Well, I was doin a brake job on this really clean lookin 1st gen 4Runner at work today, and I got to thinkin about my runner. The body has been badly abused in the trails, mud pits, and running over or through various objects (deer, trees, signs, ect)...

So anyhoo, I was just wondering what kind of crazy things people have done besides just replacing body panels. Diamond plate the entire truck, aftermarket bodies (non stock lookin ya know), or whatnot.

 

fiberglass tub maybe?

 

 

Well, I kinda ment something a little more crazy than just high fender body panel replacements and full cages and whatnot. Like has anyone made an entire new lookin body or something ya know?

Like they went buck ass wild with a fiberglass mold and changed the body lines and all that good stuff...

 

make it an urban gorilla!

 

You could get one of those Fiberglass bodies they use for competition trucks.

 

Dove tail it front and rear

 

What about something like truck bed liner.....??? I guess that wouldn't really be changing body panels design.... Maybe you could though, im not sure how stiff that stuff is.

I personally love the way 3rd gens look. If i had a 1st gen i would modify it a little to look like a 3rd gen but still have a lot of the stuff 1st gens have.

Sounds like a huge pain though.

 

Oh yeah, a lot of people line-x/ameriguard/herculiner/ect the exterior of their truck. It's great for scrapes and scratches and minor dings and dents. I've done the top of my cab, and my top, and I think it looks pretty cool. Have heard some horror stories, but I'm not sure whether they're urban myths or not. About how if you line-x the entire exterior and get an accident (nothin mayor, just like a glancing body hit in say a parking lot), that the entire body panel will crack, metal and all, because that stuff makes it brittle. But like I said, I dunno if there is any truth to that...

You mean dove tail as in bobbing the rear a couple inches or...? Lol aint never really heard about dove tailin it.

Aint never seen none for a 1g runner... Have any pics?

Lol for a second I thought you said urban camo it. Was like NOW THATS AN IDEA! But then I read closer, and I have no idea what urban gorilla is lol...

 

No pics of a 1st gen with a complete one of those but as far as I know they're mostly custom made anyhow. Based on the little or seen and read about toyotafiberglass.com i'm sure they could do something pretty sick. Heres a pic of a hood and fenders and a pic some sick lookin fenders.,

 

heres some rad pics of other trucks with fiberglass. not 4Runners but its so custom i'm sure you could get one made to work.

This ones BADASS

 

Dang... I really dig that muddy runner with the hood and fender replacements. I guess it just doesn't give you and accurate idea when the pics on the site are all side profiles of the piece by itself. Then again I'm very biased towards muddy trucks

I guess the compitition look just isn't my thing cause I just aint "feelin it" if you know what I mean. I like the more "rugged" look if you will. Those remind me of toy trucks I used to get when I was a littleun. Aint bashin em, just aint my boat. Though that blue one on top would look killer IMO if the fenders weren't so insanely high and it was painted in something not so glossy to get away from the plastic look. But hey, to each his own!

 

so so you know what you're gonna do yet?

 

I'm leanin towards some of the ideas from toyotafiberglass.com... Every panel has numerous dents in em, so I'm eventually going to need to replace em all. Ouch, probably gonna be expensive. Guess I'll have to choose between sas, waterproof and snorkel, new clutch pipes headers and various engine parts, or body panels.

It's a real toss up. SAS will make me more capable, but I still need alot of other things to make the swampthing run good. But if I SAS it I wont want to get new body panels because I know me, and I'll just get into more places where I shouldn't be and ruin the new panels. But the swampthing would run better if I fix what I needs to be fixed, and I wouldn't absolutly NEED to sas it as much as I want too. If I waterproof the engine and get a snorkle I'll aurguably be able to go more places than with a SAS. I dunno... Gotta prioritize! Anyone wanna give me about $10k and I'll be set? lol.

But keep the body ideas coming! This aint really something I'm counting my pennies to go and do tomorrow ya know?

 

I was in a similar position about two weeks ago. I had some money to put into her and wasn't sure where the best place to put it was. I ended up wasting it on diamond plated sheet metal for new interior paneling and DOM tubing for a cage inside. haha, now it wont start and i'm out of cash. Sounds about right though, for me anyhow. Anyhow, once you figure out where to put it you're gonna have fun with it no matter where the money goes. btw, whoevers given out 10k, i'll take some too. thanks.

 

Haha. Yeah I have a little too much fun. I got a bad tendency to do those "I bet you wont's!" and pulling "Hey hold my beer, watch this!" and "Bet I can nail that deer / Drive through that!" That about sums up why I need a new clutch, exhast train, leafs, shocks, a few engine parts, and body panels. SAS and snorkle will just let me have an excuse to do more stupid stuff.

But does anyone know of other places that do similar things like toyotafiberglass.com? Would like to see other people's designs.

 

Mine's kinda different now. It's a 1st gen runner

www.glassworksunlimited.com

www.hannemannfiberglass.com

 

http://www.fiberwerx.com/ is the most similar but DIFFERENT site I could find to ToyotaFiberGlass.com
www.rodster.com/ is a rad site but i'm dout thats what you're looking for. Still worth a peak though, cause its rad.

 

Read this thread on Pirate for dovetail info:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=534659

 

Ok, well I decided what I'm gonna do now. Bought some herculiner (2 gallons for $102 at O'Reilly's) today plannin on paintin my truck's body. Then I figured it'd be a waste seein as how battle scarred it already it.

SO. I plan on replacing both front quarter panels and both bedside panels. Gonna keep the doors and hood since those are still good. Then I'll paint it with the herculiner. Then sometime later work on the engine and whatnot. Then do the waterproofing and snorkle. Then do the sas sometime very far down the road.

But here's my little snag. Toyotafiberglass.com was the only place that I saw outta the links that yall gave me that really spoke to me. BUUUT, I see that they're canadian. Do they ship to us folks here in the USA? Or am I screwed, blued, and tattoo'ed?