Clicking in rear was just a loose sway bar end link. Pretty best case scenario to have been alerted to the cv early and the culprit only being something easy.

Did atf with Valvoline multi-vehicle giga chad synthetic, running great so far, even had a small grind on hills resolve itself after.

Went to change gear oils, front diff bottom allen bolt completely stripped. Gonna return to that after I get a new bolt to replace it with.

Almost caught up with my current set of parts/fluids!

Remember, pull the filler plug before the drain plug! If the drain plug comes out, great. If the filler plug doesn't come out, that drain plug just screwed you over, so to speak. Besides, if the drain plug is stripped out, what are the chances the filler plug is? Pretty good?

Pat☺

Very beginning to now

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Looking good! Helps that Anthracite is the sexiest color ;)

If you plan on keeping the basket (looks like a Rola Clone) you may benefit
by fabbing up some feet out of angle iron and bypassing the oem crossbars.
Mine is a decade old now and haven't had any issues whatsoever.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1712516-post226.html

Lots has changed since then, but the basket is still going strong.
keep it up!

Dealt with my stripped diff bolts today, gonna put on my breather tomorrow! I'm not sure how long its been since diffs and transfer case have had their oil replaced. Generally no sparkles but oil was definitely dirty. Small metal residue on each magnetic drain bolt but doesn't seem too concerning.

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Here's where I ended up running the rear diff breather. Not sure if the ARB kit was fully worth the 70$ but happy with how it turned out. FYI the kit comes with enough fittings to run two breather tubes, not all 4. I just hooked up rear diff for now.

I also changed up my roof rack set up, and I'm really liking the new setup. It had been a short enough time for me to return my harbor freight rack (which was actually pretty nice just didn't fit my needs), and picked up a used Yakima Skinny Warrior for my driver side, and Yakima Bow Down kayak mounts for my passenger side. My board is 13 feet long and doesn't fit inside the truck. The bow down actually works surprisingly well and I was driving highway speed with no issues. The skinny warrior length is definitely better if you carry traction boards and a farm jack like I do, compared to the harbor freight rack. The traction boards actually sit all the way inside the basket with room to spare for gas cans.

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Super excited for the new winch. My homemade grandpa warn winch did save me 2x, but I wanted a little bit more peace of mind. Install was crazy easy. Also excited for this weekend, I am picking up a factory e locker setup from a wrecked 4runner. Going the method of changing both front and rear to the other truck's 4.30 gears and locker. I know I just did a bunch of differential stuff, but I've been keeping an eye out for a decent looking locker set up near me, and one finally came along so I'm sending it. Wish me luck!

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Hi everyone, I wasn't able to post for a while, but the work has continued. Since last post, I have completed:
- E locker retrofit from 3rd gen, with front and rear differentials at 4:30. Built my own harness from scratch with brand new connectors from toyota. Also did ECGS clamshell mod on front diff, new front axle seals, and added in a second trakmotiv extended CV axle for matching set up front
- Sherpa matterhorn sport rack, with 2 large 23zero boxes, 23zero awning, then mounted my old high lift and knockoff max tracks
- Trail gear rock sliders: never welded before but got some basic lessons and tried my hand welding them myself since they were on sale for cheap. Got my first flat from a rock within a month of installing them, and got to use the high lift jack for real, and learned that those things really benefit from the occassional hose down with WD40
- Re-upholstered driver side lower seat for 70$ said and done with ebay foam and leather, with a cheap set of hog rings and pliers

Current list to work on
- Wire locker ecu to dash light for indicator
- replace injectors, got a set of metal style injectors off facebook marketplace and had them rebuilt by injector masters, I can post pre and post rebuild data sheet
- panhard correction kit (now that I can do basic welds)

Lets start with the locker update

My truck did not come with the factory e locker, and I have been shopping around for different options on what would work best for my budget and driving. My original plan was to go with a yukon grizzly for the rear, but I called 3 local shops that were able to work on installing lockers in 3rd members, and even if I bought the locker, and removed the third member, they were quoting 2k-3k just for labor on install.

I picked up a front and rear axle swap from a guy on facebook marketplace that for 1k, that had the ecu and a harness. Harness ended up being completely wrong, so I had to build my own. I liked this plan because I got the benefit of both the locker and a gear ratio change from 4.10 to 4.30 in all one swoop.

It had some surface rust so I wire brushed down both units and painted them.

Then replaced front axle seals, and ECGS needle bearing. I bought both tools they offer to help the job, and it was very easy since I did it while the new front diff was still removed from the truck. I used Timmy's video and the diagram he showed to build my own harness, with brand new connectors from toyota, the part numbers for which are listed on the same wiring diagram.

I was able to swap the front diff, popped out the trakmotive axle with just a big heave, and finessed the diff out without having to use any tricks to improve clearance to fit it out. It sucked putting back in this way. It took a couple tries to configure the wires right because the pin layouts are not super intuitive on the direction facing if you have no original harness to work with.

Finally, got my actuator noises after chipping away at this job for a long time. Replaced the gear oil with 75-90 conventional. Bought new bolts for all drain and fill plugs from toyota. I decided not to worry about routing the breather to the front diff since the factory location is already high enough for what I need.

Said and done, this took about 1300$ and a lot of work to do myself, but I'm happy I was able to save a couple thousand $ and complete the process.

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Next, the update on front driver seat

I ordered some cheap materials from ebay to get this job done, and I am pleasantly surprised to how everything has turned out. Pretty easy to DIY with some cheap hog rings and pliers. My only gripe with this, is that the stitch pattern on the new "leather" is different from the current seats, but I'm also not 100% sure that the seat leather I have is factory either.

Driver Bottom Seat Foam Cushion For Toyota 4Runner 1996-2002 Base limited SR5 | eBay
Seat foam

Real Leather Car Front Driver Seat Bottom Cover Replace Pad For 4Runner 1996 97 | eBay
Seat leather

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Next, rock sliders
Trail Gear 120002-1-KIT Trail-Gear Rock Sliders | Summit Racing

I have never welded before, but decided to just get after it to save some money once again, saving 500$ to go this route instead of bolt on route. I got some trail gear sliders for a good price, then some basic MIG lessons from my partner's dad, and went to town. Did my basic lessons and got them welded on within the same day. My measurements ended up making it look really stuck out, because I wanted both anterior-posterior bars reachable by foot and also flat for roof box access. I will probably revisit the fitment on these at some point, but already used them once during hunting season when I got the first flat since owning this 4runner on a regular gravel road and a perfectly shaped dagger rock so I'm glad I had them on when I did.

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Rear axle seals

Both my brother and I both sprung a rear axle seal at the same time. We ordered Marlin Crawler kits

Rear Axle Service Kit, 1979'-'99 Pickup, 4Runner, Tacoma '-' Marlin Crawler Off'-'Road

I watched timmys video for this and I knew that sometimes this job doesn't go well with machine shops, but I don't have a press. Took a gamble on Clackamas Auto Parts machine shop near Portland. I've been beating on this thing for 5 weeks straight for western oregon deer season and leak seems to be fixed. Total cost was about 275$ to have both mine and my brothers done.

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Next is new roof rack and accessories

I sold my skinnywarrior and supdawgs for a decent price on marketplace, then got a Sherpa Matterhorn sport brand new for my truck. I love this rack. It has a great low profile, holds rock solid, and has a ton of space compared to my last set up. I got 2 103L 23zero boxes used on facebook marketplace for 400$, as well as a matching 23zero awning for 100$ from a separate seller. The boxes have been a huge asset to clearing out the interior of my 4runner, and the awning worked fantastic for keeping out rain.

The reason all of these things are important: Hunting season

During hunting season, I was able to sleep in the back of my 4runner and fit an entire twin size air mattress in the rear with the lower seats in the back unbolted, and keep all my spares and camping gear in the boxes above. This meant that I could bring my bed and all my gear with me to park and gates and not have to deal with repacking tents and getting everything soaked at the buttcrack of dawn every morning. HUGE advantage for ease and comfort. So, I was able to easily drive out and camp 2 nights every weekend for 5 weeks straight comfortably, using the awning to cook out of the rain when needed, and having minimal camp to pack up every morning. It paid off and got my first buck on a general western oregon tag, on the last weekend of the season, and this was my first year hunting ever.

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last major maintenance change: Injectors

I have had a long standing issues of surging acceleration, only when going 55+, and only uphill. After doing a bunch of reading, I decided to try changing injectors. I picked up some metal style injectors used from facebook marketplace and had them rebuilt by injector masters in Clackamas, Oregon for 25$ each. I'll include the data sheet below.

150$ for metal style injector set, 150$ for rebuild.

I did the injectors yesterday, and not only does the truck no longer have the surging acceleration, it also idles FREAKY smooth.

When replacing injectors, I discovered that someone had messed with them before. I had 1 brown plastic style injector, and 5 metal style injectors. The brown plastic injector seemed relatively new, and the metal ones had some indicators of age.

I'm curious to see if injector masters will run a diagnostic on my old injectors to see what the output and flow difference is.

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So here's finally a picture of how the truck stands after all the recent changes and a summary build sheet:

Engine Parts Replaced
- Valve cover gaskets
- PCV valve
- injectors
- timing belt, water pump, tensioner, pulleys
- all belts
- radiator
- thermostat
- NGK plugs and wires
- MAF cleaned
- Intake manifold gaskets
- Air filter
- Fuel filter

Electrical
- Optima yellow cap
- Auxiliary fuse block
- Military battery terminals
- Fog lights (Big Lion), Ditch lights (auxbeam), reverse lights (rigid)
- Scangauge
- Cobra CB with firestik

Drive
- Extended travel CV axles (trakmotive)
- E-locker full swap to 4:30 gears
- ARB diff breather
- Driveshaft greasing maintenance
- New 75-90 conventional in front and rear + transfer case
- Front diff seals
- Driver rear axle service
- ECGS clamshell mod

Suspension + brakes
- Tundra TRD pro coils in front
- OME 891 in rear
- Bilstein shocks all around
- New toyota lower ball joints
- SRQ stainless steel brake lines front and rear

Interior
- New driver seat foam and leather
- Weathertec (non-molded)
- Rockford fosgate speakers
- Pioneer stereo

Offroad
-Badlands Apex 12k winch with hawse, synthetic, bluetooth with "custom" hidden winch mount aka harbor freight plate
- Trailgear 67" rock sliders
- Amazon max tracks https://a.co/d/fS8NSbz
- Amazon air compressor (used multiple times and works surprisingly well)https://a.co/d/esFzwNK
- Amazon All top Shackle kit https://a.co/d/86S5nDC

Wheels and Tires:
- 17x9 Bronze vision flows
- 285/70/17 BFG K02s

Roof Rack
- Sherpa Matterhorn Sport
- 23zero 103L boxes X2 - mounted with carriage bolts
- 23Zero 6ft awning

Work all completed DIY with exception of rear axle pressing, and injector rebuild

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