The plan for the junkyard trip was simple: find a front bumper.

The reality was a little different.

A local B.Y.O.T. yard had a 1998 4Runner in inventory, and I was hoping it might donate a few parts to the project. Unfortunately, the front bumper wasn't in the condition I was looking for. Fortunately, it did have something even better.

A trailer hitch.

After the Labor Day discount, the hitch cost a little over ten dollars. I also grabbed a few recovery points and some missing skid plate hardware while I was there. Not a bad haul. As with most used parts, it wasn't exactly ready for installation.

The first stop was the pressure washer, followed by a healthy dose of Rust Blast on the rusty areas. After some wire brushing, more cleaning, and a few coats of black paint, the hitch looked surprisingly respectable. Certainly more respectable than a $10 junkyard hitch had any right to look.

While I had the tools out, I also installed a set of StrongArm liftgate struts. The originals were tired and barely interested in holding the hatch open anymore. The new struts transformed the experience immediately. The liftgate now opens smoothly and actually stays where it's supposed to without requiring a backup plan.

Later that afternoon, I turned my attention back to the stereo project. The head unit was already installed, but the factory speakers still needed to go. Enter the Kenwood KFC-1666S. Like many automotive projects, this started as what should have been a quick 30-minute job. Several hours later, I was finally putting tools away.

The rear speakers fought me first. I spent far more time than I'd like to admit trying to make the factory brackets work before accepting reality. Out came the Dremel. After trimming a few tabs and drilling new mounting holes, everything finally fit the way it should have from the beginning. The front doors had a surprise waiting for me as well. I wasn't expecting the tweeters to branch off the main speaker wiring, which meant a little extra wiring work was required. After carefully exposing a small section of wire, I soldered the tweeter connections in place and wrapped everything up with electrical tape and zip ties.

Not difficult. Just unexpected.

Once everything was back together, the difference was immediately noticeable. Combined with the new head unit and powered subwoofer, the factory audio system finally sounded like it belonged in this century.

By the end of the day, the 4Runner had gained a hitch, functional liftgate struts, and a complete audio upgrade.