Figured I might as well start documenting the life of my 1998 4Runner - so here it is!
She was bought brand new in 1998 by a family friend and it came from the factory with a 3.4L V6, the SR5 package, 4x4 & a 5-speed manual transmission. If only it came with a locker..oh well one can dream!
They enjoyed the truck for a few years until he passed, and in 2006 when my older brother turned 16 it was bought for his first car. He daily drove it all throughout high school, college and well after. I remember being a kid and riding in the back with him blasting some early 2000's rock. Good times!
When I finally got my stuff together as a teenager and got my license there was no other car I wanted. I had to have the 4Runner. I had dreamed of owning it for years and I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you why. My senior year of high school I decided it was time to try to buy it from him. After talking to my brother about it over and over he agreed to sell it to me and I bought her from him with 146k miles on the clock nine years ago on January 15th, 2013. First thing we did was rip off the stock running boards, and I took the first picture of my new (to me) first car!
I drove it as it was for a few months, falling in love with it more and more as I drove it. I wheeled it on some mild dirt roads as is, but really wanted to get it lifted and capable to do whatever I wanted with it.
After saving up funds from my first job I was able to start looking online at a lift and some new wheels and tires. In April of 2013 I was scrolling through craigslist where I found some 265/75/16 BFG K01's mounted up on 16" Mickey Thompson Classic III's for $200 bucks plus stock tires! Blown away that I even found this deal, I messaged the guy and met him at our local Toyota dealership where we did the deal. Other than the fact that they rubbed at full lock, I couldn't be any happier!
With my new shoes on the 4Runner, I forked out the other $200 to buy a cheap spacer lift kit on eBay. Within a couple of weeks I was ready to do one of my first big mechanic jobs. Thinking back on it now, we totally had no idea what we were doing. I remember my buddy stepping on the lower control arm to try to get the shock bolt to line up. Ohh how far I've come as a mechanic lol.
Despite having no idea what we were doing, we successfully got the spacers on and were extremely happy with the end result - and better yet no more rubbing!
She was bought brand new in 1998 by a family friend and it came from the factory with a 3.4L V6, the SR5 package, 4x4 & a 5-speed manual transmission. If only it came with a locker..oh well one can dream!
They enjoyed the truck for a few years until he passed, and in 2006 when my older brother turned 16 it was bought for his first car. He daily drove it all throughout high school, college and well after. I remember being a kid and riding in the back with him blasting some early 2000's rock. Good times!
When I finally got my stuff together as a teenager and got my license there was no other car I wanted. I had to have the 4Runner. I had dreamed of owning it for years and I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you why. My senior year of high school I decided it was time to try to buy it from him. After talking to my brother about it over and over he agreed to sell it to me and I bought her from him with 146k miles on the clock nine years ago on January 15th, 2013. First thing we did was rip off the stock running boards, and I took the first picture of my new (to me) first car!
I drove it as it was for a few months, falling in love with it more and more as I drove it. I wheeled it on some mild dirt roads as is, but really wanted to get it lifted and capable to do whatever I wanted with it.
After saving up funds from my first job I was able to start looking online at a lift and some new wheels and tires. In April of 2013 I was scrolling through craigslist where I found some 265/75/16 BFG K01's mounted up on 16" Mickey Thompson Classic III's for $200 bucks plus stock tires! Blown away that I even found this deal, I messaged the guy and met him at our local Toyota dealership where we did the deal. Other than the fact that they rubbed at full lock, I couldn't be any happier!
With my new shoes on the 4Runner, I forked out the other $200 to buy a cheap spacer lift kit on eBay. Within a couple of weeks I was ready to do one of my first big mechanic jobs. Thinking back on it now, we totally had no idea what we were doing. I remember my buddy stepping on the lower control arm to try to get the shock bolt to line up. Ohh how far I've come as a mechanic lol.
Despite having no idea what we were doing, we successfully got the spacers on and were extremely happy with the end result - and better yet no more rubbing!