The 3rd Gen All Questions Allowed Thread

[I❤️4runners]

Editing what I posted:
"It is always best to change all four shocks and springs".

Do you want a piece meal ride and handling or like new ride and handling?
Going cheap gets you cheap if that works go for it. No love for Runner
99 tall springs with factory equivalent shocks for your desired outcome is a very good package.

So I've done some research and based off of your advice I'm going to replace shocks and coils all around. I think I'm going to get some loaded strut assemblies for the front and just coils for the rears since I recently replaced the rear shocks. Thank you so much for you help! I certainly want to love on the Runner and hate to cheap out when it comes to stuff like this. Thank you!

 

[2001 Limited 285K]

Heater Control Valve Gone Bad?

Any ideas what might be causing this? Someone told me they thought it might be a Heater Control Valve gone bad ...

 

[Bad Luck]

Any ideas what might be causing this? Someone told me they thought it might be a Heater Control Valve gone bad ...

That's exactly what has gone bad here. Part number for that is 87240-35070.

 

[JoeT4R]

Any ideas what might be causing this? Someone told me they thought it might be a Heater Control Valve gone bad ...

[MENTION=95183]octanejunkie[/MENTION] might wanna chime in on this one.

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[JoeT4R]

Where am I supposed to be sourcing my genuine or OEM parts from online, for the best prices? So I can put together a shopping list and cost/risk analysis assess for all these jobs I need done vs what my shop quotes

Outer ties, Rack, Brakes (full replace), CV leak

98 Limited 4wd, btw

All the sites mentioned above are excellent sources to use, but I'd like to add a personal favorite of mine. Toyota Parts Deal dot com is a great place to buy OEM parts at a very good discounted price and their shipping is reasonably quick. I've bought a set of shocks from them along with other various items in the past.

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[JoeT4R]

4runners;3780924]OK, thank you so much for your input guys! I really appreciate it. For now I kinda just want to restore my factory ride height. I'm now toying with the idea of replacing the fronts too but can I get buy without replacing the front shocks as well? I'm not looking to lift the truck or anything so I'm wondering if the factory shocks are going to be fine if I replace the springs. You said milage can come into play and I have 280,000 on mine. With that in mind do you think it'd be good to just go ahead and do the fronts? Again thank you so much for you help. This forum is awesome!

If you're replacing the front springs you might as well do the struts at the same time. I know I previously mentioned you can do rear shocks only and not the springs, and that's fine. But the front is setup different where the spring sits on a perch on the strut. In order to put new springs on, you'd have to remove them from the strut. They're relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, and I think if you're going to take the time to do the springs you might as well do the struts, too. Just my .02

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[I❤️4runners]

If you're replacing the front springs you might as well do the struts at the same time. I know I previously mentioned you can do rear shocks only and not the springs, and that's fine. But the front is setup different where the spring sits on a perch on the strut. In order to put new springs on, you'd have to remove them from the strut. They're relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, and I think if you're going to take the time to do the springs you might as well do the struts, too. Just my .02

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That you sir! Your advice is much appreciated. I think I'm going to get new loaded strut assemblies and replace the front shocks and springs in one fell swoop. It'll be nice to just give her new stuff all round and not have to worry about any of that down the road. Thanks again and I'll probably be posting a few before and after pics shortly of the truck with new suspension vs old stuff.

 

[octanejunkie]

[MENTION=95183]octanejunkie[/MENTION] might wanna chime in on this one.

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Like [MENTION=8262]badluck[/MENTION] said, that looks like a failed HCV with dried coolant caking all over it. Catastrophic failure is probably imminent...

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[Bad Luck]

That you sir! Your advice is much appreciated. I think I'm going to get new loaded strut assemblies and replace the front shocks and springs in one fell swoop. It'll be nice to just give her new stuff all round and not have to worry about any of that down the road. Thanks again and I'll probably be posting a few before and after pics shortly of the truck with new suspension vs old stuff.

The preloaded front struts with coils that autozone/advanced/oreilly’s all sell will ride worse than what you have now so avoid those at all cost.

 

[octanejunkie]

4runners;3781059]That you sir! Your advice is much appreciated. I think I'm going to get new loaded strut assemblies and replace the front shocks and springs in one fell swoop. It'll be nice to just give her new stuff all round and not have to worry about any of that down the road. Thanks again and I'll probably be posting a few before and after pics shortly of the truck with new suspension vs old stuff.

The preloaded front struts with coils that autozone/advanced/oreilly’s all sell will ride worse than what you have now so avoid those at all cost.

Nailed it ∆∆∆

My 4WD came with Monroe Quick Struts installed and it rode like ass, and those are supposedly "better /" than parts store struts.

Do more research and read some of the stickys at the top of this forum, specifically this one :
3rd Gen 4Runner Lift Information and FAQ's - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

And also:
Absalom's Cookie Cutter 4runner Builds - New and Updated!

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[I❤️4runners]

The preloaded front struts with coils that autozone/advanced/oreilly’s all sell will ride worse than what you have now so avoid those at all cost.

I've actually heard that before so I think I'm going to go with some loaded strut assemblies that Summit Racing sells. I've purchased a lot of their stuff before and really like them. Thank you for the warning!

 

[Bad Luck]

I've actually heard that before so I think I'm going to go with some loaded strut assemblies that Summit Racing sells. I've purchased a lot of their stuff before and really like them. Thank you for the warning!

I looked at the loaded struts that summit racing shows and I wouldn't recommend any of them. Gabriel/Monroe/Unity/GSP/Summit loaded shocks are all going to ride like trash.

 

[slothy49]

Got my 4runner!

Hey all, posting again! Ended up purchasing the 2001 Limited I checked out the other day. For 260k it's in great condition. It's got the slightest cyl 3 misfire on a very cold start. Only lasts a couple seconds before it clears up. In the process of hunting that down, and keeping in mind that I may need to do a HG job. Other than that it runs so smoothly.

Anyways! I'm trying to figure out suspension, which I know has been beaten to death. I want to add a winch and coastal bumper in the front. In the rear I'll have a rooftop tent, fridge, probably an aux battery, and my camping gear loaded up. Trying to decide if I should go with heavier duty springs in the front and/or back. Any suggestions? I'm looking in the Bilstein/OME price range.

 

[I❤️4runners]

OK guys, I need some help. I really appreciate all your thoughts on front end shocks but I'm still a little lost on what I should get. I'm getting mixed reviews on Monroe and Gabriel loaded struts assys. Some people say they're awesome other people say they're total crap. I've looked at OREDY and RCS loaded struts and they seem to get decent reviews but I wanted to see if any of you all had thoughts on them. Really I don't want to spend more than $300-$350 on the front end. I know that's tight but I thought I'd be able to find something for that price. Unfortunately that kind of rules out the nice stuff like Bilstein and RC but I'm still hoping I can find something decent for that price. KYB seems to make good stuff but I couldn't find a loaded strut assy for a 3rd gen that they made. If you all have any recommendations on what to get for quality cheapish loaded front strut assemblies I would really, really, appreciate it. Thank you!

 

[JoeT4R]

That you sir! Your advice is much appreciated. I think I'm going to get new loaded strut assemblies and replace the front shocks and springs in one fell swoop. It'll be nice to just give her new stuff all round and not have to worry about any of that down the road. Thanks again and I'll probably be posting a few before and after pics shortly of the truck with new suspension vs old stuff.

This would be a good time to create a build thread on here, just sayin'

 

[JoeT4R]

Nailed it ∆∆∆

My 4WD came with Monroe Quick Struts installed and it rode like ass, and those are supposedly "better /" than parts store struts.

Do more research and read some of the stickys at the top of this forum, specifically this one :
3rd Gen 4Runner Lift Information and FAQ's - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum

And also:
Absalom's Cookie Cutter 4runner Builds - New and Updated!

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My rig was bone stock when I bought it and it had Gabriels in the rear. Deeeeefinitely do not recommend! Lol

 

[I❤️4runners]

My rig was bone stock when I bought it and it had Gabriels in the rear. Deeeeefinitely do not recommend! Lol

OK, good to know. I will steer clear of them! Any thoughts on GSP shock assys? They seem to be good and to be quite honest I'm just about done searching for replacement shocks. Also, just found out that Rock auto sells Moog strut assemblies for 4runners so I may just go with them. We use Moog parts a lot at the shop I work at and they seem to be good quality. They're decently priced too.

One more thing, anybody no anything about SenSen strut assys? They get good reviews but they have a China sound about them. Thoughts?

 

[heat]

OK, good to know. I will steer clear of them! Any thoughts on GSP shock assys? They seem to be good and to be quite honest I'm just about done searching for replacement shocks. Also, just found out that Rock auto sells Moog strut assemblies for 4runners so I may just go with them. We use Moog parts a lot at the shop I work at and they seem to be good quality. They're decently priced too.

One more thing, anybody no anything about SenSen strut assys? They get good reviews but they have a China sound about them. Thoughts?

In 10 years here, what I've seen is- minimum recommended shock is KYB
Gas-a-justs. Any of the cheaper brands- Moog, Sensen, Gabriel, Monroe, etc-
have generated generally less than happy responses. Sensens had a lifetime
warranty on introduction a few years back, so I gave them a shot ($100 for a
set). Sure enough, a front one started leaking in a year. No big deal - except
for the labor! - they just sent me a new one... And the KYBs ride better.

It will cost you more to cheap out.

 

[JoeT4R]

OK, good to know. I will steer clear of them! Any thoughts on GSP shock assys? They seem to be good and to be quite honest I'm just about done searching for replacement shocks. Also, just found out that Rock auto sells Moog strut assemblies for 4runners so I may just go with them. We use Moog parts a lot at the shop I work at and they seem to be good quality. They're decently priced too.

One more thing, anybody no anything about SenSen strut assys? They get good reviews but they have a China sound about them. Thoughts?

Never heard of GSP. When in doubt, you could always go with OEM Tocikos. Toyota Parts Deal dot com or plenty of other websites out there have OEM parts at a fraction of dealership costs. It just depends on what you want to achieve. I've had Gabriels, Bilsteins and Tocikos. The Bilstein 5100's are great for off road performance, but the Tocikos are great for comfort, in my opinion. You can do as much research as you want, but I personally don't think you'll really know what you like vs what you don't like until you've had first hand experience with it.

What are some of your goals? Are you staying stock or trying to lift? Plan to wheel it any? Or is this a daily driver/grocery getter? Do you carry passengers? Little ones, older folks? Just yourself? So many different things to consider. I'm ranting now so I'll stop.

In 10 years here, what I've seen is- minimum recommended shock is KYB
Gas-a-justs. Any of the cheaper brands- Moog, Sensen, Gabriel, Monroe, etc-
have generated generally less than happy responses. Sensens had a lifetime
warranty on introduction a few years back, so I gave them a shot ($100 for a
set). Sure enough, a front one started leaking in a year. No big deal - except
for the labor! - they just sent me a new one... And the KYBs ride better.

It will cost you more to cheap out.

Scotty Kilmer is a big proponent of KYB, I believe, and I think he's a reputable source. So you could give those a shot if you're interested, @I4runners

 

[JoeT4R]

Hey all, posting again! Ended up purchasing the 2001 Limited I checked out the other day. For 260k it's in great condition. It's got the slightest cyl 3 misfire on a very cold start. Only lasts a couple seconds before it clears up. In the process of hunting that down, and keeping in mind that I may need to do a HG job. Other than that it runs so smoothly.

Anyways! I'm trying to figure out suspension, which I know has been beaten to death. I want to add a winch and coastal bumper in the front. In the rear I'll have a rooftop tent, fridge, probably an aux battery, and my camping gear loaded up. Trying to decide if I should go with heavier duty springs in the front and/or back. Any suggestions? I'm looking in the Bilstein/OME price range.

I'd start with basic maintenance to create your baseline. At least knock out plugs and wires if you're having some misfire issues. Get a hold of a code reader if your CEL is on to read whatever codes are showing.

If you're planning to add all those goodies, you're gonna want a heavy duty spring, perhaps for both the front and rear. 5100's are a great shock to use for off-road use, which it sounds like this is going to be what your build is geared towards. You've got some options when it comes to springs though. I don't have bumpers or anything extra so I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences.