Yo. Getting a lot of little things done, plus a bit of maintenance before I head to Colorado for a road trip very soon.
First, I took it to a trusted local shop for a Transmission flush (Toyota OEM fluid), brake fluid flush, and an alignment. (Note to future self: This was all done
@ ~235k miles)
The little things...
First up was to finalize the install of the Auxbeam switching relay unit thing. I drilled small pilot holes and then used self-tapping bolts to mount the unit (with blue loctite). A little pucker moment because I didn't know what was behind that metal, but after I drilled and probed around a bit there's nothing there I can detect, so I was good with bolting it in. I did have to put a few spacers in between the firewall and the unit to give clearance for the cover to come on and off. We'll see if it holds.
Next, small but important update. The rear hatch shocks went bad at some point (
the ones I installed six years ago) and I finally replaced them with the exact same ones. The manufacturer slightly updated them a bit at least visually (non coated shock arm), hopefully they last at least as long. No more hitting my head (for now).
My windshield was chipped by a full size truck hauling a toy coming the opposite direction on a forest road, and sent a large rock flying at my windshield. The good news is, I think my old windshield was leaking air because I had a high pitch annoying sound happening at freeway speed, which is now gone with a new windshield.
The only reason I bring up a windshield replacement is because I got a clear ceramic tint on the windshield at the time of install. This is my second car with ceramic tint and it makes a huge difference. It's worth the added cost if you are in need of a tint in the near future, and these days they can do the windshield in clear as well FYI.
Last up is maintenance. I did an oil and filter change, plus greased and thoroughly cleaned the driveshaft joints. While I was under there, I cleaned the threads with a tap for all of the skid plate mounts. Jerk mechanics must have whaled on those threads over the years and they were in bad shape. Glad to report it worked and the bolts thread on no problem now.
Taking a step back, it feels good I've gotten the maintenance pretty much all back up to baseline, and lots of little things fixed (some not mentioned in this thread, like clock not working, alpine amp went dead, new speakers & head unit, etc.). I can say that everything works on the rig, it's well maintained, baselined, and damn solid. Can't believe I'm at 235k miles and climbing, it's 23 years old, and it's still in good shape. These 3rd gen 4Runners are real legends.