JoeT4R’s 2001 SR5 Build & Maintenance Thread
- Thread starter JoeT4R
- Start date
JoeT4R
Senior Member
Soooo I've been running E15 for over a month now with good results. It felt kinda silly posting in my build thread every time I filled up my tank, so I'm not gonna be doing that anymore, lol. Mileage has dropped about 1-1.5 miles per gallon, so I'm not terribly concerned with that. I'm yielding about 12.5-13.9 mpg every tank.
This morning I noticed that the price dropped significantly. Went down to $1.99/gal. So that's a huge plus. Overall, my truck isn't running any different than it has the past 10 years with regular 87, so I'm gonna stick with this stuff for a while.
Mileage: 320,628
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This morning I noticed that the price dropped significantly. Went down to $1.99/gal. So that's a huge plus. Overall, my truck isn't running any different than it has the past 10 years with regular 87, so I'm gonna stick with this stuff for a while.
Mileage: 320,628
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octanejunkie
Elite Member
I had read a few things about "converting" our trucks to run E15. Did you modify your vehicle in any way to run E15?
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JoeT4R
Senior Member
[MENTION=95183]octanejunkie[/MENTION] No, I haven't done anything to convert my rig to run E15. I just fill it and it goes vroom.
[MENTION=164664]brillo_76[/MENTION] Agreed. Not sure what long term use will look like over time, but in the meantime I will run it as long as it doesn't give my rig any issues. So far nothing has happened so I consider that a win.
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[MENTION=164664]brillo_76[/MENTION] Agreed. Not sure what long term use will look like over time, but in the meantime I will run it as long as it doesn't give my rig any issues. So far nothing has happened so I consider that a win.
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brillo_76
Elite Member
It is.. I just remember that when ethanol first came out in the US. Toyota came out and said that anything up to 10% will not be an issue and said that is all the higher they recommend on vehicles older then 2002 or so.
Do I think 5% more will hurt... Besides loosing another mpg. We will find out.
JoeT4R
Senior Member
Yup. I mean I like the idea of having an alternative fuel option that's way more cost friendly, especially during the times we're living in right now. If I had non ethanol stations near me I would certainly be using it exclusively because of the fact that I get better mpg's with it. But, since the E15 stuff is so cheap, it's too good not to use it.It is.. I just remember that when ethanol first came out in the US. Toyota came out and said that anything up to 10% will not be an issue and said that is all the higher they recommend on vehicles older then 2002 or so.
Do I think 5% more will hurt... Besides loosing another mpg. We will find out.
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JoeT4R
Senior Member
New Strongarm 6815 rear hatch struts. These things are indeed no joke. All I have to do is pull the tab on the hatch and it does the rest of the work itself. Hands down worth the money. I also reused my old washers and hardware with no issues. Installed these in 32⁰ weather and they still open super fast!
Date: 12/20/22
Mileage: 321,742
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Date: 12/20/22
Mileage: 321,742
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Endlessblockades
Senior Member
I'd like to get those but my bushings are shot. I have the regular Strong arms I believe, and they have gotten weak over a 2.5 year period.
JoeT4R
Senior Member
My bushings are basically non-existent but yet they still work just fine. I don't think it's going to make or break the performance although I could be totally wrong. I got the ones with extra force and they are insane. I definitely would recommend them. I'm excited to see how they hold up in the long run.
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connorms
Member
Did the stronger struts make the hatch more difficult to close at all? My hatch barely stays open on it's own so I'm due for some new ones, and was debating with going with stronger struts or not
Endlessblockades
Senior Member
Agreed. When I first installed them, I needed to jump back or get whacked as the hatch opened! I have a screengrab of the Hillman nylon bushings/PN on my computer but have just been too lazy to deal with it. To answer the other gent's question about the hatch being more difficult to close with Strong Arm struts, I would say it most definitely takes more force to close, but not quite 'Difficult'. I may be mistaken as to which version of the SA struts I have and whether or not there are even 2 versions as it was the very first 'mod' I did. With the OEM struts it came with, the hatch would actually hit me in the head if I trusted it to stay up before I swapped them out - it would not stay up AT ALL if the rear glass was down..
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JoeT4R
Senior Member
The stronger struts give a loooot more resistance than the worn out stock ones when closing the hatch. It's not difficult but you may have to two-hand it. It's worth it though and you will absolutely thank yourself.
I've seen the videos/info on fabbing those Hillman nylon bushings and I just didn't bother or care to. It wasn't critical so I left it alone. There are in fact two versions and I'm pretty sure the YouTube video [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] put out on this mod lists the two different part numbers. I opted for the ones with extra force because why not?
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octanejunkie
Elite Member
I only installed one extra strength strut and kept one of the factory ones. Seems to be working well for me.
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JoeT4R
Senior Member
What made you want to go that route? Just curious.
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octanejunkie
Elite Member
JoeT4R
Senior Member
Well, my original starter has been having a fit lately. Today it really made itself known that it's ready to be replaced. I went ahead and purchased a Denso reman from RockAuto for $159.38 and plan to hang onto my OEM unit to rebuild it in the future. Here's a video of the awful sound my current starter is making. It made it 322K, so I'm happy with that.
20230106_162459 | JoeT4R | Flickr
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20230106_162459 | JoeT4R | Flickr
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