OK… so I just had everything typed up for my first post and it timed out so when I went to post it, I lost everything.

We’ll try again. Been a member on here for about 4.5 years and have a total of 2 posts, so I figured it’s time to give back to the forum and start a build thread where others can see the progress of my project. This forum has been essential as I’ve tackled issues with my wife’s 4runner. Other forums have been instrumental in my Jeep builds, so it’s probably time for me to share what I’m doing in hopes that it might help someone.

A little background before we get started. I started out a Toyota guy and was very fortunate that my dad turned his Tacoma at the end of his lease over to me when I was 16. What an awesome truck that was. Unfortunately, with only a high school type job the payments required to buy the truck were too much, as you could imagine, and after a couple years it was time for something new. Plus, my buddies were all getting into Jeeps so it was a good time to part ways with the Tacoma and join the club.

My dad had ended up with a Wrangler, don’t remember exactly how, but that was a perfect opportunity to trade him the Tacoma back (and the payments) and take the Jeep off his hands, haha. It was a ’93 YJ with the 4 cylinder and a manual. It was a fun little Jeep. I put a 4” lift and 32’s on that and drove it for a couple years. While it was fun to 4 wheel, the long drive from lower Michigan to Michigan Tech for college demanded another vehicle.

’92 YJ


I traded the YJ in for a ’98 Cherokee one spring break. The Cherokee was a great vehicle. I put a 5.5” lift on it along with 32’s and drove that through the remainder of college. I couldn’t have asked for a better vehicle for that time. It was set up to do moderate wheeling but could still be used as a daily driver. While the Cherokee was great, I wanted to get back to a Wrangler after college. It didn’t take long before the Cherokee was sold and I picked up the next project after graduation.

Cherokee and Tacoma (Dad’s Tacoma at this time)


The next project was a partially built ’94 YJ. This has been a great vehicle with only living a few miles from work. You can’t beat having the top down in the summer time and the doors off. Over the past 4.5 years I’ve transformed that into a very capable Jeep. However, it’s gotten to the point where I’m again ready for something new. While I still love camping and the outdoors my wife and I don’t enjoy the rock crawling as much we used to. I’d rather pursue a vehicle to do more expedition type wheeling that can handle obstacles as they come but doesn’t require going to a ‘park’ to enjoy. You can say I’m a panzie or that I’m getting old but I’m ready to have some of my amenities back too. I don’t particularly enjoy sweating on the way to work when it’s 90 degrees and raining because I don’t have AC. Also, as we prepare to start a family soon (hopefully, don’t know exactly when this will be but I know it’s getting closer), I’ll definitely want something more practical than a Wrangler.

’94 YJ


While I thought long and hard about going back to a Cherokee or maybe even a Grand Cherokee (ZJ), I absolutely love 3rd gen 4runners. We have one that my wife drives that has been rock solid, other than the strawberry milkshake, which ultimately influenced my decision to buy another one. This brings us to today.

Wife’s 2001 4runner – 195k miles


And... Thanks to hats off for new project.

 

Thanks again to hats off for his patience. I actually bought the 4runner a month ago. Unfortunately, it just showed up Friday. The first shipping company that I had contracted with to have it shipped from New York to Indiana couldn't find a carrier. The second company had lined up a carrier within 1 day and it was here 2 days after that.

The guy showed up at 7:10am on Friday and first thing was to sign off on the paper work saying that he brought it here and that it wasn't damaged. We did this before I even really got to look at it. He started in by telling me how big of a piece of crap the thing was. Here's paper I had to sign and his description of the vehicle. You can see all the X's on the right hand side showing where all the vehicle was damaged. Also, notice his comment about how the Trans is tied-up, haha.


I'm guessing that guy hasn't hauled many 4 wheeling vehicles across the country. Yea, it does have a few dents and dings in it but his opinion must have been skewed by the type of vehicles he is typically hauling. As he continued to unload he talked about people who had been scammed on craigslist and other sites, haha. I think he left here thinking that I still got scammed, however it was pretty much as I expected it to be.

 

This is my 4th vehicle that will be a daily driver/wheeler and while many will argue the build vs. buy, I can see sides to both. I was actually debating on keeping my wife's 4runner and building that. However, with the amount of money it costs to buy the parts, building doesn't always make financial sense. The aftermarket parts don't hold their value once they're on the vehicle. I couldn't justify buying the array of parts to our current 4runner.

The decision was made. The next project would be bought. This 4R had been set up quite nicely, however many things were left unfinished. I personally think I got a good deal even with shipping it here. As you saw above the "trans is tied-up" which can be translated to "doesn't work" so the price reflected that.

This thread will be a combination of finishing things and redo things to make them how I personally want them.

Current Pics




Current List Set-Up...
- ARB "tacoma" front bumper and Perkins Performance rear bumper
- Stubs deluxe weld on sliders
- OME Lift front and back
- Robert Brown one inch body lift and steering extension.
- Sonoran Steel adjustable rear panhard bar
- New carpet (dirty though)
- Axles out of a donor vehicle rear limited elocker 4.3 gear ratio. (locker not wired) 77k miles. Seals were replaced at the time of the install
- Goodyear Duratrac 285-75-16 tires.

Maintenance Needs…
- Troubleshoot and repair the transmission
- Rear Main Seal
- Timing Belt (will do water pump at the same time)
- Coolant leak for trans cooler fitting at the bottom of the radiator (preventing a 2nd strawberry milkshake)
- Front two speakers on the radio aren’t working
- Driver side pinch seam is starting to rust -> need to address
- Coat the underbody to prevent future rust


Other Things...
- Thorough cleaning (lots of dog hair) to make the new carpet look new again
- Clean headliner
- Center console swap
- Limited power seat swap
- Bud Built skid install
- Wire E-locker
- Add center caps
- 1/4” wheel spacers?
- Repaint sliders
- Wire Hella lights
- Wire Winch
- Tacoma whip mod
- VSC switch
- 1st Gen Roll Bar?
- Drill out bolt for license plate mounting
- Stainless steel brakelines
- Raise front bumper to remove body lift gap
- Raise rear bumper to remove body lift gap
- TBD