unevolved
Well-Known Member
I bought my 4Runner in January of 2015. I had an F-150 of similar vintage, but since it was a single cab V6, it wasn't near useful enough for the towing and dog hauling I did regularly. I shopped around for extended cab pickups, before decided maybe I didn't really need a bed all that much.
I started looking around on various sites, and found this one about 9 hours away. 2005 V8 Sport Edition 4WD, with 53,000 miles. I called some family in the area to go take a look at it, and a few hours later they gave their approval.
I put down a deposit, drove the F-150 up there, and drove my new 4Runner back. I'd complained to no end the high cost of used Toyota trucks, but once I finally sucked it up and bought one of my own, it was clear why they deserved the higher prices. It's just so much better than an F-150, at literally everything except having a truck bed.
The goal of this truck is to get me to work every day, haul things that need hauling, tow things that need towing, and take me and my family exploring.
One of the first modifications I did was installing a Scion head unit. I need to listen to music when I drive, and there's no easy way to add an auxiliary input to a JBL-equipped '03-'05.
I was never able to get a bezel that fit well, given the odd shape of the JBL parts, but it looked just fine.
Shortly thereafter, I decided the running boards had to go. The wife liked them, but eh, she got used to not having them anymore. It vastly improved the look of the truck, in my opinion.
In October of last year, I installed a Toytec leveling kit to, well, level it out. I was happy with the look, at least for a little while.
Later that year, we used it to haul a Christmas tree home!
Dual Labrador rating:
Early 2016, I decided it was time to upgrade to a real navigation system, and installed a Kenwood DNX892. The largest motivating factor was the onboard Garmin nav system. I'd had a few instances of being out in the sticks, trusting a cell phone, and losing navigation when we lost cell service. Not anymore!
I reached out to a friend of mine much more into offroading, and asked him what the minimum prep level was for offroading. My background is in road racing and autocrossing, so I'm a total newb when it comes to offroading. I don't want to be the guy showing up with a bone-stock incapable truck, but at the same time, no one wants to be the guy with the expensive, super-modded rig that has no idea what he's doing. He gave me three things to do as a "base" prep:
-Good tires.
-Sliders.
-3" lift.
With that as a checklist, I selected a lift. After far too much research, I went with the OME package from Toytec, based on the awesome customer service I got when I bought my leveling kit. 885/895 springs, and 90000/60004 shocks.
I started looking around on various sites, and found this one about 9 hours away. 2005 V8 Sport Edition 4WD, with 53,000 miles. I called some family in the area to go take a look at it, and a few hours later they gave their approval.
I put down a deposit, drove the F-150 up there, and drove my new 4Runner back. I'd complained to no end the high cost of used Toyota trucks, but once I finally sucked it up and bought one of my own, it was clear why they deserved the higher prices. It's just so much better than an F-150, at literally everything except having a truck bed.
The goal of this truck is to get me to work every day, haul things that need hauling, tow things that need towing, and take me and my family exploring.
One of the first modifications I did was installing a Scion head unit. I need to listen to music when I drive, and there's no easy way to add an auxiliary input to a JBL-equipped '03-'05.
I was never able to get a bezel that fit well, given the odd shape of the JBL parts, but it looked just fine.
Shortly thereafter, I decided the running boards had to go. The wife liked them, but eh, she got used to not having them anymore. It vastly improved the look of the truck, in my opinion.
In October of last year, I installed a Toytec leveling kit to, well, level it out. I was happy with the look, at least for a little while.
Later that year, we used it to haul a Christmas tree home!
Dual Labrador rating:
Early 2016, I decided it was time to upgrade to a real navigation system, and installed a Kenwood DNX892. The largest motivating factor was the onboard Garmin nav system. I'd had a few instances of being out in the sticks, trusting a cell phone, and losing navigation when we lost cell service. Not anymore!
I reached out to a friend of mine much more into offroading, and asked him what the minimum prep level was for offroading. My background is in road racing and autocrossing, so I'm a total newb when it comes to offroading. I don't want to be the guy showing up with a bone-stock incapable truck, but at the same time, no one wants to be the guy with the expensive, super-modded rig that has no idea what he's doing. He gave me three things to do as a "base" prep:
-Good tires.
-Sliders.
-3" lift.
With that as a checklist, I selected a lift. After far too much research, I went with the OME package from Toytec, based on the awesome customer service I got when I bought my leveling kit. 885/895 springs, and 90000/60004 shocks.
