My first 4Runner!!!

[vonhughes]

WHOOOO HOOOOO!!! :bounce:

I have been looking for a 3rd Gen 4Runner for almost three years. Along the way, I picked up a GX470, but my daughter somehow ended up taking over that vehicle. Happily, I found "the one" this past weekend and closed the deal yesterday, she's a 2002 Sport Edition in Thunder Cloud Metallic.

While I bought the vehicle at a dealer in Indy, it is the former vehicle of forum member, nwebb01. Some of its maintenance history is available on this forum, which actually helped me to decide to make the purchase.

My hope is to do some gentle to intermediate wheeling in the Midwest, but it will be my DD, for the most part.

Below are some picks I shot today. Hope you enjoy them...I look forward to learning alot here and hopefully, at some point, sharing some good stories and my experiences maintaining and mod-ing the vehicle!

 

[Nicknasty]

Congrats looks super clean! How many miles does it have? Did you get a decent deal?

 

[nwebb01]

Glad it's yours and you are happy! I hope you get many years of enjoyment and fun!

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

[LittleCaesar]

Welcome!

Three years is dedication no doubt. Looks great. There is a wealth of information here if you let your fingers do the walking.

 

[T4R2014]

Is that plastidip all around it? Hope it peels off easy.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Congrats and patience well rewarded.


Eddie

 

[vonhughes]

Congrats looks super clean! How many miles does it have? Did you get a decent deal?

Thanks!

168,009 miles on it when I pulled out for the test drive.

Paid $6,800 "list", plus taxes, title, etc.

While I am no auto expert, for the dozen or so 4Runners I've gone to see in the past 30 months, this was probably the second best as far as frame condition, exterior and interior. The other was a 2007 SR5 but it had some kind of weird fluid leak in the rear and was $12k, so I passed on it.

For the Indy market -- from a dealer, at least -- I think this was a super deal. Nick, just don't tell me they only gave you $3k on trade in... LOL

 

[vonhughes]

Is that plastidip all around it? Hope it peels off easy.

I believe it is "Truck Bed Armor" per the previous owner. Here is his post about it: https://www.toyota-4runner.org/2936213-post6.html

Bed Armor(R) Truck Bed Coating – Duplicolor

I believe this is what he used: Bed Armor(R) Truck Bed Coating – Duplicolor

 

[thennen]

Congratulations! Very good looking 4Runner you have there! These things run forever, and your mileage is pretty low. One tip: look up rust mitigation tips on here and start prevention. I’m in the Midwest too, and I lost my 2001 to frame rot at 265,000 miles. Running perfectly, transmission smooth, everything good but the rust. Antenna even worked fine. Enjoy, and welcome!

 

[vonhughes]

Congratulations! Very good looking 4Runner you have there! These things run forever, and your mileage is pretty low. One tip: look up rust mitigation tips on here and start prevention. I’m in the Midwest too, and I lost my 2001 to frame rot at 265,000 miles. Running perfectly, transmission smooth, everything good but the rust. Antenna even worked fine. Enjoy, and welcome!

Thanks. I've heard about "Eastwood Internal Frame Coating" and "POR". Will have to read up more on them this summer to prepare for winter!

Here are two indicative shots. There is some surface rust on the pumpkin and axle housing that can probably use some work. (don't have a photo handy)

 

[mtbtim]

[MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I have a YouTube channel that's mostly dedicated to maintaining, repairing and modifying 3rd Gen 4runners. If you want to do some or all of your own wrenching, our videos will help you out.

YouTube

We have collaborated with a bunch of good dudes on this forum to create a lot of content for these rigs. Some of these guys are now our friends that we do wheeling adventures with.

Welcome to the club and Enjoy your Rig!

 

[vonhughes]

[MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] and I have a YouTube channel that's mostly dedicated to maintaining, repairing and modifying 3rd Gen 4runners. If you want to do some or all of your own wrenching, our videos will help you out.

YouTube

We have collaborated with a bunch of good dudes on this forum to create a lot of content for these rigs. Some of these guys are now our friends that we do wheeling adventures with.

Welcome to the club and Enjoy your Rig!

Dude! I have been watching your channel for some time -- including last night! Seeing how you helped people fix their rigs was an inspiration and one of the reasons I wanted to get a 4Runner...other than the fact they are cool as hell and if maintained seem to want to run till doomsday!

 

[TheSaturnV]

Welcome to the 3RD GEN club. I've had a '94, '99 and my current 2000 that I've owned since it was just a few years old. Finest SUV ever built if you ask me. I'm currently "refurbishing" my 2000 since it is 20 years old. New leather heated seats, tires, mild lift suspension, moonroof mechanism....the works.

I'll have a few bucks into it when I'm done, but I'd rather have a "new" 3rd Gen vs. anything else currently being offered.

 

[brianjasinski2003]

Dang that is a sweet looking Runner. Congratulations

 

[TheShowtime]

Not sure if it matters to you but I see you are missing a lot of the emblems in the rear. I have exact measurements where each emblem goes on the back if you need them. Just lmk

 

[thennen]

Thanks. I've heard about "Eastwood Internal Frame Coating" and "POR". Will have to read up more on them this summer to prepare for winter!

Here are two indicative shots. There is some surface rust on the pumpkin and axle housing that can probably use some work. (don't have a photo handy)

The underside looks great, actually, so it should be not too much trouble to keep it that way. A lot of guys on here use something non-drying, such as Fluid Film. One guy swears by a certain WD-40 process, and his rig looks like new in his pics. I'm sure you'll find something you like. Again, congrats!

 

[UpShift]

Awesome! I just got a new one as well! Can't wait to post pics!

 

[Outrider]

I bet you're gonna fall in love with that T4R. I have owned mine for about 12 years, and I am very attached to it. Also - good looking tires on it. I recently had a set of those installed on mine, and I really like them so far. They were inexpensive, they perform very well, and they look so badass. What's not to love about that?

 

[vonhughes]

Not sure if it matters to you but I see you are missing a lot of the emblems in the rear. I have exact measurements where each emblem goes on the back if you need them. Just lmk

Yeah, that would be great. That you!

 

[TheShowtime]

Yeah, that would be great. That you!

I sent you a dm with info on those pics, I have to give credit to a member named killer squirrel on the forum. He’s the one that initially gave me the pictures.