Bad Obsession
New member
Hey guys. New to the forum...so first let me say hello. I've been reading threads from your site religiously for about a month, and I gotta say...I'm really impressed with all of the info and knowledge this site contains. I've been on quite a few Auto forums before, and I would have to say this site is by far the most informative, and it seems like the people in the community are always willing to help fellow enthusiasts and/or newcomers like me. So, thank you.
I should also say.....my "build thread" won't be as cool as some of the other people's threads on this site. Some of you have really bad ass trucks and I really love reading your threads, but unfortunately, I don't have the time or the money to sink big bucks into my Runner, at least not at the moment. I'm a single dad who recieves zero child support, so it's gonna be slow going. But, I will get the Runner where I want to get her, it's just gonna take a little more time than some of you. lol Really, I just want this thread to keep a good history of things. Of course, I appreciate any attention this thread gets and welcome all advise and comments. I'm sure I will be asking many questions along my journey. Thanks for reading this far! lol
Anyways.....About a month ago, I decided it was time to get rid of the 98 Trans am, and buy something a little more reliable. The Trans am was definately a fun car, but at 150,000 miles, and things starting to wear out as they do, the car was about to start costing me more than I wanted to spend on it...so I sold it. And that's also when I decided to buy a Runner. Beforehand, I did quite a bit of research looking for something dependable, and easy to repair, and kept coming back to the 4Runner! So, I found one locally on CL that I thought was a good buy, and purchased it.
I ended up buying a 1996 SR5, 160,xxx miles, 2WD for $2200. The guy originally wanted $3000, but after a short test drive and performing a lengthy inspection, I ended up talking him down $800 (I would have given him what he wanted for it, but you know how that goes). Anyways....I was really happy with the purchase. She's a little older than I would have liked, but for what I talked him down to, I didn't want to pass it up. Here she is the day I bought her:
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/justbought2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/justbought2.jpg" border="0" alt="day one photo justbought2.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/justbought.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/justbought.jpg" border="0" alt="day one photo justbought.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/interior.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/interior.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo interior.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/interiorback.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/interiorback.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo interiorback.jpg"/></a>
She's not in too bad shape. She purrrrs like a kitty, and obviously, she took a light hit on the rear pass. bumper....and another on the front driver's bumper....but other than that, the outside is in pretty decent shape. Especially and pleasently surprised with the paint. IMO, paint that is this old has usually started fading, or has other small imperfections (dings, scrapes, etc). No dings or chips in the paint that I can find. Interior is not in bad shape. Just really dirty. I don't think this guy every cleaned the inside. There is dust EVERYWHERE! But, everything works...and the wear on the seats is a little better than I thought it would be too, and I freaking love the sun roof! (never had a car with a sun roof lol)
I spent the first weekend doing the normal maintenance stuff. Judging by the appearance of the oil and tranny fluid, she had just had a tune up, but I wanted peace of mind, so I started there. Changed oil, transmission fluid and filters, spark plugs & wires. Also replaced the PCV valve, air filter and O2 sensor. Under the hood was especially dirty as well, so I pulled the air filter assy and cleaned it out, and removed the throttle body and gave it a good cleaning as well. Finished it off with spraying the engine with some Gunk engine degreaser and hosed it off. It's not perfect...but def better. I ran outta time, but still want to replace diff fluid, flush the cooling system and bleed the brakes- they feel a little soft. I guess that's my project for next weekend.
Also need to look into upgrading the brakes as soon as I can. There's def a warped rotor or two, judging by the vibration I get under mid-hard braking. It seems like I read something on this site about the brakes one the T4R being under-sized, and that Tundra brakes are heavier and a direct replacement. That project is at the top of my list as well...so I will start researching it soon.
I'm also aware of the "pink milkshake" issue, and that's at the top of my list as well. While cleaning the engine a few weekends ago, I noticed hair-line cracks on the top of the radiator, so I was gonna replace it anyways. I'll look into a trans-cooler when I do that project.
I should also say.....my "build thread" won't be as cool as some of the other people's threads on this site. Some of you have really bad ass trucks and I really love reading your threads, but unfortunately, I don't have the time or the money to sink big bucks into my Runner, at least not at the moment. I'm a single dad who recieves zero child support, so it's gonna be slow going. But, I will get the Runner where I want to get her, it's just gonna take a little more time than some of you. lol Really, I just want this thread to keep a good history of things. Of course, I appreciate any attention this thread gets and welcome all advise and comments. I'm sure I will be asking many questions along my journey. Thanks for reading this far! lol
Anyways.....About a month ago, I decided it was time to get rid of the 98 Trans am, and buy something a little more reliable. The Trans am was definately a fun car, but at 150,000 miles, and things starting to wear out as they do, the car was about to start costing me more than I wanted to spend on it...so I sold it. And that's also when I decided to buy a Runner. Beforehand, I did quite a bit of research looking for something dependable, and easy to repair, and kept coming back to the 4Runner! So, I found one locally on CL that I thought was a good buy, and purchased it.
I ended up buying a 1996 SR5, 160,xxx miles, 2WD for $2200. The guy originally wanted $3000, but after a short test drive and performing a lengthy inspection, I ended up talking him down $800 (I would have given him what he wanted for it, but you know how that goes). Anyways....I was really happy with the purchase. She's a little older than I would have liked, but for what I talked him down to, I didn't want to pass it up. Here she is the day I bought her:
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/justbought2.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/justbought2.jpg" border="0" alt="day one photo justbought2.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/justbought.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/justbought.jpg" border="0" alt="day one photo justbought.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/interior.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/interior.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo interior.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s265.photobucket.com/user/chris19740113/media/interiorback.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii202/chris19740113/interiorback.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo interiorback.jpg"/></a>
She's not in too bad shape. She purrrrs like a kitty, and obviously, she took a light hit on the rear pass. bumper....and another on the front driver's bumper....but other than that, the outside is in pretty decent shape. Especially and pleasently surprised with the paint. IMO, paint that is this old has usually started fading, or has other small imperfections (dings, scrapes, etc). No dings or chips in the paint that I can find. Interior is not in bad shape. Just really dirty. I don't think this guy every cleaned the inside. There is dust EVERYWHERE! But, everything works...and the wear on the seats is a little better than I thought it would be too, and I freaking love the sun roof! (never had a car with a sun roof lol)
I spent the first weekend doing the normal maintenance stuff. Judging by the appearance of the oil and tranny fluid, she had just had a tune up, but I wanted peace of mind, so I started there. Changed oil, transmission fluid and filters, spark plugs & wires. Also replaced the PCV valve, air filter and O2 sensor. Under the hood was especially dirty as well, so I pulled the air filter assy and cleaned it out, and removed the throttle body and gave it a good cleaning as well. Finished it off with spraying the engine with some Gunk engine degreaser and hosed it off. It's not perfect...but def better. I ran outta time, but still want to replace diff fluid, flush the cooling system and bleed the brakes- they feel a little soft. I guess that's my project for next weekend.
Also need to look into upgrading the brakes as soon as I can. There's def a warped rotor or two, judging by the vibration I get under mid-hard braking. It seems like I read something on this site about the brakes one the T4R being under-sized, and that Tundra brakes are heavier and a direct replacement. That project is at the top of my list as well...so I will start researching it soon.
I'm also aware of the "pink milkshake" issue, and that's at the top of my list as well. While cleaning the engine a few weekends ago, I noticed hair-line cracks on the top of the radiator, so I was gonna replace it anyways. I'll look into a trans-cooler when I do that project.
