Any must do's when passing 70k miles maintenance wise

[Sputnik]

Hello,

We drive our 2011 toyota 4runner sr5 a lot. It's 99% road use, and were passing 70k miles already.

Only thing I do for maintenance regularly is:
Change oil and oil filter every 5k (Mobil 1 full synthetic 0-20, oem toyota filter)
Check the air filter, changed it 2 times, about to change it again ( every 25k miles)
Swapped out my tires at approximately 50k miles ( did tire balance and alignment at this time, previous alignment at 50k was fine)
Changed all 4 brake pads at approximately 60k miles

Other then above, I didn't do anything else.
I'm a firm believer in if it's not broken, don't touch it. I also plan on keeping the SUV for at least 10 more years, or until it rusts away or dies.

What are so must do's that I'm missing in maintenance? I like to do everything myself, I do not trust the dealers or anyone for that matter near my vehicle, unless I have no other choice.

Thanks,

 

[IAmTodd]

I did ATF at 50k and plan to do transfer box and diffs at 75k along with power steering fluid. All pretty cheap insurance as far as fluids go.

 

[Whiplash Willy]

[MENTION=66514]Sputnik[/MENTION], I hate to think about what your diff fluid looks like. After 15k miles mine looked pretty nasty. You are long past due for front and rear diff fluid changes, Transfer Case, Drive Shaft Greasing and probley brake fluid flush.

Toyota is annoying, because if you look at the Warranty/Maintenance guide, for the most part, all they ever specifically tell you to change is oil ever 10k, and do Tire Rotations and Floor Matt checks every 5k. They only tell you to "Inspect" everything else. But their idea of "Inspection" is to just make sure the fluid levels are correct. So are we to believe that if no other fluid ever leaks, it will last the life of the vehicle? They will tell you to replace the other fluids if you drive on dusty roads, tow, drive with a roof rack, ect. That is how I judge my fluid intervals for most things, just because I have no other frame of reference of when the other fluids need changing. I will make exceptions for say diff fluid if I change over to some high end long life stuff.

In addition to my 10k mile oil/filter changes:

At 15k I:

-Rotated Tires
-Greased Driveshaft
-Replaced Front and Rear Diff Fluid with Amsoil SVG 75w90 (Front and rear was dark grey with alot of nasty paste on the magnetic drain plugs)
-Checked Transfer Fluid (At proper level and looked new)
-Checked Coolant, Brake Fluid, PS levels



At 30k I will:

-Rotate Tires
-Lube Driveshaft
-Replace Cabin and Engine Air Filters
-Engine Oil and Filter
-Replace Transfer Case Oil (Toyota recommends replacement at 30k if you drive on dirt or dusty roads)
-Inspect and possibly replace Front and rear diff fluids (With Amsoil SVG, they may still be fine)
-Checked Coolant, Brake Fluid, PS levels



I am probley being overly cautious with maintenance, and replacing some stuff I may not need to, but with Toyota's vagueness, and no good/reasonable way to check the quality of your fluids, you just have to guess and loosely use their WMG as a guideline for maintenance. Visual (Color quality) doesn't always tell you if the fluid still has life in it, and sending it in for analysis can be close to the same amount of work and cost of just replacing it.

[MENTION=66514]Sputnik[/MENTION], with only having done Oil Changes and 2 Air Filter changes at 70k miles, you have neglected quite a bit of maintenance on your 4runner, and should change some of your habits if you want to keep it for another 10 years. Probley somewhere in-between my analness and your current maintenance would be acceptable.

Also, 10k miles is the recommended and safe Engine Oil change interval. Oil analyses that have been done on Toyota's 0w-20 have shown it to still be good at 10k miles, but have also shown 10k miles to be at the end of its effective life. This is of course under normal driving conditions.

Under normal driving conditions:
-ATF should be replaced at 100k
-Coolant should be replaced at 100k
-Brake Fluid should be completely replaced every 2 years

 

[1engineer]

[MENTION=66514]Sputnik[/MENTION], I hate to think about what your diff fluid looks like. After 15k miles mine looked pretty nasty. You are long past due for front and rear diff fluid changes, Transfer Case, Drive Shaft Greasing and probley brake fluid flush.

Toyota is annoying, because if you look at the Warranty/Maintenance guide, for the most part, all they ever specifically tell you to change is oil ever 10k, and do Tire Rotations and Floor Matt checks every 5k. They only tell you to "Inspect" everything else. But their idea of "Inspection" is to just make sure the fluid levels are correct. So are we to believe that if no other fluid ever leaks, it will last the life of the vehicle? They will tell you to replace the other fluids if you drive on dusty roads, tow, drive with a roof rack, ect. That is how I judge my fluid intervals for most things, just because I have no other frame of reference of when the other fluids need changing. I will make exceptions for say diff fluid if I change over to some high end long life stuff.

In addition to my 10k mile oil/filter changes:

At 15k I:

-Rotated Tires
-Greased Driveshaft
-Replaced Front and Rear Diff Fluid with Amsoil SVG 75w90 (Front and rear was dark grey with alot of nasty paste on the magnetic drain plugs)
-Checked Transfer Fluid (At proper level and looked new)
-Checked Coolant, Brake Fluid, PS levels



At 30k I will:

-Rotate Tires
-Lube Driveshaft
-Replace Cabin and Engine Air Filters
-Engine Oil and Filter
-Replace Transfer Case Oil (Toyota recommends replacement at 30k if you drive on dirt or dusty roads)
-Inspect and possibly replace Front and rear diff fluids (With Amsoil SVG, they may still be fine)
-Checked Coolant, Brake Fluid, PS levels



I am probley being overly cautious with maintenance, and replacing some stuff I may not need to, but with Toyota's vagueness, and no good/reasonable way to check the quality of your fluids, you just have to guess and loosely use their WMG as a guideline for maintenance. Visual (Color quality) doesn't always tell you if the fluid still has life in it, and sending it in for analysis can be close to the same amount of work and cost of just replacing it.

[MENTION=66514]Sputnik[/MENTION], with only having done Oil Changes and 2 Air Filter changes at 70k miles, you have neglected quite a bit of maintenance on your 4runner, and should change some of your habits if you want to keep it for another 10 years. Probley somewhere in-between my analness and your current maintenance would be acceptable.

Also, 10k miles is the recommended and safe Engine Oil change interval. Oil analyses that have been done on Toyota's 0w-20 have shown it to still be good at 10k miles, but have also shown 10k miles to be at the end of its effective life. This is of course under normal driving conditions.

Under normal driving conditions:
-ATF should be replaced at 100k
-Coolant should be replaced at 100k
-Brake Fluid should be completely replaced every 2 years

I am not going to trash your maintenance methods as it is your vehicle and you can pee in your transfer case if you want lol. I will say this [MENTION=66514]Sputnik[/MENTION]: I am an engineer and have been designing hydrostatic transmission systems along with open loop circuits for 25 years. I have worked with and still communicate with some of the top petroleum engineers and chemists in our field in the world.
I drive the majority of time on road with maybe 50 miles off road a month. My maintenance schedule is:
Change oil every 10K
Grease every 10K
Rotate tires every 10K
Inspect all other fill levels except transmission.
Air and cabin filter every 30K or so miles or every 12-18 months.

I will have the differential and transfer case changed between 70-100K or so, whenever I get around to it. If I keep it long enough (doubtful) I would change brake fluid only with a catastrophic failure of a component or hose. I would never flush the transmission nor the coolant system.
I will change the plugs and transmission fluid around 100K.

My reasoning?
In my opinion, let me repeat: IN MY OPINION, based on my knowledge of fluids, duty cycles, design life, bearing calculations and a host of other things, running the 4Runner up and down the highway and occasional off road is extremely light duty for a vehicle built like this and (except engine oil which should be changed every 10K ) thus should be subject TO THE OWNER'S MANUAL, written by TOYOTA and maintained along their guidelines. Shoot, I think they are actually conservative on a few things!

So to close, my schedule is about what yours is and I have a little experience with this sort of thing. Ask the other guys where and why they feel fluids must be changed so often. If they can give me documentation or logic behind it I will be the first to apologize. "Color" or "feel" are not reasons unless you have serious skills and can see particles a few micrometers in size with your naked eyeballs.
My only exception would be someone like [MENTION=78273]Jeremy556[/MENTION]'s duty cycle. He lives offroad, pulls big loads with his 4Runner and works it much harder than I do. I would halve my numbers for that cycle and I think Jeremy does.

 

[Sputnik]

Thanks for all comments.
I forgot to add that with the new tires I bought, I rotate them every 5k when I change my oil. I like changing oil every 5k, I could care less what toyota recommends. I also changed the cabin filter twice, and I inspect it every 25k or so.

My main concern was with diff fluid and driveshaft, but it looks like I'm fine for now.

1engineer,
What do you grease every 10k?
I think I will change my diff, transfer and tranny liquids along with plugs at 100k. What do you guys think?

I disagree with statements that fluids need to be changed every 25k, etc... That's none sense!

 

[Sputnik]

Keep in mind, I put 70k on her in 3.5 years, not 7 years which is probably average for these kind of miles.

I think the only thing I neglected was greasing the driveshaft IMO. I will look into that ASAP

 

[1engineer]

Thanks for all comments.
I forgot to add that with the new tires I bought, I rotate them every 5k when I change my oil. I like changing oil every 5k, I could care less what toyota recommends. I also changed the cabin filter twice, and I inspect it every 25k or so.

My main concern was with diff fluid and driveshaft, but it looks like I'm fine for now.

1engineer,
What do you grease every 10k?
I think I will change my diff, transfer and tranny liquids along with plugs at 100k. What do you guys think?

I disagree with statements that fluids need to be changed every 25k, etc... That's none sense!

Driveshaft.
Everyone, including [MENTION=90511]whiplash[/MENTION]willy, can maintain them as they see fit. My way is just that... my way. It is not right nor wrong but is in line with Toyota recommendations and my knowledge of engineering. The internet is filled with good info and also bad info so tread carefully fellas.

 

[Sputnik]

What oil do you guys recommend for diff and transfer case? I want the best

 

[1engineer]

What oil do you guys recommend for diff and transfer case? I want the best

Toyota brand and spec.

 

[Sputnik]

Stealership in west Springfield MA just quoted me:

Diff fluid change front: $99.99
Diff fluid change rear: $99.99
Transfer case oil replacement: $69.95

They told me the do not grease transfer case and driveshaft?!?? Only option is to do it yourself? Lol

Not impressed

 

[Sputnik]

Wow, just called back and it's a different story.

It's all synthetic fluid so now they are saying
$160 front diff
$182 rear
$170 transfer case

 

[1engineer]

Wow, just called back and it's a different story.

It's all synthetic fluid so now they are saying
$160 front diff
$182 rear
$170 transfer case

Yep. Good stuff is not cheap.

 

[mattleegee]

lifetime fluids?

 

[AlexTRDSport]

What oil do you guys recommend for diff and transfer case? I want the best

Mobil 1, Royal Purple or Amsoil full synthetic GL-5 gear oil for the front and rear differentials. Toyota's transfer gear oil LF for the transfer case.