Brad's old '97 4Runner, Now Brady's

So I decided to finally write up a build thread since I'm sitting at work with nothing to do. So I picked up my '97 Limited as a rig I could take my family wherever since my old Tacoma was only an extra cab. Luckily the Runner is originally out of Arizona so there is very minimal rust on the frame or body and the interior is actually in really good condition considering the AZ sun. Also the previous owner had already done some mods prior to selling it. So here is the good the bad and the ugly that was done when I bought it...

Exterior
Brush guard with matching tail light "armor"
Ridiculously dark window tint

Drivetrain
Borla exhaust

Interior
Switches and relays for offroad lighting even though they took the actual lights off:scratch: 


So since I bought it in February I have been able to get a little bit of work done to it when I have money. That list is as follows:

Drivetrain
B&M 70268 Supercooler
K&N drop in air filter
Deck plate mod

Exterior
Removed brush guard
Removed running boards (after much abuse)
TG sliders (on order)
Wilson super flex CB antenna

Interior
B&M transmission temp gauge installed in dash
Removed all old PIAA wiring, switches, and relays
Uniden 510XL CB radio (on order)
Repaired torn leather seats (in process)

Suspension
No more rear sway bar

And there is always the list of plans for when I actually get money which is never ending...

Exterior- 4xInnovations plate front bumper
             Addicted Offroad rear bumper
             Skid plates
             
Suspension- LC 8 wrap rear coils w/ Tokico shocks
                  Coilovers (currently unknown)
                  SCS wheels with 265/75/16

Interior- Wet Okole seat covers
            Upgraded stereo deck
            Recovery gear storage system (similar to Gottabe's set up)

And I'm sure there is plenty more I can't think of right now and that I'll figure out as I wheel my 4R more and more.

Pics to come once I'm not on my phone and at my laptop.

About time you started one of these.

Yeah I've been slacking I know. On the line of build thread though, my sliders should be at low range this week if I can still bribe you to weld Kevin. I have dew and will help install your new steering  

I'm rolling down to Low Range this morning to pick up my crossover setup.  I don't know for sure when I'm going to have time to install it because I'm headed up to Brady's on Saturday to help him with his transfer case.

Fair warning, I meant it when I said I'm not an awesome welder... 

Hey if you want I can weld your sliders for you. I did mine no sweat and the welds even look pretty  

Still no pictures because I'm constantly at work.... But I digress....so now I have a small stack of parts laying on my garage floor waiting for their new home on my runner. My sliders with the gusset kit and new CB finally arrived and look nice when I held them up to the truck.
I also found a nice little surprise on KSL two days ago that I couldn't let get away, some nice LC 8 wraps off of a '96 FJ80. I talked the guy down and got a fantastic deal especially since they have virtually no rust and just came straight of his cruiser recently. So now I just have to save up more money and keep my eye out for more good deals.

Also completely randomness, the guy I bought my coils from just wanted to get rid of both his front and rear coils together so now I have a set of stock rear FJ 80 coils that I have no clue what to do with. Do you guys know if these can be used for any projects or do they only work for the rear of an FJ80? I would love to try and get something out of them to help pay for other stuff.

One month to Moab.  Let's get those sliders on there!

Do you have an antenna for your CB?  There's a guy selling a 6 foot Firestick for $20 on RME.  I think another guy is trying to get rid of a magmount for $15.

I already have a 4' Wilson super flex mounted that Ben is going to tune for me once I get my new head unit in. I know Jared needs an antenna and a mount though so I'll let him know about the deal on RME.

So you aren't as stock as you claim!

And the 4' antenna is a good size. I was debating 3' or 4' and figured 3' would look stupid sitting below the roof level but 4' is considerably higher... 6' would be ridiculous, my girlfriend over the summer even commented that it made the 4Runner look like a giant RC car (wtf?!)

And you need sliders

Sliders I have, What I really need is time away from my jobs to get them welded onto the runner!

snivilous wrote:So you aren't as stock as you claim!

And the 4' antenna is a good size. I was debating 3' or 4' and figured 3' would look stupid sitting below the roof level but 4' is considerably higher... 6' would be ridiculous, my girlfriend over the summer even commented that it made the 4Runner look like a giant RC car (wtf?!)

And you need sliders

Ha ha I have a 5' an it is freakish huge!!! RC car would be about right. I will however be swapping out to a 4' one though soonish as in when I break the 5' one

So yesterday was spent at Ben's house getting my sliders stuck to the frame and getting the new CB installed into the dash. And some pictures for your viewing enjoyment.






Oh and while Ben was welding I got bored and decided to do this....


And a little teaser shot while they were still nice and shiny. Painting is in progress as we speak.

Looks sexy! Now you can destroy your truck with the conscious that you tried to prevent it from being destroyed. Are you just painting it or bed lining?

Right now they are just primered but I'll either end up going with the usual black but I'm considering gunmetal if I can find a nice shade of it.

So today at work I took my front wheels off to work on my brakes and found out how uncomfortable it is to grab your spindle and feel it be able to wobble. Freaked me the hell out....the culprit was my UCA. Somehow the bolt had worked itself loose enough that I could spin it by hand.  Scary shit. I have now re-torqued and I'm guessing that will help out the entire front end feel better.
Now time to check every freaking bolt on the front end......

After I found a rear spring bolt missing the nut and halfway backed out, I've made a habit of checking all my suspension bolts every time I change my oil.

Last night with the help of Jared I finally got my front brakes all done and man they feel way better! So I attempted multiple O'Reilly's for getting old rotors turned but to no success. So I ended up putting all new pads and rotors on both corners. I love not having brake shudder and dive anymore  and the new rotors are all shiny and pretty looking.

Why wouldn't O'Reillys turn them?  Too thin?

Kevin wrote:Why wouldn't O'Reillys turn them?  Too thin?

One store wouldn't because they allegedly didn't have the correct mounting plate to attach a Toyota rotor to their machine. The next was because the girl helping was being a wench and said their computer didn't show the rotor as serviceable since they didn't have minimum thickness specs, which I know is a lie because the Provo store looked up the specs and showed me on their computer before hand. And the third place the guy wouldn't because there was allegedly too big if a groove to grind out. Even though I call BS because there was more than enough extra rotor material in there to justify it.

And because I forgot to post this earlier, I also got bored last week at work so I busted out the cut off wheel and made some adjustments to the rear bumper. Here it is now with about 2.5-3" extra clearance.

Nice work!! I like the hitch flip mod!

Small little update since I haven't in a little while---

So I got new tires finally. I went with a the Cooper ATP in a LT 265/75/16. So just a little bit bigger but I think that they fill the wheel well nicely and they seem to grip a hell of a lot better than my old tires ever did.

Also today I scored a pretty much brand new Hi-Lift off of KSL for only $35. So now I need to come up with a simple mounting system to keep it from moving around in my cargo area. Luckily it is the perfect width to go from side to side. I'm thinking of some bolts pushed through the carpet and secured to the metal underneath with a small plate of some sort and then just have a wing nut to tighten down to hold the jack in. I remember seeing some on T4R...anybody wanna fab me up something simple?

Sounds doable. You've got D rings in the cargo area, right? Use those mounting points.

Something like this but I'm not paying $65+ bucks for two bolts....

http://www.sonoransteel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18_19&products_id=55&zenid=f4840536a32adc0eb5e5a0d8f5377ddd

I can weld bolts to plates, but I dunno about machining the spacer. Maybe I've got a bushing or something floating around.