Introducing my 98 4Runner DD.

[jynx]

I had actually thought about doing exactly what you mentioned with the two-tone. His brown is about as close to the dark brown trim as I have seen, and his tan is a dead on match to the OE. He does use a better hyde so his grain is much better so the texture is different. Not a big deal since I am going to do both rows.

The other thing is since my seats are worn and dirty, they look more brown than tan and I am kinda afraid I won't like the lighter color.

And like you mention, his brown with tan stitching looks like it belongs in a much higher end vehicle. The brown would also hide dirt a little better since I am on and off of construction sites pretty regularly. I think I have talked myself into the brown, but since I am pretty sure I have a touch of OCD, there is that part of me that worries about how it will look all together....

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I had actually thought about doing exactly what you mentioned with the two-tone. His brown is about as close to the dark brown trim as I have seen, and his tan is a dead on match to the OE. He does use a better hyde so his grain is much better so the texture is different. Not a big deal since I am going to do both rows.

The other thing is since my seats are worn and dirty, they look more brown than tan and I am kinda afraid I won't like the lighter color.

And like you mention, his brown with tan stitching looks like it belongs in a much higher end vehicle. The brown would also hide dirt a little better since I am on and off of construction sites pretty regularly. I think I have talked myself into the brown, but since I am pretty sure I have a touch of OCD, there is that part of me that worries about how it will look all together....

I think it will look great with matching door card inserts. If you're unsure, bring the rig to him and ask him to lay a piece of the material over your seat to visualize how it will look. Then maybe set a piece on the door card to get an idea of that too.

 

[jynx]

Yeah, I have decided to go brown with tan stitching. Ideally I would just drop it off, but Shane is in Oregon and I am in TN so a shop stop isn't in the cards. I am working out the details with him now and rest assured I will do a good write-up on the new leathers and the install, with lots of pics.

 

[jynx]

Well, just ordered a set of 265/75R16 BFGoodrich T/A KOs for the 4Runner. Should be here Wednesday or Thursday to get mounted up on the 5 spokes.

 

[jynx]

Look what the big brown truck dropped off today.



Going to have them mounted and balanced and have an alignment done tomorrow morning.

I guess this will be the first official "mod" to it.

I also got the new leathers ordered today, per Shane pending anything major, should be here in a week or so. Both rows and a set of his carbon seat heaters will transform the interior nicely.

Now I just need to decide on a head-unit and get the sound system taken care of. Anybody got any recommendations. Been looking at double din with Navigation units, but not sure I want to drop a grand on that when I can get a nice single din and a GPS for much cheaper.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

Damn, I'm jealous. Where did you end up getting the tires from? I may start looking at new tires soon, all the sellers want damn near new prices for their used tires.

And I'm curious what kind of power/mpg hit you'll take with them with your 4.10 gears.

 

[jynx]

I have gotten my last 3 sets off ebay. I happened upon a seller with free shipping and a $50 off coupon, so got them for less than $200 a tire. I will post the seller shortly, can't remember off hand right now. My local shop owes me so mounting and balancing is on them, so I will be just shy of $800 mounted and balanced.

Not sure what local taxes are around your area, but at near 10% here, buying online usually saves me $100+

I should burn a tank or two this weekend so I should get a good idea.

 

[Brake Weight]

I got a set of 4-33/1050s M&B on some Soft 8 steelies to my garage door for a little over $1000 from here: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/home.do

 

[jynx]

Yeah, discount tire has some good online deals, and I have noticed if you buy wheels they usually sweeten it up a little. My last set of Cooper's came from them.

 

[Cracker]

When buying from discount tire direct (or anywhere online), check the date codes when you get the tires. The 4 "new" tires I got from Discount Tire are about 2 1/2 yrs old.

 

[jynx]

Well all mounted and balanced, I snapped this one this afternoon after a light snow in East Knoxville. You can see the wheels and that the tires are black side out but that is about it.



I will get some better ones when I get the better camera.

And for those interested, I was putting together a doubler and doing a twin stick for a buddies 83 pickup.



Learned some valuable lessons and will be much better at it when I get around to doing one for myself someday. Kinda sad that the second case is basically spare parts once you are done, but would be cool hanging on the wall in the garage.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Looking good! I loved my 97. It was about 1/10th as nice as yours though. Now let's talk about that supercharger....

Edit: I also have those BFGs on my DD now. I love em.

Sent from another Galaxy

 

[jynx]

Thanks Sam. Wondered how long it would take you to find this thread.

I am not quite ready for the SC just yet.... But I do have a nice list that I hope to get you this week.

To those interested in the 265/75s they rub slightly at the rear of the front wheel wells. I think a quick trim of the liner will take care of the minor rub and I plan to order a 3/4" - 1" puc spacer to throw in there for now. Planning on Toytec coilovers for the front when the Shrockworks bumper arrives to level things back out and improve the overall ride and handling.

Leather should be here next week and I have decided to just get a nice single DIN CD player to replace the factory head unit.

Got to get a few tanks thru it to see how the tires have affected the mileage.

More to come.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

How does it feel driving? Is the slightly taller gearing noticeable with any decrease in power?

You'll also have to factor the 3.3%ish change in tire size when calculating the mileage if you haven't already.

 

[jynx]

No real noticeable power loss, of course I only had it for a few weeks before the new tires so I am not sure I have the best basis for comparison.

I ran the numbers on tank one today and uncorrected it was 18.44 mpg. Not entirely sure if I have gained or lost that 3.33%

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

No real noticeable power loss, of course I only had it for a few weeks before the new tires so I am not sure I have the best basis for comparison.

I ran the numbers on tank one today and uncorrected it was 18.44 mpg. Not entirely sure if I have gained or lost that 3.33%

Damn, that's not too bad.

And you have gained 3.33% for the miles shown on your odometer. So if that 18.44 is uncorrected (Odometer mileage/actual gallons) then it would correct to (1.0333 x 18.44) = 19.054mpg.

 

[jynx]

That is excellent. Now those are almost completely highway miles. The next tank will be more combined mileage. I have started logging it so I can keep up with it better.

I need to call the shop and ask about the balancing. Everything is great up to about 70 mph on the speedo, then I get some vibration. Need to see if any of the tire/wheels gave trouble on the spin-up machine.

 

[jynx]

How hard is the Timing belt to do? I have a load of little red boxes on the way from LOWE and the T-belt is on the PM list pretty high. Can it be done in a day, over a weekend, longer?

I have done 2 on a 3.0 but both were on the engine stand. Pulling the Rad seems to be a good idea. I am going to pick up the tensioner compressor tool to make that easier. Anything else to know? Tips?

Also, audio upgrades are lining up. Head unit arrived today. Taco whip and base will be here when the LOWE box arrives.

Players include:

Kenwood Excelon single DIN head unit
Alpine PA250.2 amp
Polk MOMO 6.5" comps for front doors. (yep NIB, bought for another project new, been several years sitting in the closet)
Infinity Bass-Link for the rear (hand-me-down from the last ride)
Tacoma whip

Also going to mount my ELS 2x2s in the bumper for now, will relocate once the Shrockworks arrives in a few months. Gonna play with this over the weekend.

Also, anybody know a good link to replacing dash lights with LEDs?

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I haven't done one on a 5vz-fe myself, but I've done many other t-belts and looking at the FSM it seems pretty straightforward. Unless you're replacing the crank/cam seals you won't need to pull the timing pulleys, so it's just the PS and AC pumps/brackets, the crank pulley (an impact gun makes the bolt a lot easier to remove) and the covers. Then do the water pump, tensioner, idlers, and belt.

And it looks like I'll be joining you with 265/75s on 4.10s for a while. There's a killer rebate until the end of the month on the tires I want so I think I'll grab them now, and then swap to 4.30s next month.

 

[jynx]

Quick sneak peak. More to come later tonight.