Interesting

 

Good idea, But personally IMO i would rather pay for the extra gas by leaving the skids on and protecting against that piece of plastic that came flying off a truck at 70mph and going into your radiator and causing lots more damage. Just my opinion thought. Surprisingly thats a lot of weight though.

 

i pulled my rear tire, and the remaining crap, but the skids stay, and more are on the way...wonder how much those crappy rear seats weigh, cuz thier def going

 

My rear glass and body is leaving for this very reason. Too much heavy weight up high... it is OUUTA here. But I am reducing weight for wheeling reasons, not for on road economy.

 

Remove your Running boards. They are very heavy!

 

hahah good job, i actuallly did all of that, but something about me worries about the gas tank skid cuz i really dont want to get umm pierced lol. But i took out my rear seats and have semi stripped interior, since i commute alot, this definitly helps out, along with increased handling and reduce braking distance.

 

another thing i was considering was having a set of steelies with tires. Because i have 17's already. i thought going 15 with some of those tires found on a base model 4runner would help but, they wont clear my tundra calipers soo yeah haaha.

 

Will do. I will report the weight as well. I expect the weight to be around 20 lbs each with fittings and brackets.

I would like to retain the cosmetics of the vehicle as much as possible. With the fender flares and the front lip, the side step rails match nicely. If I can find a set of lightweight nerf bars in aluminum, (that won't break the bank!), these stock ones are outta here!

Thanks again for the suggestion.



Kevin,

I hear you on the gas tank cover concern. I considered removing it, considered the consequences, and finally decided that there isn't much risk. Sure, in some wild hypothetical event that some object flies under the vehicle at high speed, (as likely as any other road mishap), there is a risk of perforating the fuel tank. Those of you that wheel know for a fact that the shield does jack ˟˟˟˟˟ to prevent dents on the fuel tank caused by the driveshaft bumping due to excess flex, bottoming out, etc. Folks actually upgrade their shields to hefty/heavier ones. Point being, the protection it offers is insignificant and inadequate to begin with to absorb a high impact event. Point two: I'm pretty sure earlier models and some other Toyotas don't even come with one stock, (correct me if I'm wrong fellas). Take a look under the next 80-85 pickup/4runner you bump into and tell me if there's a gas tank protector under it. The last one I looked under didn't. Point three: This decision should depend on your individual driving situation. I don't go offroad. I don't see more than 10 to 15 minutes on the freeway at any given time, (if it's longer than 15 minutes, I'm stuck in traffic going under 5 mph). The majority of my commute involves city/town driving. I haven't changed the spare since buying the truck in 2002. Hence, the removal of the spare, the skid plate, and the gas tank skid plate... All, in my specific case, are useless pieces of excess precautionary armor that will most likely never be used. I'm sure you have your reasons for keeping the plate, (no need to explain, I'm certain that they are probably the same reasons behind why we retain the bumper reinforcements - something I will not remove anytime in the future).


Thanks again for your comments gang. I will update this thread periodically with instructions and specific weights on future reductions. Next to go will be the tow hooks. Tried loosening them up today... Those things are torqued down tight. Will need a three foot wrench to get them off.

 

I am very curious what is your 1/4mile or 1/8mile Times

 

well if he's on oahu we won't know because they closed down the tracks last year. sucks.... though they're building a ferry to connect a few islands so you can take your truck there and race on maui.

 

1. How about the rear window "spoiler?" I hear that prevent exhaust gasses from coming in the rear window though, so be careful. That's probably 10lbs or so and may have "negative" aerodynamic effects.

2. Fender flares?

3. Fabricate an airfoil to direct air under the rear bumper instead of in to it. If you look at the rear bumper, it appears to be a pocket that collects air. I am no specialist in aerodynamics though, so it may not matter.

4. Air suspension: Lower the vehicle once under way to reduce underbody drag.

5. Side exit exhaust. This should improve performance and remove weight by eliminating exhaust piping.

If I think of more I'll post them.

 

I suspect the rear "spoiler" helps reduce the low pressure pocket behind the vehicle while driving at highway speeds. So in actuality it probably helps the aerodynamics of the vehicle, at least in terms of highway mileage.

Mine doesn't do jack in keeping exhaust out of the vehicle BTW, but I have rear-facing exhaust tip (TRD exhaust)

On topic though, there is a lot of weight to be lost in the rims and tires. Lightweight alloy rims (maybe even magnesium alloy) and low-pro tires would go quite a long way to helping acceleration. Don't plan on it looking any better though...

 

Slick,

Etan is right. Wish there was a track here. You can see what other folks did to get the following times:

http://www.dragtimes.com/Toyota--4Ru...ag-Racing.html

http://www.dragtimes.com/Toyota--Tac...ag-Racing.html


96runner,

Your posts are always helpful. Thank you for your suggestions. What is a rear window spoiler? Is that the same as the rain deflector plate up top that covers the third brake light? If so, I don't have that one either. I like the idea of a side exit exhaust. Going with wider wheels out back and would like to retain the fender flares. Awesome suggestions.


Mastacox,

I will be going with IForged racing series forged aluminum wheels. Their 20 x 10" application weighs the same as the stock 16" wheel, exactly 22.5 lbs, which is nice... I'll have to decide whether to go with their 16"s, which will be around 16 lbs each or go for the "bling bling," haha. I have heard that each pound of unsprung weight equates to the effect of 8 lbs of sprung weight. In other words, going with the 16" application that saves 6.5 lbs per wheel, will have the effect of removing an additional 208 lbs of non-rotational material off of the truck. Awesome suggestion as well.

 

As very stupid as it is, the reinforcement bars that protect the bumpers. However its unsafe but they are heavy! ahahah

 

The diameter of the wheels and tires is always a huge deal. If you really want to get the truck faster, you can go down on the diameter. This reduces the moment of inertia.

Think about this for a sec. Is it easier to sling a weight on a string that is 4 ft long, or the same weight on the end of a string that is 1ft long.

Also you can switch out your stock seats for some light weight sparco or recaro seats. You can probably shave off about 60-80 lbs with those. Of course comfort will be sacrificed, but hey you're going to be able to stay planted in your seat very well.

 

A/C Compressor and Condenser must be 25+Lbs. Who needs that?
(I live in the north east and use it once a year)

Roof Rack Bars? Mud Flaps? Motor for rear A/C?

You could also take off the fender well plastic. But that would send alot of rocks onto metal.

Take the carpet out. Then strip all the sound deadening material (Dynamat like stuff) off the metal. Normaly most cars come with a sound deadening and thats gotta be a bunch of weight.

 

believe it or not..those front skid plates actually help airflow under the car as well...not just adding protection. without those, you'll create more turbulent air under the motor, thus causing the truck to use more fuel to push through the air. minimal effect, but significant none the less, especially if youre wanting to increase fuel mileage. and the runner already has a drag coefficient of a brick.

but i do like your thinking especially for 1320 times of 'if you want more power, add less weight' but then again...runners arent made for the quarter mile, nor are they speed demons. however, toyota has taken the 'more power add less weight' train of thought into the last model supra. they shaved every ounce of weight possible. things like single exhaust, and hollow carpet fibres & bolts all reduced the weight of that beast significantly...

 

Yeah, I removed my rear cargo carpet (but left the mat). The carpet alone was good for about 10lbs or so, the mat is probably another 5.

New seats is a great idea too.

 

I know I'm new here, but this is about the wierdest thing i've ever heard. I guess a 2wd 4runner seems odd to me too, but your reducing wieght by maybe a max of 2%, so that would be equivilent to adding 4hp or so. I mean if you want to strip one down you might as well lose all the dash and simply add a couple necessary guages, lose all the interior plastic, headliner, grab handles, lights. Remove the rear bumper. Fix the windows in the closed position which should be easy with the door panels removed. Then remove all the actuators and electrics to go with. Get rid of all the seats and put a light wieght racing seat in for the driver. Get rid of course of the radio and speakers. Light weight battery. No ac, get rid of power steering, the hood? Helium in the tires? Take a big poop before driving?

I guess the list could go on of all the unecessary stuff, but even then I don't see much appreciable gain in the capabilities of a 4runner. I mean, do what you want, it's your ride. Can you actually tell the difference?

 

Saving weight is everything!

For sports cars, it's all about pounds per horsepower; So from that standpoint, losing 100 lbs is the same as gaining 7 hp (for a 4000lb vehicle). But you have to remember you also get a gain in braking, handling, and gas mileage.

What you're talking about would be a full-race setup and save maybe 1000lbs, but even saving just 200 can drastically improve performance in all areas. 200lbs would literally make it seem like you had 15 extra horsepower, and all you did is remove dead weight. I will specifically not be putting sliders or 1/4" plate bumpers on my 4Runner because I don't want to haul around the extra 400lbs; it's the same idea as taking weight off. That armor might be nice for scraping around in the rocks, but it's a killer for your vehicle's performance.