So at the end of April I finally took the plunge into the 4runner world. This will be my ongoing maintenance and mod thread. If all goes well, this truck will be in my life for a long, long time.
I found a 99' 4runner SR5 (V6, 4x4) with 238*** km (148*** miles) in fantastic shape. It also had some mods done to it already:
- ARB bumper (brand new)
- Budbuilt sliders (need to be repainted/coated)
- 2-3" Toytec/Bilstein (front), Toytec/TJM XGS Gold struts (rear)
- 16" SCS F-5 wheels w/ 285/75r16 BFG AT/KO's (brand new)
- Front diff drop
- pan hard drop
- Bushwhacker fender flares
- Lightforce lights
- lots of lights converted to LED (not all)
- nav/stereo/
Asking price was $7000 (cdn).
Right off the bat I knew a couple of issues would need to be taken care of.
- parking brake cable was snapped
- rear passenger axle seal was leaking
- cv boots were torn
- CEL was on (code was for a shift solenoid)
- windshield had some cracks in it
I ended up getting it for $6000 and then it sat at my brothers place 2.5 hours away...
So in the last month or so I've done some maintenance. Up until I bought this I've never done any of my own work on my vehicles. I had a little bit of help from my brother and a TON of help from this forum was able to do the following on my own:
- new parking brake cables
- replaced rear passenger axle seal (bearing looked new and didn't have any play, so didn't do it this time)
- new windshield
- replaced all three solenoids inside the valve body
- new cv axles (sounded like this was way easier than rebooting my old axles. I kept the old ones because I think they just need to be rebooted. No extra play or noise coming from them)
I went to get an insurance inspection completed and they wouldn't pass it, saying it needed (and quoted me $2600):
- new brake pads (gunked up from the leaking axles. I will be doing this before too long)
- parking brake needed to be 'reworked and adjusted'
- steering rack and pinion needed to be replaced. They said 'it was pouring fluid and leaking like crazy'. (When I looked at it after bringing it back from the shop, there is some axle grease from the cv's, but no leaks/cracks/etc. Still in really good shape.)
- all brake lines needed to be replaced (will eventually need to be done, but not for a while yet)
Brought it home, found another mechanic to do the inspection and he passed it. I went a picked up insurance and plates and finally brought it home on Tuesday!
Only decent picture right now. Now that I have it home, I will take some better ones soon.
Some future maintenance and mods I'd like to eventually do:
- brakes
- brake lines
- do some
- deck plate mod
- HCF delete
- Taco whip mod
- new rear bumper
- maybe eventually do the supercharger thing
- maybe try to find a sport hood
- whatever else catches my eye or needs doing
I'm excited (and SUPER thankful) to be a part of this community. I wouldn't have been able to do what I have without it!
I found a 99' 4runner SR5 (V6, 4x4) with 238*** km (148*** miles) in fantastic shape. It also had some mods done to it already:
- ARB bumper (brand new)
- Budbuilt sliders (need to be repainted/coated)
- 2-3" Toytec/Bilstein (front), Toytec/TJM XGS Gold struts (rear)
- 16" SCS F-5 wheels w/ 285/75r16 BFG AT/KO's (brand new)
- Front diff drop
- pan hard drop
- Bushwhacker fender flares
- Lightforce lights
- lots of lights converted to LED (not all)
- nav/stereo/
Asking price was $7000 (cdn).
Right off the bat I knew a couple of issues would need to be taken care of.
- parking brake cable was snapped
- rear passenger axle seal was leaking
- cv boots were torn
- CEL was on (code was for a shift solenoid)
- windshield had some cracks in it
I ended up getting it for $6000 and then it sat at my brothers place 2.5 hours away...
So in the last month or so I've done some maintenance. Up until I bought this I've never done any of my own work on my vehicles. I had a little bit of help from my brother and a TON of help from this forum was able to do the following on my own:
- new parking brake cables
- replaced rear passenger axle seal (bearing looked new and didn't have any play, so didn't do it this time)
- new windshield
- replaced all three solenoids inside the valve body
- new cv axles (sounded like this was way easier than rebooting my old axles. I kept the old ones because I think they just need to be rebooted. No extra play or noise coming from them)
I went to get an insurance inspection completed and they wouldn't pass it, saying it needed (and quoted me $2600):
- new brake pads (gunked up from the leaking axles. I will be doing this before too long)
- parking brake needed to be 'reworked and adjusted'
- steering rack and pinion needed to be replaced. They said 'it was pouring fluid and leaking like crazy'. (When I looked at it after bringing it back from the shop, there is some axle grease from the cv's, but no leaks/cracks/etc. Still in really good shape.)
- all brake lines needed to be replaced (will eventually need to be done, but not for a while yet)
Brought it home, found another mechanic to do the inspection and he passed it. I went a picked up insurance and plates and finally brought it home on Tuesday!
Only decent picture right now. Now that I have it home, I will take some better ones soon.
Some future maintenance and mods I'd like to eventually do:
- brakes
- brake lines
- do some
- deck plate mod
- HCF delete
- Taco whip mod
- new rear bumper
- maybe eventually do the supercharger thing
- maybe try to find a sport hood
- whatever else catches my eye or needs doing
I'm excited (and SUPER thankful) to be a part of this community. I wouldn't have been able to do what I have without it!
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