Enigma

I'm new here and read in another thread that noobies should post pics of their rigs soo.. Here ya go.. it's pretty much all stock. It's a '93 SR5 V6 Auto w/ 114K. I just bought it on Monday and I'm loving it so far. Other than the oil pressure gauge not working. (Could it be the sender?) It's my first SUV/4WD vehicle.. Anyway.. here's a link to some pics we've taken of it.

http://www.thelikens.net/gallery/4Runner

What do you think I should do to it first? I'm workin with a pretty low-budget right now so keep that in mind.

SLC Punk

Wow its actually sitting level!
The previous owner must have replaced the springs.

1st mod, take off the running boards.

Enigma

Haha yea when I was looking for one I saw several that were sagging.

As far as the running boards.. I've read about several people doing that. Why do you suggest doing that? Does it make it look like it's sitting higher or something?

X-AWDriver

Oh yeah,I removed my runningboards just a couple weeks ago and all my friends think I lifted it and it has a more aggressive stance without them.

Enigma

You got some before/after pics?

BajaRunner

If your going to lift it, I would keep the running boards... I think its just personal prefrence... If not, then take them off.

Put on an exhaust system or a K&N FIPK to add some stoke and HP. Both are cheap.

Enigma

I was actually reading about a mod Joey did that seems would be cheaper and give me about the same results as the FIPK earlier.. so I may just do that as far as air filter goes.

What exhaust system would you guys recommend?

X-AWDriver

I have a before vid but if I can borrow my friend's digi I'll post some after pics.

fooddude

Hey enigma welcome to the board, its nice to see another okie around here, anyways i did the airbox mod and got good results from it. I noticed an increase in HP and throttle response. Take the running boards off, if your concerned it will look funny just take one side off, they are really easy to take off. it makes your runner look higher too, i actually tricked one of my friends that i had lifted the runner, and he believed me for like 6 months.

Enigma

Hey.. funny you should mention that. I just read a thread about that and decided that I'd do the airbox mod. Looks pretty easy, these write-ups make things a lot easier. I'll definately think about taking the running boards off. I don't use em anyway.

Oh, another thing.. how difficult is it to install a stereo in these things? I was looking on installdr and it looks like you take the whole dash apart to install a new deck, sound about right? If that is the case, is it pretty easy?

fooddude

Ya you do have to practically take the whole dash of but its not that hard, and after you get the dash of its real easy from there. I think there is a writeup in the tech section on how to do it. Good luck.

Scofco

I also did the airbox mod on mine last week, I have noticed a tiny bit more pep. Which is great considering the mod took 10 minutes and didn't cost me anything

I ran with my running boards for awhile (I recently purchased mine also) but I am tall, and they don't serve any purpose for me, I just hated having the step the extra bit to get over them without getting dirty. I took mine off, and threw them in the trash, looks wayyyyy better now.

I'll see if I can gather a good before and after photo.

Scofco

My main concern was that you'd be able to see alot of the frame, and you wouldn't really notice a difference in looks, but that wasn't the case at all.

Also, another first mod you must do, is get new wheels

Scofco

It's a piece of cake to install a new deck, I'm sure you can do it. The dash comes apart fairly easy if I recall. The section under the steering wheel drops out, the piece over the ignition comes off, the glovebox drops down, and voila you have access.

muddy_feet

Off with the boards...You'll hear the same thing we all heard. "Did you get a lift?"....Uh...no,...Oh, yeh 3 inches.

AxleIke

I would say that yes, the running boards off does make you look like you have a lift. But, the real reason to get them off in my opinion is that if you do any wheeling, and you come down off of a rock, those boards are sitting 3 inches lower, and they will crush up into your doors, and rocker panels. Cheaper to take them off in that case.

Scofco

I second that. That was the final nail in my running boards coffin. The truck fell down on them (my silly mistake) and crushed them.

Enigma

Thanks for the before and after pictures. I guess I will probably be taking the boards off.. everyone has me convinced it's the best thing to do and I don't really use them anyway.

As far as the stereo goes, you guys make it sound pretty easy so I'll go ahead and do that sometime soon as well then I suppose. Mainly because the stock stereo works, but the 3CD in-dash changer doesn't quite work. It just sits and says Er-02 and doesn't ever read any of the discs I put in, no matter which "tray" they are in. Any ideas on that?

fooddude

Hey Enigma i had that 3-disc changer also, i had the same error problem, and whenever it did play the song it skipped on the littlest scratch, another problem i had with it is it ate my CD's. So i finally said screw it and got a new player. It gave me more grief than enjoyment.

Enigma

Haha.. alright sounds good, I'll just ditch it and move to a new HU then.

Ah, one other thing I was going to ask about is this.. The tailgate seems to "rattle" a little bit when going over bumps and whatnot. I've checked it out and it's not the glass or anything, but it feels like the back passenger side of the tailgate doesn't quite latch as secure as the other side and that is the cause of the rattling. Anyone else ever have this problem? I'm thinking I might be able to pick up a latch at a salvage or something and see if that fixes it.. Not sure what else to do on that.