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

those look sick. I'd prefer swapping head and tail lights with morimoto but have heard mixed results with headlights.
maybe I'll just change the tail lights How hard was the tow light install.

 

I'm honestly super impressed with the tails. Many of the aftermarket options in my opinion are meh, but these tails look factory.

The hitch light is easy, unplug tow harness, install new harness, slide light into hitch. Done.

 

I have the filler piece. Got it about a year ago and yeah it’s been starting to rust in certain spots. I live in Cali too. I reached out to RCI and their response was it’s normal and to try sanding and repainting it..lol. Glad I didn’t get sliders from them.

 

Did you access it from the backside?

 

I haven't had any issues using it since I bought the 4Runner. No more than a Garmin I bought couple years ago when I use rental car for work. I know ANY Nav system can lead you astray for a fact!

 

I'm not the person you quoted, but when I did mine I was able to access it from the back. There where a couple of clips that were hard to get at but with persistence is doable.

 

I'm sad to see so many comments about RCI. I have their sliders and full aluminum skids, including cat guards and gas tank skid. I have a front filler from my victory bumper.

I have one rust spot on the slider top plate where the letters were cut out and its sharp so not surprised the PC didn't stick well. Other than they they've held up well - although I need to crawl under and take a good look.

I rattle canned my raw aluminum skids before install and they all fit without any issues

 

Now that I've slept on it, it really wasn't that bad. I did the install by myself so that may have added to the frustration. The skids seem to be good quality. I do think the install instructions need to be updated. It's not rocket science but I expect a company that sells a product for customers to install to have good instructions. My guess is that the instructions have been the same for a number of years and small changes in models have been made.

With the Labor Day sale, prices were very good.

Now the hole being slightly off was a pain. But it was only one hole out of the bunch.

 

there’s a bit of flex on the front crossmember where the skid plate bolts. the truck developed a squeak when i would turn. i didn’t think much of it until i drove the 4R with the skid plate off to repaint it and the squeak was stopped.

it’s possible the frame was slightly flexed in a way to cause the misalignment.

 

This seemed like a reasonably priced update for the navigation unit...however, every one of those I looked at, no matter the price, on Amazon said compatible for the 4Runner through 2018. I don't imagine it really makes a difference, but mine is a 2019. You would think one of those sellers would have updated their listing if compatible with 2019. One actually said through 2020, which we all know is incorrect, but when I drilled down on the details, it too said 2018.

Edit: found one seller who stated compatible with 2019, so I ordered that one. I'm sure it's probably the same thing everyone else is selling, though...

 

Definitely a possibility. Could also be I missed something when trying to wiggle it around to get it to fit. It started with the two center "tube bolts". Since those were harder to modify without completely removing the skid, I took the front two bolts off and got the center ones in. So now one of the front ones was off. It was *barely* off. Just enough so that I didn't feel comfortable trying to screw the bolt in without risk of stripping it. If I moved that hole to center, the other bolt hole was now off.

I could swing the plate down and get a dremel in there to widen the hole just enough to get the bolt to go in straight.

Pic of tube bolt hole. Front one looked like this once I got the center ones in.

 

Thanks I have been up under there looking to see what my options are

 

Seems like I remember when installing my RCI skid dealing with the same - one hole was always off slightly. I didn't end up modifying any holes in the skid, though, I just got all 6 of the bolts started with just a few threads. When I was convinced they all were in right and wouldn't strip, I proceeded to snug them all up, then torque them. Then to make things even more difficult for myself, I managed to wrangle the stock plastic bumper filler piece in between the front of the skid and the bumper...

 

maybe it’s the aluminum variants. my rci lined up pretty well though it is the steel variant.

i haven’t had any squeaks since i reinstalled with some anti seize between the mating surfaces of the skid and cross members.

 

Could be. I didn't blame the skid for my issues, I blamed the fact that I was trying to wrestle with it by myself and get the bolts started. It was a bit ungainly for one person alone.

 

Most likely, the holes are cut before they bend the sides. Once they bend and weld the sides into place, you could get a small amount of bowing or bending in the panel and each panel could be slightly different. In other words, if I took the skid off, turned it upside down and stood/ bounced on it a little, it may have flattened it a bit which would have the widened the space between the bolts just enough. Or maybe not. I don't want to test my theory bad enough to pull it off and try it.

 

For all the people talking about skid plates not lining up... you know what they say: cross threads are better than no threads!

 

Well, I finally replaced the halogen light bulbs in my fog lights and my headlights to LED and I am so happy I did. Not sure what took me so long and the cost was minimal. (Links to all bulbs at the end of the post)

Replaced the fog lamps with SEALIGHT H11/H8/H16 LED Fog Light Bulbs, 6000K Xenon White, 27 SMD Chips, 360-degree Illumination, Non-polarity, bulbs from Amazon and replaced the headlamps with AUTOONE H11 LED Headlight Bulbs, H8/H9/H16 LED Lights Plug and Play 6000K White Fanless Mini Size Car Light Bulbs, also from Amazon. The best $40 I have spent lately on my 2016 4Runner. I didn't stop there.....I should be receiving the LED replacement bulb for the high beam/DRL tomorrow. These were a bit more expensive as the set was approximately $40. I went with AUTOONE 9005 LED Bulbs, 20000LM Super Bright 9005 Bulb for High Beam, 6000K White 9005 Automotive Light Bulb, Wireless Plug and Play Canbus Ready Mini Size HB3 LED Bulbs from amazon.

So far I have been very pleased with the brightness, color (bright white), the improvement to the way the 4Runner looks at night! A few years ago I installed a 20" Nilight light bar on my Westin bullbar and that is so bright I only use it on backroads. The only other external LED upgrade was adding two 4" LED Nilight square pods onto my trailer hitch extension (positioned at at 45 degree angle) and wired them so that they illuminate when in reverse. WOW!!!!! Amazing the difference.

Well, that's it for now.....take care my T4 friends!

Robert

1) Link to LED Foglight bulbs -

$21 SEALIGHT H11/H8/H16 LED Fog Light Bulbs, 6000K Xenon White, 27 SMD Chips, 360-degree Illumination, Non-polarity, Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J579C7Q?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
2) Link to LED Headlight bulbs -

$40 AUTOONE H11 LED Headlight Bulbs, H8/H9/H16 LED Lights Plug and Play 6000K White Fanless Mini Size Car Lights Bulb Replacements, Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TVYTXRT?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
3) Link to LED Highbeam bulbs -

$40 AUTOONE 9005 LED Bulbs, 20000LM Super Bright 9005 Bulb for High Beam, 6000K White 9005 Automotive Light Bulb, Wireless Plug and Play Canbus Ready Mini Size HB3 LED Bulbs, Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G9ZPW8V?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

LOl yup...took it to my guy and he told me the guy at the other place was insane. i will need rear shocks at some point in the near future, but nothing that would actually fail me. so now i get to write a lovely detailed email to their corporate hq about my experience.

 

Toyota has a website where you can download the free updated software for the system. Do a search. Save yourself the $$$. I did mine a month ago.

I had gone with C4 and every single hole aligned perfectly. Still time consuming to install but overall 100% alignment.

 

What is the site? The one I found(https://www.toyota.com/firmware-updates) is only to update the radio firmware and not the Nav/Maps.

Edit: Then there is this one but requires a subscription: https://www.toyota.com/owners/toyota-navigation-system

 

Those are them. Just updated firmware. Crazy 80$ per year for maps. Who would pay that???!!!

 

Got the mounts installed and then mounted basket. Despite having measured a couple times, I didn't like its position and shifted the mounts a couple inches. The worst part of it was getting the nuts and washers started on the U-bolt for the mount. You have to do everything by feel because line-of-sight is blocked from every angle, and the U-bolts don't like to sit straight or still. I did the last three U-bolts in complete darkness.

The 4x4 Innovations mounts are rock solid, as well as small and sleek. The only two nits are that they require an SAE allen wrench (7/32") instead of metric and the U-bolt nuts are 11mm, which isn't a Toyota size. (They should have used 12mm). I'll try to get pics tomorrow if it isn't raining.

 

People from tundra and fj forums complain about missing bolts. It should be mandatory to ensure customers have correct parts to finish the install.

 

Dun bought these today, fixin' to lock em up atop the roof rack tonight. Standby

 

Yep. What is sad is that Toyota and Honda have archaic technology. I get why, a brand new BMW M series is going to have all this incredible technology that'll put the car in the shop six times a year because it doesn't work. Still, they could make choices to have a more efficient and reliable source of doing updates instead of driving all the customers to a dealership for a $200 update that takes about 10 minutes to do without expending any resources. They can do an online update for $5 a year that would make them exponentially more money because they sell millions of cars annually.

I loved my AutoOnes on my 2020. My 2023 has the LEDs already. I'm actually selling mine on Craigslist (I have both used and factory sealed ones). Wonderful white color, no noise because they're fanless. I didn't like the 9005s for the DRL/high beam. They occasionally would not come on. I just drove with my headlights on all the time.

Believe it or not, even if you are not subscribed, look at the DCM indicator in the upper right corner. You have to proactively tell them not to connect to you. I have seen comments saying that you actually need to pull a fuse, which isn't practical because it does a bunch of other things. While I am still under the trial., I have not used any of the data services except the Toyota app and that was strictly just to see how much they monitor. It is kind of scary.

 

Greased all fittings, diff fluid/transfer case fluid, oil change, cabin and engine air filters changed. Basically my 60k service minus the brake fluid and transmission fluid.

 

The penalty is about 2 mpg on the highway and a good bit of wind noise. Also, the wind sets up a harmonic vibration in the crossing members. I saw somewhere that weaving some bungee cords between them will knock that down, which I'm going to try.

Other observations:
I read a lot of complaints about the powder coating on Rola baskets, so I roughed it up with sandpaper and hit it with a ton of spray paint (two thick coats of primer and three coats of black semigloss. Also, I used some Thule rubber pads with adhesive between the basket and the mounts and under the U-bolts.

 

Litres? Are you some kind of communist?

 

Damn have you ever heard about Canada?