About to become a new 4runner owner....but

[thegipper]

I looked up the 99 springs and they are $126 a piece! Ouch.

I can get a pair of moogs for like 45 bucks shipped. Is there something wrong with them? I can buy like 3 sets of moogs for the price of one 99 oem coil. I read somewhere on here where someone had the same plan with their 3rd Gen as me and he used moog coils and was happy with them. He figured if the rears ever sag he would just put the air lift kit on it which was exactly what someone else did and was happy with it.

I'm not going to throw absolute junk parts in it but spending $500 just on coils for my "beater" seems like a waste.

 

[kurticus91]

I have a pair of KYB gas adjusts that came off the rear of my 4runner when I lifted it. They are less than a year old. My truck sat perfectly level with them, no sagging in the rear.

You can have them, just pay for the shipping to Wisconsin and they're yours!

 

[kurticus91]

I actually still have my entire stock suspension, including the like-new KYB gas adjusts. If you want the coils and everything, you can have them. I'm tired of looking at them in my garage haha

 

[thegipper]

I'll take them!

 

[thegipper]

I have the 16" wheels and 4wd drive if that matters?

 

[thegipper]

Will 02 coils fit on a 97? Does it matter if it's 2wd vs 4wd and also 15" vs 16"? I'm assuming the "99" coils are the same as 02 coils?

 

[kurticus91]

Here's the suspension from my 02

 

[thegipper]

Looks WAY better than what's on there now. Let me know what the shipping quote will be!

 

[kurticus91]

Will do! PM me with your email address

 

[poleclimber63]

we'd really like some pics

If I read this right, and the maintenance issues are accurate along with the rust assessment, then this is a good deal. This truck where I live would go for at least $4k, possibly $5k. Good opportunity!

 

[thegipper]

When I get it I'll post plenty of pictures. Won't be long!

 

[GangsterOfLove]

Being as I am in California the body rust looks terrifying to me. Maybe OK if you don't mind looking at it but I can't imagine how you fix something like that. We just don't see that kind of thing out here.

I have a work truck that rusted around the windshield on the drivers side 5 years after some hack installed new glass. That cost me some $800 to repair and it didn't look nearly as bad as the rust on this truck. Took forever to find anyone who would fix it - finally found a guy from Wisconsin who knew what to do.

Maybe it's not that big a deal - you guys treat rust like another day at the office.. Is there a thread that describes how you fix something like that?

 

[thegipper]

The important part, especially because of my intent with this vehicle, is that the rust isn't compromising the structural integrity of the vehicle. My brother knows his stuff and if he says the structural integrity if fine, it's fine. You can even see it in the pictures. When there is rust you have to identify if it is surface corrosion or if it serious corrosion that is causing porosity in the metal.

My jeep would be a perfect example of rust that has got to the point where it is compromising the structural integrity of the vehicle. For example, if you pop the hood you see the tire through a softball sized hole in the wheel well. There are also areas on its uni-body that have serious porosity in the rust (serious corrosion where the metals strength has been degraded) to the point where eventually it will fail.

Now, is this 4R rust free or anywhere near that, no. Would it ever be a good candidate to do a full restoration to near perfect condition, NO. Will it be structural sound for many years with a little work, absolutely! I am really less concerned with the body/rust than I am with the transmission.

The pictures I have posted really don't do it justice. The body is 95% rust free other than the big problem area in front of the drivers side rear tire. That will be fixed by either completely grinding off the rust or I will cut out that area and fab up a replacement piece and weld it back in. The entire rocker panel area is going to be removed of any rust, sealed, and coated with bed liner (taped off to look good). A guy at work did it with his Dodge Ram and it actually turned out really well.

The hood, doors, liftgate, roof and so on are 100% rust free!

The majority of the rust really is just on the skid plates. If I eventually care enough to address it, I will take them all off, sand blast them down to their base metal and re-prime and paint them.

This 4R should be a great "beater" for what I intend to get out of it.

 

[thegipper]

I forgot to add, I work at metal fabrication shop with access to 4 lasers, a water jet, machining equipment, press brakes and an entire department of AWS certified welders.

I work with some VERY handy guys. One of our laser operators built a custom bike literally from scratch. He is also one of the best welders I've ever seen.

IF/WHEN I would ever need to do any structural repairs, I have a host of guys and equipment at my finger tips.

My "worst case scenario" is the transmission blows up even though it has worked flawlessly for over 6k miles (nearly 2 years ago) now POST pink milk shake. My brother meticulously flushed, re-flushed, re-re-flushed and did ever other thing he could to save it. It appears at this point, that it has been saved. He has been driving it to work in Phoenix for over a week now (3 hours a day) in 95deg heat and he said it works perfectly. So fingers crossed....

If it did blow up, i would have to find a donor tranny and swap it out. It wouldn't be a deal breaker but would definitely suck.

 

[Scramble]

I'm not trying to call you out and certainly not calling anyone a fool. This, however, is more than surface rust. I'm sure it is solid if your brother says it is. I'm only trying to point out what I am seeing; please take no offense

*Edit* It looks like it would be great for your purposes, and like it would last a long time with the maintenance you are planning.

Agreed, there is a lot more than surface rust going on here. Winter salt has put a beating on this truck.Also the pinch weld on the rocker panels is pretty bad. You can see the metal spreading apart. Not to be a Debbie downer but I would check the inside of the frame rails.

 

[thegipper]

I'll know more when I have it in front of me but I'm not worried about it at all.

I'll post pictures later of my jeep (unibody at that) which will illustrate serious rust. In fact, as rusted as it is, it actually is still holding together just fine.

This 4R is many, many years away from having the rust that my jeep does.

 

[thegipper]

Well my brother called me last night and said the 4runner is on the truck! It was the last vehicle to go on so hopefully it will be the first off, should be here sometime next week.

I also want to give a big shout out to kurticus91 who has so generously donated his used (but in good condition) coil overs and rear suspension. That will be PERFECT for saving me a few bucks and getting rid of the totally worn suspension that is on there now.

Once I receive the 4R, I will start a build thread to show what I've done to it. Remember the intent of the vehicle so don't plan on seeing a full restoration or me jacking this thing up. I'm taking a free (well $1069 to ship it) vehicle and re purposing it into my "up north" hunting/fishing vehicle. Doesn't need to be pretty, just reliable.

Stay tuned!

 

[xghji]

On the rear heater just get some hose that just slips over the existing pipe, I did that on the 2nd 4runner I am selling, to patch a crack in the line. I used to generic hose clamps and tightened

 

[THays]

My "worst case scenario" is the transmission blows up even though it has worked flawlessly for over 6k miles (nearly 2 years ago) now POST pink milk shake. My brother meticulously flushed, re-flushed, re-re-flushed and did ever other thing he could to save it. It appears at this point, that it has been saved. He has been driving it to work in Phoenix for over a week now (3 hours a day) in 95deg heat and he said it works perfectly. So fingers crossed....

If it did blow up, i would have to find a donor tranny and swap it out. It wouldn't be a deal breaker but would definitely suck.

My two cents about the milkshake issue, I had the pink milkshake on my 4Runner and after several flushes I thought my tranny was in the clear. About 15,000 miles after the incident, the tranny went out on the highway after no symptoms up to that point. I can't say for sure that it was because of the milkshake but it doesn't seem like 4Runner's have many trans failures that aren't caused by it. Hoping yours turns out better but even if you have to put a used tranny in it, it's still a great vehicle and you will love it.

 

[thegipper]

That's what I figure. If the tranny eventually blows up, so be it and I'll swap in a different one.

15k miles post milkshake failure could easily not be related to the milkshake, but it also could be related. Hard to tell with that many miles after the problem.

I'll only be putting on 3k miles a year roughly on this so if it even lasts that long, that would be five years of use.

Only time will tell....

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