Nashvegas34
New member
Hey Everyone,
Long time lurker, first time poster. Over the last year or two since I stumbled across T4R.org, I have gained a ton of knowledge and great ideas of what I can do to keep my 4Runner running smoothly and looking great. He is 11 years old now with nearly 180,000 miles, all but 4 of which are mine. He has powered through trips from Nashville to New Orleans, South Florida, Ohio, and Texas, among many others, without as much as a hiccup and sometimes with a trailer chasing him, and I've never thought twice about taking him on the road. Only two things have ever gone wrong with him - a worn out driveshaft and a blown rear axle seal - both of which were simply issues of age. Since making the decision to keep him until he falls apart underneath me, I've made several improvements and have many more planned (see my signature for details), and look forward to every mod and project. I do as much as I can myself, from oil changes to spark plugs to an upcoming timing belt/water pump replacement, and this forum has been invaluable for learning and gathering ideas.
Below are a few pics. Since we all enjoy a little carnage, I'll start with a couple of years ago when my truck took a beating from a drunk driver but kept me completely unscathed. On a slick two-lane road late one night, a late '90s Camaro attempted to pass and crossed a double yellow. Immediately seeing oncoming headlights, he swerved back and performed a textbook pit maneuver on me, spinning me almost 180 degrees across the oncoming lane, sending me through a brick mailbox and into an...ahem...awkward resting position. I narrowly missed the oncoming car and a large tree. After coming to a stop and realizing a I wasn't hurt, I got out and was seething. The Camaro had spun out, too. Likely drunk, the driver saw me get out, spun around, and took off. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a license plate, and since I wasn't hurt and the only hard evidence of the Camaro was the aftermarket purple paint he left on my rear bumper, the police were not able to do much except take a report.
Yes, this would be a fire hydrant, and I am sitting on top of it. Amazingly, the hydrant didn't budge after I somehow caught air from the curb and literally landed on the point.
Because I had no traction on my back tires, my brother-in-law had to pull me off of the hydrant with his Tundra, which pulled away the rear bumper.
I was probably fortunate that the mailbox had no concrete or steel reinforcement in it and simply broke off.
The damage worked out to be 75% of what would have been necessary to total the truck out, so I chose to have him repaired. Even though it wasn't the most serious of accidents, I gained a new respect for how tough our trucks were built.
Following this post will be a few of how my truck looks today. Thanks to everyone for all of the great information and discussion that this board fosters.
Long time lurker, first time poster. Over the last year or two since I stumbled across T4R.org, I have gained a ton of knowledge and great ideas of what I can do to keep my 4Runner running smoothly and looking great. He is 11 years old now with nearly 180,000 miles, all but 4 of which are mine. He has powered through trips from Nashville to New Orleans, South Florida, Ohio, and Texas, among many others, without as much as a hiccup and sometimes with a trailer chasing him, and I've never thought twice about taking him on the road. Only two things have ever gone wrong with him - a worn out driveshaft and a blown rear axle seal - both of which were simply issues of age. Since making the decision to keep him until he falls apart underneath me, I've made several improvements and have many more planned (see my signature for details), and look forward to every mod and project. I do as much as I can myself, from oil changes to spark plugs to an upcoming timing belt/water pump replacement, and this forum has been invaluable for learning and gathering ideas.
Below are a few pics. Since we all enjoy a little carnage, I'll start with a couple of years ago when my truck took a beating from a drunk driver but kept me completely unscathed. On a slick two-lane road late one night, a late '90s Camaro attempted to pass and crossed a double yellow. Immediately seeing oncoming headlights, he swerved back and performed a textbook pit maneuver on me, spinning me almost 180 degrees across the oncoming lane, sending me through a brick mailbox and into an...ahem...awkward resting position. I narrowly missed the oncoming car and a large tree. After coming to a stop and realizing a I wasn't hurt, I got out and was seething. The Camaro had spun out, too. Likely drunk, the driver saw me get out, spun around, and took off. Unfortunately it was too dark to get a license plate, and since I wasn't hurt and the only hard evidence of the Camaro was the aftermarket purple paint he left on my rear bumper, the police were not able to do much except take a report.
Yes, this would be a fire hydrant, and I am sitting on top of it. Amazingly, the hydrant didn't budge after I somehow caught air from the curb and literally landed on the point.
Because I had no traction on my back tires, my brother-in-law had to pull me off of the hydrant with his Tundra, which pulled away the rear bumper.
I was probably fortunate that the mailbox had no concrete or steel reinforcement in it and simply broke off.
The damage worked out to be 75% of what would have been necessary to total the truck out, so I chose to have him repaired. Even though it wasn't the most serious of accidents, I gained a new respect for how tough our trucks were built.
Following this post will be a few of how my truck looks today. Thanks to everyone for all of the great information and discussion that this board fosters.
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