MandAtaco's 3rd gen and 4th gen 4Runners

[MandAtaco]

I've been on here for years, but have recently started to hang out more as I've been doing more Overlanding and expedition type stuff. I wanted to introduce myself and start a place to share my Runners, stuff I've been doing to them, and with them.

"Mine"



My rig is a 2000 4Runner Limited that I picked up in January of 2014, it was completely stock right down to the factory stereo. I purchased this rig to replace the 2001 Tacoma that my wife and I had wheeled for the previous 10 years. We loved that truck and had taken it all over the Southwest; Moab, Rubicon, Big Bear, AZ, etc. After we found out our 3rd kid was on the way though, we knew it had to go. I decided to go with the 3rd gen 4Runner because I knew that most of my "good parts" from the Tacoma would swap right over. The first gen Tacoma and 3rd gen 4Runner are very similar platforms. I began my search for a 1999 or 2000 with the 3.4L and rear locker. Funny enough, I had a hard time finding one in Vegas and ended up finding just the perfect one up in Southern Utah. I took my dad and 2 sons up to check it out. I drove it around the block, made sure the locker and 4wd worked, loaded it on a trailer and brought it home. Once I got it home I unloaded it, put it in the garage and immediately tore it all apart, I hadn't even put a mile on it. I need to swap all the parts off my Tacoma, so I could get it sold. I also wanted to get all the service stuff done as the timing belt and service parts were original at 193K miles. Once I got the Tacoma sold, I spent the next year building and getting it the way I wanted it, and its definitely not done! I've got a full build thread over at T4R, I'll link it HERE (Build Thread) if you want to take a look at all the little details I've done so far. The basic run down is as follows:

2000 4Runner Modifications
Suspension Mods:
-Donahoe (Icon) extended travel front coilovers
-Camburg upper control arms
-OME 861 Rear Springs
-Toytec Panhard drop bracket, Reinforced to the frame
-Custom rear sway bar links, longer built from Energy Suspension links
-OEM Toyota LC80 rear shocks, frame drilled out to fit the larger centering washer
-Toytec Diff Drop

Drive Train Mods:
-Yukon 4.56 gears
-ARB Front Locker

Current Body/Bumper/Armor
-ARB front bumper
-8" HID KC Lights
-9000# Smittybuilt winch
-Home Built rear bumper with Swing out
-Home Built low profile rack 3/4" round tube
-Home Built 1.75" Custom Sliders
-CBI ditch light brackets with LED flood lights

Engine/Trans Mods:
-Hilux Snorkel
-Airaid intake tube
-Walker catalytic converter
-Magnaflow 18" muffler with custom rear dump
-Tru-Cool 4589 Trans Cooler (radiator bypassed)

Current Interior Mods:
-Scanguage II with X-guage to monitor trans temps
-LED dome lighting
-JVC Stereo
-WeatherTech Front Floor Mat's in Black
-CalTrend front seat covers
-Bunch of OTRATTW rocker switches
-TYT quad band Radio
-PL259 Connector in Center Console to External Antenna for Mobil Radio's

Wheel's/Tires/Brakes
-Braided Brake lines from Wheelers Off-road front and rear
-Tundra 231 Brake upgrade with Duralast stuff
-BFGoodrich A/T KO2's in 285/75R16 on stock Limited 5 spoke rims
-Spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers
-Matching spare

Camping/Expo/Comfortable Living
-Xantra 1000W inverter (Built into rear storage box)
-Puma Compressor (Built into rear storage box) with 1/2 gallon tank underneath
-6.5' Smittybuilt awning
-Custom rear storage box with table
-Heat Exchanger Shower System



"Hers"



My Wife's ride is a 2004 4Runner Limited V8. Back in June of 2013 we had a 96 4Runner that was a total Lemon, the truck was a polished terd and I never should have bought it. After actively trying to blow it up on the way home from Utah one weekend my wife decided we had spent enough time, heartache, and money on it, and it was time to kick it down the road. We wanted a 4th gen with the V8 as we towed a couple atv's at the time. The extra power and room vs the 96 would be nice also. We looked at a couple here in town and finally found a used one at a local Ford dealership they had taken in on trade. The truck was very clean but had some ridiculous low profile wheels and tires on it. When I looked under the hood I noticed it had Toyota filters and even a battery in it, we bought it hoping maybe it had been serviced by the dealership. After we brought it home, I got on Toyota's website with the vin; sure enough I was able to pull up all the service records back to when it was almost brand new! I knew when the last flushes had been done, Timing belt, brakes, etc. I feel like we really lucked out on this deal! I have done some mods on this one, but most have been subtle for minor dirt roads, daily driving, and towing our old pop-up trailer. I never did a build thread on this one but the mod list goes like this:

2004 4Runner Modifications
-Bilstien Shocks with OME Springs (slight lift)
-FJ Cruiser Rims and Stock Tires (for now)
-Powerstop Slotted and Drilled Rotors and Pads on the Front
-AirRide Airbags in the rear
-Rola Roof Rack with Extension, Welded together
-PL259 Connector in Dash to External Antenna for Mobil Radio's
-Blue Sea Distro box Under Hood
-Blue Sea 12V outlets added to dash

The only thing about this truck I wish it had, was the 3rd row seating. When we bought it, we had 2 kids and were "done". A year later we got a surprise and found out the 3rd one was on the way, should have got the Sequoia!

Anyway I'll keep this thread updated with any new stuff and trips we take, things are always moving around here! I'll probably add some of our more recent stuff too. I'm also part of a group of guys here in Vegas that call ourselves OverlandNV, we're weekend warriors who like to encourage others to explore whenever they can, even if its on the weekends in their own back yard like us. So you'll probably see that name pop up here from time to time.

Thanks Guys!

 

[MandAtaco]

My wife's birthday was last weekend, so I surprised her by pawning the kids off on the grandparents so her and I could have a weekend just to ourselves. We headed up to a place called Cherry Creek, right outside of Hiko, Nevada. It's a beautiful place about 60 miles off the highway via dirt roads. We had the place to ourselves, no cell service, and we didn't see another person for 3 days.
IMG_0388 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

IMG_0417 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020436 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020374 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020411 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020409 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr



On the last day, I let her pick the route out. She chose a route that dropped us out right by the Lil Alien Inn @ Rachel, NV.
All the aliens appeared to be in hiding this day, maybe the heat?
IMG_9504 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

IMG_9502 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr



Lucky for me, she's trying to hone some of her skills for the upcoming rally, so I let her do all the navigation and dirty work! I got to just enjoy the ride for a change!
P1020348 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020379 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

P1020474 by Mike Shaffer, on Flickr

It was great relaxing weekend, can't wait to get back out again!

 

[mtnkid85]

Thats a good looking 3rd gen. Sounds like you've got some miles on those uniball UCAs, how have they been wearing? Any noises?

 

[MCObray]

Sweet 3rd Gen... mods are tasteful!

 

[MamboSA]

Great trucks.
What is going on with the blue hoses out the engine bay?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Konkordmusk]

I think that's his heated shower setup!
I've been through your build on t4r.org a few times, I thoroughly enjoy your truck!

 

[MandAtaco]

Thats a good looking 3rd gen. Sounds like you've got some miles on those uniball UCAs, how have they been wearing? Any noises?

I had them on my Tacoma for about 90K miles before I swapped them over to the 4Runner, they've been on there for about 14K miles now. As far as maintenance, I had to put new uniballs in them right at 51K miles because the original ones had some play in them. 40K miles later when I swapped them over to my 4Runner, I went ahead a did a full rebuild with new bushings and new uniballs again, the old ones were actually in pretty good shape still so I kept them as trail spares. Overall, the Camburg arms have been great, I spray them out with the hose periodically and hit them with some WD-40 dry lube
if they start to make any noise, which is rare.

Sweet 3rd Gen... mods are tasteful!

Thanks man!

Great trucks.
What is going on with the blue hoses out the engine bay?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think that's his heated shower setup!
I've been through your build on t4r.org a few times, I thoroughly enjoy your truck!

You got it, its the hot water shower setup I'm running. Here's a video of how it works if your interested. Unfortunately they don't make this kit any longer, but it wouldn't be to hard to piece something together. I'd like to pick up another exchanger to throw in the wifes Runner, I hear the Helton makes a nice one.

 

[MamboSA]

Good stuff, thanks for the explanation on the shower.


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[MandAtaco]

We went on a 3 day trip hosted by the VegasFJCruisers up to Cerro Gordo Ghost Town. Just an idea of the elevation changes we encountered on this trip, -100ft or so BELOW sea level, to over 9000ft above! One thing I learned this trip is my rig hates climbing steep grades at speed!

Day 1 we traveled up from Las Vegas to Rhyolite, NV to check out what's left of the town. After leaving there, we made our way into Death Valley via Titus Canyon and eventually worked our way across Death Valley and up into the hills to the Ghost town of Cerro Gordo. Here we dropped off our supplies for the couple that takes care of the place, and set up our camp among the history of a once booming silver mine.

Ryolite, NV

Titus Canyon

Wife and a full load of munchkins in the back seat doing what we love!

 

[MandAtaco]

Day 2 was spent high up in the mountains above Owens Valley, skirting along the edge until we made our way to the famous Salt Tram Crossover Station. This is an amazing place of history and if you get a chance do some research and see the kind of hard work and engineering people were willing to do back in the day. Once we'd explored all we could of that, we made our way into the valley floor via a winding up and down trail, and eventually back up to Cerro Gordo. We spent the rest of the day exploring the town, laughing with friends and looking at the Milky Way.

Trail to the Salt Tram Transfer Station. This was the top of the hill where the buckets of salt from the Saline Valley, transfer up and over the mountain down to the lake in the Owens Valley. Way Cool piece of history here:

Cerro Gordo, CA

Before I went to bed the second night, I pointed my camera at the sky to see if I could catch some of the stars and Milky Way. Lets just say this is an amazing place to star gaze!

 

[MandAtaco]

Day 3 we cleaned up and made a HUGE detour through Bishop California for some Schat's Bakery and to let my wife stop by and see where her Grandparents are buried. The only thing left after that was a scenic drive through Westguard pass and home. We had a great weekend over all, even with the kids melting down half way through the last day!

Just a few pics we snapped on the way out:

Cannot wait to get back up to Cerro Gordo, there is still so much to see there. If you plan a trip out there, remember, the town is private property! There is a caretaker on site and if you happen to catch him he can show you around. But be respectful of the location, the history, the artifacts. Take TONS of pictures, but leave everything else alone. These places are drying up all the time because of "treasure hunters". Cerro Gordo is a gem and I'd love to see it around for future generations.


Now on to the next one, Southern Utah is calling my name in a few weeks!