What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

Yeah, I hear you. It's bad enough for my back to be lifting 60lb sacks of concrete all over the place, the last thing I want is to heft a 70 lb donut on a trail somewhere. Yet, I need to as I have plans for the spare tire space. I do have a second swing arm and deciding if/when to install should I need to carry a jerry can (or two) but honestly I've never been deep enough into the backcountry to have a need to carry extra fuel.

 

Got the trim pieces painted. Will get that headliner recovered when i find a fabric i like.

 

I did a double take when I looked at your pic., "wait, whaat?" I like where you're going with this!

 

Bilstein shocks, bump stops and Eibach springs in the rear.

 

This is something I have thought about doing. I've thought about it a lot, actually. I want to "Black Out" the interior - which means doing the headliner and plastic parts.

How much time/effort/money did you spend on painting the plastic parts?

 

Man, I’d love to have the headliner and upper trim be black instead of that light tan or whatever it is.

 

Yeah the 2 tone interior is the fugliest thing toyota coulda done.

Cost not much so far just 4 cans of the trim paint so far. I haven't picked a headliner fabric yet. Just takes time to disassemble everything so doing it. I did it over 3 days due to time restraints a couple hours for each section, a pillar then b pillar then finally cargo. 4 coats each piece in 95 degrees dried quick.

$59 Dupli-Color HVP110-6 PK Vinyl and Fabric Coating Spray Paint - Burgundy - 11 oz Aerosol Can Pack of 6

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B3UZEX4

I figure the headliner is gonna be the bitch. Having to remove all the glue and foam etc.

 

Hmm, I think I'll air on the side of caution and see what an upholstry shop would charge to do this for me. I'm not lazy, I'm just smart enough to know when I should pay someone to do something for me - so it gets done right the first time.

 

It’s not just back country needs for the extra fuel, on road travel can benefit if you go into/through high gas cost areas (Cali) and don’t want to refuel there. I have a LRA (long range America) aux gas tank, 24 g where the spare sits for both of these reasons. Just a thought for the day.

 

I've done it a couple times on other cars. It's definitely something to take your time on and not rush. That's why i didn't want to do the headliner when i had limited time.

And i also want to get the roof sound deadened while it's down too

 

I appreciate the thought! I have considered the LRA tank but unfortunately I live in the high cost state you mentioned so it wouldn't help me to use an aux tank for that purpose. To date my deepest journey into the backcountry was well within range of the factory tank. Sadly I've not been able to make any trips out to the desert regions this year due to family matters but hopefully next year?

 

So, a few things happened (aside from my weekly fill up).

I decided to detail/wipe down the engine bay after running it through the car wash. I have one of those yearly car wash passes, so I get it washed a lot. I decided to take a shot at wiping down the engine bay with the rags & spray bottles the car wash had. They had Glass & "Interior" cleaner.

I grabbed an old rag, a bottle of Interior cleaner and went to town. The engine bay was only dusty. Not greasy or muddy. Which is no surprise at all, my 4Runner is a pavement princess who takes 1st place in all the Mall Crawling events!

I took my time and sprayed the interior cleaner on the rag on and wiped down as many plastic parts/hoses that I could touch safely. It took me about 10 minutes and I wish I had a before picture because the after pictures look pretty darn great.









Oh, while I was drying off the truck, I was crouched down wiping a lower body panel. I grabbed the drivers side door handle to pull myself up, but it opened! So I was pulling myself up as it was opening with my full force... BAM! I took a shot RIGHT in the upper lip. It isn't swollen, but it cut it.

This is the 2nd time I got into a fight with my truck and lost. The 1st was right after I bought it and the door caught me in the upper eye. It split my eyebrow open and I bled like a stuck pig. It was in the Kroger parking lot. There was so much blood it looked like a scene from the movie Carrie.

Now you have ANOTHER reason to laugh at me. Bring it!

 

You're describing a coffin...at my age I'll be in a coffin soon enough. All black interior? NOPE!

Ever notice that in high-end models like the Lexus the interior is a really light color? Makes it seem more spacious than it is. Black makes it feel like the walls are closing in on you. Plus, anything you drop on the floor you'll never find again................

 

A coffin? C'mon man. Do you really think that the family memeber who eventually murders you won't do a great job hiding your body?!

 

Yes, I have, and I know why it’s done.

A dark interior, however, is easier on my eyes. And I just like it better.

 

Looks like brand new! Well done.

 

I gotta admit, I was pretty impressed. I didn't use any fancy chemicals, or soap/water. Just some crap in a spray bottle and a rag.

I like that it shows the plastic with the factory matte finish. It's not shiney. I hate seeing that crap on engine bays.

 

That will teach you a lesson, quit shit talking about your T4R because it’s always listening and it may hit your other eye when you least expected!

BTW, it looks good!

 

There are a few quality products that when used in the bay, they don’t feel oily or attract dust. Adams Polishes makes some, It’s “all purpose exterior dressing”.
I’ve been using it exclusively… good stuff.

 

If you want that engine bay to sparkle, saturate it with tire foam. Don't be shy about over doing it. I was very skeptical about trying this, but it works like magic. Keep the foam away from the alternator. Everything else gets sprayed, including the cowl. Tire foam also works on the heritage grill and powder coat. If you don't like the results, hit it again.

 

Installed Ark splash guards P/N 83810 in the 4Runner. The Ark material is stiff and feels plasticky rather than rubbery to the touch:



Also rotated the tires, greased the lower ball joint, tie rod end, and rear driveshaft.

 

Man it’s way too hot down here in Texas for black headliners.

 

Not happy about that, more concerned now that Stoli isn't resigned.

 

Finally installed my lift last night! Eibach 1.6" (2019/2020) trd pro springs, 3/8" top hat spacers, jba uca, bilstein b12 1.5"-2" rear lift springs and airlift airbags. Trd pro shocks.

After a couple days im going to jack it up and see how much down travel i have left.



Now my 285s look small

Also modified my $300 Amazon roof rack to sit lower.

 

Replaced blown tweeter in dash-driver side. I didn't realize it slowly died over the last 2 years. Messing with the fader found out it was producing about 20% of the volume it should. New OEM tweeter, all is good. Though about replacing both with aftermarket, but with the very odd ohm and sensitivity rating of these tweeters and having gone aftermarket before(in the dash) only to really throw off the sound, went with the OEM.

 

Installed new engine air filter after my broncos lost....

 

Yeah, that game was some BS. Broncos did their best to give it away and refs gave it to them on a platter.

 

takes less than 2 minutes to set up and take down. add another few minutes if you drop and anchor the legs. easily done with 1 person (you just tie the other end of the awning to the roof rack)

I'm not sure how much wind it would withstand. I wouldn't open it at the beach if folks are flying kites and you're getting some really solid gusts of wind. but everything looks to be pretty sturdily built. The only downside to the 270 degree awning is that you can't open the rear hatch with it fully open.

Here's a review that helped sell me on getting it when it was on sale earlier this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QtVXhnnmDU&ab_channel=Gator_Overland