Mild 5th Gen 4Runner Build

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
Kids are getting bigger so we are switching from the Jeep to my wife’s 4Runner… I’ve never wheeled or built a Toyota before but I hear great things and am looking forward to it. Parts are on the way. More to come.....

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Since this is a mild build and I won’t be lifting at this point I decided to look around for some tires and found a set of Rubicon take offs on Craigslist. Look for a second set of wheels now….

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joneseyyy

Explorer
You'll be pleasantly surprised at the capabilities in stock form with the ATs! Good luck with the build.


www.dirtroadtrip.com is all about scratching the itch for off-road adventure one weekend, one vacation at a time.
 

lofreqjeff

Observer
Nice! I live in Chandler too, near Dobson and Warner. Ihave a 4Runner also - mine is an 89, but still a 4Runner and I had a 99 before this.

hit me up if you ever need a hand - I have been working on toyotas for years.
 

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
Nice! I live in Chandler too, near Dobson and Warner. Ihave a 4Runner also - mine is an 89, but still a 4Runner and I had a 99 before this.

hit me up if you ever need a hand - I have been working on toyotas for years.

We are very close.... I may send you a note. Really like the 4Runners but have been running Jeeps for years so this is all new.
 

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
I've made a bit of progress over the last few days. Thanks to our old Explorer NBX we have a roof rack and cargo liner so I pulled that out of storage and started to mount the High-Lift, Max Axe and Power Tank mounts to the rack. Don't want to make it too heavy so I will stop there. Long term I would like to buy a Gobi, but thats down the road.
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The new Husky floor liners showed up and as usual fit great and look good.
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Too my surprise all of the Budbuilt skid plates and sliders showed up today as well…. I was so surprised how quickly they were able to ship them and of course FedEx delivered all the way across the country in just 3 days.
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I am interested to see how the skid plates and sliders fit but I have to say the quality of the product is exceptional! I've got the inside painted and will begin the outside and sliders tomorrow… Then start the installation on Saturday.
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apollo

New member
interested in seeing this come together

how long was the turnaround for the bud built sliders? i've been researching options this week. i like that you are going no lift, as i'm contemplating staying with stock suspension and doing sliders also (just bought my first 4runner last week)
 

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
interested in seeing this come together

how long was the turnaround for the bud built sliders? i've been researching options this week. i like that you are going no lift, as i'm contemplating staying with stock suspension and doing sliders also (just bought my first 4runner last week)

The Bud Built experience was amazing... I ordered the parts last Wednesday and they were here in a week. They had the skids in stock and had to build the sliders… I told them my compressed schedule and I guess they jumped on it. I will be installing tomorrow and will post more then.
I am going to put a one inch spacer on the front and at some put Bilstein's on it. I would like to go higher but my wife drives about 20k miles a year and I need to keep the mileage reasonable, plus I would to keep the center of gravity as low as possible.
We are heading to Silverton CO in could weeks, nothing hard up there (except Poughkeepsie.. I guess) but I think the 4runner is going to be awesome.
 

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
Had a fairly long but fun day in the garage….. Got the tires installed on the steel wheels and installed the center caps. Must be a trick to those…. I'd love to talk to someone at the dealer and find out if there is an easy way to install the steel wheel center caps.

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Finished painting the BudBuilt skids and sliders. I did wipe them down with acetone but the folks at BudBuilt did a great job of cleaning them. I used Rustoleum Duel paint and primer and between the parts being clean and the paint I did not have issues with fish eyes or runs.
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My wife was hanging out and a bit bored so she did a little free hand on the front skid plate.
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The BudBuilt sliders and skids are a very high quality parts and actually do just bolt on… Many times “easy bolt on installation” is anything but easy. These were pretty easy and really did fit. Very high well made.

Sliders were easy to install, fit good and look great. I did modify the stock rockers which were easy enough…
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I am going to add a little black trim to the lower edge of the rocker just to clean up the look a bit.
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If I had any critiques and I am really nit picking here….

1. They did not include instructions, but they are online. The online version is kind of generic and the installation on my 5th gen was a “little” different than in the instructions.
2. The sliders fit great but I could not use all of the bolts on the passenger side because all of the precut holes in the slider did not have corresponding holes in the frame. There were plenty and they are secured.
3. A template to cut the stock SR5 / Limited rockers would be nice.

All pretty trivial and I am extremely happy with the product and ease of installation.

Tips and tricks if I were doing it again...

I would install in this order.

1. Modify the rocker and reinstall.
2. Sliders (tighten now)
3. Cross member
4. Gas tank skid
5. Transfer case skid
6. Transmission skid
7. Front skid
8. Tighten everything a little at a time and watch the clearance on the exhaust crossover… I spaced my skid down a small amount.

Awesome product that I would highly recommend.
 
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Colonal Angus

Adventurer
Man, awesome post (#12)! I like the BudBuilt sliders a lot and I can't believe their turn around time. The free hand detail is a nice touch, too!
 

Adventure Jeep

Adventurer
OK, so I have to fess up… Feel a little dumb re: comment about the difficulty of putting the center caps on the steel wheels. I didn't realize they were hub centric wheels and was trying to put the cap on while the wheel was off the vehicle….. Doesn't work that way.
Very easy to put the cap on with the wheel mounted.
 

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