went with it mostly because it's an official Toyota product. I didn't see much reason to go with another brand. I got it from Elmhurst Toyota's online store. The box it arrived in was a mess, but thankfully everything remained in the box.

And thanks for the advice, ForRun! Maybe it'll be gone this week

 

Towing duty today.

 

I installed a set along with new suspension and the only thing I’ll say is that trying to grease the rear driver side can be a pain. Not much space between the zerk and the gas tank. Also you might hear a click from the front when turning in reverse, had a friend look who’s been a mechanic in the Army for almost 20 years. He said it’s typical, almost normal for urethane bushings to make some noise at times.

 

I swapped a 45* zerk on that driver's side rear. Yeah it would be almost impossible to get a grease gun in there. Thanks for the heads up on the clicking noise, if I hear it, I'll know what it is.

 

I installed a Sprint Booster in my Runner this morning. The install is very easy, the hardest part is getting my hands under there and pressing the little release tab to get the plug off of the pedal. I took it out for a short trial run and have settled right now on S5. I tried it from off (stock) to S5, then S7 then S9 and it makes a real difference from stock in each setting. I really like how it holds each gear a little longer and downshifts much sooner in the pedal travel. Just to see how it felt I tried R9 and it's a bit too sensitive there. It's kinda fun but it really is too much. This is a truck not a sports car and I'm not looking for a overly sensitive pedal response. I think I'll be leaving it in S5 but I'll play with it a little more to be sure then unplugging the control and just put it in the console.

 

Trimmed small sections on my lower front bumper to eliminate tire rub.

 

I got my heritage grill installed today! Now I've got a big tarp over it to keep it dry for 24 hours because it's supposed to rain later. Yay.

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks! I like the red and black attack Here or on the other forum, someone painted their emblem overlays to match the color of the TOYOTA on the heritage grill, too. I'll have to do that someday soon, but not now. Get rid of the chrome and keep the look consistent.

 

does this run off of the 4 flat? looks awesome!

 

I installed one of my Treaty Oak recovery points. I did it on the shady side. I'm going to get up early in the morning and do the other side while it's shady there, too.

 

That was me, I painted my overlays.

 

Thumbs up to you! You'll see me posting my painted overlays here one day.

 

Yup 4 Pin!

 

Front driver side started feeling really spongy... appears that I have found the reason
About 1.5 year old Fox 2.0, which has seen it's share of rough terrain (nothing high speed though).

 

Not just today, but over the weekend, swapped out worn front strut assemblies, replaced both stabilizer bar control links, (then alignment)....also swapped out my AIRAIDair filter with new clean one (plan to clean the dirty one this weekend...plan to )

.....then did the FUN stuff!

Added a 30" Combo LED Light Bar behind the grill and two 6" LED Lights below the bumper valance.


(the photo above does not reflect this, but, I removed the Toyota Retro medallion on the passenger side of the grill)

....also mounted two additional 6" LED Light Bars below the rear bumper.



Installed a 6 Gang Rocker Switch and rewired my existing Ditch Lights to it along with all my new light bars....
(sorry the photo is so blurry, didn't realize until I came to add it here how bad it was )



(damn my center counsel could use a cleaning )

Lastly, installed the relay pod under the hood.
(this was not the last step in the process but it is the least exciting, so I dropped it at the bottom )



(Ugh....looks like under the hood could use some cleaning too...embarrassing )

 

At least they're rebuildable. How many miles on them?

 

I installed the second Treaty Oak recovery point. It went on fine, even on my 2020. I thought I saw something about how someone was having problems getting it on their 2020, but I had no problems at all.

I do recommend one thing, though. There are these weird nuts that are on a stick. Looks like bare copper wire. A stick is welded onto the nut, and you have to guide the nut in through a hole in the frame so the nut lines up with another hole that the bolt screws into. The official method for dealing with these sticks is to tension snap them off and leave part of the stick in the frame. What I decided to do was roll up the stick and stuff it inside the frame so it would be easy to grab if I ever had to take the recovery points off to do some work or something. This worked fine on my first one, but for the second one, the stick snapped the whole weld off as I was rolling it up with my vise grip. This happened after I got the recovery point installed, so everything is fine right now, but it's going to be a pain to rework things if I ever have to remove the recovery point. If you have the means to do so, you may wish to weld it a bit more yourself just to be on the safe side. Be careful not to mess up the threads in the nut, but securing it a bit more might be worthwhile.

I also went out for a drive after doing my projects this past half week. TRD exhaust, heritage grill, and the recovery points. I don't know if it was the TRD exhaust or the little bit of extra air with the heritage grill (probably the exhaust), but my truck feels pleasantly looser when I'm giving it the gas now. It's still not a 0-60 machine, but it feels smoother. Not a whole lot smoother, but it's definitely noticeable and meets minimum smoothness for me. I'll have to see if this continues. I'm very impressed so far.

 

You are not alone in noticing a bit of power increase after installing a less restrictive exhaust. I noticed it after installing a Borla on mine and my son did as well. Some say it's our imagination and an over sensitive "butt dyno". Maybe but I don't think so. After cutting open the original muffler, I can say that the stock muffler is very restrictive. It weighs about 20 lbs more too.

 

Ford 150's pump a simulated V8 sound into the cabs of ecoboost engines and drivers think the rig is faster. I had one and it does a good job of making peeps think its faster.
I also had the trd exhaust, trd intake on my 19 4runner. The only thing that made me think it was faster is sprint booster.