Sequoia slow mild build

[sseaman]

I have taken over driving the Sequoia from my wife as she loves the new to us IS250. It has brought back my interest in getting out on the trails and woods some. I have a 91 80 series and have thought about selling the Sequoia and getting another Land Cruiser, but the Sequoia is payed for, I have keep up the maintenance, and it is in great shape. I have found a few others that have built them up and parts are very interchangable with Tundras. I started by replacing the worn Firestone Destination LE's, they served us well for running around town and long road trips, but I wanted something slightly larger and more aggresive. I decided on Toyo Open Country ATs, in 265/70/17 so about 1" taller than stock. We just got back from a 2400 mile road trip and the tires were great.

The timing belt was replaced at 110k miles, and at 120k miles I swapped the plugs again, and all fluids.

My plans are to either fab a front bumper or adapt a Tundra ARB, sliders, and small lift. I am thinking Bilstein 5100's in the front and try stock 100 series springs in the rear.

Here are some pics before and after the new tires.

[sseaman]

Setup 2 was addition by subtraction, the running boards were removed and I think it looks much better. I am leaning towards adding Trail Gear sliders.

[FLYFISHEXPERT]

Looks good! Removing the running boards was one of the first things I did to my 4Runner.

I have always thought the Sequoia would be a good platform, even if the aftermarket parts are hard to get.

[Verde Rat]

Looking good,
I went with the Bilsteins adjusted to +3/4 and was very happy with the result. I was also kicking around the idea of going with the OME 862 springs in the rear but just ended up going with the FJ100 shocks and airbags. If I had been going for more of an expedition style set up I would have done the springs instead of the airbags. I like the adjustability of the airbags, but it’s just one more thing I would worry about breaking out on the trail.

[sseaman]

I have thought about airbags, especially just finishing a road trip with 4 adults, 2 children and all the crap we brought with us. My thoughts on changing the springs is that the originals are probably getting old and due for a change at some point.

So you kept the factory springs, and just changed the shocks? Did you notice any difference in how it drove?

[ol' scott]

I'm looking forward to how this thread plays out. I told me wife the other day that if I hadn't bought my Tundra a Sequoia was next on the list. Just taking those running boards off made a huge difference in the appearance.

[sseaman]

Hopefully I can get my wife to buy into this some, she is wanting to save every penny so we can move to a larger house next year.

[sseaman]

So I am making a little progress, I picked up a new set of Bilstein 5100's for the front off of Ebay so as soon as they arrive I will be throwing them on. I also found a good used set of 285/70/17 BFG ATs I am thinking of picking up to see if I like the larger tires size as well.

[sseaman]

The 5100's arrived yesterday but it looks like they will have to wait until I get back from the Boundary Waters to install them. I did get the Grom Ipod adapter installed to make it much easier to listen to tunes on the trip.

The larger tires were sold before I could get to the guys house to pick them up, so I still have my eye out for some more.

[sseaman]

After 40+ hrs of driving the last week, the Grom adapter more than paid for itself. With the JBL head unit it connects to an unused connector and can be controlled with the factory controls as a disc changer and for less than $100 shipped.