2002 4Runner Overland Rig!

[Lindenwood]

Update, Jun 2018
Built myself a gas tank skid plate for Father's Day! Also, not sure I posted the swing-out tray with the expanded metal.


Update, 01 Apr 2018
Just a snap of the new paint after washing and sealing it!


Howdy, all! I am now done with a good bit of the vehicle.

My wife bought it for me last year after deciding my ambitions for her 4Runner were higher than she really wanted. In the first couple of weeks, I replaced everything in the list below, as well as installed my lift and wheels / wires (below). Unfortunately, shortly after I startedthe sleeping platform project, I ended up moving, taking on a pretty big remodeling project in the new house, and then deploying again.

Overall Goal for the Rig:
Be able to go out with my wife, baby (who is only days away!), and dogs on camping / wheeling trips of 1 to maybe 3 days. In theory, there is room to take 4 adults plus dogs on short trips (say, less than 60 to 90 minutes, since bags would have to ride in the back seat if we have the dogs). However, we would probably also take my wife's 4Runner if we needed to carry that many people.

Initial [preventative] Maintenance (week 1):
-Oil Change
-Air filter
-SeaFoam in fuel and vac lines
-Diff / TCase fluids
-2x Trans Drain and Fills (200mi apart)
-Lubed driveshafts (stopped my clunk!)
-2x O2 Sensors
-Fuel Filter
-Plugs and Wires
-Cleaned MAF and TB
-New PCV
-Timing Belt / Water Pump / Thermostat / Radiator
-New rotors and calipers (starting to warp / seize).

First Mods (week 2):
-16x8 American Racing aluminum wheels (21lb) with 4.5" backspace.
-285/75r16 Milestar Patagonia tires (amazingly quiet for an MT, and balanced with <5oz per tire).
-Rear: Toytec Boss rear shocks with Superflex springs
-Front: Bilstein 5100s with Eibach coils and Toytec diff drop

Then, at long last, in the last month I have accomplished the following:

Latest Mods....
Armor:
-Custom front bunper with SmittyBilt 9500lb winch
-Custom rear bumper with swing-out tray (to carry cooler and water / fuel jugs).
-Custom front skid plate
-4xInnovations weld-on sliders

Overland Gear:
-Hood-mounted hi-lift (for forward weight distribution).
-Finished my hi-lift winching kit.
-Fold-out sleeping platform + drawers
-Puma compressor with air outlet built into rear bumper (I also made a hose setup to inflate and deflate the tires at once; The Puma did all four of my 33s from 15 to 40 PSI in 9.5 minutes!

About the rear bumper:
-I still run the spare underneath because I am not a big obstacle guy, and I wanted the ability to carry these large items without putting them inside (dogs ride in back, and we sleep inside it). Plus, I absolutely hate loading and unloading a roof rack (plus several other reasons I didnt want 150+lbs of stuff on the roof of my rig).
-The back end is a bit over 2.5' off the ground. Should be plenty of clearance for my kind of wheeling.
-And while it is a relatively low-profile design, a lot of number-crunching actually went into it. The first thing to potentially fail during normal wheeling (if the entire bumper didn't fail, or the wood surface didnt splinter) would be the structure of the tray itself, but that would take around 5000lbs of force in the center of the bumper. However, when swung out, it would take around 250lbs at the end of the tray to start to bend the tray, or about 600lbs to break the pivot bolt. I might therefore reinforce the tray frame some, because while my intended loads reach about 1/3 of its carying capacity, if somebody mistakenly put their full weight on it while swung out (absentmindedly sitting on it), it might bend enough to make it sit funny. However, a simple triangulated support system up top wouldnt be difficult, and would add hundreds of pounds to this capacity for maybe 10lbs of material.
-Alternatively, I might build in a swing-out stand for the jnsupported end, so that I can build some small seats that attach to it heh.

Coming Soon
-Center skid
-MaxxAir roof fan!

Eventually
-5.29 Gears and dual TrueTracs
-Fridge
-Maybe some aftermarket audio

I have slept in it a couple times, and it is surprisingly comfortable! Also, I have been out wheeling a few times as well. I got to use the winch a couple of times to pull out a friend's XTerra as well as to drag a fallen tree off a trail.

Hope I get to hang with some of you guys soon!

 

[Kris022]

Very nice!! You definitely went to work on that. It's sweet seeing 2 4R's in the garage. Any plans on the 5th gen?

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks!

Hers is lifted 2" F/R with spacers, and sits on 17x8s with 285/70 ATs. She recently saw a 4Runner with aftermarket bumpers and kinda liked that, but she also likes the look of full-length roof racks. However, given their high costs and that either would be almost purely aesthetic, I dont think they are likely purchases. However, her next set of tires will likely be MTs like mine.

*edit*

Added a pic of the foldout wing of the sheeping platform, which allows me to lay down the compressor to get to the (enlarged) side storage compartment. Between this, the two little side cubbies, and one of the drawers, I was able to stash away all of my recovery gear (including jumping and tie-down accessoried), and still have a whole second drawer free for camping gear!

 

[StuntmanMike]

Nice! I really like this generation 4R, I think it's the best looking, and after recently researching them, probably the best engineered.

I'm currently looking around for one, but finding one that has a good frame is quite the challenge here in New England! Not to mention I'm being picky, and want a '99-'00 with the factory rear locker. It blew me away when I learned these could be had with a factory locking rear diff. Between that, and room for 265/75/16's at stock height, these seem to be pretty solid trail machines right out of the box! And I like that the LTD's have the option of full time 4wd along with part time and 2hi. Even the new ones don't have that!

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks! Yeah, it was kindof a lucky find, and we had to take a bit of a risk buying sight- unseen from a dealer, though we did have it checked out by a 3rd party. Still, rust-wise it isnt too bad, with the worst parts being a lot of the fasteners were pretty stuck, the stock gas tank skid is pretty useless now, and there are a few rust spots in a couple corners of the body. But, the frame is solid! I bought some of that rust-convertning paint stuff and over the next few weeks I am going to use a needle scaler to clean everything uo before coating it. Overall, I was still happy to get a completely functional 2002 with 134k miles for 6000!

 

[Bouncer]

Man you have a nice rig, can't wait to see an urban grey style paint job on it(that's the color of all my 5.11 packs anymore). congratulations on the new addition to your family (the baby not 4 runner lol).

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks! Yeah we are super excited about the little guy coming :D .

As far as paint goes, I am leaning toward something like this 4runner pictured. To be honest, while I have always liked plain-jane colors like that, I am also painting it so if / when I scratch or ding it up again jn the future, it will be easy to touch up. This will be the second vehicle I spray with paint from the hardware store haha.

One of my old MR2s that I sprayed flat black is below. I spent I think $15 on some satin black paint from the hardware store, plus a $10 Harbor Freight spray gun :P .

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

Can you get some more pics of your sleeping platform? Curious how it works as that looks like the idea I have for my platform I plan on building here soon.

 

[Lindenwood]

Sure! I will grab some mor soon, but here is what I have from when I started the platform last year. The front / top swings on a big piano hinge (available at home depot and lowes) that I trimmed to my required length. When folddd forward, the front end rests on the top of the folded-down back seats to give enough room to close the hatch without bending my legs.

I made it this low because I measured the height of the top of my largest dog's head, added 2 inches, and made the box short enough to allow this.

 

[Lindenwood]

I ran out of MIG wire just as I finished assembling these, but here are my sliders ready to weld on!

Also you'll notice a sneak peak of the approximate shade of grey on the hood. I did the middle section only so if I decided J hated the color, I could respray that part black and it would look somewhat intentional without redoing the whole hood :P . So far, I am about 80% convinced to pursue the whole job, heh. My reservations are borne out of a fear it will look a bit too much like it belongs in a Death Race movie :P ).

 

[Lindenwood]

Got the sliders welded on! I decided to go with a lighter grey on the paint than my original choice, though honestly I am leaning a bit toward somewhere in between. In this pic, you can kinda see the sliders but also see the darker shade on the hood and the little spot where I rubbed the new paint on with my finger below the driver headlight.

 

[Kris022]

I love the progress you have made. Keep it up, it's looking good.

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks!

I find myself slowly chickening out on the paint :P .

 

[Kris022]

Lol. Is vinyl wrap an option? I'm seeing those a lot and they look good.

 

[Lindenwood]

Eh, not worth the investment for me, plus I am almost certain it wouldnt stand up to all the scratches it sees when I go wheeling in these SE woods. I'd end up leaving a big chunk of color saran wrap in the woods :P .

 

[Lindenwood]

So, I had worked up the courage to paint my rig after some experimenting a bit more on the roof of the 4Runner. This morning, I jokingly asked my wife "hey, if I painted my car to match yours, would you be 'roll your eyes' mad, or "wtf?!?' mad?" She indicated the former, so I bought some paint today and here it is with the first coat done :P .

TRDFaux?

 

[Bouncer]

So, I had worked up the courage to paint my car after experimenting a bit more on the roof of the 4Runner. This morning, I jokingly asked my wife "hey, if I painted my car to match yours, would you be 'roll your eyes' mad, or "wtf?!?' mad?" She indicated the former, so I bought some paint today and here it is with the first coat done :P .

TRDFaux?

View attachment 51600

SWEET!!! get it buddy, cant wait to see the outcome!

 

[Lindenwood]

Frustratingly, the sand paint just didn't seem to want to cooperate. Honestly, I am probably going to write a bad review on it because I've gotten higher, more even gloss out of rattle can jobs. But, after realizing it was going to need a not-insignificant amount of follow-on work to get a decent sheen, I remembered that the entire reason I wanted to paint the rig was for easy repairs when I scratch it up (again). So, I resprayed it with the original satin grey I purchased and am really happy with it!

(Pic is after moving it over to fit the wife's rig).

 

[Lindenwood]

Anyone know if any good static ventilation options? I am thinking about cutting a hole to install a MaxxAir [RV] fan...

 

[Lindenwood]

I need to touch up a few small spots and put my roof rack back on, but I really like the new paint! A true flat finish would have made touch-ups super easy, but as it sits I can still easily just mask off the affected area out to the next seam and have any pknstriped fixed in probably an hour (since it wont need buffing or anything).