Webbstars 2002 SR5 maintenance thread

[nwebb01]

I purchased a 2002 4Runner SR5 in March of 2016. It had 146k on it at the time of purchase. It was and at the time of this post, is still next to 100% stock. I'd been creeping on T4R.org for several months and was able to arm myself with some knowledge while I was hunting for a 4Runner. Sense that time, I've spent countless hours on here doing research, asking questions and drooling on some of the Runners on here.

This 4Runner is my DD and spends most of its time on the roads of Central Indiana. I've

This is the only picture I've got of it from day 1, although it hasn't really changed substantially.

As she sits today, in nearly the same spot. About 1 year later.

So this is not going to be an extravagant build thread or anything like that. More than likely a budget maintenance thread. If it helps some others on a budget, that's awesome. If Some of you all are able to help me out as well, I'd be very thankful!

 

[nwebb01]

One of the first things I did was fix all of the burn out light bulbs on the center console with LEDs from SuperbrightLEDs.com. I used several posts on this thread to help me find the right size bulbs, etc. This post was particularly helpful.

Out with the old

In with the new

And later on did an initial tow. My wife is really into gardening and needed some special compost dirt for new raised garden beds we built. I didn't realize how much we'd get until after the trailer was pretty over loaded. Still, the 4Runner had no issue towing. I was pretty impressed.

 

[nwebb01]

I pulled the gas skid off to see if I could clean it up. It looked pretty unsightly from the side looking under.

Took a wire wheel to it and cleaned it up. I then used a rust reformer and then painted it with black spray paint.

Before:

After:

 

[nwebb01]

In the mean time, I installed a new OEM radiator with Toyota Red. Ordered from Amazon and was a 100% identical. No pictures to compare, but the old coolant looked terrible.

I then installed new NGK spark plugs and wires. They looked pretty used to me, but I'm guessing some have seen worse. I'm pretty sure they were originals as there were two different brands installed. I think I read on here that's what they did from the factory, for some reason?

I also cleaned the TB, MAF and installed a new air filter.

 

[nwebb01]

Unfortunately, the 4Runner had a nasty chip in the hood. I hated it and it bugged me every time I looked at it. So I did some research and ordered a touch up paint pen from the internet.

the chip:

I did some sanding, then cleaning, priming, then actually painting. This was after the first coat of actual paint before the next few, and the final clear coat.

 

[nwebb01]

Fender Flares do not look great. They're scuffed and scratched up. So I decided to paint them with truck bed liner. It was a bit of a project, but in my opinion, it turned out pretty well.

Over all, came out pretty well. Excuse the dust on and around the flare in this picture.

 

[Pilgrimtrucker]

I purchased a 2002 4Runner SR5 in March of 2016. It had 146k on it at the time of purchase. It was and at the time of this post, is still next to 100% stock. I'd been creeping on T4R.org for several months and was able to arm myself with some knowledge while I was hunting for a 4Runner. Sense that time, I've spent countless hours on here doing research, asking questions and drooling on some of the Runners on here.

This 4Runner is my DD and spends most of its time on the roads of Central Indiana. I've

This is the only picture I've got of it from day 1, although it hasn't really changed substantially.

As she sits today, in nearly the same spot. About 1 year later.

So this is not going to be an extravagant build thread or anything like that. More than likely a budget maintenance thread. If it helps some others on a budget, that's awesome. If Some of you all are able to help me out as well, I'd be very thankful!

Wanting to do the same thing to my 2000 SR5, just wasn't sure about the bed-liner paint. Looks good. May have just changed my mind. Do you think it will hold up well? Other than light sanding, any special prep required?

 

[nwebb01]

Wanting to do the same thing to my 2000 SR5, just wasn't sure about the bed-liner paint. Looks good. May have just changed my mind. Do you think it will hold up well? Other than light sanding, any special prep required?

Sorry for the delay in getting back with you. Didn't get a notification.
I did the sanding with a fine grit sand paper, then used a lint free rag with a spray wax and tar removed to make sure the surface was contaminant free. I've had my fender flares done for about 9ish months now. In my opinion, they've held up well. I scraped the plastic trim on the rear bumper when removing some cargo. I simply got the spray can out and did a 30 second touch up, and you can't even tell now. I'd recommend using the Tuck Bed Armor shown in the pictures above. I heard others say that the rustoleum brand isn't as durable.

Some of my pictures show me painting them with the fender flares on. Due to the fact that I had to go back and touch them up, I'd go the route of just following some instructions on this site and taking them all off before prepping and painting. You will save yourself a lot of time!

Front and rear bumpers come off pretty easily. I found a bunch of articles about taking the rear off. I used Timmy the tool mans video for installing an ARB bumper on how to get the front off. Removing the stock bumpers is a one man job. I did them both myself.

Good luck!

 

[nwebb01]

This weekend I spent a few hours in the garage!

I know the 4Runner had the LBJs swapped out in 05 as part of the toyota recall (found out from calling toyota) but the current set had at least 100k on them, so for my own peace of mind, it was time to replace them. I've also had an annoying clunk that I though would have been fixed by replacing the front (original) springs and struts. The lower bushings of the shocks were toast, plus the fact that they had 150k miles on them made me thing that would resolve the clunk. It however did not fix it. So I decided to go all in with LBJs, OTRE, ITRs, and Energy Suspension poly steering rack bushings.

I wen't OEM Toyota for the LBJs and the OTREs. ITRs were NAPA.

After dropping it off to get an alignment this morning, it appears that all of the nasty clunk is gone. I might still change out the steering rack guide roller eventually, but I'm pretty pleased at the moment. Over all steering response and ride quality is much better!

 

[nwebb01]

Had a nasty clunk that I could make clunk on command coming from somewhere in the steering. Found the thread that talked about tac welding the steering wheel slip joint, but I didn't want to go that route. I ended up drilling a hole and installing a roll pin.

Done.

However, I still had a slight clunk. Come to find out, I needed to adjust the steering rack guide. That was was go rid of all steering related clunks.

 

[nwebb01]

Rear drivers side door was having some rust bubbling up. This was the only place on the actual body that had any such rust, so I wanted to find some way to fix it.

Kept my eyes peeled on junk yards for a few months and finally found the right door that wouldn't require me painting or doing a lot of work.

I moved the visor over and finally got all the paint off the window.