Recent content by Swaro

The 2 Bridgestones I want to replace are original tires with 40K+ miles on them. I'm more than pleased with the treadwear. That Goodyear triple tred looks like another excellent choice. At 161.00 it's a bit less than the Nokian that lists for 220.00 and less than the Revo. The DM-Z3's...

thanks for the responses...especially Baba B. I'll look into those Nokians. Yes jwyshrek, I'm concerned about how the alphabets would react to different levels of grip and diameter. I would not put just 2 Blizzaks on because I can only picture losing the rear end in a corner if the Blizzaks...

My 03 SR5 V8 needs two tires replaced. There are 2 fairly new Bridgestone 840's on it. I would like to go to a better tire for snow traction. My searches seem to always end with either Blizzack DM-Z3's or Revo's. 265-65-17. These tires will stay on the vehicle all year, but I rarely drive...

Charlie: Yes, reliability is more important in an SUV for me too. I also came from a long history of vw's...never had a problem with any of them. The trend ended with a '92 Passat that I referred to as the German chevy as it's character was not at all German. Now rack up the miles on a '94...

My '03 V8 4Runner has not had 1 problem from new for over 3 years now--as a first year vehicle. My SUV choice was between a Tourareg and the 4Runner. The release of the VW was delayed in the US for several months. So glad it was; I've read and heard first hand all the Tourareg nightmare...

I hear you, Mafster. It's one of the most annoying things about the 4Runner. If I have to make three or more stops on the way home from work it seems I'm constantly turning off the recirc...and inevitably I forget.

I lock the center diff when going up steep hills in unplowed snow. The last time I left it on, the braking brought the vehicle to a crawl, and I almost did not make the hill. I'll countersteer my way out of drifting slides going up. I leave it on when on the level.

thought there was a pattern here with the '04's being ok and the '03's not, but then a couple '03's said their heaters were hot. wonder what it could be...different manuf/source of heater cores? I do love my 4Runner, however. Just that I rarely get cold...so if I'm cool or chilly...the...

It's been 0-5 deg F for the past several nights here in the NE US, and I gotta say, this heater ain't cuttin' it. I can leave it on HI temp with full fan for my 45 min commute w/o turning it down...and the cabin is just barely luke warm. Is there something wrong? Can I change the thermostat...

Hawk...C44me is right on with the comments. I'm 5-10 and have to bend the legs slightly. If you are 5-8 or less, you will be able to keep your legs straight. I have the cargo shelf...no problems...the Thermarests handle that. It gets extremely wet on the windows when 2 are sleeping in there...

that's funny, benhar. I've used it to hide presents as well. You can roll back the cargo cover and they are still well hidden. Also, it works great when you take 3 of your pals golfing with all the bags, shoes, jackets, etc.

Love the sound of the V8 when ya punch it...just slow down for that rapidly approaching corner. The sound of these two engines is distinctly different. (I bought my v8 for all the obvious differences, but the sound thing just put it over the top.)

Excellent recap, Peter78. This same oil discussion has occured on probably every auto forum. I stopped using Castrol Syntec because it is dino based. The bmw racers always said Red Line was the best true synthetic one could buy. I feel this is true. It was said the US military uses Red...

Is it just me, or does your left hand fall naturally to the REAR window switches too? Just nit picking, but I can't tell you how many times that back window has gone down when I wanted the front. I have to look to get the left front window at first try or do a feel around search for it.

No issues with 4-03 V8 4wd. Just nit picky stuff. I figure I'll wait as long as possible to have them swap the cat out. In 3 or 4 years the whacko exhaust sniffing police will probably move into my county that until 3 years ago only had 2 traffic lights. Now we have 5. Then I'll have a...