Stockwell45
New member
Definitely not for sale, I told the guy I would never part with it. I just hope I made the right choice though. There's a lot I could use with 12k right now.
stockwell45's 97 4Runner Build Up Thread
- Thread starter Stockwell45
- Start date
Definitely not for sale, I told the guy I would never part with it. I just hope I made the right choice though. There's a lot I could use with 12k right now.
SantaCruzRunner
Senior Member
yeah thats what i thought haha
HedgehogOutdoors
New member
We all know you'd kick yourself if you did sell it. Just saying.
Stockwell45
New member
So as of right now it looks like there is a very good chance I will be moving to Colorado, Wyoming or North Dakota in the fall to work in the booming oil industry in those states. They are hiring like crazy and the pay is way too good to pass up. The only problem is, these oil towns have very little housing. My best bet is pulling up a house trailer or buying myself an RV to live in for a few months until I can find myself some place more permanent to live. Since the 4runner is my only vehicle, it will be coming with me. If I get a house trailer, it needs to be big enough to comfortably live in for a few months at least, but small enough to pull behind the 4runner. If I get an RV, it needs to be big enough to pull the 4runner behind it. I've heard many different answers on how to properly flat tow an automatic 4runner, so I'm a bit confused on how I would go about doing that. Should be an interesting next few months, I need to depend on the 4runner more than ever now.
__________________
__________________
HedgehogOutdoors
New member
I say get something you can tow behind the 4runner, there's less to fix that way, essentially it's still 1 vehicle that you have to fix rather than an RV being a second. Good luck, sure is nice out there!
SCRunner12
New member
Don't leave me, I thought we had something great going on...:jk: Sounds like a good plan and could be a fun experience. I also agree a trailer would be easier, but also might be nice to have the 4runner as a second vehicle and not to be solely dependent on it.
Dirtco
New member
From what I have read you need to pull the rear driveshaft, this is from the Pirate FAQ:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlin Crawler
On all auto chain driven and manual gear driven t/cases, if it is towed in two wheel drive, the output shaft will turn, but there will be no way for the oil at the bottom of the case to get to the top where the output shaft is. On the chain driven cases, the input shaft turns the planetary housing which drives the oil pump. Gear driven cases use the input gear and low range gears to throw oil on the inside of the housing that collects the oil via gutters and directs it to the rear of the case by gravity. Both style of cases, must have the input shaft spinning to lube the output shaft, speedo gears, and rear seal of the t/case. The rear driveshaft must be removed.
Marlin
Fishwerks
New member
Are you going to work on a rig?
Stockwell45
New member
Possibly. There are rig positions available, but they like to hire people with experience. There are a ton of jobs as a welders assistant, cementer, shop assistant, etc. that are really easy to get into and pay really well. It's just super hard work. Do that for 6 months and promote to the rig operator jobs that require experience, and pay as much as 120k a year.
I've thrown out the idea of buying an RV, just too much $$$ right now. Currently talking to a friend about letting me borrow a 20' camp trailer to see how the 4runner handles pulling that around the highways.
Fishwerks
New member
Get it while the gettin's good! I am in my last week of an internship with an oil company in Denver right now, but I'm in the office, so I'm starting to get the ins and outs of the industry. Definitely long hours on the drill sites, but money to be made no doubt!
Good call on not selling for 12k!
And to keep it semi on topic since this is your build thread, I like your 4runner....
Stockwell45
New member
Best mod so far!!
The heads of the screws have since been covered up with JB Weld, and painted black.
The heads of the screws have since been covered up with JB Weld, and painted black.
Last edited:
SCRunner12
New member
Nice Matt, definitely a must sometimes.
Stockwell45
New member
Since I am gonna be replacing my spark plugs and cleaning my MAF sensor and TB anyway because of a hesitation problem, I'm gonna try tackling the valve cover gaskets at the same time. Time permitting, I'm going to take my whole front end apart and replace my leaky oil pan at the same time, now that I know I need a 12 mm allen wrench to get the diff off.
I've heard on the 3.4's the valve cover bolts can loosen over time, causing oil to leak out. So today I went out and tightened them, and all of them were super loose. Some so loose it took almost 6 turns on the wrench before they even began to tighten down. The FSM specifies to torque the valve cover bolts to 52 ft. lbs, I just tightened them down pretty snug by hand. As I was tightening down the bolt just below the oil fill, the valve cover cracked, completely isolating the bolted portion from the rest of the valve cover. As of now it hasn't leaked through the crack as far as I can tell, but I'm really determined to order my gasket kit soon and fix the crack before it becomes a big problem.
Crack is just to the right of the bolt, you can see it in the clean portion of the valve cover.
Just a pic of how bad my valve covers leak.
I've heard on the 3.4's the valve cover bolts can loosen over time, causing oil to leak out. So today I went out and tightened them, and all of them were super loose. Some so loose it took almost 6 turns on the wrench before they even began to tighten down. The FSM specifies to torque the valve cover bolts to 52 ft. lbs, I just tightened them down pretty snug by hand. As I was tightening down the bolt just below the oil fill, the valve cover cracked, completely isolating the bolted portion from the rest of the valve cover. As of now it hasn't leaked through the crack as far as I can tell, but I'm really determined to order my gasket kit soon and fix the crack before it becomes a big problem.
Crack is just to the right of the bolt, you can see it in the clean portion of the valve cover.
Just a pic of how bad my valve covers leak.
Stockwell45
New member
So over the last few days I've been tearing into the 4runner, I've replaced the leaky valve cover gaskets, old spark plugs as well as the leaky oil pan. I'm happy to say I am all caught up on my maintenance.
The valve cover gaskets wern't too hard to replace, just lots of steps and lots of hoses to keep track of.
I've never seen such clean valves during a valve cover change, usually there is at least a little carbon and sludge buildup, but there was absolutely zero on mine. Even after 240k miles, she looks like new.
The oil pan replacement was not at all like the valve cover gaskets, it was a complete pain in the ass. Trying to wrestle that greasy front diff out was a nightmare, it took me over 3 hours.
Covered in a half inch of grease and grime
Cleaned up a little
No gunk above the oil pan either
I had the genius idea of replacing the gear oil in the diff before I mounted it back up, so I had to deal with over a quart of gear oil pouring all over my face while I mounted it back up, I'll have to fill it up all over again tomorrow. I'm just glad it's done!!
In less than a month I'll be leaving California, maybe for good, for at least the next 3 or 4 months. I'm hoping in the end I'll have a new job in a new state. For the trip I bought a completely awesome addition for the 4runner that will make the whole trip way better. I should have it by the end of next week!
The valve cover gaskets wern't too hard to replace, just lots of steps and lots of hoses to keep track of.
I've never seen such clean valves during a valve cover change, usually there is at least a little carbon and sludge buildup, but there was absolutely zero on mine. Even after 240k miles, she looks like new.
The oil pan replacement was not at all like the valve cover gaskets, it was a complete pain in the ass. Trying to wrestle that greasy front diff out was a nightmare, it took me over 3 hours.
Covered in a half inch of grease and grime
Cleaned up a little
No gunk above the oil pan either
I had the genius idea of replacing the gear oil in the diff before I mounted it back up, so I had to deal with over a quart of gear oil pouring all over my face while I mounted it back up, I'll have to fill it up all over again tomorrow. I'm just glad it's done!!
In less than a month I'll be leaving California, maybe for good, for at least the next 3 or 4 months. I'm hoping in the end I'll have a new job in a new state. For the trip I bought a completely awesome addition for the 4runner that will make the whole trip way better. I should have it by the end of next week!
the great him
Elite Member
where you movin to? whats the new job?
Stockwell45
New member
No new job yet. I have my degree in criminal justice, would be nice if I could find some sheriffs department to put me through an academy or something. Hoping to get something in Utah, Colorado or Wyoming though.
I wonder if it could be a sign of something bad, like not enough oil getting up to the valves? You would think there would be at least a little tarnish.
Stockwell45
New member
Yesterday I drove to Santa Cruz to pick up my new Tepui Kukenam rooftop tent. I'm pretty stoked on it, now I won't have to worry about where to sleep on my upcoming trip.
It's mounted to Defender rack mounts, which makes it sit really close to the roof as you can see, which is nice.
Here are the mounts. Others have said only 4 will do the job, But obviously they must weigh 100 pounds because the mounts don't like my 185 pound self. I'm ordering 6 more, so there will be 3 more on each side before I actually try to stay overnight in it.
So far I'm really happy with it, I don't even know it's up there on the highway except for my gas mileage going down a bit.
It's mounted to Defender rack mounts, which makes it sit really close to the roof as you can see, which is nice.
Here are the mounts. Others have said only 4 will do the job, But obviously they must weigh 100 pounds because the mounts don't like my 185 pound self. I'm ordering 6 more, so there will be 3 more on each side before I actually try to stay overnight in it.
So far I'm really happy with it, I don't even know it's up there on the highway except for my gas mileage going down a bit.
