UARandy3

Been on here for a while and just now getting around to a build thread. I'd been contemplating getting rid of her but recently decided to stick with it a while.

I bought the truck in July 2012. It's a 2011 oxford white, loaded out FX4 with the 5.0 and 3.73s and had ~13k miles on it. Here's the previous owner's stock pic of it:


It was also leveled with a crappy 3" kit with 295/70/18 Nitto Trail Grapplers on the stock 18s when I got it. Looked good, performed terribly:


It also had an NFab light bar with crappy lights on it:


And lastly, it had this ridiculous concoction on it :



Lots of changes have been made that I will document here, and I have a few more items in the works. Stay tuned!

UARandy3

First order of business was replacing the crappy lights on the light bar with 4 PIAA 520 ATPs. Had a pair on my 4runner before and liked them, so I went with them again. Much better:


Around the same time, I added a low profile black toolbox, plastidipped the badges, and added MoodyBlue overlays to the front and rear emblems.


I also had the bed done in Line-X Premium. I also converted the interior lighting to LED around this time. No pictures of either of those though.

UARandy3

Next came the AFE Stage 2 CAI with 5 Star custom tunes since they were having a package deal sale around Christmas of 2012.








Looks way better and not like a hacked together POS like before. The exhaust tone seemed to have changed as well with the CAI addition. It is just straight piped exhaust though (that I've considered changing to a cat-back system).

I loaded the 87 performance tune, and HOLY S#!+ what a difference. The drivability changed dramatically and everything read correctly with the tire size correction. Very happy with this upgrade!

UARandy3

Left it alone for a while in this configuration and just enjoyed the truck for a while. Then, I got sick of the garbage level/lift that was on it. The angles of every front end component were pretty severe, and any time I'd go over a speed bump etc. the upper control arm would contact the strut coil and making a clanging noise. Annoying.

So, Rancho's annual rebate came around, and I used the $400 rebate as justification to go ahead and pull the trigger on a 4" lift with their RS9000XL adjustable firmness shocks.

Additionally, I chose to upgrade to the new-at-the-time Fuel Maverick wheels in 20x9 with +1mm offset (5" backspace). I wrapped these wheels with 295/65/20 Nitto Trail Grapplers. This was a pretty new size and are supposed to be slightly taller and slightly more narrow than the normal 35x12.50s.


In progress :




Offset:


Immediately after completion/functional test:

cal128

Truck looks awesome! I've been contemplating a 4 inch lift as well, just seems like the perfect amount. Mind me asking how much it was?

UARandy3

Also made the grille matte black to match the other accents and wheels:


Mirror reflectors also blacked out at some point:



It stayed in this form for probably almost 2 years. Then I added the AMP Research steps bc there was a rebate, and I got tired of listening to people whining trying to get in. I do love them though haha.


Then I added the Raptor-style grille LEDs from Starkey Industries:


Also added the OEM Ford wheel well liners sometime after the lift. Much cleaner look (no pics bc everyone knows what they look like)

UARandy3

Thanks man! The 4" is perfect for 35s, in my opinion. When it gets up to 6" lifts, 35s look a touch small sometimes and I would prefer 37s at that point. I went through that battle when I was trying to decide haha.

When I got the Rancho kit, I got a lucky deal really. I ordered it from PCS customs for $1764 with the upgraded shocks. They actually had the price listed wrong, and several others on here got in on the deal since they honored it until it was changed. Also, Rancho had a $400 rebate at the time. So, for $1364, it was a no brainer to get that kit.

cal128

Damn, that's a good deal! I definitely want to do a lift in the future, and I think the 4" is perfect!

UARandy3

Definitely worth it. Looks good, performs well, and still fits in my garage (barely haha).

UARandy3

Got tired of working on this last night ha. So to continue with some random pictures of the past few months:

One of my favorites:


Big Foot & Little Foot:


Dirty: