Recent content by truckmike26

There's a reason O.E. converters (and aftermarket ones with sufficient precious metals) are like five to 10 times the price of the cheap ones. Looking on Rock Auto, I'm curious if the $1,000+ aftermarket manifold/converters match or come close to originals.

One advantage of the 4.7 is that it's nothing special.

OEM 4th gen. ball joints come only with the whole control arms ($2,900 for uppers and lowers quoted from my local dealer). Very true, he should hang out in the 4th gen. section.

Shockingly, 32,000 km isn't horrible these days. That's five years of driving on my old VZN110 and about three years on the GRN215L. I avoid at all costs Moog, Mevotech and any re-boxed brand with bright colours on it.

A really good choice for ball joints is Senkei 555 ball joints. Made in Japan. Quite often, 555s are available from Rock Auto boxed by Beck Arnley.

It doesn't look OEM because it doesn't have the turned notches for the removal/installation tool and the boot clamp says "GSP".

I put brand new OEM calipers from the dealer two years ago. A month ago, I opened the bleeder screws, pushed the pistons back in fully to purge the fluid in the calipers from the bleeder screws. Then I flushed the front lines while topping up the master cylinder. It's but one way to get more...

So far, I've noticed little difference over the factory-installed Tokicos. I've got the fronts on the second groove (10 mm) combined with a 1/4" spacer (6.4 mm). So 16.4 x 2.2 = 36 mm front lift and 10 mm OME rings in the rear. Any perceived increase in firmness is likely just because the 5100s...

My vote goes to a sticking front caliper piston/uneven inside/outside rotor wear. Also, torque the wheel nuts by hand with a torque wrench set to 83 ft.-lbs.

Yes. It was 100 percent human error but Toyota launched the pedal jigsaw modification campaign out of an excessive abundance of caution. Toyota sent me three letters to get it cut and I finally gave in so it wouldn't bite me in the ass later down the road for some unforeseen reason.

That's really good to know. I've got Centric upper and lower ball joints installed right now (I changed them when I installed 5100s). Centric uppers are the only brand from Rock Auto that list a 4Runner/GX application only (no Tundra/Sequoia). I've got a random noise coming from the front and...

Thanks. What year is your 4Runner?

The transmission interlock circuit is always the thing I check first. Sometimes, it'll start in neutral ("N") or fiddling with the transmission selector. With the parking brake on and wheels chocked, of course.

That's good advice. Do you know where I can find an OEM Toyota upper ball joint-only part number for body code GRN215 4Runners?

A good guess. On the previous gen 3VZ-E, the computer temp sensor circuit increases the fuel pressure accordingly to combat vapor lock for hot soak starts. My old '94 struggled with hot starts until I replaced that sensor. Hot starts are perfect now.