2003 4Runner Limited 4wd V8 FJ tcased overlanding rockcrawling do-it-all build

Yeah, I have no doubt it would get worse or at least stay the same with gear on the rack. Keep in mind that is all freeway mileage too. Around town or offroad, the rack won't make any real difference except for the added weight. But it's a trade off for the versatility. So far, I have been able to carry everything I need for a multi-day offroading and camping trip inside the 4runner.

 

Happy New Years OP, been a bit, had a nice few pages to read through! We both go to SD for Christmas although I’m coming from TX. Actually, just got here earlier today from my three day drive from Austin.

I’ll be staying in Tucson on the way back, most likely outside at Gilbert ray campground. Hope to see you out there and love all the work! I know I’ll have a bunch to do when i get back to TX!

 

Finally getting around to welding on the rear tow points today. One side is done and I'll finish up the other side tomorrow.

I got the clevis mounts from here - https://emsoffroad.com/clevis-shackle-mount-pass-thru

Probably more holes than I need for rosettes, but eh. There are also 3 rosettes at the center of each tow point, making the overall package a lot more solid.



Ready to weld.



Done. Bedliner sprayed like shit from the can. Probably because it's hot and an old can. No big deal tho.

 

Interesting...

 

If I ever rebuild the bumper again, the clevis points will go through it. I'm hoping the the 3/16 steel on the 3/16 bumper will be strong enough for any recoveries it might need to do. And honestly, all the trips we have done here in AZ, there hasn't been a need for recovery yet on anyone that I can think of.

 

Yeah I was going to comment on your choice of recovery points.

I want to go through the bumper so I can weld both the backside and front. But your choice still yields a nice strong recovery point.

Hmm...

 

Yeah, through is always the preferred method. But with 3 rosette weld on the backside of each clevis and the butt welds on the perimeter, along with all the other rosette welds, these recovery points should be plenty strong enough for 90% of what I will need them for. If I need them at all.

 

Passenger side recovery point done.

 

Turned out pretty nice!

 

Thanks!

 

do you have a profile over on the 4runner forum? stumbled on this thread while killing time at work researching the fj tcase swap.

 

Yeah, xtremelwr on toyota-4runner.org as well. Just haven't done the build thread there since I didn't want to do it twice. I have it linked to TW in my sig over there.

 

The ridiculously reliable 4runner got a little love this morning.

My buddy who is doing the tuning and aluminum fab work on my subie let me use one of his lifts to do an oil/filter change and grease the rear control arms. Pretty nice being able to work on the truck using a lift, especially for lubing the rear control arms. You can see my subie in the background there.





Need to go see the guys at ADS, looks like the driver side rear shock might have a seal going. The bottom of the shock body showed evidence of being a little wet.

 

Received some long awaited goodies for the 4runner today.

Doug Thorley long tube headers:



And titanium exhaust studs. Order raw but received the blue since those were available. Not a problem since they are hardly visible once installed.



Still waiting for the Thorley Y-pipe to come in. And it will be a bit before they get installed. Need to schedule time at the shop and save up some funds for the remainder of the exhaust system and a new radiator.

 

What are your plans for post y-pipe? I did the same thing (Thorley long tube headers with URD y-pipe) not too long ago. Got rid the exhaust manifold leak, but deleting the cats and resonators gave me a loud, popping type noise mid rpm range. Want to have another resonator or two installed along with a new muffler to get rid of the "rasp". I'd like to keep it quieter since I daily this and don't want an obnoxiously loud exhaust.

 

Talked to an exhaust shop across from my buddy's shop. This place does hotrod and race exhausts along with everyday cars too. The plan is for a Magnaflow cat and then a large Magnaflow muffler. We'll get a better idea of what we can do when the time comes tho. Like I said, it's still a ways out, probably a few months.

 

Haven't updated this in a while, mainly because I was working on the Subie, which is now done. Nothing significant done to the 4Runner other than normal maintenance stuff. Headers are still not done but that might happen somewhat soon.

Rear shocks came out for a rebuild after about 25k miles. The shock shafts, which are unprotected, had major pitting in them which cause the driver side shaft seal to leak. You can see it on the left side here, how the shock body is somewhat wet.



Took about a week but ADS is local so not a big deal. No shipping to worry about. All new seals and oil and both shafts were replaced.



While I was waiting on the shocks, it was time for new spark plugs. Inspecting the coil packs and I found that the majority of them had cracks in the body, so 8 new Denso coil packs had to be ordered. Not surprising since the truck had 328+k miles on it and they were the original coil packs.



I also changed out all the gear oil from front and rear diffs and the tcase. While I was doing the plugs and coils, the locking clip on the MAF plug finally broke, so I got a replacement from i-wire, a Subaru wiring specialist. The MAF plug for my Subie is identical to the one for the 4Runner and i-wire had the plug kit without pigtails. I apparently didn't take any pics of that but here's the link. Only $15 too - https://iwireusa.com/collections/5-...flow-sensor-maf-plug-a?variant=40734171496601



Later, I finally welded up the spare tire carrier tubes that I had never finished. Beat the lips over with a hammer and dropped some beads on it. Ugly but it works.





And I finally moved my high-lift outside to the swingout, using a couple bolts that I welded in place.



I also fabbed up a new intake pipe for under the hood. Not totally done yet, it's been painted black now, I just need to finish installing it this weekend.



Did some wheeling last weekend and had some slight damage. Lost a tire to a cut in the sidewall and beat the piss outta the stock muffler.









Since that wheeling trip last Sunday, I've had a pending code P0420. Well, it finally went to a full CEL today after work. I have a new Denso O2 sensor being delivered tomorrow which should fix that. I don't think the cat has failed since this happened so fast, like 5 days since it started throwing the pending code. I think the pre-heater for the O2 sensor has failed because I cleared the CEL at a stop light after some freeway driving and it didn't come back. Regardless, I'm replacing the sensor this weekend. So we shall see. 329,600+ miles on it now and it still runs like new. Love this truck. Goes anywhere I want, get's OK-ish gas mileage and has been ultra-reliable. More to come soon enough!

 

After rebuilding the 5th gen shocks and seeing how bad the pitting was on the rears, I started running these boots on both trucks, held on with zip ties. I just split them length wise and wrapped them around the front of the shocks. Seems to be working pretty well.

Pro Comp Suspension Poly-Vinyl Shock Boot Pair Black

Boots

 

Not a bad idea. Not sure how well that will work with the larger shock body on the ADS shocks but I'll keep it in mind. I've got the ICON Shock Shin Guards on there now. See how those do since I had them before and just never installed them.

 

Do you have the headers installed yet? Curious just how much of a pain that is and what you did to get rid of the CEL they cause. Install royally sucks on the V6 but at least you can turn off the CEL with HPTuners. I’m looking at those tri-y thorley headers too, but the SAIS version unfortunately. Haven’t found a way to totally delete the system yet unlike on the V6 (I know about the bypass kits).

Also, curious about the thinking behind that intake tube that deletes the resonator chamber. Did you just want more intake noise?