Hello all!

I am the proud owner of a 96 Limited with 170K. I have owned it for just over 2 years and had no issues other than minor/typical stuff ( a/c not working, squeaking belts, new breaks ). I have always kept the oil changed at 3K or 3 months since I only drive it maybe 20 miles a week.

I recently decided I would like to get a fresh coat of paint since the clear coat is going on the hood and roof ( looks bad! ). This has got me thinking about other ( more important ) things that need to be done.

This morning I was reading a 3rd gen thread about regular maintenance items and I am wondering what I should prioritize? I have not preformed any of the following:

Timing belt/water pump
Transmission Fluid
Differential fluids and engine coolant
Spark plugs and wires
Lower ball joints

Do you guys recommend a starting point? Not sure I can do it ALL at once. I am not mechanically inclined and would have to pay a local shop for most of these.

Im in the same boat as you I just picked up a 1999 4runner limited with 253000. And as far as priorities you will do your coolant and transmission fluid when you do the timing belt so few birds with one stone there. Then lbj and ubj as well all at once with inner and outer tie rods. Then you could do differential fluids and transfer case too those are the steps I'm going to take at least

Timing belt is time consuming and if doing yourself, order your parts, study the video, carve out a convenient time before it becomes necessary and inconvenient.

in my opinion, transmission & diff fluid drain & fill is extremely easy and even someone who is not mechanically inclined can do it. all you need is some container that can measure volume and a $10 fluid pump from harbor freight for the differentials.

there are lots of write-ups that walk you through it and have all the torque specs for the nuts. this is the first thing i did when i got my 3rd gen. I think it adds up to about $100 worth of fluids. I did a drain & fill on the transmission twice about 10k miles apart and i think the total synthetic fluid cost was about $50.

another low hanging fruit is greasing joints. lots of write-ups for what type of grease to use on which joint on these forums too.

if your LBJ show wear, torn boot, or sloppy handling...i would move that to the top of your list since the consequences can be fatal. If you get your maintenance performed at the dealership...they will usually alert you if the LBJs need replacement.

also the recent proud owner of an "00 2x4 4runner Ltd with 240K miles and a "limited" service history, pun intended. I am in the process of catching up the "deferred maintenance" necessary to make this a reliable camping truck. And it sucks, big time, way too expensive.
OK, i appreciate the dollars spent on research and development and engineering and manufacturing and parts specing/sourcing that go into OEM parts development. BUT WHY IN THE HELL do Toyota parts cost so much more than aftermarket parts, decades later??? Just priced parts for a tune-up on my 2000 4runner 3.4 V6 2x4 auto (plugs, wires, coil packs), and figured may as well replace the injectors while i was at it, as I would have to make the same tear-down for injector replacement that has to be done for a tune-up (appears the original injectors were still in service at 240K miles, bless 'em). But $560 !!!???
I did some research/checking (semi-retired attorney, computer research has made me a lot of money) and found NEW injectors, spec dual electro plugs, 3 coil packs and wires and boots, and the throttle body and plenum gaskets (necessary replacements when you take the fuel injection system apart to get to the coil packs and plugs), all for less than $200 delivered to my door, on Ebay.
Yes, I would rather buy from the dealer. Yes, I would love to have that close relationship with people I would like to depend on to maintain my daily transportation. Yes. I have bought a few beers for dealer service managers and dealer techs in my past years. And I have learned, and I am sure the reader knows, that to build a $30K car from the parts sourced from the dealership parts department would cost $100K. A real pity, an open secret, and a fraud on the public.
I cut my teeth wrenching on '60s and '70s muscle and "fun" cars. After watching Timmy the Tool Man and a few other videos, I see nothing to prevent me from tuning up this little fuel-injected V6, but dealer parts prices are OUTRAGEOUS. I understand "Toyota reliability" that is engineered into, and expected from, the branded parts. But when shop managers tell me they regularly use Ebay parts to cut overhead, why should I pay dealer service prices for something I can do myself, with the same Ebay parts??