looking to get a 3rd gen 4x4, any things to look out for?

[Nelsonmd]

do the 4unners have a buy back program like the 1st gen tacos do for frame rust?

Nope. The taco buyback was on the 4th gen wasn't it? Same time frame as our 3rd gens I thought.

Either way, no recall for us 4runner owners.

It seems the rust issue isn't as bad on the frame as on the rear axle housing on the 4runners. You really want to look at the diff cover you see if it is leaking. You can try smelling it too since the gear oil has a pretty distinct smell.

 

[the great him]

4cyl. is great and well of course its not fast its a SUV and its about the same torque as a 6cyl. so it doesn't really matter because the V6 is better for towing and only a little quicker, the main difference between the V4 and V6 is that the V4 has the iron chain!

wow nothing in this post is correct... lol

its still an SUV -even with the 4cyl.
its an inline 4, not a V4.
the 4cyl doesnt have anywhere near the torque the V6 has.
and its actually not an iron chain, just a steel chain. the belt is better, cause if and when it breaks there will be no damage done to the motor...

 

[the great him]

your rust issue is primarily gonna be if you buy a runner from back east or north midwest. south and west coast dont use salt on the roads so you should be fine there... http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/82033-3rd-gen-4runner-buyers-guide.html there look through that, im kinda surprised no one has posted this yet for you. depending on how many miles are on the rig you get if more than 170K id recommend looking at having the lower ball joints replaced(with factory toyota ones), they are about $120ea i think and if the fail(search lower ball joint failure) the can cost you upwards of $3500 in damages, so $240 in preventative maintenance vs $3500 or so.... -this one happened off road and at a very low speed so no other damage was done, but they can tear out the whole front suspension, and steering as well as fender and door and rocker panels and just mess up your day. not trying to scare you here, just giving you a heads up.

 

[the great him]

oh yeah and the front brakes arent the greatest... they are kinda small for our rigs so a lot of guys opt for the trundra brake upgrade, either the 199 or the 231, just search tundra brake upgrade and youll find all the info you need.

 

[Zombie Runner]

Nope. The taco buyback was on the 4th gen wasn't it? Same time frame as our 3rd gens I thought.

Either way, no recall for us 4runner owners.

It seems the rust issue isn't as bad on the frame as on the rear axle housing on the 4runners. You really want to look at the diff cover you see if it is leaking. You can try smelling it too since the gear oil has a pretty distinct smell.

the tacoma is only on its 2nd generation, 95-04 and 2nd gen 05-11. Pre 95 was just a toyota "truck".

your rust issue is primarily gonna be if you buy a runner from back east or north midwest. south and west coast dont use salt on the roads so you should be fine there... http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/82033-3rd-gen-4runner-buyers-guide.html there look through that, im kinda surprised no one has posted this yet for you. depending on how many miles are on the rig you get if more than 170K id recommend looking at having the lower ball joints replaced(with factory toyota ones), they are about $120ea i think and if the fail(search lower ball joint failure) the can cost you upwards of $3500 in damages, so $240 in preventative maintenance vs $3500 or so.... -this one happened off road and at a very low speed so no other damage was done, but they can tear out the whole front suspension, and steering as well as fender and door and rocker panels and just mess up your day. not trying to scare you here, just giving you a heads up.

thanks for the link!

oh yeah and the front brakes arent the greatest... they are kinda small for our rigs so a lot of guys opt for the trundra brake upgrade, either the 199 or the 231, just search tundra brake upgrade and youll find all the info you need.

I just got done test driving a 01 limited 4x4 with 79k miles, they are asking 12,900...haha right..... I cant stand the color of it though. This one was a maroon and tan color...I want a silver or black or white or even a red one. Now that I know pretty much what to look for in mechanical stuff from yall I just have to take a drive down to the DFW area and find a runner


It was WAY sluggish compared to my current taco but I was kinda expecting that to a certain point.

 

[the great him]

they will be slower thats for sure, they are a lot heavier and your taco has the 4.0 so its got more power. but i dont think the 4.0 is a better motor, it hasnt proven itself yet, and its harder to work on or modify -tighter engine management system and tolerances = less opportunity for mods. that price isnt out of the question for the age and mileage on the truck but yeah i would never pay that much for one, i bought my 97 like 8 months ago for $5500 but it had 207k on it at the time

 

[Zombie Runner]

Is there a way to turn off the TRAC? I went to a grassy field and tested out the 4wd to make sure it was working properly but I couldnt for the life of me get this thing to bust any of the tires lose...what if I want to do some donuts in the snow?! (on private property of course) haha

 

[the great him]

nope of its an 00-02 its an awd so its full time 4wd no 2wd option. the older ones can do some donuts in the snow though boy howdy let me tell you

 

[Zombie Runner]

wow, im suprised that no one has come up with a way to dissable the TRAC. Like some kind of "wire" mod that tricks the ecu to thinking that its in 4Lo and could disable it.

 

[the great him]

no, its not a computer controlled thing, its an awd vehicle meaning its full time 4wd, there is no way around that. the motor just simply doesnt have enough power to break all four tires lose even in dirt or loose ground. snow and ice maybe, and possibly mud depending on the constancy of it but yeah its always sending power to the wheels.

 

[SCRunner12]

I just got done test driving a 01 limited 4x4 with 79k miles, they are asking 12,900...haha right..... I cant stand the color of it though.

Better watch what you say about the Sunfire Red with Topaz cladding!:ak472: They are damn sexy!

Yeah I wanted a white or black one preferably as well, but I love the red. The Topaz (Tan) kind of sucks, but I will changing that in the future. :thumb3:

 

[4-Ripcord]

nope of its an 00-02 its an awd so its full time 4wd no 2wd option. the older ones can do some donuts in the snow though boy howdy let me tell you

Completely False. Did you even read the thread you linked?

First, the multi-mode is 99-02 on limiteds. 01-02 on SR5 and base.

Second, its still a 2wd until you engage the transfer case with the pushbutton on the t-case shifter. Once you do its in AWD, then lock the center diff to get to true 4x4. (locking the center diff disables VSC, but leaves TRAC on)

Third, you CAN disable TRAC, Search for the Andymod 2.0 (its a simple wire mod, just put a switch on a wire and you are good to go)

 

[the great him]

Completely False. Did you even read the thread you linked?

First, the multi-mode is 99-02 on limiteds. 01-02 on SR5 and base.

Second, its still a 2wd until you engage the transfer case with the pushbutton on the t-case shifter. Once you do its in AWD, then lock the center diff to get to true 4x4. (locking the center diff disables VSC, but leaves TRAC on)

Third, you CAN disable TRAC, Search for the Andymod 2.0 (its a simple wire mod, just put a switch on a wire and you are good to go)

wow, i read the thread a long time ago when i first was pointed to it, but i must of over looked it/miss read it(as it didnt apply to me having a 97 sr5) -thanks for correcting me. i thought that all the multi mode trucks were awd all the time, again my bad and good to know that you can bypass the TRAC system

to the OP sorry for misleading you man thats my fault

 

[Zombie Runner]

Better watch what you say about the Sunfire Red with Topaz cladding!:ak472: They are damn sexy!

Yeah I wanted a white or black one preferably as well, but I love the red. The Topaz (Tan) kind of sucks, but I will changing that in the future. :thumb3:

I also just saw a thread saying that you cant take the fender flares off of the limited without having lots of holes...so that means no limited for me. I need an sr5.

Completely False. Did you even read the thread you linked?

First, the multi-mode is 99-02 on limiteds. 01-02 on SR5 and base.

Second, its still a 2wd until you engage the transfer case with the pushbutton on the t-case shifter. Once you do its in AWD, then lock the center diff to get to true 4x4. (locking the center diff disables VSC, but leaves TRAC on)

Third, you CAN disable TRAC, Search for the Andymod 2.0 (its a simple wire mod, just put a switch on a wire and you are good to go)

Good info, thank you. yea even in 2wd I couldnt have any fun bc the trac or vsc (whatever its called on these) would not let me and I didnt see a switch to turn it off.

 

[SCRunner12]

I also just saw a thread saying that you cant take the fender flares off of the limited without having lots of holes...so that means no limited for me. I need an sr5.

Do you not like the flares and cladding at all or just the color? The color can be changed either cheap with rhino liner or something like that as many have. I'm either going to get them painted or get some different colored ones from another limited.

I would have been happy with a SR5, but I really wanted the AWD aspect of the limiteds.

 

[4-Ripcord]

wow, i read the thread a long time ago when i first was pointed to it, but i must of over looked it/miss read it(as it didnt apply to me having a 97 sr5) -thanks for correcting me. i thought that all the multi mode trucks were awd all the time, again my bad and good to know that you can bypass the TRAC system

to the OP sorry for misleading you man thats my fault

NP man. if it helps, I know absolutely nothing about 97's. So were even!

I also just saw a thread saying that you cant take the fender flares off of the limited without having lots of holes...so that means no limited for me. I need an sr5.


Good info, thank you. yea even in 2wd I couldnt have any fun bc the trac or vsc (whatever its called on these) would not let me and I didnt see a switch to turn it off.

The only TRAC switch that came from the factory was on 01-02 2wd models. 4wd models do not have a switch, gotta add it in afterwards.

 

[Zombie Runner]

Do you not like the flares and cladding at all or just the color? The color can be changed either cheap with rhino liner or something like that as many have. I'm either going to get them painted or get some different colored ones from another limited.

I would have been happy with a SR5, but I really wanted the AWD aspect of the limiteds.

I dont like the flares or the door pannels much at all, the color just added to it.

NP man. if it helps, I know absolutely nothing about 97's. So were even!




The only TRAC switch that came from the factory was on 01-02 2wd models. 4wd models do not have a switch, gotta add it in afterwards.

Thanks

 

[4-Ripcord]

For the record, it was the VSC that was stopping you. So if you put it in 4wd and lock the transfer case, it will turn VSC off.

And btw, Andmod 2.0 disables TRAC & VSC.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

We got some 4 cylinder haters in this thread!

I have never once heard of a timing chain breaking on a 3RZ 4 Cylinder. Even if, we have non interference motors. It might scrape the timing cover... lol

I guarantee you've all seen very many of them, any time you see a 4Runner with black plastic unpainted mirrors and door handles, it's sporting a 4 cylinder. Keep your eyes peeled. I constantly see them.

The 2.7 is obviously less powerful, but it's not THAT bad. See the 22RE, while a great reliable motor, trying driving a 2nd gen with one of those. It's ungodly slow. The 2.7 does have about as much power as the 3.Slow, but you all have to remember that the reason no one likes that motor is head gasket failure.

Slow can always be fixed on a 4Runner Add an intake, do up some fancy exhaust from header to tip, Electric fan, underdrive pulley with underdrive alternator pulley, balance shaft removal (instant 15hp), don't even get me started on boost. It's a very bulletproof and boost hungry motor.

There are also less parts to replace, and less parts to break.

I also need to mention that with proper gearing, you can benefit. The increase in gas mileage is nice, and the cheaper maintenance is nicer. No timing belt to worry about

So, while it may not be as fast, it's sure as hell not a bad motor. 3RZ is a badass motor, a built 3RZ would kick a built 5VZ's ass

Watch it, haters

Not saying you shouldn't buy a V6, god no, but don't be so quick to slam the 4 cylinder down. It's a hell of a motor.

 

[the great him]

^ no no its not a bad motor it just needs some improvements to be on par with the 5vze. and if we are talking stock for stock the 5vze will walk all over it it all day long, both are great motors and rock solid and bomb-proof motors, and both can be made to have lots of power. sure the 3rz will be cheaper to mod and has a greater potential( cause its more popular to build than the 5vze) but im sure the 5vze is capable of 500hp on stock internals, now getting that is the trick, cause no one as put forth the effort to try. but throw a SC some good headers bigger injectors/fuel pump, redo the heads with over sized valves and adjustable cam gears, modified ecu/ecm and you would be making some serious power, sure you are talking over $10k but it can be done. but yes COB is right the 3rz is a great motor and if you dumped $10k into one of those you would have a bullet proof bomb proof race motor that you could count on day after day