As with any project, it's never ending!

I've been doing a bunch of wheeling and the truck works really good for the most part, but there are a few more details to work out.

Being that this is my only vehicle, and the winters can be a little rough at 9500' feet, I decided to get some new tires. With the spool and square front front driveshaft I can't really drive around in 4wd, so good tires are a must!

The old tires worked good but they were border line for snow and ice driving. There was also enough tread left to get some decent money for them, towards the new tire purchase.

I went with the new Goodyear MTR w/ Kevlar . I thought about the KM2's but I don't really know if I trust the sidewalls and the new MTR tread pattern seems like it would work a lot better in the snow / ice. I'm really excited to see how they work (both street and snow bashing )

 

What don't you trust about the KM2 sidewalls?

They are basically the same as the MT/R, just no Kevlar. .

 

I also needed to install some front bumpstops. I wanted the springs to break in before setting them up and now is the first chance I've had to install them.

I first needed to flex the truck out and check the clearance of everything. Flex on 4Runner!

 

On the last truck I had the bumpstops contact the U-bolt plate, it worked well but sometimes the U-bolts would contact the bumpstop and chewed them up a little. This time I set up the bumpstops to contact the leaf spring right behind the U-bolt plate.

 

That's some gnarly flex...

 

Let me know how moving the bumpstop behind the U-bolt plate on the leaf spring works out! I'm tired of trying to figure out the best way to get mine working. I was going to build a small riser off of the plate but your idea looks much easier! Also, where did you get your bumpstops? Any idea of how much they compress? They look pretty soft!

 

I've just heard of a lot of people having problems with the older style Mud Terrain. I have heard of a couple KM2 having cut sidewalls (which might be isolated cases). The whole sidewall thing was only part of the choice. I really wanted Krawler's, but couldn't afford them and couldn't justify having those on a daily driver in the middle of winter. I thought about the KM2's but the new MTR seemed like a better all around tire for street and snow.

My first set of MTR's were some of the best tires I've ever owned, I figure that Goodyear wouldn't discontinue the old style to make something that was sub-par to the pervious version (but I could be wrong). I guess we will see.

 

I think it should work fine. When I worked at Off Road Solutions Mike came up with bumpstop mount that contacted in about the same place. For the style wheeling we do, and how soft the bumpstops are, I don't really see any issue with this kind of set up. I don't think it would be a good idea to use the TG style hard bumpstops.

I got these bumpstops from 4WP, I don't know where they came from but they had a couple from a "kit" that they had installed. Energy Suspension and Daystar both sell the same style bumpstops.

They compress quite a bit, I don't think I have any pictures of them compressed on the old truck. I will tell you that it made jumping the last 4Runner ALOT smoother!

 

awesome 4Runner! it took me 3 sittings but i made it through the entire thread! Keep up the good work

 

Just read all 28 pages... I really like your build. I like how you've approached it by building it up so that it is well balanced in the sense that you've covered gearing, lockers, armour etc without neglecting muuch.

 

Thanks guys! I really feel that it's best to have a clear plan before starting to work on the vehicle. First figure out what your going to use the truck for, then what size tire you want to run and build the truck around that.

 

It's been a while since I've updated this, so I guess it's time.

After a few trips and a bunch of wheeling I've noticed at certain times the truck would run hot. I never actually overheated it, but it came close a couple of times. After a lot of thought, I feel the main reason for this is lack of air flow to the radiator (mainly the front bumper and winch). It only heats up when I'm pulling large hills / passes, the engine is working hard, the turbo is hot and the outside temp. is warm.

I have done a bunch to help fix this, and everything has helped but I still think I'm going to have to do more.

The first thing I did was add hood louvers. I noticed that when I ran trails that were steep passes, and the engine was working hard without much speed, the engine compartment would get super hot. I don't they do a whole lot at highway speed but they really seem to make a differance on the trail.

I spent a bunch of time figuring out how to space them so they didn't look stupid. The lower louver ended up being right on top of the brace, so I ended up drilling a bunch of holes in the brace for the air to escape.

 

NICE WORK! Those louvers are placed perfectly!
That 4 runner is so sick!!

 

I also decided to move the lights, they were just blocking to much air flow. The only place I could mount them was on top of the front bumper, I thought about mounting them up on the roof but the glare off the hood would drive me crazy!

I got the two lights remounted and it looked stupid, so I ordered two more! The four lights look a lot better (I still prefer the lights in the bumper, but it had to be done) and together put out a lot more light.

Here's the truck with just the two lights



And here it is with four!



Here is an example of how bright the HID lights are! The first picture is of my high beams only (IPF H4 housings with PIAA Xtreme white bulbs). It looks like my headlights suck, but they are really bright. The HIDs are brighter in person too

Before and after





Before and after

 

it looks so angry.
I Like It!

 

More pictures can be found here!

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f100...summer-192162/

With ski season almost here I needed some kind of rack for the snowboards. I have a Thule Evolution box, but needed a way to attach it to the truck so I went with the Thule system. This also gives me a place to mount my Hi-Lift, a shovel and in the Summer I can carry the new Tent-Cot up there!





Close up of the lights





And how the truck looks now, I'm really happy how it has turned out!

 

Thanks guys!

 

The light set up is killer!!
That is DEFINITELY my favorite 4 Runner of all time!!!

 

awesome 4runner man. love everything you have done. not one thing looks bad at all its an incredible machine

 

I may have missed it but what size are those tires?

Great looking Truck