2007 Sequoia...aka The BigTree

BigTree4X4

Roaming Nowhere
I figured it was time to start a thread of my 2007 Toyota Sequoia... aka The BigTree. I started off-roading 20 years ago when I turned 16 and my dad purchased me a bone stock yellow 1979 FJ40 for $3K. I ended up selling it 10 years ago with 37" tires, full cage, full hydraulic steering, 4.88, ARB lockers and my favorite mod was the snorkel. But as you do when your young, I wanted something newer, faster and A/C. I went threw a '01 Jeep Cherokee Classic mild build, '01 F150 Pre-runner phase, '04 Dodge Ram Quad-Cab 4x4 with 6" Fabtech with full bed cage (it got stolen), '07 F-150 Lariat stock, missed having a better 4x4 and with gas on the rise it was cheap so I got an '04 Hummer H2 put a leveling kit and 37" BFG Krawlers on it. Actually loved it for the several years I had it. Then we had a baby a year and a half ago and there was no way we would be able to lift that car seat into an H2 with 37's and the rear cargo area was also way to small to accommodate all the needs of a child and our 125lb Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. I really missed my FJ40 but with a family that was really unpractical and they are so expensive now, I thought maybe a 60, 80, 100 Series Cruiser would do the trick. I just really wanted to go back to a Land Cruiser. My wife had 2 requests, 1) Leather seats so they'd be easy to clean with the baby. 2) Heated seats because the H2 didn't have them and she missed them from the F-150. But the 60's were a bit to "old" to be my family DD. The 80's I saw all had so many miles witch was fine but a lot of them were to beat up to be a nice family DD and adventure rig. And the 100's were to steep with a new baby. I gotta buy diapers people. I needed something newer, safer and reliable to haul the family. I ended up looking for a 1st Gen Sequoia, they were cheap compared to Land Cruisers, fewer miles, bigger inside and seating for 8. At the time we were living in San Diego and all I could find were 2WD. So after a few months of looking I finally found a stock 4WD, heated seats with leather Sequoia in Los Angeles in June of '13. The first thing I did was put a spacer lift all the way around at Off-Road Wharehouse. I just didn't have anywhere to do it at our house at the time. And I wanted to do some more research on which suspension I'd like to run cause its not like I can type into google "07 Sequoia lift" and all these amazing lifts by Icon, OME, and whomever come up, so a few hundered bucks with longer rear Bilstein shocks to get me buy in the mean time. I put 285/70R17 Goodyear Kevlar M/Ts on the stock wheels. I added Spidertrax wheel spacers all the way around. Since Baja Rack was in San Diego I went to their office, picked it up and I actually installed it their receiving dock. Then I wanted a little shade, for the baby in case he needed to eat, take a break, play at the beach or whatever so I ordered an Ironman awning. Last month Toyotech and Brute Force Fab hooked me up with a killer front bumper and I had it powder coated flat black and installed it last week. So I haven't taken a lot of truck pictures so far but here are a couple and I'll keep this updated from here on.

image.jpg

seq12.jpg


Future mods planned:
Rear Bumper when Brute Force Fab has them (hopefully dual swing-outs)
Rock Sliders
Upgrade Front Suspension to OME/Icon
Fit a Cruiser snorkel
ARB rear locker

the list will never really end.......
 
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mhiscox

Expedition Leader
Thanks for sharing the information about your Sequoia. I'll be eager to see the future mods, too.
 

amo292

Adventurer
Thats the best looking Sequoia I have seen. Awesome job and I look forward to following the build!
 

tyv12

Adventurer
Nice rig! loving all the tundras and trees that have flooded this forum


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

BigTree4X4

Roaming Nowhere
Thanks guys!

My "rock crawler" days are over and I just want my son to enjoy being outdoors as much as I did when my dad took me.
Some modifications/parts aren't made for a Sequoia so it's tricky trying to find something that'll work. But I do think I'm lucky because I get a lot of ideas from the Land Cruiser section (like inside the vechicals/rear storage type stuff) and all the Tundras in this section (front suspension/bumpers).
 
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jsnow

Adventurer
Great looking Sequoia! I have been thinking of one of these as well. I will be keeping an eye on your build!
 

j2k

New member
Sweet looking one! Is that bumper adapted from a Tundra or specifically built for the Sequoia?

I will definitely keep tabs on your build as I'm in process of looking for a Sequoia that somehow survived our salty roads without rusting to pieces.
 

BigTree4X4

Roaming Nowhere
Sweet looking one! Is that bumper adapted from a Tundra or specifically built for the Sequoia?

I will definitely keep tabs on your build as I'm in process of looking for a Sequoia that somehow survived our salty roads without rusting to pieces.

I got the bumper (via Toyotech) from Brute Force Fab. I had been looking ever since I purchased The BigTree for a front bumper, saw a lot of conversations about trying/fabricating a Tundra or 100 series ARB bumper but most of the people said it wasn't worth the trouble. I was on Toyotech's Tundra build thread and he had an amazing bumper on his Tundra and he said he was handling questions for Brute Force Fabs new Tundra and Sequoia 1st Gen bumpers. Well it turns out I got a deal of a lifetime cause Billy (owner of Brute Force Fab) had a 05-07 Sequoia bumper that was already made for another customer that didn't work out. From my understanding Billy can make bumpers for all years, double/extended cab Tundras and both grill models of Sequoias. The 05-07 Sequoia grills are different, the lower portion of grill is attached to bumper, where as earlier years the whole grill goes up with the hood.
Here's some pictures of when I got it delivered and you can see what I'm talking about with the grill.
 

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