1997 317k 4Runner aka: Back Alley Sally

[mexellent]

I posted this in the "New Member" section, but I think its fits better here.

Allow me to introduce myself.

First and foremost, I am a complete and utter idiot. I really dont know what I was thinking. Actually, what I was thinking was "WOOOOO $1500 bucks is a steal!"


She runs and drives and has COLD AC!

Little did I know....

Outside, she looks pretty decent. Shes scuffed up and paint is a little faded here and there. Interior is.... bad. Seats are literally worn out. They are no longer leather, they are foam. The radio is gone and there are bits of trim hanging here and there. My girlfriend sat in it and said "I think Im going to get AIDS."

But none of that stuff really bothers me. I really wanted to go wheelin' and I figure she's going to get dirty and all banged up so she's the perfect candidate!

Thats the amazing part. Everything works. AC, cruise control, most of the power windows, all the mirrors, the 4x4, etc. They are all still functioning! Hats off to Toyota!

Ideally I'd just throw a lift on it and go wheelin'! But it has many issues which really are to be expected from a rig that has 317k miles on it.

Here is where things start to go downhill:
-Took it to get aligned at sears and they said it was "too loose" to be aligned.
-Steering rack bushings are shot
-Tie rods may be shot
-LBJ's may be shot
-Wheel bearings should probably be replaced
-Rear 4 link bushings are shot
-Axle seals are shot
-Valve cover gaskets leak

Anyway, I priced up all the things that need to be replaced and I could easily spend $2000 on parts to fix the ball joints, bushings, bearings, brakes, etc. I am going to have to re-evaluate where my money is going to go because putting that much money into this truck would be silly. I will keep you guys updated and I will post more pics tomorrow!

 

[mexellent]

Here are more pictures (I hope they aren't too large):

She's already marked her spot! Awww...

A speedo shot just to show ya'll the milage.

The radio was stolen supposedly. Ive been cruising without one for a couple of weeks now.

This window does not roll down. I think the previous owner tried to fix it but did not succeed.

There is a big dent on the tail-gate. I wonder if that's the reason that it doesn't roll down...

Here are the tires it came with. The rims were the split 3 spokes. The front tires were wearing heavily on the inside. One of the tires started showing threads so I put the wheels and tires in the pictures above. I want to fix the front suspension ASAP so that I can get it aligned.

The paint is fading in several places...

The front drivers seat is pretty much completely shot. The passenger seat is ok. I really want to find some non-power seats to put in there.

However, other than wheelin', I use the truck for biking (its actually the primary use for this thing!). I keep my bike in the back and I usually go biking straight after work. This saves me an hour a day when I decide to exercise. I like the torn up interior because I dont care that Im sweaty and gross when I get in it.

Anyway, even though the car is really beat up and gross, I actually find it quite endearing. It suffers the typical Toyota fate, which is its so reliable that its often neglected to a point of complete and utter disrepair. Every time I get in it, it reminds me of a faithful old dog who is at the end of its life, and yet he gets up and does as he is told. Every. Time.

Just little bits of TLC here and there have made a big difference in this rig. So Ill keep workin on it. Hopefully I can get it to a point where I can wheel it mid-november.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Whew she does need some work. If it's going to be a wheeler just toss in some seats from the junkyard or with corbeaus. Glad everything works right but it's going to be a lot of dough to get the front end going again. About 500 for the ball joints and another 500 for the steering rack. There's a safari steering rack a lot of people have had good luck with but don't get a reman steering rack. They are bad news.

 

[wesrunner]

Whew she does need some work. If it's going to be a wheeler just toss in some seats from the junkyard or with corbeaus. Glad everything works right but it's going to be a lot of dough to get the front end going again. About 500 for the ball joints and another 500 for the steering rack. There's a safari steering rack a lot of people have had good luck with but don't get a reman steering rack. They are bad news.

Hang on their partner. Ball Joints do not cost 500 dollars. I replaced my uppers, inner and outer tierods for 250. Steering rack bushings cost me 20 bucks.

 

[habanero]

Kryptoroxx is pricing out the whole rack rather than just the bushings...and he's right on the cost of the rack, give or take.

If you can do the work life is good. You'll find lots of info here to help you out. The junk yard is your new buddy- that's where I got my 96 some rear lower control arms- off a low mileage 02 4Runner for cheaps. Got the rear uppers from Toyota (have to replace whole arms w/bushings in yours) though the junkyard ones would have worked for them too. Just if you're going to get uppers and lower be aware that that's what holds the rear axle to the truck- don't get yourself in a bind.

Are the axle seals shot or the rear dif breather clogged- or both?

Are the valve cover gaskets leaking, or have the bolts come loose?(don't over tighten)

The wires between the tailgate and body often break over time. Wouldn't take but a few seconds to pull the boot and check for the hopefully easy fix on that rear window. One can be hopeful....

Lower ball joints. Yeah, take care of those!

Well, you've got some studying to do on all those common 3rd gen issues like milkshakes and ball joints and stuff.

Will be interesting to see your decision on what you're going to do with the old girl.


Can't be too much of an idiot- got a 4Runner to play in, don't you? AND, it has cold A/C!

 

[sterbenlicht]

I'd make sure it's got plenty of oil in it and put the valve cover gaskets on the back burner. Ask questions here whenever you need to and look around because most of that stuff can be done fairly easily on your own, and most of the parts won't be too bad. Getting the front end back into bearable shape will do wonders for it. If you do get some of it whipped back into shape, you'll have some mileage bragging rights and a new responsibility to keep that thing's pulse going. For 1500, I'd have bought it in a second.

 

[3rzrunner]

:lmao: those front seats..lol... I cant even imagine how un-comfortable those would be...

 

[derpiful]

Talk about those seats being worn... I've never seen worse!

Hope you're able to start clicking things off the list and get them all fixed and working smoothly. Keep us updated!

 

[sterbenlicht]

Yeah, it looks like whoever stole the radio also tried to steal the leather but failed.

 

[JBurt]

I definitely wouldn't say an old dog near the end of it's life.

Good luck with fixing it up. I think you're right in making the suspension your top priority.

With the valve cover gaskets, make sure the bolts for the covers are tight, but not too tight. A lot of time they leak because the bolts are loose. The spec is about 5ft lbs, but a lot of the time they are loose enough to turn by hand. If you tighten them too much the covers can crack.

 

[Neil_R]

It really is amazing how well these things hold up to abuse.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Personally I like the front seats. They put a new spin on rugged. Though, it seems that the previous owners must have had knives sticking out of their butts to do that kind of damage. Legit.

If I may offer some incredibly wise and well pondered advice . . . consider what you want with the vehicle. You will find yourself putting quite a bit of money into that truck if you plan to continue driving it. Im sure you already know what needs to be done, but at a minimum it looks like

-LBJs (to avoid catastrophic failure which happens frequently enough with 3rd gens)
-Radiator (to avoid pink milkshake)
-Rack busings
-TREs
-UBJs?
-Change front and rear diff fluid
-Rear bushings
-Wheel bearings
-Axle seals and rear drums
-Valve gaskets
-spark plugs/wires

And consider
-u joints
-front a arm bushings
-steering rack
-injectors
-fuel filter
-shock/coils

Then maybe just drive it and replace stuff as it breaks or becomes intolerable to drive. If you do all the work yourself, and source out some good used parts you could do a lot with a grand.

An alternative option, if you find that you really like the 4runner, just bypass all the work, sell it, and buy one in better shape. Another option, just ignore me cause I talk too much

 

[mexellent]

Whoa!! Thanks for all the support guys! Y'all are making me feel much better about my purchase. Hahaha. I needed that.

Personally I like the front seats. They put a new spin on rugged. Though, it seems that the previous owners must have had knives sticking out of their butts to do that kind of damage. Legit.

If I may offer some incredibly wise and well pondered advice . . . consider what you want with the vehicle. You will find yourself putting quite a bit of money into that truck if you plan to continue driving it. Im sure you already know what needs to be done, but at a minimum it looks like

-LBJs (to avoid catastrophic failure which happens frequently enough with 3rd gens)
-Radiator (to avoid pink milkshake)
-Rack busings
-TREs
-UBJs?
-Change front and rear diff fluid
-Rear bushings
-Wheel bearings
-Axle seals and rear drums
-Valve gaskets
-spark plugs/wires

And consider
-u joints
-front a arm bushings
-steering rack
-injectors
-fuel filter
-shock/coils

Then maybe just drive it and replace stuff as it breaks or becomes intolerable to drive. If you do all the work yourself, and source out some good used parts you could do a lot with a grand.

An alternative option, if you find that you really like the 4runner, just bypass all the work, sell it, and buy one in better shape. Another option, just ignore me cause I talk too much

Yeah, 1985Taylor pretty much wrote my to-do list. The previous owner replaced the timing belt, radiator, and radiator hoses. I priced out a total front suspension overhaul and thats about $1200-1500 in parts (including wheel bearings assuming steering rack is ok) and the rear suspension overhaul would be about $600 (including wheel bearings). As much as I want to overhaul everything, I am poor and I dont know how many miles she's got left in her.

So far my expenses are as follows:
-1997 4Runner: $1500
-Tundra Wheels and tires off of CL: $450
-Title and registration: $208

So even though it has been cheap, I have been eating ramen for the last two weeks.

My main goal right now is to fix the suspension enough so that its not chewing up the tires.

I thought about selling Sally the 4Runner and buying one in better shape. I even found a really nice one on CL for like $3000 and immediately regretted buying my crappy one for $1500. But after thinking about it, I think Im going to keep it and just throw in a couple bucks into it here and there as they become available. Like Mr. Taylor said, a grand will go a long way with good used parts and some elbow grease.

Besides, I wanna see if the old girl will hit 400k.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Whoa!! Thanks for all the support guys! Y'all are making me feel much better about my purchase. Hahaha. I needed that.



Yeah, 1985Taylor pretty much wrote my to-do list. The previous owner replaced the timing belt, radiator, and radiator hoses. I priced out a total front suspension overhaul and thats about $1200-1500 in parts (including wheel bearings assuming steering rack is ok) and the rear suspension overhaul would be about $600 (including wheel bearings). As much as I want to overhaul everything, I am poor and I dont know how many miles she's got left in her.

So far my expenses are as follows:
-1997 4Runner: $1500
-Tundra Wheels and tires off of CL: $450
-Title and registration: $208

So even though it has been cheap, I have been eating ramen for the last two weeks.

My main goal right now is to fix the suspension enough so that its not chewing up the tires.

I thought about selling Sally the 4Runner and buying one in better shape. I even found a really nice one on CL for like $3000 and immediately regretted buying my crappy one for $1500. But after thinking about it, I think Im going to keep it and just throw in a couple bucks into it here and there as they become available. Like Mr. Taylor said, a grand will go a long way with good used parts and some elbow grease.

Besides, I wanna see if the old girl will hit 400k.

Cool. Well you could probably get it properly aligned with just replacing ubj's, tre's, rack bushings, and by doing the rack guide fix. On a rack with that many miles, the roller is sure to be worn out. I have that part here and could sell it to you super cheap. And I have a brand new set of steering rack bushings you could have free. They're not the more expensive poly bushings, just the OEM rubber ones. But still brand new.

 

[KANO]

Cool. Well you could probably get it properly aligned with just replacing ubj's, tre's, rack bushings, and by doing the rack guide fix. On a rack with that many miles, the roller is sure to be worn out. I have that part here and could sell it to you super cheap. And I have a brand new set of steering rack bushings you could have free. They're not the more expensive poly bushings, just the OEM rubber ones. But still brand new.

That's why I love this community. Reminds me of my old Subaru days.

 

[Kryptoroxx]

Hang on their partner. Ball Joints do not cost 500 dollars. I replaced my uppers, inner and outer tierods for 250. Steering rack bushings cost me 20 bucks.

If you want to simply replace you are right but if you want to do it all and upgrade to tacoma setup. Where did you find the parts for 250?? Because I was looking at the cost for upper/lower bj inner /outer tr and it was in the 400s for toyota OEM parts.

 

[Brian757]

Wow. I think this is your trucks theme song for the time being:
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Man, I can't imagine what MECHANICALLY is missing from this thing. I mean, just from what I see with miscellaneous panels popped, switches missing, etc.
It almost looks like it was a parts car, and before anything mechanical got taken, it was sold to you.

I say get her fully functioning, without dropping too much coin, and if you can get the truck sound mechanically and can't bear driving it, you could make more than $!500 off of it. Then turn around and buy another 4Runner. It doesn't look TOO far gone. It's not totaled yet

 

[wesrunner]

If you want to simply replace you are right but if you want to do it all and upgrade to tacoma setup. Where did you find the parts for 250?? Because I was looking at the cost for upper/lower bj inner /outer tr and it was in the 400s for toyota OEM parts.

NAPA premiums. Lifetime warranty.

 

[T4R2014]

If you want to simply replace you are right but if you want to do it all and upgrade to tacoma setup. Where did you find the parts for 250?? Because I was looking at the cost for upper/lower bj inner /outer tr and it was in the 400s for toyota OEM parts.

Skip the Tacoma set-up. All it does is make your turning radius bigger.

 

[mexellent]

Cool. Well you could probably get it properly aligned with just replacing ubj's, tre's, rack bushings, and by doing the rack guide fix. On a rack with that many miles, the roller is sure to be worn out. I have that part here and could sell it to you super cheap. And I have a brand new set of steering rack bushings you could have free. They're not the more expensive poly bushings, just the OEM rubber ones. But still brand new.

Whoa thanks!!! Yeah Id really appreciate that!

Sorry for the delayed response. Life is so hectic.

So I thought that at this milage LBJ's were a must?
If the bushings on the lower arms are shot, will that affect my alignment at all?
If I do OTR's do I need to do ITR's?