My 4Runner Mods

I've recently done several customizations to my 2007 Limited V8 4Runner so I thought I'd share a few photos.

1) Sport Hood Scoop: My 4Runner is a Limited, and it didn't have the Sport hood with the scoop, so I purchased a 3D Carbon pre-painted hood scoop. I used some mesh grille that I cut to fit and painted with some red PlastiDip.

2) Matte Black Racing Stripes: I used PlastiDip to paint the 2 racing stripes on the hood. The grille needed a bit of a refresh so I painted it as well.

3) Chrome Emblems: I used red PlastiDip to paint all of the chrome emblems red.

4) Wheels: I put red Scuffs wheel rim edging on each wheel and eventually plan to paint the rims with a dark metallic gray PlastiDip called Anthracite Gray.

5) Front Grille Mods: On the lower grille you can see some aftermarket billet aluminum chrome grille accenting, the upper portion of the grille had it as well but I removed it to paint the grille and decided to paint the chrome on the billet grille with red PlastiDip as well but ran out so I'll post more photos when that's finished. But I inserted 8 Eagle Eye LED's as you can see into the lower billet grille that I wired up as Daytime Running Lights, the chrome on the lower grille will be painted red eventually and I painted the V8 Emblem black so that it stands out on the red billet grille.

6) Steering Wheel: I purchased a black leather stitch on steering wheel cover with red accent stitching, it wasn't difficult to put on, it was just time consuming but looks way better than the typical slip on covers! I used some red trimming around the controls and once again painted the chrome Toyota Emblem with some red PlastiDip.

7) Toyota Grille Emblem: The part I'm most excited about is the front Toyota Emblem which I'm replacing with a custom Punisher Emblem that I've had custom fabricated and will be backlit with an LED connected to the DRL's, as well as a pulsing red LED that will be wired to my Viper Smart Start Alarm.

I just got my Punisher Skull replacement emblem in and put it on but I still need to wire up the backlighting for the emblem and figure out how to mount the LED's. I've got a few other ideas that I'm still working out but as soon as I get things planned out I'll post those ideas as well. If any of you have any questions, comments, or recommendations for any further modifications let me know, I look forward to hearing some feedback!

I got the design idea for the emblem from MetalMiller but after reading about all the problems everyone was having with him taking their money and at best fulfilling the orders in over a year with many people never receiving their orders at all! I looked elsewhere and I just couldn't find a Punisher Skull Emblem that I liked anywhere near as much but I found Fred at www.frednelsonfabrication.com who was willing to custom fabricate it for me with my own tweek of the design to allow for the backlighting. He kept me updated with photos every step of the way sending me the finished product in less than 10 days! Over all I'm very happy with the work he did, he even sent me a few extra bare metal cutouts that he had rejected for the final product due to some minor flaws which is great since I had considered ordering another one to make up a trailer hitch cover anyway, so all I need to do is sand it, paint it, and put it on. The only thing I was a bit disappointed about is that the emblem doesn't have the nice beveled edges like the one from MetalMiller but I paid less for a product that I actually received and I'm happy with it! So if you're interested in a Punisher Emblem like this one or happen to have your own idea for an emblem that you'd like to have fabricated I'd definitely recommend www.frednelsonfabrication.com he's a good guy, let him know I (Nate Miller) sent you.

 

Thanks Bob,
Not yet, I spent the day painting the Billet aluminum Grille inserts red and just as I finishing up it began to hail. I'm working on the wiring and a way to mount the LEDs behind the emblem, as soon as I get it wired up I'll get some pictures of it both during the day and at night posted.

 

Awesome mods!

 

Nice ride man. Noticed you are also a Colorado Marine? Are you still active duty?

 

Thanks brother, Sorry it took so freakin' long to get back to you, I haven't logged in in awhile as you can see. But no I'm no longer active, wish I was, those 10 years were the best years of my life but I was medically retired after several Iraq injuries and the subsequent 11 surgeries. Are you from Colorado?


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

It's been quite awhile since I've logged in so here's a quick update:

I was busy with various medical issues, surgeries, and physical therapy so it took me quite a bit longer to get around to the things I've been working on than I wanted. Here's a picture of the current status of my 4Runner (it needs a wash!). The Punisher emblem is still not yet backlit however the good news is that I finally got back to working on it about a week ago and all of the wiring, soldering, and electrical work is complete and working great!!! It'll be going into the 4Runner in the next few days as time off work permits and I'll upload a video of it all working as soon as it's done. The wiring was a bit trickier than I had expected to get it all to function properly, I had to solder in a little pulsing circuit to make the red LED pulse, and then I had to use a 12v coil relay (which I'd never worked with before) to solder in so that when it detects the daytime running light circuit is on it will turn the red LED off and switch over to the white LED, then when the DRL circuit is off it turns the white LED off and switches back over to the pulsing red LED circuit. Sounds kinda confusing but once I figured out the 12v coil relay it wasn't so bad. I'll upload a video of it in action on my electronics tinkering bench as soon as I get home from work.




Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

I've been out since 2007.0313 living in Fort Collins

 

Ok I was just getting back from Iraq in 2007, did I&I duty at Buckley with a reserve unit while I had my surgeries and then was medically retired. I&I duty was cake during the month while the reservists were off being civilians. Anyways Semper Fi brother!


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

Well I finished the backlighting and here is what it looks like on my electronics bench. It's already been wired up into my 4Runner and I'm just editing a video so I'll post that in a bit.

https://vimeo.com/172146059


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

Without further ado, here it is!
There are a few little behind the scenes tweaks that I'd like to do still but here is the final result of this venture. I've always been skilled with electronics but I'd never played around with relays before so that was initially a slightly confusing experience but I quickly figured it all out, it's doing exactly what I had set out to accomplish a year ago and I couldn't be happier with the results. So if anyone is interested in doing anything similar and needs any advice or help just let me know and I'll be happy to depart my wisdom on you!

https://vimeo.com/171661160


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill

 

I like what you've done to your 4runner. Looking good. Semper Fi Brother

 

Thanks I appreciate it!
Semper Fi


Semper Fi,
Nate Miller (Sgt, USMC Retired)"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stuart Mill