My 2000 4runner build, repair, and modification thread

Stick Figure

Observer
Since I am starting to post over here a bit more I figured I would post my pics and mods as well.

Picked up my truck in august of 08 (pictured with my other vehicle at the time)
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It was basically stock minus the running boards with around 123k on it. It was exactly what I was looking for 2000 "Highlander" edition so it had the scoop, the locker, and no multi-mode 4x4 system. I think at the time I said something about probably not seeing any off road time, lift etc.

First "mod" (Dec of 08) was to get rid of the pseudo water pump that Toyota used on the 5VZ-FE to run the clutch fan. The bearings in the idler puller were making noise, and Toyota wanted a lot of money for it, and the auto parts store version didn't look like good enough quality to even be an option.

I made a fan shroud for a couple of perma cool fans I had laying around.
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cut the end off of the idler and re-routed the belts
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I installed a fan switch from a Honda (yeah i know but again it was laying around)
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Around the same time I also did an alarm/remote start and a new deck, but I don't have photos of that ... so moving on...


Jamie (g/f) and I decided to take a long weekend over Memorial day (09) and go explore the AZ strip.
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Truck was great over the trip other than breaking a belt in on the cheap Remington tires that were on it when I bought it. We drove back on the spare, and I searched around on craigslist for a solution and found a deal on some 4th Gen 4runner wheels and BFG all terrain tires.

only "problem" was that they were an inch taller than stock
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the "good news" was that the stock suspension got pretty abused on the strip anyway, so i figured a mild upgrade was in order. The 99 Highlander 4runner was available with taller springs than any other year 4runner so that is what i picked up along with some Bilstein heavy duty shocks.
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much better!

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and it got me playing around off road even more....

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and more coming up ...
 

Stick Figure

Observer
Did a few trails in that trim

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more pics:
http://www.mostdesigns.com/zgallery...er-misc/near-big-bear-ca-and-heartbreak-ridge
http://www.mostdesigns.com/zgallery...road-adventures-and-other-misc/2009_0718Image

made some on road trips x-mas etc nothing too fun
March of 2010 we drove from southern cal to a town (name escapes me) just east of Salt Lake City to pick up some FJ Cruiser wheels. The 4th gen 4Runner wheels never did have a great offset for the 3rd gen and I didn't want to run spacers. Oh and yes that is a ridiculous trip when we could have shipped the wheels or bought them locally to us, but it was a good get away, and I got new truck parts so I don't see how you can go wrong!

more concrete trips hauling some of my crap back from Nebraksa
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Thanksgiving 2010 we were playing around off road and I snapped another front end link. I decided to make myself a new set,
so I tried a quick disconnect design.
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Next mods came in Dec setting the 4runner up for another Towing trip from Nebraska.

First was OME 890's in the rear
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Super raked? yep .. for a reason

I also wanted some better lighting. I had previously swapped the headlights to HID's and lost the high beams, so I picked up some PIAA's and wired them to the stock high beam switch.
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Last mods at that time was a Pioneer AVH P4200 dvd screen and some husky liners for the front.

now the reason for rake? I had to tow this thing back
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.. bit more coming up
 

Stick Figure

Observer
While fixing the leaking valve cover gaskets, I decided to make some teflon gaskets for the throttle body and intake manifold.

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why teflon? they block the transfer of a heat, and are pretty much indestructible. They did drop manifold temp a little bit which did gain a small amount of MPG/HP. would I pay a lot of money for this mod? NOPE... Would I grab the scrap material (from other gasket making) and do a set again? yep in a heart beat.


It took a while but the rake had finally gotten to me by May of 2011, and something had to be done...



Started with boring some holes in a couple pieces of scrap

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Then rounded them out on the mill at work

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I wasn't sure on an exact size at this point since i hadn't pulled the strut out of the 4runner yet. Back at home i pulled the struts and actually measured them. Time to reduce the size .....

First one was done entirely on my benchtop lathe

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After i had the exact size i wanted

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it was easier to to trace the rough size measurements to the second piece and trim it on the band saw

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almost done ....

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little time in the drill press and

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After installation and alignment:

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Stick Figure

Observer
At this point the truck had around 180k on it, I knew the rear axle seals were leaking (and had been), the front end was feeling a little sloppy, and the tire wear wasn't that great. Up until this point I had only replaced one inner tie rod and the steering rack bushings. I figured it was time for everything else...
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So overall I replaced:

Wheel bearings front and rear
All associated seals front and rear
Upper and lower ball joints front
outer tie rod left and right
inner tie rod left (right was replaced around a year ago)
Steering rack internal guide bushing, springs and lock

I picked up a small 12 ton press from Harbor Freight to do the work. I figured for $100 (sale price) if it meant i didn't have to run the parts to work, or bother my neighbor it would be more than worth it.

I did make my own SST for the rear bearing removal. Using this and a bearing splitter, i also managed to remove the ABS exciter ring with out cutting as per the factory service manual. I still replaced the retaining ring even though it wasn't technically damaged during removal.

The front bearings did take some pressure. This has been a CA vehicle its whole life, and has pretty much zero rust, but it still took every ounce of pressure that little 12 ton could muster. In other words if you have a vehicle from the rust belt, the 12 ton probably won't do it!

Truck drives soo much better now, its unbelievable ... i still have a slight bit of shake, but i'm guessing that is going to be mostly tire related at this point.

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and then hopped in for a trip up to Florence Oregon...
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It wasn't a pleasure trip so no wheeling pics on this trip either. :(
 

Stick Figure

Observer
Now that the truck was back to what I would call good running and driving condition it was time for some more actual upgrades. I wanted to get the Jack and shovel out from inside the vehicle and made up some brackets to mount them on the stock roof rack.


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The only problem with them is that the "shovel" I had for the truck was nice and petite so it would fit in the back with no problem.

Now that its on the top it looks....... well cute ....

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The other plus side to this is that I think I could actually do a double bracket to fit an axe and shovel combo on one side. I've never needed an axe, but it never hurts to be able to carry more gear for certain trips.

Final pic of the jack mounted on the other side of the truck.

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No I don't believe in quick wing nut mounts. I carry enough tools that removing a couple nuts to gain access isn't a problem, and I liked the added security.


Next mod was this!


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I know my intake is awesome lol .... actually its just a temporary setup but it serves a purpose.... I needed more room




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Battery tray isn't quite done yet, but figured I would share the progress pics. I still have to make a bracket for the cruise control, and actually do some testing on the intake and finalize a design.

This was about where I decided to accept the job offer up in San Jose and had to finish things up to be prepared for moving all of my crap. So some of this stuff is still in a temporary state.

First up was to get rid of the less than perfect BFG's (worn suspension sucks) and switch to some Falken Wild Peaks/Rocky Mountains. My only complaint with these tires is that in my 265/70/17 Size I had two options a half tread 2 ply side wall version or a full tread version but with 10 ply sidewalls. I would have liked to stay with a 3 ply sidewall like the BFG's but wasn't paying that price again for those.

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Overall I was pretty impressed with the new tires... they are just a bit rough at higher speeds on crappy freeways etc.
 

Stick Figure

Observer
Since I wanted to make things functional before the move, I need to get things wired..

The idea was to use the second battery to power some future accessories, so the first step was to run some 4 gauge wire from the battery to the back of the truck.

At the back I ran it into a 4 way split, and then into a fuse box.

I found this Dorman 4 fuse box for like $5 and figured it would work good. My only issue was that the power inlet side was connected, and my crimpers would not fit, so the wiring had to be soldered only.

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On the plus side it allowed a very nice look, and you could probably get by with only one or two wires on the source side.

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The outlet side were individual terminals, so I was able to do a proper crimp before soldering.

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4 gauge was finished off in my traditional way ... tin the lead, and round it

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Couple shots of how the back turned out and the positioning of everything.

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From there one output wire is heading to the stock "cig lighter" plug, one is for the box that's in the mail, and I did one more that is for future use if needed.

I wasn't happy about not having easy access to the fuse panel, but I couldn't figure out an easy way to make that happen. I think in the future an access hole will be cut.

I wanted to add another power plug to the back of the center console, and originally thought about using the 4th output of the fuse block to run back up front. I decided that wouldn't be much better than the factory wiring after making that long of a run.

I decided to split the wire in the kick panel to have additional power capabilities up front. First step was to find another splitter. Once I found one, I had to make a bracket to hold it in place....

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Next step was to install....

before
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you will notice the fuse holder where I tapped power for the front aux power port.

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From there I moved under the hood to install a main fuse. The location I wanted to use was occupied by a bracket for some relays. I started by fabbing a bracket for my circuit breaker.

Pictured next to factory relay bracket
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a little more cutting, welding, and painting later ...
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and installed:

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Final pic for today is a preview of how I am charging the second battery
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(no that solenoid didn't end up working and has since been replaced with a proper one)


and for the final upgrade before my move ...

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... a Whynter 65 Qt. Fridge/Freezer.

For wiring I used one channel of the previously installed fuse block to power the fridge via “banana clip” style plugs. I wanted something a little more secure than a standard cigarette lighter plug that seems to vibrate loose on every trail we’ve ever been on. Rather than sacrifice the original power cord, I found a match from an old laptop PC, and converted it to the banana clip plugs now needed. This way the fridge can still be plugged in to the front auxiliary plug ins if needed.


That pretty much brings us up to date minus a few minor things here and there. Currently I'm not able to upgrades since I'm looking for some shop space and a new place to live in San Jose. Its taking a bit longer than expected because of my "brilliant idea". When I saw the average cost of a rental house here and lack of a 3 car garage, I decided it would be better to rent aprox 1000sq ft industrial space for my projects, and tools, and just live in a small apartment for everyday life. Well its been harder here than anywhere else to give my money away.

Luckily the 4Runner has been a champ towing cars, and trailers and basically living out of it with out having a bigger issue than a tail light bulb burning out.

Questions and comments are more than welcome ... Right now I have more time to answer them than I will when we start moving everything out of storage!
 

Stick Figure

Observer
Thanks for the compliments guys. I just can't wait until I can find some time to do more stuff. I'm thinking possibly a drawer set up or at least a new tie down system in the rear.
 

Stick Figure

Observer
Thanks...

trying to figure out what to get it for its 200k mile b-day .. the recent move has pushed it up 193k and it deserves something after towing all those damn trailers.
 

CaliMobber

Adventurer
Time to get your Ham radio license and get yourself a nice radio for communication :). Ive been hours from any town or cell service but can always reach a radio repeater.
 

juicebox

Adventurer
Thanks...

trying to figure out what to get it for its 200k mile b-day .. the recent move has pushed it up 193k and it deserves something after towing all those damn trailers.


Hmmm...

For every "birthday" of my truck, I have taken it on a trip. 40K was my best friends bachelor party camping trip... 50K was the White Rim Trail in Moab. I was @ 60K on Elephant Hill in Canyonlands. 66,666 hit just as we finished Fin's N Things. 70K was when I took my girlfriend (now wife) camping near Dutchman's Draw (AZ strip?), which was the first time I've ever had a sidewall puncture.

I have a big trip planned for 80K, which is in about 2500 miles. :D

I'd take it to Moab, buy the CHARLES WELLS GUIDE TO MOAB book and go nuts. I'd recommend something like the White Rim for a 200K milestone. :)
 

Elbee

Adventurer
Good build! I would think the though the dual battery set up would block airflow to the filter, i'm sure its negligible though.
Have you thought about upgrading the front brakes to tacoma size?
 

FLYFISHEXPERT

LivingOverland.com
Good looking truck. I like the fabrication you have done! I wish I still had access to a shop for fabrication.

How much space is between your radiator and the fan shroud?

Have you thought about adding some sort of door to allow you access to your fuse blocks? That way in the event a fuse blows, you can get access to it without pulling the panels out. I have my accessory fuse block in the driver's kick panel and have been thinking of ways to place a door over the area to gain access.
 

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