1996 4runner expo build

[A.Wilson013]

Other than the UCA hitting how do you like the ICON setup?

It's absolutely awesome. I thought the CDC Valving was going to be a gimmick, but it is SO not. I love it.

 

[ghostmoney]

It's absolutely awesome. I thought the CDC Valving was going to be a gimmick, but it is SO not. I love it.

Good to hear, that was one of my fears also. I had some pro comp shocks that had the 1-10 setting that was supposed to firm/soften ride, but did absolutely nothing.

 

[ghostmoney]

Got my front and rear bumpers painted to match the silver trim of the limited flares. Build quality of the 4xinnovations bumpers is awesome, my only complaint is with the front bumper as their website states it mounts with 10 bolts. The earlier 3rd gen 4runners have a different mounting for the front bumper and this results in the front bumper only mounting with 6 bolts, but 4 of those bolts mount to the front body mount which I do not feel is strong enough. I am going to be doing the end cap mod to strengthen the mount to the frame, but am not sure just those two mounts is enough for winching with the other 4 mounts being on the flimsy body mounts. Any opinions or experience with this?
Newer Frame end:

Older frame end:

 

[Bushwacker Inc.]

Nice build! If you ever find the need for bigger flares, we offer our Extend-A-Fenders for '96 4Runners.

http://www.bushwacker.com/search-results/make-model-year/1996-toyota-4runner

- Andy

 

[ghostmoney]

Got the rear bumper installed, but after driving it found that the bumper was contacting the body on any bumps in the road on the driver side near the fender flare. Was also contacting the body seams on all four side bracing, so I hammered the seams flat. You can see below how much I trimmed the bumper to hopefully stop the bumper from contacting the body. The yellow paint is the outline of the fender flare and body to know how much I could trim.

 

[ghostmoney]

I didn't like how the front bumper was only going to mount with a single bolt on the end of the frame end cap and the two bolts on the side of the body mount, which I do not believe is strong enough for any real winching. I was going to weld in a end cap to strengthen the frame mount, but only having two strong mounts didn't make me feel comfortable with using the winch. I cut two 1/4" plates and drilled three 1/2" holes to mount to the bumper mounts, these plates will be welded to the end of the frame and I will put a gusset on the top and bottom of frame to the plate.

 

[4x4runner2002]

check out this link. might help you with that rear bumper issue.
http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_43&products_id=122

 

[ghostmoney]

check out this link. might help you with that rear bumper issue.
http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_43&products_id=122

Thanks, for the link ordered those and will give them a try. Got the bumper remounted and it does not rub against the side of the body anymore, but still hitting the top of the bumper.

 

[4x4runner2002]

Thanks, for the link ordered those and will give them a try. Got the bumper remounted and it does not rub against the side of the body anymore, but still hitting the top of the bumper.

sweet let me know how it works out for you. if it keeps hitting you could add a 1/2" body lift.

 

[bkg]

sweet let me know how it works out for you. if it keeps hitting you could add a 1/2" body lift.

even a 1/4" may help. The 96 has 1 less body mount per side than later versions, if I remember correctly. Regardless, these bodies (4Runner and Tacoma) "float" a lot compared to older gens. One option might be poly body mounts as well.

 

[ghostmoney]

Brackets welded on and guessts added after picture.

bumper mounted


Mounted winch, but need to figure out where I want to mount the control box as I do not want it mounted on top of the bumper. Going to look into fitting it behind the grill or extending wires to mount in the engine bay somewhere.

 

[ghostmoney]

Icon suspension will be here this week. Hopefully next weekend I will be able to get time to get the Icon suspension installed. I also took advantage of 25% off cyber monday to get a HID kit from theretrofitsource.com. I was looking to get a rigid light bar, but I don't really like that every truck/suv seems to have them now and I wanted something that I could use more than just offroad.

 

[ghostmoney]

Got the control box mounted behind the grill by mouting it to the hood latch support column. Still need to paint the red W black so it does not stand out so much from behind the grill

Painted the grill black and will be painting the new headlights black also when I do the retrofit and only the shrouds will be chrome.

My box from ICON arrived, but sadly it was only the upper control arms and not the rest of the kit. No word of when that will be shipping, was told it would take about 3 weeks when I ordered a month ago so hopefully sometime soon. Not in a real big hurry as I am also waiting for sonoran steel to ship my adjustable panhard bar, extended brake line, diff drop kit, and rear body mounts. My projectors have been shipped so I have that to work on in the mean time.

 

[ramonortiz55]

Love your setup man.

I should be posting links to my 4runner or uploading pictures here soon.

 

[ramonortiz55]

I ended up installing a stage two Icon on my 4runner also.

Used 4th gen shocks in the rear for extra articulation/travel.