CA18_Sean's 1st Gen 4Runner expedition build

[juddrussell]

I dont know why I am just finding this thread but I LOVE YOUR 4RUNNER. Seriously, I love my truck but
you did so well on this thing!! The round headlights are killer! Expedition white looks awesome. Bumpers fit great and the stance is sweet! Love it man!
I need to buff/polish my truck up after seeing this. :drool:

 

[ca18_sean]

Do you have any pictures of the snorkel up close? How did you attach it to the air box?

Thanks.

I'll grab some pics tonight. I basically used flexible high temp brake duct hose (there's used NASCAR hose on ebay for pretty cheap). There's already a round hose coming off the airbox that goes behind the headlight, I removed that and cut it and put a hose clamp on the hose to go over it. I put lots of black silicone on everything to seal it up good.

It looks just like this:

I dont know why I am just finding this thread but I LOVE YOUR 4RUNNER. Seriously, I love my truck but
you did so well on this thing!! The round headlights are killer! Expedition white looks awesome. Bumpers fit great and the stance is sweet! Love it man!
I need to buff/polish my truck up after seeing this. :drool:

Thanks man! Found out I need to attach the driver side headlight a little better... I rarely drive it at night, but it was wobbling around on me pretty bad this weekend driving home after dinner.

 

[rustED]

Awesome job on your 4runner, it has really turned out nice. You got me thinking of doing a 1st gen pickup grille swap on mine!

 

[ab1985]

Looking good.

 

[ca18_sean]

Finally made some progress on the fabrication work I've been meaning to get to for months!

Rock sliders from Trail Gear:

Picked up the truck with the forklift to test. No movement.

Finished!

Then I started modifying a Pathfinder spare tire swing out I found in the junkyard for $25.

Bare quarter panel... This was kind of scary to start drilling.

Bent up some plates that line up with the sheet metal. Made matching plates that I welded inside the taillight area. I think this will transfer enough of the load to the entire panel and prevent sheet metal damage.

Cut and modified the factory pathfinder mounts to fit with my plates.

Then I hung the spare tire carrier. This thing was heavy! Very solid with a nice latching system.

Finished product. Still need to decide exactly where I want my license plate and get a matching spare. I also made the interior plate that holds the door latch too thick so I can't put down the window. But that's an easy fix...

 

[bkg]

The forklift test, while very common, isn't a good determination of what will happen when landing on the sliders. I used to do this test to show buddies how great my white trash sliders were... Just don't equate to real world. Two friends ended up with bent pinch welds, and one with collapsed frame.

I really dig the tire carrier. Very well done and creative.

 

[ca18_sean]

The forklift test, while very common, isn't a good determination of what will happen when landing on the sliders. I used to do this test to show buddies how great my white trash sliders were... Just don't equate to real world. Two friends ended up with bent pinch welds, and one with collapsed frame.

I really dig the tire carrier. Very well done and creative.

I guess that's true about the forklift test, but I can't really think of any better way of testing them. With no noticeable deflection while jerking the lift up and down I think they're good enough for my use not very many rocks in Florida.

Thanks, I'm happy how the tire carrier turned out! I've wanted one for a long time but aftermarket options are so expensive...

 

[Arktikos]

Nice looking truck. I'm usually not a fan of that much lift and tire, but that thing looks damn good.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

You're brave to use a forklift to try out your sliders. What if the forks slipped...? All's well that ends well right?

I build my sliders strong for one additional reason: so many times when I have to put a truck on the two post lift, there isn't anything to lift on (with links and spring hangers in the way) for proper weight distribution on the lift. If properly built, I can use the sliders to lift the truck.

One more reason: my current project (FJ40 buggy) has the roll cage mounted to the sliders through the body, so they definitely need to be strong.

That really is a nice looking 4Runner. Keep up the good work.

 

[ca18_sean]

You're brave to use a forklift to try out your sliders. What if the forks slipped...? All's well that ends well right?

That really is a nice looking 4Runner. Keep up the good work.

Haha, true. But one of the forks has a trailer ball on it, so it couldn't slip off. I suppose a weld could have failed and that would have sucked!

Thanks!

 

[bkg]

I guess that's true about the forklift test, but I can't really think of any better way of testing them. With no noticeable deflection while jerking the lift up and down I think they're good enough for my use not very many rocks in Florida.

Thanks, I'm happy how the tire carrier turned out! I've wanted one for a long time but aftermarket options are so expensive...

The only other thing you could really do would be to put the forks only on the outer most tube. Would put a bit more leverage on the mounts. But to your point, no rock crawling, so they are probably way more than sufficient.

 

[ca18_sean]

No big changes. Pulled off the tire carrier and painted it with bedliner. Also welded the license plate mount on. Had to move the tire mount itself up higher to fit the full size spare. No big deal, it was bolted before so I trimmed it and welded it up.

Finally I cut a piece of 1/8" rubber into a square and put it between the mounts and the sheet metal and mounted it. I'm much happier now, it looks like it came stock on the truck

I picked up a set of pull out drawers for the back, working on modifying them to fit. More pics of those when I get them all finished!

 

[pacer]

No big changes. Pulled off the tire carrier and painted it with bedliner. Also welded the license plate mount on. Had to move the tire mount itself up higher to fit the full size spare. No big deal, it was bolted before so I trimmed it and welded it up.

Finally I cut a piece of 1/8" rubber into a square and put it between the mounts and the sheet metal and mounted it. I'm much happier now, it looks like it came stock on the truck

I picked up a set of pull out drawers for the back, working on modifying them to fit. More pics of those when I get them all finished!

What kind of drawers did you pick up?

 

[ca18_sean]

The box was mounted in the bed of an F150. Some sort of steel thing, I forget who makes it. I will be adding to the sides and wrapping the whole thing in carpet. I'd like to mount my hi-lift to one side and a shovel to the other and still build a sleeping platform on top.

Looks like this (I guess it's more one big drawer, than actually "drawers". But it is subdivided nicely into sections for organizing everything):

 

[Tango71]

Did you cut and weld the rust holes or just fill them in?