It just followed me home I swear...

[heat]

and I couldn't turn it away... My first, a 2002 Limited 4wd.

Fresh inspection, nearly new tires, everything works. Only thing it needs is shocks and sway bar links. it's a little bouncy around town.

Bone stock and likely to stay like that for a bit, until I decide what mods I'd like to do. My wife and urchins need the running boards, so that's not changing any time soon. It will be our road car until I get 'mine'.

 

[shootmymime]

Looks like this was your 1st post. Let me be proud to welcome you to the t4r.org family. We are glad to have you. As you prob know feel free to ask anyone questions we are all very friendly and love to help other members.

The picture you posted looks great. You found a great foundation to start with in the world of 4runners. Congrats and welcome to the site!

 

[farmerjon]

as shootmymime said, welcome! Looks like a great start! I hear ya on the running boards, I either have to get sliders or my running boards back on!

 

[robb1887]

Truck looks good!

Welcome. Be sure to browse all the sticky threads, they are a great source of knowledge on these things!

 

[Brian757]

Good buy! And welcome to T4R.org, you've purchased the right vehicle and joined the best resource for maintenance, upgrades, and general information, enjoy!

 

[Hepar]

Good looking rig and welcome!

Bone stock and likely to stay like that for a bit

Good luck with that...

 

[GSPRunner]

Looks like this was your 1st post. Let me be proud to welcome you to the t4r.org family. We are glad to have you. As you prob know feel free to ask anyone questions we are all very friendly and love to help other members.

The picture you posted looks great. You found a great foundation to start with in the world of 4runners. Congrats and welcome to the site!

What he meant by "friendly" is make sure you ready all the sticky threads and use the search function and we won't blow you out of here.

 

[shootmymime]

What he meant by "friendly" is make sure you ready all the sticky threads and use the search function and we won't blow you out of here.

[MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION] <------ except this guy lol kidding
:cheers:

 

[heat]

Thanks, all!

My other car forum participation for about the last 10 years is with the Merkur communities- orphaned Euro Ford imports, and very nice cars. The boosthead crowd can get pretty intense, too.

I haven't read all the stickies yet, but I'll get to 'em. What I am doing is reading the whole "What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen?" thread. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it currently.

The only thing that's come up for me so far is the timing belt issue, but I need to get the previous owner's maintenance records to know where I stand. The truck is immaculate by appearance and looks to have been really well-maintained.

 

[eddiebx]

Bone stock and likely to stay like that for a bit...

I find this statement hard to believe.

Here's how it's going to go: fixing those busted shocks and sway bar links will turn into upgraded shocks, which turns into taller springs, which turns into bigger tires to fill the lifted wheel wells better, etc. etc. etc.

Nice purchase, it sure does look pretty immaculate!

 

[heat]

I find this statement hard to believe.

Here's how it's going to go: fixing those busted shocks and sway bar links will turn into upgraded shocks, which turns into taller springs, which turns into bigger tires to fill the lifted wheel wells better, etc. etc. etc.

Nice purchase, it sure does look pretty immaculate!

Thank you, yes, it's very clean. There's almost no surface corrosion underneath.

The upgrade question is about priorities. I can't install what I don't buy

 

[PRBond]

I find this statement hard to believe.

Here's how it's going to go: fixing those busted shocks and sway bar links will turn into upgraded shocks, which turns into taller springs, which turns into bigger tires to fill the lifted wheel wells better, etc. etc. etc.

Nice purchase, it sure does look pretty immaculate!

This man speaks the truth...
I bought my 4Runner 3 weeks ago and I promised my wife that it would stay "Stock" for a year. However, I've already told her that the front shocks are a little soft and need to be replaced, she said "Ok". That will lead me to not only shocks, but probably springs and a lift, which takes me to tires... I've already told her that the tires that came on the truck have maybe 10,000 miles left in them before those will be replaced and since I'm already doing shocks, springs, and a lift, I might as well go with some more agressive and larger off road tires. So, staying "Stock" will probably result in a 3" ToyTec lift, and 265/75/16 AT's. (Which is exactly how my Tacoma started as well.)

Eventually the running boards will be replaced with sliders, and the front and rear bumpers will be replaced, and a CB will be installed. (Most likely a small Uniden radio that will fit in the ash tray space.)

 

[heat]

New axle seal and brake shoes on one side. I just replaced the one side as the other was dry. The bearing appeared to be within spec.

New shocks and struts: Sensen brand, $99 delivered.
New rear springs, since I nicked one when cutting out the old shocks $44 delivered (Moog 81043). (It's still a mall crawler at the moment). The new springs seem softer or less harsh, but they raised the rear an inch.

 

[snivilous]

...wife and urchins...

Hahaha for some reason that's awesome

 

[heat]

Mileage from our last trip: 271 miles, and it took 13.85 gallons to fill back up. That's darn close to 20 mpg, and better than when I got the truck. I'm guessing that's about 350 miles on a tank of gas.

I've been adding an ounce of 2 stroke oil per 5 gallons of gas, and I think it's helping the mileage. Here's a thread that explains what I'm up to.

If you don't read the whole thread, here's the bottom line: the oil needs to be TC-W3 spec.

All other things being equal (including 265/70-16 tires), I've seen an increase of about 2 miles per gallon when I take these (271 mile) trips after about three tanks of gas.

 

[masson74]

I find this statement hard to believe.

Here's how it's going to go: fixing those busted shocks and sway bar links will turn into upgraded shocks, which turns into taller springs, which turns into bigger tires to fill the lifted wheel wells better, etc. etc. etc.

Nice purchase, it sure does look pretty immaculate!

Yeah I needed new shocks which led to bigger tires which led to.... $5,000 later and lots of wheeling later....

 

[heat]

keepin' the baby happy

Catching up, I'm a little behind... 48k miles in just over 6 years. $2757 in
upkeep, includes everything listed from the beginning of this thread but gas
and insurance.

Apologies for some sideways pictures.

6/6/14: finally had to put some front springs on it. 137k on the originals, they
finally just gave out. Moog 81090

8/18/14: Dayco WP271K1C timing belt kit. 38k on it now, still running strong.

11/7/17: Hankook DynaPro HT 265/70-16 $354 shipped.

9/9/18: OEM LBJ

9/26/18: Denso radiator

6/9/19: new floor mats. Not quite as plush as the originals.

6/19/19: hood strut kit from Leon. Nice! I hate the prop rod.

6/24/19: New KYBs. The Sensen shocks served a purpose- cheap buffers that
lasted six years. But they were driving me crazy towards the end, harsh and
felt every bump in the road.

The KYB struts needed the lower bushing drilled out to fit the bolt!

My cheap strut tool finally broke. That was briefly exciting, but no lasting
damage. Carried on with the Harbor Freight unit.

7/1/19: Valve cover gaskets were leaking so I had to finally take care of them. First
time I've seen inside the motor, and it looks pretty clean. Tiny bit of sludge...
The cable guides mostly held together, no repairs needed.

The intake can be pulled in one piece w/o separating the halves:

soon: Oil cooler is dripping a little. Parts on order...

 

[PHGen3]

Can you tell me where you sourced the hood struts?

Thanks

 

[heat]

Yep, right here
New High-Lift Hood Strut Kit

 

[Tweety]

I just purchased my 2001 Limited 4runner and I'm glad to see yours is holding up so well! The previous owner took really great care of my car and I hope to do the same. I did take off my running boards first thing but I live with giants haha... I've got a few things planned (new suspension, wipers, etc.) but I've got to sell my old daily first.