I replaced the radiator on my daughter's '03 2UZFE 2WD 4Runner last year. Bought a Denso off Amazon, and new OEM upper/lower hoses, thermostat and gasket from local dealer, and refilled w/SLLC. Drained all coolant fluids out as best including from the two engine block drains (not hard if you have decent set of tools). That said, you can never get it all out. T'was an easy job but I had the benefit of doing in on a car that spent its life mostly garaged in rust-free So Cal. I did it solo. Just be careful removing any of the plastic "pop" clips at the plastic engine shroud or whatever its called as after 20 yrs they break easily.

This weekend I replaced sway bar end links and bushings front and rear. Went with Energy Suspension bushings. After driving with them, I'm a big fan.

Tried replacing rear brakes (calipers, rotors, and pads). Pulled the rotor off the passenger side but didn't back the parking brake shoes off first and knocked some stuff loose along with bending a pin that holds some stuff together. Got the pin out, bent it back in a vise, and got it all back together. Didn't make that same mistake on the driver side. Went to change the calipers and discovered that Rockauto sent me a caliper that wasn't even remotely close to being correct and another that had a hole in the casting exposing the rubber guide pin boot so I had to put it all back together with the old stuff. Good times.

Replaced the muffler and tailpipe with Walker stuff. The original muffler was full of holes around the where the hangers connect to the muffler and the flange between the muffler and tailpipe was toast, which was a shame because the rest of the taipipe was in great shape. The Walker stuff is kinda crappy but it works so whatever. Thought I would have a quiet exhaust after that only to discover the ticking sound I was getting is actually a cracked exhaust manifold. Awesome.

Did an oil change after that since the mechanic the previous owner took it to didn't even bother replacing the crush washer for the drain plug, they just put the drain plug in with no washer at all. Lazy turd.

Drove it for a couple days and then today when I was leaving for work I discovered transmission fluid pouring out the bottom of the skid plate. Pulled the plate to find the same mechanic replaced the radiator and ended up routing the transmission to radiator hoses incorrectly which caused one of them to kink which led to the hose tearing. I really dislike incompetent "mechanics".

I'm starting to think I'm cursed. Or this 4Runner is cursed. Or both.

I got this stuff done today.

- Flush power steering fluid.
- Change oil and filter.
- Lube the propeller shaft and yolks
- Attempted to replace my transfer case fluid only to find out that I forgot to bring my 24mm socket.

Highway, rear-ended and pushed into the ball-hitch of a Ram ahead of me.

Will have to wait up to 2wks to find out if insurance will repair it or give it a 👎🏿

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Today I did an oil change and changed the air filter as well.

I hate that and glad you are ok. I am pretty sure they will total it because of the age

Swapped out the black side mirrors for colored matched ones.

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I'm changing the rear brakes on my dad's (formerly my) 4Runner this weekend. The rear calipers are fairly crusty. I probably should have replaced them. Looks like Toyota sells remanufactured calipers for around $150. I'm going to change the pads and rotors and hope for the best.

I bought pads from Rock Auto, and they fell out of the box in transit. Now I'm waiting on parts again. They cost almost 2x as much locally.

Snagged this locally for $100.

My current tailgate with no spoiler has 4 dollar coin size rust spots with 2 of them poking through the backside. Excited to put this on with new window seals and lift struts. Also will swap out the lock mechanism too. A few chip paints spots from prying probably but will take that over internal rust.

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When I last renewed my front brakes, I noticed the date codes on my 2004's brake hoses were from February of 2004, so I made a mental note to switch them out asap. I decided I'd spring for some Goodridge braided lines. After shopping around I found a set, part 21186, to install.

Turns out this set is either a fraudulent set, or Goodridge's design is obviously bad and will not mount correctly. Specifically the rear caliper lines and the lines in front of the diff. After attempting both of those I decided not to even bother with attempting the fronts.

In the meantime I ordered some factory replacements from Toyota. At least I got the rear rotors, pads, and one mangled rear caliper switched out. I ruined it doing some skilled grinding on said caliper trying to make them fit. I'm either returning these lines or sending them to Goodridge to verify they are authentic, and if so, hopefully they revisit their design.

The colored matched looks great, nice upgrade!

Appreciate it, the side mirrors were the last cosmetic thing I wanted to swap from chrome. I was able to grab a 2015 Yaris headunit from EBay so just waiting on that and the harnesses to come in.

Couldn’t wait until Saturday afternoon, so I was able to swap the tailgate pretty quickly this evening with max effort. Still have to swap the lock mechanism, exterior trim garnish and black cover under piece for the handle. Excited to have a spoiler back!

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Replaced the yellow bulbs for LED, love how it looks !

https://imgur.com/nDvarm6

View post on imgur.com

Installed a USB charger

View post on imgur.com

https://imgur.com/fYGJ6ls



And discovered the glovebox has a light

Bled and flushed the system a second time. First time dark brown and a really spongy pad after a shop allegedly changed the pads and a front caliper. Without bleeding and flushing the system. Still pulls to the left. Suspect a sticky caliper as the first flush had some nasty fluid, and the pedal is now rock hard.
Will check pads and if the left is worn more than the right, reman caliper for the right and fresh akebonos.
It's a v6 so got a casting number for the v6 please?