New Steed and Update

[Kryptoroxx]

Another interaction with a fellow member of Ultimate oddly enough. BattleWagonActual and I are out of the Marines. Crossing my fingers but I will hopefully be retiring here in a few years with 20 years under my belt. I've recently graduated college with a degree in Economics from Hillsdale College and found a great place to work locally.

What spurred the replacement of my beloved 3rd gen was the addition to the family. #3 is on the way as a late Christmas gift and the 3rd gen, while capable, can't be driven by the wife and I finally found a replacement suitable for such ventures.

It's an 06 limited v8 4runner. Has about 156k on the clock and was really well taken care of. Immediately upon possession I sealed the outside of the frame with Chassis Saver (Magnet Paint) and cleaned up the body with touch up paint and buffed the headlights. She really is a beauty and there are some plans in store.

Head Unit - it came with the amplified system and sub but the head unit was the basic with almost no connectivity. There will be an android hu going in there with a backup camera

Suspension - probably going with Sonoran Steel for this one. I like the idea of the progressive springs and the OME rear. The truck came with the XREAS system and its shot.

Front and rear armor - from an undisclosed source. I've got a deal going but I will be doing most of the heavy lifting for it. Ive got deer and stupid people in the area.

Exhaust - Doug Thorely shorties with some high flow cats and a Walker rear in stainless will replace the nearly shot exhaust system. Hopefully it won't throw any nasty codes at me but it shouldn't.

A little bit of LED lighting will be in the build and I will be upgrading the headlights to a full projector setup from morimoto. I did this to the 3rd gen and I really got spoiled. The light output was outstanding and even the projector setup from toyota pales in comparison.

Fog lights will be upgraded to an amber driving solution again from morimoto. I've taken an evening management position and I do a lot of night driving getting home.

I also just finished most of my firepit and deck design as a side note. I can't wait to finish everything in the spring and have some solid relaxation back there. We found a nice home to buy and have been here while I finished school. Grad school is in the works and hopefully by the time I retire from the military I am well on the way to finishing another retirement. Hope all is well with you guys and I can't wait to get some new posts in with the 4th gen.

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[4x4mike]

Congratulations all around John. I've been following your happenings on FB but until you got the 4th gen I didn't know you guys were expecting. The 4th gen is a great option for the family combined with your Highlander. I outgrew my 3rd gen in several ways but the extra space is so nice.

I'm looking forward to your HU choice. I run the factory setup and it's not bad. I don't need much from a system and what I've got is enough to keep me from dropping some money. I used to have a list of like 8 potential replacements but in the end I felt I wouldn't be much further ahead with the exception of a camera. I don't do Car Play or new fangled stuff and I like a knob for volume.

[Kryptoroxx]

Thanks!

I just want the ease of not needing to run GPS off my phone, a backup camera, and just getting in and having my phone connect. I had to rent a car for a week and it had all of those features so I decided to build it into this one.

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[Kryptoroxx]

So I'm looking at colors. Need a little bit of opinion on this one. Looking for color pop but also not trying to be obnoxious. The first pic of color shades are all of the colors but the second are what I think are solid possibilities.

These are going to be accents. So bumpers, mirrors, lip of the hood, and maybe fenders.

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[4x4mike]

Would this be painted on?

IMO I'd leave it as is.

[Bob98SR5]

Hey John,

Chiming in really late: congrats on #3, graduating, nice deck, and almost retiring from the Marines! Thanks for your service

I'm with Mike: I'd leave the new 4th gen as is with no accents. Very sharp as it currently looks. Good call on taking care of the rust. I need to do that on my rear axle which was a swapped axle.

[Kryptoroxx]

Would this be painted on?

IMO I'd leave it as is.

It would be a spray job but I'm thinking you guys are right on the color. I wonder if I could pull the same stunt as I did with the 98 and spray the stock color. I just want to add some durability to the high impact areas. It's a project on the shelf in my mind. I'll get the lift and tires on her and see how everything looks.

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[Kryptoroxx]

Hey John,

Chiming in really late: congrats on #3, graduating, nice deck, and almost retiring from the Marines! Thanks for your service

I'm with Mike: I'd leave the new 4th gen as is with no accents. Very sharp as it currently looks. Good call on taking care of the rust. I need to do that on my rear axle which was a swapped axle.

thanks man! I'm almost there. I switched from active duty USMC to the Army reserves in 2016 though. It's how I was able to get my degree finished. I tried attending on active duty but between deployments and training schedules I wasn't making enough progress to ever get it done. Hoping to start grad school this year and get over that hurdle as well. If I get that all out of the way by the time I am 40 I'll be pretty happy about that.

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[4x4mike]

My 3rd gen and my 4th gen had/have factory painted bumpers, the 4th gens being plastic. I kid you not the 4th gen bumpers get beat without even trying. I park in my driveway and in a small park-n-ride and somehow I get a lot of scuffs and little dings. I'm pretty sure it's not my kids but I'm also sure I'm not hitting stuff while I'm driving. I've been able to buff a few marks out but some are there to stay. I don't want to cover or replace the bumpers but I see where you're going with your thinking.

[Kryptoroxx]

My 3rd gen and my 4th gen had/have factory painted bumpers, the 4th gens being plastic. I kid you not the 4th gen bumpers get beat without even trying. I park in my driveway and in a small park-n-ride and somehow I get a lot of scuffs and little dings. I'm pretty sure it's not my kids but I'm also sure I'm not hitting stuff while I'm driving. I've been able to buff a few marks out but some are there to stay. I don't want to cover or replace the bumpers but I see where you're going with your thinking.

Well the search for a front bumper is over at least. Going to run with nwti for the front and rear. I had been pretty set on Coastal or possibly having a good buddy design one but man the open top kit from nwti is sharp!

And at 650 for the kit and then another 400 or so for the rear, which is pretty sharp too, I have idiot protection front and rear.

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