Intro:

My name is Brandon and come from the BMW e30 world. I built a ground up ratrod made to do SCCA, canyons, and light track.
Click to check out my e30 build!





Just picked up a cream puff of a 4Runner. It's a 93' with 160k, 3.0 and 5spd.

Plans are some light armor, 3" lift(maybe), roof rack and move the driver seat back 4"(I'm 6'5''). I'm not into crawling but I want something I can take deep into the mountains for weekend camping/photography hikes.

Only thing is it idles at 1k cold and warm, is there a common cause of this? Brand new to Toyota and the 4Runners!

Nice lookin truck! If your not into crawling and just need to use it to go into the mountains and generally exploring I would highly suggest not bothering with a lift, you really don't need it for what you have planned. I think some good aggressive tires and rear locker and it will take you anywhere you are willing to go. And remove those step bars you will have more clearance under the truck without them

Thanks for the advice! I was really pondering the lift since I'm so tall but I want to really just leave the truck as stock as possible besides some front armor(welding up my own) and adding a light bar for the mountain pass I live on.

I'm sure there is a ton of info on a rear locker in a google search, but have any good links or builds I can reference? Thanks for the warm welcome and I look forward to growing in this community.

If anyone sees this and has a driver front turn signal I'm in need

The topic of what locker is best etc etc is very subjective. Some guys swear by one specific brand or type and some people others. So on your search for what may be right for you keep that in mind.
So here's my opinion on the lockers,
if cash is not a problem get an ARB air locker. Then that requires not just the locker but you also need an on board air compressor to power the locker. The ability to go from completely open diff(stock, best for onroad especially icy conditions) to full locked with a flip of a switch .
If you don't want to spend that much look at automatic lockers like a yukon(high end) or a spartan(decent). But some people complain about noise and it can make in road travel in icy conditions a little...tricky

You have a lot of reading to do and most of the info for what your looking for can be found here

Looks good!

I agree the lift isnt really needed. I have a 94 with 3.0 5-speed we used to take to make four wheeler trailers since the back makes perfect space and we never had problems with ground clearence. Get rid of the step bars I don't have any being that tall you shouldn't need them. Looks really clean though ����

3.0 wasn't one of Toyotas best ideas.
At 160k yours is in the range where the head gaskets tend to decide to blow

I'm new to the Toyota world as well, my new 1990 4runner is the first vehicle other than air-cooled Volkswagen that I've taken a wrench to. It's much easier to diagnose an issue with an engine that doesn't have a computer and if it's not just an issue of setting the timing and idle speed, more investigation will be required. There are likely several sources for the timing procedure on a 3VZE but you should also get your hands on the factory service manual for the 1990-1995 4runner that's available in a PDF download.

Yeah, I hate troubleshooting this engine. At it's age, a lot of stuff could be wrong, with fancy acronyms and little hoses and wires, really easy to get frustrated.
Use a timing light, bridge E1 and TE1 with a paper clip. Timing should be around 5+ advanced. (I think)

The good thing is, it appears OP is pretty wrench-y, the 3.0, while kinda odd, was a first for Toyotas and V6s, the 4th gen's V8 had some HG issues too. Some headers will really reduce the risk of a blowout, same with some new MLS gaskets.

Merry Christmas my friends! So I've gone through the engine and I feel comfortable shifting my focus to suspension upgrade since it is original to factory production. I went through the paperwork dating back to ownership and nothing for suspension work. I don't need a piece of paper to tell me it's on the last leg.

I have gone through tons of threads and silly as this sounds, none cover stock height upgrade since I don't plan to lift now I just want something good at medium off-roading(dampening) and a nice ride on the highway/town.

In the BMW world Koni sport adjustables are king but I see a lot of builds use Bilstein. I also plan to update the tierods, bushings, springs etc.

Budgeting around 700-1k

I was thinking about getting the 2" lift from Bilstein since that's very slight difference I feel it would be nice looking.

Head gasket popped and now the 4Runner is a white smoke machine!!!! Any recommendations on gasket brands since these 3.0 engines suffer from poor engine design? I found a brand called Ishino and they are OEM replacement for Honda, Toyota and make many of the orings, seals and other parts for Toyota. I also found complete kits off eBay for around 100.00 with the timing belt and head studs.

I read that Toyota recommends reusing the studs? I also heard about a sensor under the intake between the heads that is said to replace? Just looking for some solid advice since the threads I have read are mostly people wondering if the gasket is bad 😂

I did this on my '95 a couple years back. Think I did a thread on it I'll have to lookI wouldn't be too picky about head gaskets. Just get a good name brand or better yet OEM. You can not reuse the head bolts. Once they are loosened they are trash. They aren't torqued in, it's done by tourque then stretching them with another 90 degree turn.

Best to replace the knock sensor and wiring pigtail at that time. I can't remember how much it was but the wiring on mine was real brittle and dry so I can definitely see why it was worth it as it'd involve taking the whole motor apart again if it ever went bad.

One thing I did was wrapped the crossover pipe with header wrap. It's been said that the heat from the pipe cooks the gaskets over time. Figured it couldn't hurt. I actually took the heat shield off the pipe, wrapped the pipe and put the shield back on. You can actually lay your hand on the heat shield now and it won't butn you, just a little warm. Or you could do yourself a big favor and buy a set of headers. They are a bit pricey but I regretted not getting them.

Good luck with it. It's quite a project if you plan on doing it yourself. And of course now would be the time to get a oil pump, water pump, timing belt etc. I ordered everything off RockAuto and had no issues. Also if you are doing it yourself you can't take enough reference pic and put enough labels on wiring and especially vacuum line. I chased a vacuum leak around for months and it was one little hose that I forgot to connect.

I have done a ton of bmw and Subaru engines and I always replace the head bolts, it is funny a bunch of threads out there tell people to not replace. I planned on it since it goes against my belief haha.

That's right! The knock sensor, it's right between the heads under the intake. I'm not worried about the work, I just wanted to make sure to avoid a gasket brand that is trash. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

When I redid the head gasket on mines I used:

Toyota 3.0 V-6

Also suggest wrapping your exhaust to keep the heat off of the gasket as well as do the head studs as mentioned.