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

Thanks!

 

Thanks!

I cut off the plastic "cover" from the cab vents but that's it. At work so can't post pics but I know they are in mine here somewhere. I just didn't specifically point it out.

 

These are the vents I'm talking about, on the rear lower part of the quarter panel. They allow cabin pressure to escape when closing the doors. One on each side. They stick out pretty far.



This is with the plastic cover cut off. The vents pop out with out too much trouble. The cover snaps in place but is also plastic welded, which is why I cut them. Those are rubber flaps to keep crap front entering the cabin space.



Since I drove around for a few months with them exposed, I bent up some thin sheet metal and pop-riveted that to the plastic vents to give them a little more protection. I left those in place when I built the bumper winglets. They still function as normal and no problems closing any of the doors.



Got the idea from @Wishbone Runner when I was looking at his rear bumper build. He also cut off the covers.

 

Sweet, thanks for the pics! I like how close yours tucks, so makes sense those would be a tad in the way

 

Nice touch covering them, I will do something like that for my next bumper iteration if I don't end up chopping that whole area out.

 

I considered doing that but wasn't sure of a good way to retain some kind of cabin venting for pressure relief. Turns out the 5th gen vents are smaller and don't have the covers anyhow so might be a good option for redesigning that area a little for more clearance.

 

Went wheeling and camping this weekend with a group from here on TW. Ran part of a trail called The AZ Peace Trail in western AZ. Lots of fun, varying terrain, from slow trails, steep climbs, to fast washboard washouts. EXTREMELY dusty! Enough so that I just got home about 3 hours ago and have already ordered a cheap ebay snorkel. And after the new bumpers and swingout, loading the truck for camping and running those fast washboards on the stock Tacoma TRD Bilstien suspension, I have already ordered the long travel HD rear suspension with Icon shocks from Metal Tech and am going to talk to ADS tomorrow for the front since they are local to me. Fresh shit incoming soon!

Really happy with the swingout. The latch system held solid the whole time, even through the fast washboards, which were half of the day today, so probably 15 to 20 miles worth I guess. Very little flex in the system and when I add the missing front filler pieces to the winglets, it will be even stronger. The stock suspension held up but you could tell it was at it's limits the whole time, with all the added weight.

Anyhow, here are the pics. I forgot to clean the dust off the phone camera lens in some of these.









Had a full moon last night. This was from Friday night.















Found a century old copper mine Saturday.





One of the 7 mine shafts. This is looking down thru the steel grate that was installed above it.



This was the smelter.









Had to park like an asshole to get pics for the gram!











At camp Saturday night.



That's all I have. I'm bad about taking pics on these trips, sorry.

 

Went to ADS here in Tucson this morning. I did a thing.







700lb springs since I'll be adding a winch at some point. Also went with the click adjusters since they had these shocks on the shelf, ready to go. Need to wait on some other stuff before installing.

 

Parts collection is growing. Installs coming soon.

 

What bushings are those?

 

Panhard bar. Upper and lower links have already been changed out but I still have the stock panhard bar in place with the original, + 300k mile bushings in it. So they will get replaced when I do the suspension work and I also have an @eimkeith panhard relocation bracket going on.

 

After this last trip and dealing with the enormous amounts of dust, I decided that a snorkel was a necessary evil that I was going to have to install. So, I bought this one, for a LC100, off ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fit-1998-2...d-Ram-Air-Intake-Snorkel-Kit-New/143938798019

Obviously not an exact fit but it's pretty damn close. I got the idea from this dude - https://www.silverrhinomedia.com/blog/2018/11/15/lc100-snorkel-on-4th-gen-4runner

Same guy that came up with the brilliant idea for the windshield washer bottle relocation I did previously.

Still a work in progress, I need to order some small things to finish it up but here's what I got dome today after work.



Had to cut down the CB antenna bracket and drill a new hole for the mount. Hopefully it still works as well as it was before.



Rough estimated the template by holding the snorkel in place and moving the template around. It's for a Land Cruiser, so doesn't exactly match up to the lines of the 4Runner.



Marked the center of the holes with a drill bit and removed the template.



The main hole for the snorkel is supposed to be 114mm but I only have a 4" hole saw, which comes out to 102mm.



Everything mostly lines up. The snorkel doesn't sit exactly flush but is pretty damn close. I need to get some longer M6x1.25 bolts. Probably about 30/35mm long.



Used the nibbler attachment I have and free handed the hole bigger after marking it out with red sharpie. I love that nibbler thing for jobs like this.



Have to remove the wheel well trim to get to the inside. I have to order the square fender liner retainers still, have all the orange and blue clips otherwise.



And here's how it sits now.







Do some more tomorrow and get some pics of the A pillar mounting as well. Need to order up some new connector tube as well and get a 90 bend PVC pipe to connect to the air box.

 

Looks good, eyeing the same one for my truck

 

Takes a bit more work to get it fitting right but I think it looks a little better than standard snorkels. Only drawback is not being able to face the intake backwards, which seems to help with really dusty situations. I'm thinking I might get an air filter pre-filter sock thing to slip over the intake for those times when it's needed.

 

Sounds like a good idea. On my prior 4th gen I used to flip the inlet around in severe dust and snow, wonder if it makes any sense to cut and clamp on a standard style one for those situations and run the provided one most of the time

 

Might be something to look into. Just need to get the tube dimensions right.

 

Actually, I just took another look at my tube and it's kind of a concave oval shape, so fitting a standard snorkel end to it might take some creativity. If there is a way to custom mold silicone pipe at home, that might be a way to do it.

 

Sounds like a lotta work for what’s going to be needed what, maybe 5% of the time?

 

Something like this maybe if the overall circumference is similar?
http://www.siliconeintakes.com/hump-hose/hose-coupler-p-13.html

 

Yeah, that's my thought. Easier just to get and carry a pre-filter sock and a couple spare filters I think.

I get what you are thinking but I don't think this would work. The tube running up the A pillar is oval shape and concave on the backside. So I don't see a good way of actually being able to secure it without leaks. And the oval shape will make fitting a round coupler like that over it rather difficult I think.

I think it would need a formed plastic coupler to be able to do it right. Going from the odd shape to a universal round shape of other snorkel heads. Then you would need another one to reconnect the low profile head.