Skydivesnake
New member
Hi folks,
Wanted to post a big thanks to all the forum members - T4R.ORG is a great source of information; really invaluable, and I wanted to express my appreciation to all you guys.
Some background - I’ve been looking for a nice 4Runner since about Oct’13; filtered a lot out online and driven a lot of miles to take a look at various trucks, and finally a 1998 gem appeared just 45mins from me. As soon as it popped up on the radar I checked Autocheck, Carfax and the Toyota service history and all looked good so I took a couple hours off work to check it out. It….was…AWESOME….
No rust (most of it’s life in Texas), no fluid weeps anywhere under the engine, transmission, axles, suspension, no signs of a strawberry milkshake in the online service history/rad/under rad cap/on the transmission dipstick, no OBD codes, fresh looking timing belt (but no stickers showing change dates :-(), pristine inside, decent service history, reasonable mileage (186k), my preferred color, EVEN had a roof rack AND a modest lift (which I was considering doing anyway). It drove great, no smoke when flooring it, shifted right, went in and out of 4WD right, even braked straight. I could not believe it ! Clock and antenna are dead though ha ha.
Anyhow, I bought it there and then. Dealer said he wishes he had a lot full of 3rd gens, this one was on his lot for 15hrs until I bought it.
I picked it up Saturday, put a couple hundred miles on it, rechecked the fluids, rechecked for weeps, swapped the tires for duratracs and plastidipped the wheels, and she is good to go ! I intend to go ahead and flush the fluids, replace the timing belt and water pump, and probably the LBJs (there is some dampness below the seals which implies they are on their last legs) just so I have a baseline for all that stuff from here on out. I already have an external trans cooler from ebay to fit at the weekend. Then need to add a couple of T4R.ORG decals
Anyhow – thanks again to you guys ! I would not have known what to look for at all without all the useful threads/guides and discussions on various repairs and upgrades.
LBJs possibly gone bad;
Wanted to post a big thanks to all the forum members - T4R.ORG is a great source of information; really invaluable, and I wanted to express my appreciation to all you guys.
Some background - I’ve been looking for a nice 4Runner since about Oct’13; filtered a lot out online and driven a lot of miles to take a look at various trucks, and finally a 1998 gem appeared just 45mins from me. As soon as it popped up on the radar I checked Autocheck, Carfax and the Toyota service history and all looked good so I took a couple hours off work to check it out. It….was…AWESOME….
No rust (most of it’s life in Texas), no fluid weeps anywhere under the engine, transmission, axles, suspension, no signs of a strawberry milkshake in the online service history/rad/under rad cap/on the transmission dipstick, no OBD codes, fresh looking timing belt (but no stickers showing change dates :-(), pristine inside, decent service history, reasonable mileage (186k), my preferred color, EVEN had a roof rack AND a modest lift (which I was considering doing anyway). It drove great, no smoke when flooring it, shifted right, went in and out of 4WD right, even braked straight. I could not believe it ! Clock and antenna are dead though ha ha.
Anyhow, I bought it there and then. Dealer said he wishes he had a lot full of 3rd gens, this one was on his lot for 15hrs until I bought it.
I picked it up Saturday, put a couple hundred miles on it, rechecked the fluids, rechecked for weeps, swapped the tires for duratracs and plastidipped the wheels, and she is good to go ! I intend to go ahead and flush the fluids, replace the timing belt and water pump, and probably the LBJs (there is some dampness below the seals which implies they are on their last legs) just so I have a baseline for all that stuff from here on out. I already have an external trans cooler from ebay to fit at the weekend. Then need to add a couple of T4R.ORG decals
Anyhow – thanks again to you guys ! I would not have known what to look for at all without all the useful threads/guides and discussions on various repairs and upgrades.
LBJs possibly gone bad;
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