$600 Upgrade Budget - What to do?
Hey Everyone:
I've taken a leave of absence from life the last few years and have been out of contact with all the latest and greatest here. All of my free time has been spent realizing I have no free time. Like, none. I'm in a brief period of funemployment and have fallen back in love with wrenching on my 4Runner. After I complete big work projects, I like to 'gift' myself something to reconnect with who I really am so I can forget about the work trauma I just endured. Anyway, I will be gifting myself general maintenance and engine upgrades on my 4Runner. I know specific threads on this forum cover issue remediation and specific upgrades. Like, I'll come up with 100 different threads covering alternator replacements or aux lighting or roof racks, etc. I'm currently in the middle of following mtbtim's (can't remember how to get mentions to work!) timing belt replacement tutorial. Much thanks to Timmy!!! I feel like it would be a good opportunity to refresh any maintenance items not part of the timing belt service while I have my truck apart, or target upgrades which would improve performance, reliability, or vehicle longevity. Here's the specs on my truck and build:
Recently replaced maintenance items:
Known deferred general maintenance items which might need to be addressed sooner than later:
Added items from all of you fine folks:
Known issues which can be deferred:
Vehicle is in registered in CA so needs to be CARB compliant. Use Case for Vehicle Primary daily driver with moderate off-road excursions on occasion or when time allows. Winter vehicle to/from ski resorts in Tahoe approximately 10-15 times per ski season. Interim work vehicle to drive out to client sites (future career - home inspector / contractor). 15-20k miles per year expected for next few years until business gets off the ground, then will revert to recreational vehicle. I'd like to extend service life of vehicle 5-10 years more and will most likely be replaced with new Ford Bronco (sorry, I need a manual trans SUV). Blame Toyota, not me:) Upgrades out of scope:
Upgrades currently under consideration:
Budget: $600 Budget only applies to optional maintenance items, not things that need to be done right away. For example, rotor resurfacing or windshield replacement won't cut into my fun money. What would you do? Any suggestions what I should focus on in the next 3-weeks? |
Without a winch or a bunch of off road lights, unless you have a problem with your alternator I'd take that off the list.
As someone else who needs to deal with CARB, I don't think the deck plate mod will actually pass the visual which is one of the reasons I took it off of my list of things I was looking at doing. If you want to do it, you could find another airbox off of a junked 4Runner (Make sure it's a compatible year), and easily swap the airbox just for smog. You say that suspension is out of scope unless you should be paranoid about LBJ failures. I can't find anything you noted about having replaced the LBJ's. If they are original, I'd definitely be looking at replacing them especially as the lift will tend to make them wear faster. |
Bilstein 5100 / OME 906 would give you about 2" over stock height. But even with a mild lift, I'd consider adding
@eimkeith
's Panhard Correction Kit thus fixing your panhard bar angle, redoing your LBJs, and then getting an alignment.
As far as the deck plate mod, I'll echo what @Skulking says above. Good luck! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Thanks for the +1 on the PCK! :) |
I'd change front diff, rear diff, transfer case, transmission fluid, coolant flush, and fix my brakes. I prefer a well running vehicle to a good looking one. Just my $0.02
|
Quote:
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/for-s...ml#post2565528 I'm totally open to replacing the LBJ's. I guess I just recall reading through threads in the past and there were varying levels of concern regarding them. Folks who seemed to have plate bumpers seemed to have them wear faster. Obviously, I've seen the grisly aftermath of failures. I'm open to doing whatever, actually. Just as long as there's sufficient rationale and cause behind it. Sometimes it's hard to assess what is overblown and what is real. That being said, I'll start looking in to LBJ's and spec'ing out what's out there. I don't mind redoing them. Getting the 6112/5160's on were a huge PITA. I went to war with those things. Diameter of tube was so thick it interfered with getting spring compressors around the springs. |
Quote:
I got mine from Jason at OPT OFF ROAD: Panhard Correction Kit (PCK) The kit does require welding. If you're at 2" above stock height, you can get away with only welding on the axle bracket extension. If you are in fact at 3" or more above stock height, then you'd want to weld up both the axle and the frame sides. @eimkeith , correct me if I'm wrong. :) |
Measure center of the hubs to the fender lip, on all 4 corners and list them - that will let us know how much lift you have. 20" is "stock" height for comparison purposes (even though every year was a different height from the factory).
Based on your use case, get everything 100% reliable before any mods. 15-20k miles a year will require regular maintenance/work. Also, clients will want to see a clean unmodified vehicle (things sales end-to-end here for your business). At least you don't have to worry about pink milkshake. :caked: -Charlie |
For a somewhat frivolous, pure sex-appeal (OK functional, too) upgrade, I think a set of BXBuilt trick AF retrofit headlights is about $600. Not on my own radar, but they are as popular as a big swollen lips are for Beverly Hills housewives.
Just something that I didn't see on your lists at first glance..... Toyota & Lexus Headlights | BXBuilt Edit - Lead Time not good - ouch. Like I said, "Popular"! |
Quote:
The 6100/5160s in front measured about 2" above where my Highlander springs were at. And stock Highlander springs were supposedly 1" above stock SR5's. And of course they settled a bit after measurement. |
Quote:
Looking in to changing out the front diff, though. Wasn't on my list and I'll toss it on there. Thank you! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Thanks for the reference point on where to calculate stock ride height from. Always a challenge figuring out 'stock' year to year. And in the end a half an inch doesn't mean much. I'm planning on picking up a Sprinter van in the next 6-12 months as soon as I refine the business model. Too many variables at the moment to figure out exact vehicle requirements. Until recently I was driving around in a 2018 Ram 3500 (rare manual trans) and definitely looked the part. When one business collapses, you have to pick yourself off the ground and start over. My 4Runner is always there for me when I need it. Like a warm blanket of happiness. |
Briefly, if you regularly use the 4Runner as a necessary vehicle for the next 5-10 years, I would focus on all those items you think a daily driver needs in order to last a long time.
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:00 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by
DragonByte SEO (Pro) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by
Advanced User Tagging (Lite) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger