Airmapper's Build: 2000 Limited

[Airmapper]

Not really much to put here initially, but going forward I'll have a place to document what I do to my 4Runner.

I wanted a second vehicle to more or less take some strain off my primary vehicle. I wanted something inexpensive, but I also wanted something I would find interesting and enjoy owning.

After mulling over several make and model vehicles, I finally settled on the 3rd Gen 4Runner. I'd been around them some as I know several people that have them, I've seen them off road, I like the way they look, and the reputation for long term reliability made buying one with high miles less scary.

While it is a secondary vehicle, I won't entirely regard it as mere transportation. But for now I simply plan to catch it up on maintenance. I'll attempt to get it as close to "like new" condition as practical. That will take long enough, and once I get there I'll see if I wish to make it more capable off pavement or more suitable for weekend excursions.

Basic Details:

• 2000 year model
• Limited Trim
• 4x4
• Miles at purchase: Just under 239,000
• Purchase price: $4650 (Included TTL) - Used car Dealer, Bowling Green, KY

Overall it is in very good shape mechanically. Pretty much stock, not much has been touched. It was involved in a front end collision that was shoddily repaired, but outside some broken parts and damaged wiring, it's all minor and repairable. What I liked most is it's very clean underneath and not rusty. The engine runs smooth, transmission shifts well, and it drives fairly nice.

The interior was not as nice visually, but not horrible. It's cleaning up okay. Given it is leather the front seats look well worn.

So far I haven't done much:

• Oil & oil Filter changed
• Air Filter replaced
• Replaced several shot exterior light bulbs, repaired wiring for a turn lamp.
• Repaired a loose battery terminal.
• Replaced the center console lights with LEDs, as well as the interior roof lights (will get map lights later)
• New single DIN head unit (media deck, no CD or tape) with BT interface.
• Removed running boards.
• Had extra keys cut, programmed myself.
• Got it a dedicated OBD BT adapter.
• A few sessions of interior cleaning, finally starting to feel clean and smell okay.
• Floor mats and a steering wheel cover.

It's growing on me and I'm coming to like driving it to work despite it not being quite as powerful or roomy as my main vehicle. It may be a mild and practical build since it's not my main 4x4 or exploration vehicle, but I do look forward to seeing what I can do with this 4runner.

 

[californium90]

I have the same truck in the same color and I love it. 225k miles and runs like a champ

 

[Toyojay]

Very nice looking 3rd gen, thats always been one of my favorite colors

 

[Renegade_Medic]

This build looks familiar... I'm also here from Expo Portal. I'm sure there are quite a few on both.

 

[jgd99]

Nice! Also looking forward to seeing this progress. I have the same colors, so I'm excited to see another thread on one!

 

[Yoyocruisin425]

Nice antenna.

Sweet 4runner

 

[Airmapper]

I have the same truck in the same color and I love it.

thats always been one of my favorite colors

I have the same colors, so I'm excited to see another thread on one!

Thanks. Initially I just wasn't crazy about the overall appearance, I like it don't get me wrong, but I look at it and I can't put my finger on it, it needs something.

I did manage to find a few build threads (very few, it seems to not be so common) with the same colors, and I thought those looked flat out awesome, so I don't think it's the two-tone scheme itself that's bugging me. I do like the combination.

I think it may just be the chrome on the front. I hate chrome. I dull down that chrome somehow, who knows maybe a Satoshi grill mod just for fun, and some more aggressive looking tires, I think it will start to look a bit better to me. I think I want to stay true to the Black/Grey scheme though, nothing too crazy.

This build looks familiar... I'm also here from Expo Portal. I'm sure there are quite a few on both.

Hey, yes I recall you from ExPo. I kinda watch your build thread, it's one of my favorites. I think your right about the overlap of members, a lot of usernames seem familiar here.

Nice antenna.

Haha! Yeah they really fixed that up good. I didn't pay it much mind, more concerned with engine, transmission, stuff like that. Got home with it and they had just stuck one off some random vehicle in the hole, friction fit. It does nothing. I'm working on getting a OEM unit.

 

[zoombyu86]

Great looking truck. I would say somehow get rid of the chrome and paint those center caps or just remove them.

 

[Airmapper]

Got a few things I'm trying to do over the weekend.

Just put on the hatch struts, 100% improvement. The plastic bearings in the door connection were shattered, so it's metal to metal, need to find something for that....

I don't have my OEM antenna yet but reached behind the radio and got the adapter in and used the rear window antenna, works really good actually but I'm parked on top a hill.

Still have to replace the fuel filter.

I'm just going to do the transmission cooler by itself for now, I got to looking at what I need to do overall, and if I replace the radiator it would be a good time to get access to the timing belt and I could do the water pump and t-stat while I have the coolant drained, be better to replace the radiator while I do the other stuff.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Got a few things I'm trying to do over the weekend.

Just put on the hatch struts, 100% improvement. The plastic bearings in the door connection were shattered, so it's metal to metal, need to find something for that....

I don't have my OEM antenna yet but reached behind the radio and got the adapter in and used the rear window antenna, works really good actually but I'm parked on top a hill.

Still have to replace the fuel filter.

I'm just going to do the transmission cooler by itself for now, I got to looking at what I need to do overall, and if I replace the radiator it would be a good time to get access to the timing belt and I could do the water pump and t-stat while I have the coolant drained, be better to replace the radiator while I do the other stuff.

Yes I'd agree on the radiator timing. I did mine first and banged it pretty good while doing the timing belt. A quick pointer for removing the harmonic balancer bolt: pull your EFI relay or fuse and then use your breaker bar up against the bottom of the Passenger frame rail and then bump the starter. Bolt will come right off. And for putting it back on: use a strap of flat iron and put a bolt through a hole you drill on the iron somewhere around the 4oclock position and use a bolt through it to the balancer. Then on the other end, bolt the strap to a bracket, I forget what's there, but you can use the strap to limit the movement of the balancer, because it can't rotate past its limiting strap. If you look it up on google, you will probably find a better explanation. Hopefully yours goes better than mine, i couldn't get the belt on, like it was too short almost, no matter what I did.

 

[Tyler James Inc]

Nice rig man. I love the color scheme [emoji1360]
Not a fan of the Satoshi grills myself, but I definitely think that chrome bumper on the front is what's throwing it off! Get a color matched one and it will look 10x better, for sure. I think a black color-matched '99/00 grill would look really nice on there too [emoji1360] The chrome '01/02 grill definitely isn't adding anything awesome to the front end, I agree.
So what's your "main" vehicle you mention several times? ☺

 

[Airmapper]

Not a fan of the Satoshi grills myself, but I definitely think that chrome bumper on the front is what's throwing it off! Get a color matched one and it will look 10x better, for sure. I think a black color-matched '99/00 grill would look really nice on there too [emoji1360] The chrome '01/02 grill definitely isn't adding anything awesome to the front end, I agree.

Nice looking rig you have as well, I spent an inordinate amount of time the other day milling through your build thread.

Yes I was looking at photos of the front ends of different rigs and I'm not a fan of the fat lip. Between that and the chrome I think your right. When I get the basics covered I'll be looking for a way to improve that.

I don't really want to sink a lot of cash into mods, but if I find a Tacoma ARB bumper, I would be tempted.

As for the grille, doing away with the chrome on it and painting it where it's not faded and chipped, it might be a big improvement.

So what's your "main" vehicle you mention several times? ☺

Up till the 4runner my DD and for fun vehicle is a 2011 Nissan Xterra PRO-4X. 6 speed manual, E-locker in the rear, 33" Duratrac's, winch, snorkel, various comms, have a full GOBI rack inbound and a RTT and awning. It's set up for camping and trails. There is a photo of it in my "Garage."

I got the 4runner more for driving to work and just general running around local, but I didn't want some boring car.

 

[Airmapper]

No visible changes, but it has a new fuel filter and I did the transmission cooler bypass.

Runs a little warmer actually with the bypass, but it seems to hold between 150-170, even with me deliberately dragging my butt up hills under low throttle. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

I took a slightly better photo of it yesterday as it is now.

 

[Chuckles89]

I was glancing through the forum and saw airmapper and thought surely it wasn't you, but it is! Glad to see you joined the dark side arty:

 

[Airmapper]

I was glancing through the forum and saw airmapper and thought surely it wasn't you, but it is! Glad to see you joined the dark side arty:

Hey man! Yeah all you clever Toyota guys, subliminal peer pressure, just keep driving your Toyota's around me and eventually I'll get one... :vader:

Probably quite a drive for you but Saturday we are headed out to LBL for the day if your interested. Cruiserbent is getting it together over on ExPo.

 

[TravisM]

Maybe paint those hub caps the same color as the rims? Who knows. Really nice rig for a reasonable price it seems, good find!

 

[Rolling_Thunder]

nice looking truck to start playing with

 

[Airmapper]

Made a few minor repairs today thanks to parts from [MENTION=78895]DeathCougar[/MENTION] he hooked me up with some missing pieces. Kinda boring overall but it's getting closer to 100% functionality.

Spliced in a new parking lamp pigtail. If I am correct that means all lighting now works minus the fog lights which are just gone.

I have a real OEM battery hold down, I got to toss the bungee cords, I'm feeling less ghetto already.

Next in line is a replacement washer bottle, that might be tricky as some stuff is mangled up under there which is why the original was busted. And I need to install the OEM motorized antenna.

Also on the to do soon list is polishing the windshield to remove the 16 years of light but oh so annoying wiper scratches. I've been researching it and it seems there is a decent chance of success but I have to learn some stuff I've never dealt with before (using a polisher, using compound...)

On the more fun side I took it on a day trip over the weekend, normally I take my newer vehicle on more lengthy outings. It was about 150 miles round trip, and I'm more comfortable in it than I thought I'd be for a longer drive. I've decided it definitely needs shocks, and tires though.

 

[Airmapper]

I sort of wanted to wait, kinda of a big purchase and I have other more important maintenance items to think about, but the 4runner had a bumpy ride, liked to spin tires on wet roads, and I was getting tired of it, so it was time for new rubber.

I purchased it with 2 dry rotted nearly worn out tires on the rear, and 2 fairly decent but obviously cheap tires on the front, that were not even the same brand tire. Combined it had 3 different brand tires on it, for a nerd like me that was like making all the paintings on the wall crooked and trapping Adrian Monk in there with them.

I opted for Cooper Discoverer AT/3's in P rated 265/75/16.

Since the Xterra is my rig of choice on the more difficult off road runs, and I use the Runner mostly to drive to work, I went for the lighter tires. I still don't want it to be helpless if I'm out and want to explore down some forest service roads though, so I think the AT/3 is a good compromise between commuter and weekend explorer.

Before:

After:

And with new tires I couldn't help myself, I took some shameless and totally unbecoming poser shots....

Flexing it out brought out an issue with the front fender. This is the corner that was in the previous owners accident, and shoddily repaired. They didn't even put any fasteners in the bottom. I'll put some screws, zip ties, or whatever I can in there and I think it will be fine.

And since I changed tire size, naturally I needed a spare. The spare it has was as bald as George Costanza, but I got lucky here. I set aside my stock Xterra's spare when I got a matching wheel and bumped it to 33's, so this left me with a like new BFG RuggedFail and guess what Xterra's run stock, 265/75/16.

I had to let a little air out but it finally tucked up into it's spot, wedged between the trailer hitch and sway bar.

 

[Airmapper]

Done some more work today.

Since the fender was goofed up I just took it off the rest of the way, grand total of 3 bolts holding it on....

I wanted to install the new antenna and washer bottle, easier to mess with this way.

I got everything installed, but putting the center dash back in, I fell victim to the brittle wood grain....two steps forward, one step back...

Got the fender back on, got one more bolt in toward the bottom but it needs more. Seems it will stay put for now, but I'd like to get it a bit more secure later. I believe the sketchy body shop depended on the running boards to help hold it in, and since I ditched those it's free to pop out.

But aside from that, radio picks up great, and soon as I get some washer fluid I should be good to go. Not shown I washed it, and removed the extra roof rack bottom bars until I can paint them. Also took off the sunroof guard for now and see if I like it better that way, the gasket is not adhering right.