What did you do to/in your 5th Gen today?!

[mynameistory]

Good to hear, I was debating on getting some ditch lights from them. Think you just made my decision for me.

In the interest of full disclosure, my ditch lights are actually Baja Designs S2 pros on custom brackets. This is for two reasons: one, I wanted something low profile to go on my roof rack and flank the main bar. Apparently Diode Dynamics is working on a half-size version of their SS3 that will probably look a lot like this, but it isn't released yet.

The second reason has to do with optics and beam pattern. Right now, Diode only has 4 beam patterns: spot, flood, SAE driving, and SAE fog. In my opinion, spot and driving are too narrow for ditch lighting. The fog pattern is very wide, but the height is extremely narrow. This is required for a street legal fog light, but again wouldn't serve well as offroad ditch lighting.

That leaves the flood beam, which according to their literature spreads light in a 60º x 60º pattern. Depending on your needs, this may be too dispersed to serve as ditch lights, especially at speed. Baja Designs recommends their 42º "wide cornering" optic for this use. It's a great compromise of distance intensity and coverage width. Bad for fog lighting, great for offroad (I know there are a lot of Toyota drivers that mount them in their fog buckets, but this is a terrible idea for more than one reason).

Also, I should be clear that I'm discussing true ditch lighting, which is angled out towards the side of the truck. Mounting lights straight forward on the hood is a little silly, because you could accomplish the same thing by mounting them on your grill or bumper, without the downside of having hood glare.

Take a look at DD's video that describes their patterns in detail:
YouTube

 

[gibburnz]

Had a buddy 3D print my ARB Snorkel Grill with TRAIL letters...

Had a buddy 3D print my ARB Snorkel Grill with TRAIL letters... hit him up on Instagram if you're interested. He does all sorts of custom prints. @outsanefj80

 

[gibburnz]

Installed the new Halo9

Installed the new Halo9. Huge screen and not as flush as I'd like, but it's equivalent to an iPad mini in the dash. Tied into the rear view mirror camera some of the early 5th gens had and used the AXXIS steering wheel controls harness.

 

[gibburnz]

Last post... got the Yakima Skyrise HD up for a trip

Last post... got the Yakima Skyrise HD up for a trip...

 

[emmantik]

Did a little mod the other day.

 

[gibburnz]

Did a little mod the other day.

I dig that!

 

[jtgrinsell]

Small babytown frolics

Just got my black overlay emblems from Runnin4Tacos.com. I love the black on the sides but a little conflicted about going with the black on the front and back as well, as I like the contrast of the silver right now in those spots.

 

[TexasTJ]

3 years and 68,500 miles later, and time for a new battery. PepBoys had a sale on AGM batteries, so I picked up a 24F Champion for $126 after MIR.

 

[87pony]

little hiking, people got stuck, finally installed second rago panel, and did "brute force mod" and just so happens two straps fit perfectly with the bin taken out.

 

[Joe-Runner]

Changed the tranny fluid at 92K miles. Came out pretty disgustingly dark. I notice already she seems to hold gears longer when accelerating and is quicker to downshift when slowing. Not sure if that's good or bad, but I'll take it; seems smoother / tighter.

Ended up doing 10.5 quarts total and the fluid that came out during the level check looks fantastic.

I pieced together instructions from Tacoma forums, older 4Runner forums, and a couple of random Youtube videos. There are a small differences on our 5th gen 4Runners and the real challenge was making sure I was disconnecting the correct line for the trans. Little nerve wracking. Feels good to have it done.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Changed the tranny fluid at 92K miles. Came out pretty disgustingly dark. I notice already she seems to hold gears longer when accelerating and is quicker to downshift when slowing. Not sure if that's good or bad, but I'll take it; seems smoother / tighter.

Ended up doing 10.5 quarts total and the fluid that came out during the level check looks fantastic.

I pieced together instructions from Tacoma forums, older 4Runner forums, and a couple of random Youtube videos. There are a small differences on our 5th gen 4Runners and the real challenge was making sure I was disconnecting the correct line for the trans. Little nerve wracking. Feels good to have it done.

Funny how Toyota claims this is lifetime fluid and some people actually believe that BS. I will be servicing mine every 50K for as long as I own it.

 

[Joe-Runner]

Funny how Toyota claims this is lifetime fluid and some people actually believe that BS. I will be servicing mine every 50K for as long as I own it.

I just picked this up less than 2000 miles ago, and I can tell this is the first tranny servicing. I too will be doing this every 50K miles! It's a no-brainer; $120 and a few hours on the weekend to ensure longevity of the transmission - no problem. Arguably one of the top three most important fluids in the vehicle.

 

[baiselmareo6]

Pricing Dilemma - Used 5th gen at 100k vs 5th gen at 40-50k

I have been eyeing 4runners for the last two months. I have bought 5 used cars in the past and have never seen anything like the 4runner market. It has me in a dilemma.

My budget was originally 20k. I can reasonably put 8-10k down after selling my current car private party and that would keep my payments down to less than $200/month. I have two issues with that, though:

1: I cant find these cars being sold by a private party anywhere. It seems like the trade in value is too good to pass up for most people looking to get into something newer. Its all dealers. And when a private party does pop up, they are trying to get more than dealer trade in which is already above the KBB value.

2. A 20k budget will have me in a pre-facelift 5th gen with at least 90k on the odometer. More than likely the car will have 100k+. It will come from a small dealer, not from a dedicated Toyota lot.cbd products

I'm having a lot of trouble convincing myself to spend $20k on something almost 10 years old with over 100k. Especially when 2015+ lease return models can regularly be had for $25k with 50k miles. On top of that they have typically have better interiors, better dash interfaces, and IMO the front end looks a bit better. The 2015s and 16s that I have seen are usually being sold at reputable toyota dealerships.

Given that the depreciation is relatively linear for mileage and year, does it make sense to increase the budget to 25k for the newer 5th gens? To me this just sounds like the better deal. It just seems like the pre-facelift models are always $4-5k too expensive for what they are.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

I have been eyeing 4runners for the last two months. I have bought 5 used cars in the past and have never seen anything like the 4runner market. It has me in a dilemma.

My budget was originally 20k. I can reasonably put 8-10k down after selling my current car private party and that would keep my payments down to less than $200/month. I have two issues with that, though:

1: I cant find these cars being sold by a private party anywhere. It seems like the trade in value is too good to pass up for most people looking to get into something newer. Its all dealers. And when a private party does pop up, they are trying to get more than dealer trade in which is already above the KBB value.

2. A 20k budget will have me in a pre-facelift 5th gen with at least 90k on the odometer. More than likely the car will have 100k+. It will come from a small dealer, not from a dedicated Toyota lot.

I'm having a lot of trouble convincing myself to spend $20k on something almost 10 years old with over 100k. Especially when 2015+ lease return models can regularly be had for $25k with 50k miles. On top of that they have typically have better interiors, better dash interfaces, and IMO the front end looks a bit better. The 2015s and 16s that I have seen are usually being sold at reputable toyota dealerships.

Given that the depreciation is relatively linear for mileage and year, does it make sense to increase the budget to 25k for the newer 5th gens? To me this just sounds like the better deal. It just seems like the pre-facelift models are always $4-5k too expensive for what they are.

Buying a used 4Runner is pointless with your 20K budget and 8k-10k current vehicle value especially with what's going on in the world and the deals being given out to try and get people through the door. Sell your current vehicle, take that $ and use it as a down payment on a new 4Runner. For 35K ish you can be in a brand new SR5. Why anyone would spend 20K on a 10 year old vehicle with 100k+ miles on it and no warranty is beyond me. That's something that just doesn't make sense at all.

 

[bugkillr]

Changed the tranny fluid at 92K miles. Came out pretty disgustingly dark. I notice already she seems to hold gears longer when accelerating and is quicker to downshift when slowing. Not sure if that's good or bad, but I'll take it; seems smoother / tighter.

Ended up doing 10.5 quarts total and the fluid that came out during the level check looks fantastic.

I pieced together instructions from Tacoma forums, older 4Runner forums, and a couple of random Youtube videos. There are a small differences on our 5th gen 4Runners and the real challenge was making sure I was disconnecting the correct line for the trans. Little nerve wracking. Feels good to have it done.

So what were the steps involved in the method you used?

 

[SnowYeti]

This might help with some fluid changes

Trail Maintenance: Driveline fluids, how and when to change them - Trail4R.com - 5th Gen 4Runner Mods

 

[honda250xtitan]

little hiking, people got stuck, finally installed second rago panel, and did "brute force mod" and just so happens two straps fit perfectly with the bin taken out.

i'm stealing that pitty!

 

[KWSRStorm]

Picked up the eibach pro kit for $630 on amazon! Im pretty confident i can do the reara but nervous about kdss on the fronts.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Blue 4ever Runner]

Rear wheel well storage

I know there's a post on here about the "hidden" storage compartment above the rear wheel wells but I can't find it. I removed the cover on mine a few months ago and today put some foam rubber in there to stop any rattling and put some bungees, clevis hooks and gloves in there.

 

[Joe-Runner]

So what were the steps involved in the method you used?

Here's a video: YouTube
Older but relevant writeup: ATF Exchange (using the cooling line)
Taco, but relevant: DIY: Full Flush for Automatic Transmission | Tacoma World

EVERYTHING is the same between the older 4Runner, the Taco, and the 5th gen 4Runner, EXCEPT the style of the lines going to and from the cooler/tranny. I put a couple pics here showing the return line you need to disconnect. It seems it is always the "top" line going into the tranny as seen from the passenger-side underneath. You follow that to the front and track it down behind the radiator. The PRIMARY difference between 5th Gen T4Rs and the rest is the type of lines. Others use soft tubing going from the tranny to the cooler, ours uses hardlines going from the tranny to the cooler. Therefore we cannot use the 3/8" line to connect and route into a bottle because it's a soft rubber line, whereas it's a hardline on the others. I just clipped mine to the radiator petcock pointing straight down and it worked out.

This might help with some fluid changes
Trail Maintenance: Driveline fluids, how and when to change them - Trail4R.com - 5th Gen 4Runner Mods

This guy is only showing differentials and xfer case. I did the transmission fluid - entirely different operation. Thanks tho!