so i spend most of my time over on T4R, but figured id come over here and check it out, and see if i can piss anyone off over here too lol.

i got a few yotas, right now my pet project is a 97 runner,

i bought it at just over 200k in oct 10, and it now has just over 225k havent had a single issue, but dumped a fair amount of time and money into it. i do search and rescue so thats what im gearing it twards(as well as a family adventure rig)

started of as a 97 SR5, 3.4l auto, non locker.

two days after bringing it home


the mod bug bit me right away, first on the list was the TRD graphics and to lose those retarded tacoma sport wheels, if i was gonna have 17s then they had to be tundra rims, fortunately a friend owns a couple body shops locally and i snagged a set of a totaled tundra before insurance came to tow it away(officially this never happened)

then came a set of 285 70 17 bighorns -yes on a stock runner, no lift, no spacers ect. they fit with minimal rub


i built my own custom roof rack



then i got my back pay from deployment and it was game on-
first on the list was to update things and take care of "weak" links,
new LBJs


B&M trans cooler + perma cool with 10" electric fan and auto meter tem gauge,





-the second cooler, the perma cool, wasnt added till after the armor, and it was added cause the B&M couldnt keep up, as you can see in the pic, in stop and go traffic i would have some issues(even with over heating -dual electric fans are soon to come)

-after adding both coolers, i had to relocate my horns(thankfully the previous owner had "upgraded" to american horns, so they sound a lot better and "bigger" than stock)

now it was time for my ARB rear locker









-i have sense broken the locker and it is still in the truck. its stuck in the locked position and well im just waiting for one day when everything goes BOOM!

TBU, 231s!




sliders,





then it was on to other things,


the bud built skids along with a lil skip tank skid

i also picked up a full set of 99tall coils with front bilsteins, with all the weight of the armor i sit just over 1/2" higher than a stock 97.

i sold my first roof rack to another guy on T4R and finally built a new one,




i liked the expanded metal flooring in the first one better, but i like this rack more overall, its shorter, weighs considerably less(the first one ways way over built). and the light bar is removable

ive done several wheeling trips from afternoon outings with friends to snow runs with the family, and multi-day wheeling trips in cali and around the PNW, to long extended searches in remote areas of the PNW i have never had this runner fail me or leave me stranded. my build has not come to an end and will continue. i hope to add a SC here soon, and lift it along with a ARB front bumper.
im sure i have left out a lot of stuff ive done to it, but i thought id at least share this with you guys.

 

i actually like it for a new rig and i hate new rigs.. but lookin good. i just moved to vancouver not to long ago let me know if you go out and play or explore be nice to meet some ppl sorry for hijackin your thread lol

 

Nice to see ya over here!

 

not gonna lie, i do like the lay out of t4r better, but i think there is more information here, its a trade off, so i dont think im gonna dump t4r.

 

truck is looking great. I will look for it around

 

no worries about the hijack, yeah with me not really working that much gives me tons of time but no money to do stuff so i havent been getting out much of late.

check out pistons wild, its a local 4wd club that is in vancouver we go all over the place and try to do a monthly trip outing. good group of people and we are working hard to build and open up trails locally in the yacolt burn area.

http://www.pistonswild.com/

http://pistonswildforum.proboards.com/index.cgi

https://www.facebook.com/pages/PISTO...b/265002124840

 

so im gonna be wiring in some more lights(shocker i know), only these will be brake lights as well as rear fogs. so here are my questions. first off im looking for a one way power flow thingy(yes thats a technical term) i want to have these as brake lights but also want them to be on a switch so that when i turn on my fogs they come on and stay on(so i will have a rear fog light). also i will probably be wiring them into my hazards for SAR and code3 use. so i need some one way power flow thingys so that when i turn on my fog lights the 4runner brake lights dont come on and when i turn on the hazards/ strobes my fog lights and brake lights dont start flashing as well ect. any body have any ideas?

here is the kit i bought.


anyhow im also looking at where to mount them here are the two ideas i had:

idea A






idea B






what do you guys think. they show up better in person than in the pics.

 

Get a diode kit for towing your rig behind an RV. About $35 at any RV dealet. A diode is the one way valve you are talking about.

 

X2 on the diode.
I would mount the LEDs horizontal vs. vertical.

 

I think I saw you drive by today in your red '85 today...

 

I...want....the....crabby claw thing!

 

I also vote for the vertical mounting. It just seems brighter that way.

Nice looking truck! Also props on the search and rescue work. I have a fond respect for those guys.

 

that was me, i was over at the 'rents house helping mom with some things around their place. drove that hoping i would find some poor stuck city slicker in the ditch at some point and tow him out for some "fun gas" money... no luck everyone had either abandond their vehicles or gotten a reputable tow company to pull them out...

that 3rd holder? i think my father inlaw built that from "junk" in his shop, either that or he stole it from toyota when they stopped rebuilding diffs. works quite well and made installing the ARB so nice and easy.

idk im still tossing the ideas around, vertical would be easiest to mount, but then i run the risk of crushing the lights with gear from inside the rack and it would take more wire to them. under would look best and require less "routing" of wires and loom, but would be harder to install as id have to remove the rack(im lazy -done it too many times)

thanks its often times hard work and requires a lot of sacrifices(as we dont get paid) and can be very taxing. but its fun and gets me out and idk i just love it. the mrs on the other hand idk she has her own veiws(does not like being woken up at 2am because some individual tried to play "chicken" with mother nature lol)

 

this thing is pretty impressive in person..you have done a nice job on it.

if you want to dump off your tan '85 cheap sometime let me know

 

haha I know who i'm calling if I need to be rescued!
great looking rig!

 

its good to see LIL Skipps products getting out there, he lives up the street from me and has helped me a ton on my rig. the guy does real good work.