Gosh.

[wake_rider]

Man, I cannot tell you how much I want an e-Locker. Stock Toyota goodness locking up the rear end? Yes please.

How did the original owner of this vehicle get just about every option available then skimp out on the less than $400 option to lock up the rear? It just doesn't make sense.

This really is not a post for any other reason than to state my lust for a factory-locked rear end as I've been looking at ARB setups and am just not all that excited to go that route. I want Toyota and stock, but nothing in this area exists as a totaled vehicle just waiting for my opportunistic hands to get all up in it.

Just a rant, Gents. Good eve to you...

 

[wake_rider]

That and a good front and rear bumper setup, plus another 5 star for a spare tire setup... and don't forget the breather mod and the Tundra Brake upgrade. Oh yeah, and some euro-beam HID's would be nice. To top it all off, a snorkel and Whitson Metalworks full length roof rack are a must.





Hmmm. Some bright amber/yellow HID's in the fog lights, and possibly a HID setup in the headlights is in order.




Lastly, MUST GET a sport hood with scoop (or maybe just go big and do the Tacoma front clip, which I think looks totally BEAST on a 3rd gen).



Man. This site is so good at helping me late-night procrastinate when I should be working on my thesis. Oh, it's also good at getting me to allocate money that I don't have towards all the projects that I want to do to this so beloved 4Runner that I have in the driveway...

 

[BrianSD_42]

No pics no service

BTW you sound (super long multiple rant) like my old roommate who (for real) had a coke problem. Why so many thoughts .....?

 

[Brique]

I feel ya, man. I get just as antsy when i start to think about all the stuff i want to do to my truck.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I never understood why my previous owners didn't opt for the locker as well. For $400 extra on a $38,000 sticker price, that is just pennies.

It cost me 2x as much to retrofit one a couple of years ago.

Having written many in my time, but only two for a masters degree, I feel your thesis pain and how it may come across as sounding like your are enjoying a fun nose candy ride.

 

[BlackCat914]

I never understood why my previous owners didn't opt for the locker as well. For $400 extra on a $38,000 sticker price, that is just pennies.

It cost me 2x as much to retrofit one a couple of years ago.

Having written many in my time, but only two for a masters degree, I feel your thesis pain and how it may come across as sounding like your are enjoying a fun nose candy ride.

it'd probably has to do with the fact that most weren't ordered that way, but bought out of dealer inventory. And since most 4runners probably were used to haul the kids around and for groceries, I doubt most original owners knew what a "locker" even was.

 

[slimboiphat]

4runner with factory rear diff lock was rare find in my area. During my search, I was surprised handful of owners who didn't know what that was and claimed their 4runner had everything. Some even had it and didn't even know it was equipped.

 

[LittleCaesar]

I asked the couple (just retired) about such before buying it back at the end of 06 and while they had a farm in South Carolina, they could warrant spending the extra $400 since it was already a 4x4.

When I was shopping for 4runner back then most grocery/soccer moms were driving the first gen Sequoia, which has much more room. Few were in 4runners. The trouble is the 2nd gen Sequoia is so darn expensive today that fewer soccer moms can afford them, thus opting for a 5th gen 4runner if they want to stay with Toyota.

Mine was originally earmarked as a graduation present from college for their grandson, but he was able to convince them he needed a brand new V8 in the 4th gen to pull a trailer with his belongings to graduate school. It was a 5x8 trailer to go 100 miles. I guess it is nice to have grandparents with deep pockets.

 

[StingRay98-00]

I hear you. I recently found a really nice 2000 SR5 with just under 70K on it. Super clean. No locker. Couldn't pass over it just for that but you wonder why wouldn't everybody want one. I would!

 

[scrap metal]

$340? whats a locker? is it some type of storage box I can safely store my personal affections in?

 

[BoarderDave]

I was surprised when I bought my 4Runner from the original owner and it didnt have the sunroof. I mean.. who in southern CA DOESN'T want a sunroof on such a fun outdoorsy vehicle? Sorry to go off topic.. but that was my rant.

I wouldn't mind a factory locker either.. :redface:

 

[wake_rider]

No pics no service

BTW you sound (super long multiple rant) like my old roommate who (for real) had a coke problem. Why so many thoughts .....?

Ha. I can put some pics up, but my truck is nothing to get excited about compared to all the beautiful rigs on here. Plus, the modifications will come very, very slow as all of my income is used to pay off bursar accounts and keep my wife and daughter fed and housed..

Honestly, my mind is constantly working on overdrive. Always has. It keeps me up at night thinking about the most random things from Native American Philosophy to the purpose of keratin proteins composing toenails. Seriously. It's a little ridiculous, and I only wish that I could blame it on substances of intoxicating natures. Nope. Just me.

Sadly, I could blaze through any project, including my thesis, in almost no time if I could just focus all of that constantly rushing thought process on one subject or thought at a time. At 31, I still have yet to figure out how to do so. Believe me, If I could shut it off I would be happy to do so. Full-time grad student, working outside of the University with a full-time job, owning my home and having a wife and daughter means that sleep comes at a premium. Not being able to shut off my mind means that sleep also comes rarely. So alas, I'm left day-dreaming about all the possibilities of rigging up my truck while I should be focused on McCarthyism, Containment, and the ideologies responsible for joining conflicts in Vietnam.

I feel ya, man. I get just as antsy when i start to think about all the stuff i want to do to my truck.

I have all the desire, but none of the time or extra income. It taunts me so.

I never understood why my previous owners didn't opt for the locker as well. For $400 extra on a $38,000 sticker price, that is just pennies.

It cost me 2x as much to retrofit one a couple of years ago.

Having written many in my time, but only two for a masters degree, I feel your thesis pain and how it may come across as sounding like your are enjoying a fun nose candy ride.

My truck has every option available in 2000 as far as I know, except the locker. Seems like a silly omission.

Yeah, I think stress and sleep deprivation can be accredited to all kinds of lunacy. I heard a fellow grad student melt down into a hysterical laughing fit turned into a few defeated tears yesterday over a quasi-humorous typo in congressional documents while face deep in archives. After asking her what was up and if she was alright she just replied, "I just need sleep." Poor girl, but I understand where she's coming from.

 

[wake_rider]

I hear you. I recently found a really nice 2000 SR5 with just under 70K on it. Super clean. No locker. Couldn't pass over it just for that but you wonder why wouldn't everybody want one. I would!

Wow. To find a 3rd gen with that kind of mileage is well worth the extra cost and effort of finding and installing a locker on your own. Nice find!

I asked the couple (just retired) about such before buying it back at the end of 06 and while they had a farm in South Carolina, they could warrant spending the extra $400 since it was already a 4x4.

When I was shopping for 4runner back then most grocery/soccer moms were driving the first gen Sequoia, which has much more room. Few were in 4runners. The trouble is the 2nd gen Sequoia is so darn expensive today that fewer soccer moms can afford them, thus opting for a 5th gen 4runner if they want to stay with Toyota.

Mine was originally earmarked as a graduation present from college for their grandson, but he was able to convince them he needed a brand new V8 in the 4th gen to pull a trailer with his belongings to graduate school. It was a 5x8 trailer to go 100 miles. I guess it is nice to have grandparents with deep pockets.

Those Sequoia's are freaking massive, too. I would assume that the grandparents had more dollars than remaining sense. But hey, good for him!

I was surprised when I bought my 4Runner from the original owner and it didnt have the sunroof. I mean.. who in southern CA DOESN'T want a sunroof on such a fun outdoorsy vehicle? Sorry to go off topic.. but that was my rant.

I wouldn't mind a factory locker either.. :redface:

It seems almost unethical to live in California without some type of moveable ceiling. Kind of seems like a law that the Governator should have pushed legislation to pass during his tenure.

 

[wake_rider]

$340? whats a locker? is it some type of storage box I can safely store my personal affections in?

You could argue such. :eyebrows:

 

[BoarderDave]

It seems almost unethical to live in California without some type of moveable ceiling. Kind of seems like a law that the Governator should have pushed legislation to pass during his tenure.

Right? I surely don't understand it.
Oh well.. Luckily I can still roll down all the other windows and feel like I'm basically outside anyways. :thumb:

 

[02SE]

In my experience, (actually the experience of people who were in charge of deciding how to equip vehicles for a specific Dealership, in a particular region) most people bought their 3rd gen 4Runner's from Dealer stock.

In my case I bought exactly what I wanted, and had a choice of colors too. The majority of 4WD 4Runner's that local Dealers had on their lots, were equipped with the rear diff lock.

The 3rd gen 4Runner was very popular in the Intermountain West, so dealers always had a large supply to choose from.

Due to the generally high altitude in that region, the manual transmission was fairly common too.

When this forum started, I was surprised that a V6, 5-speed and rear diff locker equipped 4Runner was considered rare. Apparently it was rare in most of the US.

 

[StingRay98-00]

I was surprised when I bought my 4Runner from the original owner and it didnt have the sunroof. I mean.. who in southern CA DOESN'T want a sunroof on such a fun outdoorsy vehicle? Sorry to go off topic.. but that was my rant.

I wouldn't mind a factory locker either.. :redface:

Well around here you don't get a lot of days that you open a roof but when you do get a good one it's damn nice to have. It's one of those things that has always been an EEWWWW no sun roof thing. You can add a locker just try adding a factory sun roof. That would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[wake_rider]

Well around here you don't get a lot of days that you open a roof but when you do get a good one it's damn nice to have. It's one of those things that has always been an EEWWWW no sun roof thing. You can add a locker just try adding a factory sun roof. That would be a deal breaker for me.

I'm 6'3" and have good posture, so a sunroof is almost a necessity for me in these trucks because opening the sliding cover allows me enough headroom that my hair isn't pressed against the roof. So yeah, definitely a deal killer for me had it been without a sunroof.

 

[BoarderDave]

I'm 6'3" and have good posture, so a sunroof is almost a necessity for me in these trucks because opening the sliding cover allows me enough headroom that my hair isn't pressed against the roof. So yeah, definitely a deal killer for me had it been without a sunroof.

I must have terrible posture then... I'm 6'4 and have an afro.. and I still fit without my sunroof. :fro: Then again, I do like to have a bit of a lean back position in my vehicles. :thumb: