Rare Opportunity, Swap my 4runner? Attn: SoCal

[4-Ripcord]

Alright guys, so here is the story.

My mom is looking to replace her 06 accord. She wants something that is 4x4 and capable off road while still a nice DD. I convinced her to let me find her a nice 3rd gen 4runner, she agreed.
:trophy:

As we are looking, I come across a photo of a nice millennium silver 2000 limited with locker. I mention that it is the only thing I would trade my 2002 sport for, which is true.

She then presents me with a option. We go ahead and get one of those, then I swap all of the upgrades from my 2002 sport to this new-to-us 2000 limited and the stock stuff from the limited back onto the '02 sport. (suspension, tires&wheels, stereo, etc..)
Once everything is swapped over, she takes my (now stock) 2002 Sport as her DD and I run with the lifted 2000 limited.

There are a few things that cannot be swapped over such as transmission cooler& gauge, field monitor, tint, stereo, CB, antenna, etc.. She agreed to pay for all of those as an early B-day present (may 25th). That way I can get new parts for all of those and do those upgrades all over again on the 2000.
-----

To reiterate, I WILL NOT BE SELLING MY 4RUNNER. I am just simply swapping parts with a 4runner we are going to by for my mom.


So my questions for you guys;

Is it worth it?
-I don't' mind all of the mechanical work to swap the parts, in fact I enjoy it.

Pros:
-e-locker
-Auto AC
-new color
-no more sport hood (I'm getting sick of it)
-I get to wrench to my hearts content:naughty:

Cons:
-Leather (In my opinion)
-wood grain trim looks tacky, can it be swapped?


Will I be able to find the kind of 4runner I want?
-Must be a 1999-2000
-Must be a Limited (silver, or any other good colors?)-not black or IJM.
-Must be 4x4 w/ e-locker
-Must be low miles (<125k)
-Must be very well maintained
-I would really like a supercharger, but doubt I'll find one.
-Our budget is about 12k.



-And lastly for all the Southern California guys, were are out in California right now for Easter weekend (not with my 4runner, flew in). Camarillo-oxnard area. Is there anything out here that anyone knows of that matches my search?


Thanks for your help and I look forward to all of your replies!:frog:

 

[vooduguru]

I can get you the millennium silver hood without the hood scoop and trade for your sport hood That'd make my wife UBER stoked!! :guitar3:

 

[Ron Helmuth]

give your mom some extra hugs from all the dudes on here.

Heck ya go for it. It's the labor that kills ya on these type of deals. But if you can do most all of it yourself this is a no brainer.

If you can't find what ya want in Cali-just come looking up here. But for your price range you should be able to do fine.

say what-- a sport hood hater! blasphemy....

 

[4-Ripcord]

I can get you the millennium silver hood without the hood scoop and trade for your sport hood That'd make my wife UBER stoked!! :guitar3:

The sport hood is on my Thundercloud metallic sport, sorry.

give your mom some extra hugs from all the dudes on here.

Heck ya go for it. It's the labor that kills ya on these type of deals. But if you can do most all of it yourself this is a no brainer.

If you can't find what ya want in Cali-just come looking up here. But for your price range you should be able to do fine.

say what-- a sport hood hater! blasphemy....

Oh I did.

I have been looking in the Denver and phoenix markets as they are close to ABQ. Just though I could check out the socal market as well since I'm here.

 

[vooduguru]

The sport hood is on my Thundercloud metallic sport, sorry.

:50cal:

 

[SCRunner12]

Go for it! If your budget is 12k then you can find a really nice 99-00 limited and put a supercharger on it! I just got mine for 8.5k with 100k, so they are out there. California is a tough market to buy in, but you might have some luck with dealers if you want to go that route. I would take that offer in a heartbeat.

The leather isn't too bad and the woodgrain is tacky, but not horrible.

 

[fightman80]

Honestly......the woodgrain could be plasti-dipped and then clear coated! No more Woodgrain!

Go for the deal if you really want all those upgrades!

 

[brian2sun]

Pros:
-e-locker
-Auto AC
-new color
-no more sport hood (I'm getting sick of it)
-I get to wrench to my hearts content

Seems like the only real "pro" is the e-locker. The color, hood, and AC are all pretty insignificant IMO (unless you hate your color now). That seems like a lot more effort to me than just putting an ARB in your current 4runner. What is it about the '99-00 Limiteds that you don't have now in your '02 sport?

 

[Hepar]

I guess it comes down to how much you really want the e-locker. The wood grain is an easy fix (but not sure on the cost). Maybe you can talk her into switching the wood for the silver finish in the Runners too? Moms LOVE wood grain!

I personally wouldn't do it. I like all of the stuff that the sports come with plus the fact that it's a two year newer vehicle, but I'm also not a hardcore wheeler, so I get much more use out of having the AWD ability than the need for an e-locker.

 

[econhonda]

So, I held out for a long time to find a '99 with an elocker. I can't say that I've ever really needed the elocker, but it's fun to go play with every now and then. Is it necessary? Not for me. Would I buy one without? Nope.

Good luck.

 

[durrell]

Seems like the only real "pro" is the e-locker. The color, hood, and AC are all pretty insignificant IMO (unless you hate your color now). That seems like a lot more effort to me than just putting an ARB in your current 4runner. What is it about the '99-00 Limiteds that you don't have now in your '02 sport?

I'm thinking the same.

Used e-lockers can be found for 300-400 bucks. Why go through all the trouble of swapping stuff over to a new Runner when you could just swap one part and drop the wiring in?

 

[brian2sun]

So, I held out for a long time to find a '99 with an elocker. I can't say that I've ever really needed the elocker, but it's fun to go play with every now and then. Is it necessary? Not for me. Would I buy one without? Nope.

Good luck.

I can't say I blame you, but if you hardly ever use it and you've never really needed it, why is it so important to have it? I kinda felt that way about my lack of a sunroof, but when I had sunroofs in other vehicles, I barely ever used them. So I decided "who cares" and bought my truck anyways and have never missed it.

I'm thinking the same.

Used e-lockers can be found for 300-400 bucks. Why go through all the trouble of swapping stuff over to a new Runner when you could just swap one part and drop the wiring in?

Well, it's not as easy as you might think.. He would have to find a 4.10 elocker (or whatever his ratio is now) and then he'd have to have access to a welder, grinder and a cutting torch to modify his axle housing. The problem is that almost all of the elocked 4runners came with 4.30s and few if any non-elocked 4runner came with 4.30s. So that means he'd most likely have to find a 4.10 elocked 3rd member out of a Taco, otherwise he would have to regear his front diff too (which is neither cheap or easy). Even if he found an entire elocked 4runner axle to swap with his, the elocked axle will be 4.30s so then he'd still have to change his front diff to 4.30s. So there's still a good amount of work involved in an elocker retrofit. He would also need to get the wiring (either used or from Inchworm) and wire that all in too. That's why I think doing an ARB is just easier. Plus, it's stronger than the elocker and you'll have onboard air too!

If you can weld and everything yourself, the elocker retrofit would end up being cheaper, but if you have to pay someone to modify your axle for you, it'll end up costing close to about the same as an ARB. And that's for a USED elocker with no warranty.

 

[durrell]

Ah, forgot that the e-locker is a 4.30. Regardless, I agree..ARB or whatever, it still makes more sense to modify the current one rather than buy one with an e-locker just to move things over to it.

 

[driffter33]

But it would be worth finding a supercharged one and swap that onto yours. Supercharger for free leaves you $2000+ to through airlocker and onboard air on your runner. NICE! THE ONLY WAY TO GO IMHO!

 

[brian2sun]

But it would be worth finding a supercharged one and swap that onto yours. Supercharger for free leaves you $2000+ to through airlocker and onboard air on your runner. NICE! THE ONLY WAY TO GO IMHO!

^^Now that's the best idea I've heard! SUPERCHARGER!!!!

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Ripcord.....

N. O. :bash:

I echo brian2sun almost to the tee. Your color is much rarer than millenium silver, since when don't you like the sport hood?, and don't even think about going down the supercharged road unless you've got some $$$ sitting around that's just burning a hole in your pocket.

Also, the silver sport trim > wood trim.... wood trim is fugly.

I've been thinking of doing this with my supra for years, but every time I think about all the work it would take to swap parts, I bag the idea.

Time = $$$. Just think of how much you could earn if you got a decent paying job and spent all that time there instead of moving crap from one 4Runner to another? I know how meticulous you are, and to catch up on mods, you'd have to spend what? 7, 8, maybe 9 weekends????

9 weekends x 2 days per weekend x 8 hours per day x $15/hour = $2160 = either a S/C or an e-locker/regear on your existing 4Runner.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Thanks for all the replies guys, that's why I love this forum.
This is the kind of stuff that happens when I have time to think. No more vacations for me.


My mom and I have been talking a lot since I originally posted. We have decided against this swap. I like all of the 'sport' amenities and my color too much to give them up for a locker. And she wants leather and wood grain more than the cloth and sport trim. So it's a win-win, if you look at it that way.

We are still looking for a 3rd gen for her. But our search has changed to a '01-'02 so that she can have TRAC, heated seats, and the 'Dorado Gold Pearl' color she likes as well.

--

I have been looking into elocker retrofits for a long time now, and YES I would do all of the work myself so it would be the cheaper option. If I did a retrofit, I would keep the 4.30 diff ratio. Because 4.30 should put me right back at close to stock with the 33's, I don't want crawler gears. (currently have 4.10).

The problem with a retrofit for me is that I 'm pretty sure I would need a 4.30 front diff from a 99-00 limited. This is because of the pushbutton actuator and the way the front diff talks to the car. So it would be the only front diff with 4.30 gears that would 'plug' right into my current setup.
Is the true? Or are all front diffs the same regardless of pushbutton or not?


Either way, thanks again for all the input.
:bigok:


I wonder what it would take to retrofit an Auto A/C unit from a limited...

 

[brian2sun]

The problem with a retrofit for me is that I 'm pretty sure I would need a 4.30 front diff from a 99-00 limited. This is because of the pushbutton actuator and the way the front diff talks to the car. So it would be the only front diff with 4.30 gears that would 'plug' right into my current setup.
Is the true? Or are all front diffs the same regardless of pushbutton or not?

Well, that's a good question. The pushbutton 4x4 should all be in the t-case so that shouldn't matter. I'm just not sure if your traction control is sensed with the diff or the ABS or what. Maybe someone can chime who has a later model than mine because my '97 doesn't have any of that traction control stuff.

You could always just regear your existing front diff too. The only thing that sucks is, it's of a lot of money just to go from 4.10s to 4.30s (about $300 for the gears and bearings and about $200 for the setup). And that cost is if you pull the front diff out yourself, take it to a shop to have the gears setup and then put it back in yourself.

Since you have access to a welder and stuff, it would be so much cheaper to just get a 4.10 elocker out of a Taco, stick it in and be done with it. The power difference between 4.10s and 4.30s would simply not be worth the cost of regearing your front diff or tracking down and buying a used 4.30 diff.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Taco's had 4.10 lockers? That's news to me. And it makes things alot easier.
I thought it was either 4.30 diffs or an ARB.

Thanks brian, helpful as always.

 

[brian2sun]

Taco's had 4.10 lockers? That's news to me. And it makes things alot easier.
I thought it was either 4.30 diffs or an ARB.

Thanks brian, helpful as always.

No problemo, and I'm positive that Tacos had 4.10 elockers (in fact I believe it's the most common) so you're good there. And they are the correct 8" diffs for a 4runner retrofit - as opposed to the non-TRD 1st gen Tacos which have the 8.4 diffs in them.