Recent 4Runner Owner Please Help Educate me

[CAFROG]

Hello All! Just bought a used 4Runner today :thumb3:
New member to the site but have been reading threads to help educate myself before I purchased mine.

Ride:
'05 4Runner SR5 V8 2WD 53,000 miles (CPO from a Toyota Dealership)
White exterior and Gray/Black Interior.
16" OEM 6-spoke wheels (me no likey.....)

4WD would have been fine but I really don't need it and its hard enough to find a clean one low/decent miles. I could've gotten a variety of choices if I was willing to take on 75K+ miles. Toyota dealership did find me a nice clean one! I have wanted a 4Runner since I was a kid and I finally got one.

My questions are (if anyone can/will fill me in):

Mine is the SR5 non-Sport Edition so I have a bunch of "switches" with block off plates.

The two out ones on the center console would be heated seats....?
Whats the center one on the center console for?
And the 3...or 4 left of the steering column for?
I am guessing this has something to do with the fact its not a Limited but I'm wondering if it has something to do with the fact its not a SR5 Sport Edition too?

Rear Spoilers.....how involved is that installation?
(thinking I can find a color match at a Toyota Recycle Yard for a decent price)

My dad has a '06 Tacoma TRD and I like his wheels better. (17in Alloys) and I am wondering if they are the same height? (in terms of MPH staying correct)

Also....I have read that chips for these cars are B-O-L-O-G-N-A and don't get anything close to the performance data they claim it will gain. Any thoughts/experience with any chips out there?

I will have a variety of other questions in search of my quest as a new 4Runner owner and I promise to post pictures when its not dark and..... not raining (don't worry....I made them put it in their service garage and made sure it was dry so I could check the body out lol)

 

[anotherrunner83]

first of all, congrats and welcome to the family/addiciton.

the others in the center console (at least on mine) are downhill assist, rear ride height adjustment, and auto ride height adjustment off

beside the steering wheel you have center diff lock, rsca off, tsc off, and the 115vac switch. once again this is on an 08, i'm just assuming that nothing changed too drastically.

you will find that this is a great site full of knowledgeable people willing to educate and assist

 

[JMST4R]

Congratulations on the new rig. I'm sure you'll find you like it. I'm not sure why I have to stress this, but please take the time (tonight would be a good start) to bring your owner's manual inside, and read it cover to cover. Seriously, don't skip a page (unless it says "This page for Limited/Sport Edition trucks ONLY"). You will find out so much about your truck that other people still don't know after years of ownership about theirs. For instance, there is a "ninja" glovebox in our trucks that half the people on this forum didn't know about after 2 years of owning it, yet I knew the day I took delivery. Why? Because I read the book.
Secondly, you may wonder why there are a lot of filler blocks where switches could be mounted. Well, in an effort to save money (I'm not complaining), Toyota made almost all of their parts interchangeable between trim levels. So, since you have the base-model (SR5), you'll find that you might not have all the bells and whistles that some Limited guys might have. For the first month you own your truck, read the manual and figure out what YOU'VE got installed on your ride, and then as time progresses, and you become more familiar, you can start figuring out what other options were available.
Lastly, our trucks have an electronic transfer case that is slightly quirky to figure out on your own. I guarantee you, if you read the owners manual, you'll have a much better idea how to get it into 4LO, and to lock and unlock your center differential with ease (and when and where to do it, plus how often). Even better, if you forget, they included a removable cheat sheet on your driver's visor there. Go ahead and take a looksy at that before you wonder why it won't shift into 4LO while you're rolling in D.
Lastly, welcome. Enjoy your ride. Lurk these forums, and figure out what people are doing to alleviate some common problems before you ask in 2 days why your low tire pressure light is on. There is a ton of good info, lots of good people, and some definite fun on here.

 

[CAFROG]

beside the steering wheel you have center diff lock, rsca off, tsc off

I have a LSD switch there but the rest are all blocked off. What do the acronyms you wrote stand for?

 

[B1Dave]

i thought v8's only came in 4wd?

 

[borgzman]

i thought v8's only came in 4wd?

2WD also

if you mean the 4WD V8, came in "Full Time Four Wheel Drive Only"....no "multi mode" like the 4WD V6.

 

[JCR]

Rims: The 17" doesn't matter, it's the tire size that matters. If you go with 17's then get a 265/65 tire to stay at stock height and speedo. FJ rims and Sport rims are good replacements, you can find them on the classifieds here or the FJ forum.

I wouldn't waste my time on a chip. Cheapest performance gain for the lowest cost will most likely be a CAI w/ a new muffler. Good chance you won't notice much of a difference with it though.

 

[swise]

I have a LSD switch there but the rest are all blocked off. What do the acronyms you wrote stand for?

center diff lock = switches from all wheel drive to straight 4 wheel drive on V8 model ( also disables Vehicle Stability Control:banana: )

rsca off= Roll Sensing Curtain Airbag (turn this off if you plan on offroading with hills - the side curtain bags will pop if truck senses a high degree of tilt or if it rolls over.

tsc off= I dont know what this stands for

and the 115vac switch= some models have an inverter to power an
AC 110 volt receptacle (like an outlet that's in your house.)

 

[JpAdct]

Great advice gang, I love this site. I have had my 4Runner for about a month and I'm still learning. I was just telling my wife, one of the things I love about this site is the great information and the way everybody jumps on rude or disrespectful post like a bunch of rabid dogs! Everybody does a good job of keeping that crap off of a clean site. My favorite Jeep forum has many jerks and it has quite honestly turned me off of that site. Thanks for working to keep everybody under control on here. Its a shame when people get beat up for asking sincere questions or simply because they work hard and are blessed enough to be able to afford a good safe vehicle for their 16 year old son. Very glad I found this site! Merry Christmas to everybody from rainy Florida!

 

[eskimochaos]

Great advice gang, I love this site. I have had my 4Runner for about a month and I'm still learning. I was just telling my wife, one of the things I love about this site is the great information and the way everybody jumps on rude or disrespectful post like a bunch of rabid dogs! Everybody does a good job of keeping that crap off of a clean site. My favorite Jeep forum has many jerks and it has quite honestly turned me off of that site. Thanks for working to keep everybody under control on here. Its a shame when people get beat up for asking sincere questions or simply because they work hard and are blessed enough to be able to afford a good safe vehicle for their 16 year old son. Very glad I found this site! Merry Christmas to everybody from rainy Florida!

Its not that they're not sincere its that a quick search will have all your answers. Thus they're repetitive. Seriously everything I've ever needed to know was found via google.

Dont waste your money on ANY performance mods including a CAI.

Those switches are for everything your sr5 didnt come with as mentioned above. google the acronyms

 

[eskimochaos]

center diff lock = switches from all wheel drive to straight 4 wheel drive on V8 model ( also disables Vehicle Stability Control:banana: )

rsca off= Roll Sensing Curtain Airbag (turn this off if you plan on offroading with hills - the side curtain bags will pop if truck senses a high degree of tilt or if it rolls over.

tsc off= I dont know what this stands for

and the 115vac switch= some models have an inverter to power an
AC 110 volt receptacle (like an outlet that's in your house.)

does not fully disable the airbags. only makes them less sensitive

 

[CAFROG]

Thank you to those who are trying to help educate me (Like my Thread states)

Those switches are for everything your sr5 didnt come with as mentioned above. google the acronyms

This piece of information was unnecessary. It is obvious that the switches are for things my SR5 did not come with. You did nothing to shed any light on my query. I just wanted to know what "possible" switches there were and which ones did not apply to me since my car is 2WD. I have an Abundance of Toyota Recyclers that are well within driving distance and would like to know what the possibilities were so I can head down ad barter with them for some sweet deals to make my SR5 that much nicer for a fraction of the price. I thought I would ask on this site rather than Google the information in an effort to become a part of this site and to become more familiar with some of the nice members.

If you are sick of repetitive questions/information being dealt out......don't respond. I may be a novice to 4Runners and this particular Forum but I am far from a beginner with Vehicle Mods, Hands on Experience and Forums with guys who have underlining tones of frustration.

Please back off or find a new thread to subtlety write derogatory to other 4runner Enthusiasts....although when I put it that way....it makes you look like a rude person. But that was my point.

 

[eskimochaos]

Thank you to those who are trying to help educate me (Like my Thread states)



This piece of information was unnecessary. It is obvious that the switches are for things my SR5 did not come with. You did nothing to shed any light on my query. I just wanted to know what "possible" switches there were and which ones did not apply to me since my car is 2WD. I have an Abundance of Toyota Recyclers that are well within driving distance and would like to know what the possibilities were so I can head down ad barter with them for some sweet deals to make my SR5 that much nicer for a fraction of the price. I thought I would ask on this site rather than Google the information in an effort to become a part of this site and to become more familiar with some of the nice members.

If you are sick of repetitive questions/information being dealt out......don't respond. I may be a novice to 4Runners and this particular Forum but I am far from a beginner with Vehicle Mods, Hands on Experience and Forums with guys who have underlining tones of frustration.

Please back off or find a new thread to subtlety write derogatory to other 4runner Enthusiasts....although when I put it that way....it makes you look like a rude person. But that was my point.

Then search the site or how about the manual - Im sure its in there too.

eHarmony is a site if you can become familiar with the members on - I dont have many eFriends.

Many people install after market lights and use those stock locations for the switches too. I have my Radar Detector mute button in a blank one.

 

[CAFROG]

Then search the site or how about the manual - Im sure its in there too.

No manual when I bought it.....Toyota is going to "try" to find me one. Search engine on this site (like many other forums) doesn't really help direct you when looking for "hits" for particular words.

eHarmony is a site if you can become familiar with the members on - I dont have many eFriends.

Don't know if this was an attempt to be witty but its grammatically hard to follow.

Many people install after market lights and use those stock locations for the switches too. I have my Radar Detector mute button in a blank one.

I realize I could put a variety of things in the empty spots....just trying to find out which OEM possibilities there were and figure there would be a bunch of enthusiasts who could tell me what my options could be so I am more prepared when I head to the recycler.

 

[eskimochaos]

You can use google site search.

EX:

"DAC site:www.toyota-4runner.org" type that into google and google will search this site.

There is a thread about rear spoilers on here, some have installed them as addons.

16, 17, and 18" rims of any kind will work (pending bolt locations) because stock size tires will fit on each of them

265/70/16 & 265/65/17 & 265/60/18 are all stock size regarding the outer diameter.

I make little effort to be grammatically correct on the internetz

 

[CAFROG]

There is a thread about rear spoilers on here, some have installed them as addons.

I have found a few threads on this already and they speak of two types of OEM Spoilers. The one that seems to be the most prevalent in 4Runners I see on the street is the one that looks like it has a abnormal bubble off the top. I do not like it. I read there was another one thats pre-'05....I think and it doesn't look pregnant. But all I find is the bubble one and aftermarket ones that the end result is two third brake lights. Just need to know the years and hopefully I can find a good picture so I can decide if I like it or not (it would be for aesthetics only) and maybe find one at the recycler.

265/70/16 & 265/65/17 & 265/60/18 are all stock size regarding the outer diameter.

Thank you...those are the sizes I needed. I used to know a site that had tire diameter comparisons but lost it on my old lap top.

 

[eskimochaos]

I have found a few threads on this already and they speak of two types of OEM Spoilers. The one that seems to be the most prevalent in 4Runners I see on the street is the one that looks like it has a abnormal bubble off the top. I do not like it. I read there was another one thats pre-'05....I think and it doesn't look pregnant. But all I find is the bubble one and aftermarket ones that the end result is two third brake lights. Just need to know the years and hopefully I can find a good picture so I can decide if I like it or not (it would be for aesthetics only) and maybe find one at the recycler.


Thank you...those are the sizes I needed. I used to know a site that had tire diameter comparisons but lost it on my old lap top.

Tirerack has individual tire size diameters as two different tires of the same size dont necessarily have the exact same exterior dimensions although they are close.

Regarding the spoilers.

03/04 there was no hump/or bubble; HOWEVER, it was purely for looks. 05+ the bubble actually directs wind over the rear window. I never have to use my rear wiper in the rain because of this.

Your right regarding the two brake lights, you can always disconnect the inner one. I dont know too much else about them.

 

[borgzman]

Spoiler

I got my spoiler from ebay 3 yrs ago from autowingandspoiler king. Its painted already for $89. Here is a pic: http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr134/borgzman/CIMG0919.jpg
Since you're in norcal, and if you're close to Sac, I had it installed by Duane's Body & Paint near Freeport airport. Many said its a PITA to install that.

and the Toyota Recyclers there in Rancho Corduva, is only a penny less than getting brandnew OEM parts. Example, if the LED tail light cost $110 @ the dealer they sell those collision survivor for $100..bad.

 

[CAFROG]

the Toyota Recyclers there in Rancho Corduva, is only a penny less than getting brandnew OEM parts. Example, if the LED tail light cost $110 @ the dealer they sell those collision survivor for $100..bad.

Sorry you've had bad experiences with the recyclers. They definitely tried to put it in your butt if they said $100. I've been going out there for years for parts and my negotiation skills with their type are upper echelon lol. We'll see what I can find and for how much

EDIT: Where did you find 06+ LED tail lights for $110???.....aftermarket I am guessing. But if you know where you can get OEM for that price....please paste the link

 

[borgzman]

Where did you find 06+ LED tail lights for $110???.....aftermarket I am guessing. But if you know where you can get OEM for that price....please paste the link

Lol! I'm a bit exagerated with that price, my point is, their prices are not that cheap considering its used. Last time I just can't remember where its $118 for LED tail lights. I tried seaching my book marks, the lowest is $155 here. ToyotaPartSales.com It should be LED since I entered year 2007.