Just got my almost new 1997 dark grey 4Runner SR5 4WD on Tuesday night and had a few quick questions for you all.

First- does anyone know of a good place to get a trailer hitched bike rack? I'd like to hook up my bike on the back of this puppy and everyplace I have looked for bike racks the trailer hitch ones are over $200 - I do not want to spend $200 and thought that there might be a place online that sells them for cheaper? The main reason is the regular bike racks leave no space between the bike and the car and I do not want the bike to be hitting the back of my new child.... any ideas?

Second- my car didn't come with a manual because I bought it used from the dealer and the dealer didn't have the manual in stock- they are sending me one but in the meantime I am curious. I have never owned a 4WD vehicle so I am very curious about it. My next door neighbor showed me tonight to take it into four we have to be in park, and then it was really difficult for him to get it out, so he popped it into neutral and it worked like a champ. However, another friend of mine *(who also knows nothing about 4WD) said that when she has to put her truck back from 4WD into 2WD, she has to back it up 70 feet in reverse? Or some crazy crap like that? Is there any special trick or crazy thing I gotta know about this before I mess it up?

Third- my back cargo mat has a huge stain on it. Is there anywhere other than the Toyota dealer (so expensive) that might sell a Toyota cargo mat? I don't want a generic off brand one, I want the Toyota one, but not for as much as Toyota charges. Any ideas?

That's about it for now. I love my new car and I hope to become as active in this forum as I am in my Nextel forum

Thanks so much ahead of time for any responses.

I can answer one of the those questions:

I think that in '97, 4runners can go from 2wd to 4HI on the fly...up to 62 mph. To go into 4-LO, you should ALWAYS STOP, PUT IN NEUTRAL, then shift to 4-LO. To go back into 4-HI (from 4-Lo), you should also stop, put in neutral, then shift to 4-HI. To go from 4-HI to 2wd, i think you can do this on the fly too.

However, it is always easiest to stop and then shift into 4wd.

Try it out and see. I don't have a '97, but i think that is how you do it.

Good Luck...and congrats on your new 4runner.

You can go on-line to dealers that sell at a discount. I use a Toyota dealer on line and they sell oil filters for $3.50 and everything else is discounted.

Here is a thread on best parts dealers.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showth...hp?threadid=95

This is the dealer I used. I bought running boards for about 1/3 off.

http://www.pageauto.com/metoparts.htm

thanks so much,

I will check the online dealers out for the cargo mat... looks like some good deals-
and thanks for the 4WD tips.

-sarah