The Starting Point!

[Taco04]

Late last year my wife and I took our 04 Tacoma 4x4 out west for a bit of fun and well I guess she got hooked! Long story short I decided to sell my Mustang that I had a ton of money in to start yet another project. I have always loved hitting trails thanks to my dad dragging us across the US when I was a kid with an old Jeep Grand Wagoneer and his custom lifted Coleman pop-up camper. The wife and I have always made tons of trips down Padre Island National Seashore AKA P.I.N.S with our Tacoma so it's not like she hasn't spent any time off road but now she has the bug. With this in mind I want to keep the Taco a beach vehicle since that is what I set it up for plus being an extra cab there is not a ton of room in the bed. After selling the Mustang I began the search Tacoma's, Land Cruisers, FJ's etc... I looked at several old Land cruisers with V8 conversions and came close to pulling the trigger only to not wan't some one else's project. I had also been looking at old 4Runners as well and passed on a few when I decided to actually look at a new one. I drove down to the dealership and they had only 3 4wd's 1 trail and 2 SR5 4wds, being the guy I am I knew the SR5 was my best bet since I can never leave any thing stock so I test drove the SR5 and two nights later it was in the garage! The night before I bought it I had already bought the lift kit so it was a done deal!
Fast forward and here I am it's a bit of a mild build although I am seriously thinking about Front and rear lockers along with shorter gearing. It currently has an OME lift 883s in front with Toytec 1/4" spacers and OME trim packer on the driver side and 895e's in rear with Ome struts and dampers. I swapped the wheels out today for FJ wheels and some BFG 275-70-17's. Next up I am going to mount the front runner rack I am working on in the garage I am swapping out all of the hardware to stainless steel and modifying an INNO Wind Fairing for the front. After this I plan on some under armor, 2nd battery, Awning and possibly Solar panels for the second battery. Here is a picture of how it currently stands with more to come.

 

[Colonal Angus]

Looks great! Welcome to Expo! I'm looking forward to this build.

Did you go with full length Frontrunner that they just came out with?

 

[uscg2008]

Sub'd

 

[Taco04]

I ended up going with the with the shorter version I would have liked one that is about 1.5' longer than it is for us guys without sunroofs. Maybe I can grab a few odds and ends from Front Runner one day and accomplish this. One thing on this build I want to keep everything some what light weight since this V6 has a lot to lug around already. With this in mind I will probably jettison the rear seats and build the area out into storage why not have a 4-door 2-seater?

 

[Adventure Jeep]

Nice! Look forward to seeing it change.

 

[Taco04]

A bit of update on where my Runner is at. I finally got around to installing the roof rack I swapped most of the hardware for stainless steel and made Viton gaskets for any steel on steel contact points to further reduce the chance of rust. I currently have an Inno fairing but am going to swap it for a Thule that is larger and a bit more stout this coming weekend. The rack is one stout set-up and I love the versatility of it as it makes mounting anything super easy it is probably my best mod so far! I have also done lots of small mods swapped fog lights, scan gauge, diff breather relocation etc. Any way it's coming along great next up is skids and awning along with a slew of other small mods. Early next year I plan on adding an on-board compressor and ARB locker in the rear Here are a few pics how it sits now.

 

[Taco04]

Where I am at on this build...

Since I have not updated this in awhile I figured it was time again. After making a trip out to Utah and Colorado to run some trails I saw some shortcomings. First I have decided to keep this Vehicle as light as possible so I have decided to ditch my roof top tent idea. With the lower seats removed and the back seat laid down there is more than enough room for me and the wife to sleep in it plus I always carry a tent. Any way here are some current photos of my build in progress.
I decided to ditch the FJ wheels for a set of FN's


Asfir aluminum engine & transmission skids with RCI transfer case skid and a set of White knuckle DOM sliders make up the armor so far.

I have since changed a lot to the suspension as well I ditched the 883 front springs and spacers for a set of 884's since I went with a taller spring I went with Camburg upper control arms to get my alignment back to spec. Also added some Wheelers super bumps.

In the rear I am now running sway away rear springs instead of the 895e's. I have also added a Sonoran Steel Pan hard bar & bump stops and a set of longer links for the rear sway bar. Next I am going to replace those tiny lower control arms for some Sonoran Steels.

Also since I take the lower seats out when on the roam I came up with a way of securing a couple of Front runner wolf pack boxes I took advantage of their Christmas special and bought a couple of their transit bags for securing cargo. I found some nifty little mounts @ Expedition Exchange and mounted them with some fender washers. This plus some straps and D-rings mounted to the lower seat bolts secures the cargo. Below is a pic I took with the Transit bag in place partially secured.
I still have a lot to do on this rig, I am up in the air on gearing maybe 3:90? Also have not decided on a front locker but I do have these to install when I decide !

Next up is more storage I have an ALU Box coming from Equipt and still need to mount the Front Runner under rack storage slides & table and a fairing for the front of my CVT awning so it's less likely to get hung up on trees. Also more lighting I swapped the Fogs out for some Morimotos that are a ton better than stock but I also want to add some IPF 968's to the lower grill as well.

 

[Taco04]

Another update and a few more upgrades. After deciding not to go forward on another auto related project it was time to get some bumpers on this rig. After lots of looking I decided on a set of Hefty fab bumpers with rear having dual swing outs. Since I live on the coast and have watched all of my steel bumpers rust away I decided it was worth the extra money to have them built out of aluminum. Another plus is it's a lot less weight on the truck since these 4Runners are such rocket ships! lol... Well the wife and I decided it was time to get out of the Tejas heat so I planned on just having the bumpers and winch installed at Hefty Fab in Colorado. After a quick Road trip I was at Chris's shop and him and his guys had everything installed and got me back on the road before I knew it. Everything went smoothly and I could not be happier I am really glad I went this route! Any way with some time to burn I decided to head up to the San Juans and hit some trails. I originally was going to head back early but decided on staying an extra day and just driving straight back. Here are some pics in all the usual spots!


I have also gotten around to installing my ARB compressor so I have no real excuse not to install my gears and locker any more other than time. I have also started installing my Shrockworks dual battery kit which I need to finish as well.
Another project in the works is getting Chris to build a custom TC skid to add some ground clearance since I ditched the crappy Toyota y pipe that hangs ridiculously low. Now my RCI skid looks like it holds extra cargo down below since its no longer protecting the exhaust and sits a bit low. The pic below shows the extra clearance now that the the factory Y-pipe is gone behind the cross member.

Tomorrow I will probably swap out my rear SAW springs back to my OME's along with a set of Icon Hydraulic Bump stops for smoother landings....at least I hope so lol... Below is a Pic of one of the rears should be interesting.

More to come...