That One Guy
New member
Hey y'all.
I've owned this 3rd gen for about 10 years now, however it was my wife's daily and while I took care of it, I really never drove it much. Not near enough to have the intimate knowledge of all the sights, sounds and smells of the vehicle. So, I'd like to run some of this by y'all to see if it is normal or what I need to do to fix/correct any potential issues.
It WAS mostly stock, until this past fall.
rearFreddie 4runner sat over a long period of time and chewed through a couple batteries.
Got the battery issue fixed, replaced the alternator and all accessory belts along with the water pump and timing belt service. Oil change, yada yada yada.
Then, as the tires were on their last leg, I replaced them with some Cooper ST/Maxx in stock size. A bit more bit and tread. Little bit more of an agressive look.
The suspension was stock. 178,000 miles on stock suspension. So, I recently replaced it with the OME kit with 906 rear coils and 881 coils up front as I didnt want to really lift it much, just get newer suspension up front that was geared more for offroad use, as this will be the family camping, fishing, adventure vehicle.
I've noticed the intake and exhaust is loud and can have a bit of drone. I changed out the K&N polished cold air intake that simply had a cone on the end of the pipe to a Volant Cold Air box to try and quiet it down. (We bought it with that silly CAI. )
I've also switched out the muffler to a stock replacement and this helped immensely. I've also changed out the 2nd catalytic converter, which helped it run a bit better.
1. So, how do I get this thing quieter? Is it normal for it to be a bit loud compared to newer, more modern vehicles? I'm ok with it now how it is, until it downshifts going up a hill. Sounds like a stupid Honda Civic from the early 2000's. (this is exaggerating a bit, although before I performed the changes, this IS what it sounded like....)
2. After having the timing belt and water pump done, I noticed the smell of antifreeze for quite a while after the service. I assumed it was simply a bit that had spilled into the rock shields underneath. However, I still get a whiff of it every now and then. Is this normal? This isnt a daily driver for anyone, so it sits quite a bit. There arent any spots on the driveway, ever. So I dont feel like it is leaking.
3. I have a strange knocking from the roof. Only when I get up to speed. This does have a sunroof, but it rarely gets used and the knocking persists no matter the configuration of the sunroof, open, closed, tilted, etc.
4. Where do you source the rear wiper? HAHAHAHA. No auto parts store has them around here (not shocked).
5. I replaced the rear hatch struts with some O'Reilly's struts. I thought this would have a profound affect on the performance, however it seems that the hatch still doesn't pop up and stay all the way up. Is there a specific brand that is known to work best?
Sorry for the long post, thought I'd try to get as much out there as possible in one thread. I'm not new to Toyota's, as I had a 2001 Tacoma that had some mild mods done as well. Just newer to a 3.4 V6 and the 4runner platform.
I've owned this 3rd gen for about 10 years now, however it was my wife's daily and while I took care of it, I really never drove it much. Not near enough to have the intimate knowledge of all the sights, sounds and smells of the vehicle. So, I'd like to run some of this by y'all to see if it is normal or what I need to do to fix/correct any potential issues.
It WAS mostly stock, until this past fall.
rearFreddie 4runner sat over a long period of time and chewed through a couple batteries.
Got the battery issue fixed, replaced the alternator and all accessory belts along with the water pump and timing belt service. Oil change, yada yada yada.
Then, as the tires were on their last leg, I replaced them with some Cooper ST/Maxx in stock size. A bit more bit and tread. Little bit more of an agressive look.
The suspension was stock. 178,000 miles on stock suspension. So, I recently replaced it with the OME kit with 906 rear coils and 881 coils up front as I didnt want to really lift it much, just get newer suspension up front that was geared more for offroad use, as this will be the family camping, fishing, adventure vehicle.
I've noticed the intake and exhaust is loud and can have a bit of drone. I changed out the K&N polished cold air intake that simply had a cone on the end of the pipe to a Volant Cold Air box to try and quiet it down. (We bought it with that silly CAI. )
I've also switched out the muffler to a stock replacement and this helped immensely. I've also changed out the 2nd catalytic converter, which helped it run a bit better.
1. So, how do I get this thing quieter? Is it normal for it to be a bit loud compared to newer, more modern vehicles? I'm ok with it now how it is, until it downshifts going up a hill. Sounds like a stupid Honda Civic from the early 2000's. (this is exaggerating a bit, although before I performed the changes, this IS what it sounded like....)
2. After having the timing belt and water pump done, I noticed the smell of antifreeze for quite a while after the service. I assumed it was simply a bit that had spilled into the rock shields underneath. However, I still get a whiff of it every now and then. Is this normal? This isnt a daily driver for anyone, so it sits quite a bit. There arent any spots on the driveway, ever. So I dont feel like it is leaking.
3. I have a strange knocking from the roof. Only when I get up to speed. This does have a sunroof, but it rarely gets used and the knocking persists no matter the configuration of the sunroof, open, closed, tilted, etc.
4. Where do you source the rear wiper? HAHAHAHA. No auto parts store has them around here (not shocked).
5. I replaced the rear hatch struts with some O'Reilly's struts. I thought this would have a profound affect on the performance, however it seems that the hatch still doesn't pop up and stay all the way up. Is there a specific brand that is known to work best?
Sorry for the long post, thought I'd try to get as much out there as possible in one thread. I'm not new to Toyota's, as I had a 2001 Tacoma that had some mild mods done as well. Just newer to a 3.4 V6 and the 4runner platform.
