What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

[Cree]

Got my rear end project (Barnes 4x4 rear cover replacement, parking brake delete, new seals, new brakes/lines... fun fact, Toyota sells the rear hard lines pre bent with fittings for about 16 bucks each.... extended rear breather) buttoned up and back up under the truck. Drives great and NO LEAKS. That's the best part.

Also temp installed my rollbar, re mounted the rear spoiler after hitting it with some plasti dip and got my RAM mount mounted on the dash. Probably not where most people would put it, but right where I wanted it. So yeah, lots of little things.

 

[SCRunner12]

Finished up my install projects this weekend. Manual hubs and All Pro UCA's!

 

[xcmtb83]

Replaced front sway bar bushings with shiny new red ones.

Also replaced the original steering rack bushings that had 365k miles on them...the center one was shredded to shit! I'm sure the leaking oil from the valve covers didn't help them either.

Three things I learned today:

• #1 The things people say will be hard—aren't, and the things people say won't be hard—ARE.
  
  The vertical center bushing I was able to push out with just my finger, but the horizontal drivers side bushing was a real mother-effer to get out!

• #2 If your going to spend the afternoon wrenching under your truck—skip the taco-truck burrito for lunch, cause apparently farts like to just hang out with you down there while you work.

• #3 The stock bottle-Jack and some deep sockets work great as a third hand to help with brackets that don't want to line up properly.

Toasted vertical center bushing!

lol at #2.

Is there a reason why you didn't take loose the links? I think having them disconnected would have gave you some more freedom to work with the swaybar.

 

[JBurt]

Finished up my install projects this weekend. Manual hubs and All Pro UCA's!

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That's awesome. You'll like the uca's I'm sure. It made a big difference for me.

How did you get red aisin hubs? Did someone repaint them?

 

[StreetCreeper]

lol at #2.

Is there a reason why you didn't take loose the links? I think having them disconnected would have gave you some more freedom to work with the swaybar.

They were disconnected, I just had the bar rotated up and sitting on them to keep the ends from getting in my way.

 

[SCRunner12]

That's awesome. You'll like the uca's I'm sure. It made a big difference for me.

How did you get red aisin hubs? Did someone repaint them?

That's what the guy had when I bought them. The dials are all the same so you can intermix them no problem. My other side is actually an ASCO dial which was found on the early 80's solid axles.

 

[weekendclimber]

LBJ's
OTRE's
LR UCA's
Aussie Locker
Steering Rack Bushings
Stubbs Welding HD-SKO Sliders

Trying to decide what SS lift I want to install. FML! :tongue1:

Saturday, replaced the rear rubber brake line with a SS stainless steel extended one and added the emergency brake cable extension bracket. Also flushed and bled the brakes. They really needed the new fluid.

Sunday and Monday installed the front half of the SS 1.2 rebuildable lift kit. Got a late start on Sunday after helping my brother install new front bearings and brake pads/rotors on his '05 Ford Ranger. Then got stuck Sunday night with removing the upper ball joints from the knuckle on the 4Runner. Decided to walk away from it for the evening before I got all angry. Read a few more writeups online and then found this post.

Went to Home Depot Monday morning and got a metal cutoff wheel for my dremel and stopped at O'Reillys to get the ball joint press with the 4wd adaptor kit. Took about half an hour to do both sides from there. Most of that time was spent setting up a strap to work against instead of my brake lines.

Cutting off the UBJ stud:

Setting up the press:

End results:

Took it to Firestone this morning for the lifetime alignment and they got the passenger side camber dead even and the driver's side to about 1.1 degree off. Everything else lined back up to OEM specs!! Now I just got to find a weekend to install the rear.

 

[weekendclimber]

Replaced front sway bar bushings with shiny new red ones.

Also replaced the original steering rack bushings that had 365k miles on them...the center one was shredded to shit! I'm sure the leaking oil from the valve covers didn't help them either.

Three things I learned today:

• #1 The things people say will be hard—aren't, and the things people say won't be hard—ARE.
  
  The vertical center bushing I was able to push out with just my finger, but the horizontal drivers side bushing was a real mother-effer to get out!

• #2 If your going to spend the afternoon wrenching under your truck—skip the taco-truck burrito for lunch, cause apparently farts like to just hang out with you down there while you work.

• #3 The stock bottle-Jack and some deep sockets work great as a third hand to help with brackets that don't want to line up properly.

Nice!! I'm glad that you got those suckers in!!

 

[StreetCreeper]

Nice!! I'm glad that you got those suckers in!!

Thanks for the tips. You were right that a good ratcheting box-end wrench was needed for that center bushing bolt.

Also I never figured out a way to tourqe it back either, so I just got it as tight as I could.

I'll recheck it in a week.

 

[Unner]

Well a few days ago I painted my shackle mounts and the shackles themselves. They're ARB shackles, and actually the cheapest ones I could find. The shackles are painted with Duplicolor Graphite Wheel Paint to match my center caps and TRD decals. It gives them a little of a different look rather than black, but they don't stick out like red ones on a black rig. Today I put them together. I couldn't find any 7/8" nylon washers to keep them from rattling so instead I used a zip tie. They're pretty solid now, and I don't think they'll rattle. I also ran a zip tie around the shackle and bolt so they can't come apart easily either. If I feel like it I will brave the cold tomorrow morning and put the shackles on.

 

[acr_ted]

Did a few things today....

New plugs & wires, PCV valve, cleaned throttle body and MAF.

5 of the old plugs were NGK and one was Denso. They had 60K miles on them and were pretty well worn. The Denso plug was quite hard to get out - it took a good heave on the ratchet to get it out, while the others came loose with no problems.

Changing the plugs went better than I had thought. I have smaller hands so I had no real problem getting that one plug R&R'd on the driver's side next to the firewall that others have commented on.

The MAF was actually quite clean but the inside of the throttle body was grossly dirty. Truck only has 93K miles and has never seen a salted road - not bad for a 1997.

Next up is to replace the front brake pads and rotors...any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ted

 

[Jason B]

New plugs & wires, PCV valve, cleaned throttle body and MAF.

5 of the old plugs were NGK and one was Denso. They had 60K miles on them and were pretty well worn. The Denso plug was quite hard to get out - it took a good heave on the ratchet to get it out, while the others came loose with no problems.

Changing the plugs went better than I had thought. I have smaller hands so I had no real problem getting that one plug R&R'd on the driver's side next to the firewall that others have commented on.

The MAF was actually quite clean but the inside of the throttle body was grossly dirty. Truck only has 93K miles and has never seen a salted road - not bad for a 1997.

Next up is to replace the front brake pads and rotors...any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ted

Cool, so did you notice a bump in mileage?

 

[MattJakobs]

New plugs & wires, PCV valve, cleaned throttle body and MAF.

5 of the old plugs were NGK and one was Denso. They had 60K miles on them and were pretty well worn. The Denso plug was quite hard to get out - it took a good heave on the ratchet to get it out, while the others came loose with no problems.

Changing the plugs went better than I had thought. I have smaller hands so I had no real problem getting that one plug R&R'd on the driver's side next to the firewall that others have commented on.

The MAF was actually quite clean but the inside of the throttle body was grossly dirty. Truck only has 93K miles and has never seen a salted road - not bad for a 1997.

Next up is to replace the front brake pads and rotors...any recommendations?

Thanks!

Ted

Nothing like a nice maintenance day and check this out if you need to replace your brakes.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ements-231mm-13wl-tundra-calipers-rotors.html

 

[giguchan]

Sounds you have a good soldier there....

I did the upgrade.... I thought it was worth it.
Best of luck.

 

[acr_ted]

Cool, so did you notice a bump in mileage?

Too early to tell...I just did this a couple of days ago now! I have noticed much better pick-up and smoother running on the freeway. It still has somewhat of a rough idle at times, but maybe it just needs to be driven for a while so the engine computer can re-adjust. I always disconnect the battery when doing work like this.

I had planned to sell it and get a newer 4Runner, but account the new ones are so grossly ugly and bloated I have decided to keep this one running as long as possible. That is why I am doing some upgrades now like the transmission oil cooler mod, and keeping everything else up to factory spec. With only 93K miles and not a spot of rust anywhere it should be good for some time. I am retired and therefore don't have to go anywhere every day

I am learning (and enjoying) how to do repairs and maintenance and saving a lot of money as well, plus knowing that the work was done right (at least I think so!). Years ago I used to do a fair amount of car work, simply because I had to given that I was driving a Corvair Rampside pickup (!), a Corvair Monza 900 (the only Corvair I had ever seen with a convertible top *and* factory air conditioning), then a MG-B, then a Dodge van, all of which required a fair amount of upkeep.

Then I bought a new 1989 Toyota extended cab pickup and quickly realized how dependable the Toyota vehicles are. Later came the 4Runner, and again very little work was required, so I kinda got out of vehicle work.

Ted

 

[jeremyc74]

I added a ScanGauge II. I've only driven with it for a few minutes, but I like the fact that I can display IAT and have a pretty good idea of what the temperature is outside. I really miss having an exterior thermometer when I'm driving the 4Runner instead of my car on trips, especially coming out of FL in the wintertime.

 

[acr_ted]

Hmmm...looks like those ScanGauge things are something to consider! I'll have to do some research and see.

Ever since I joined this forum I keep seeing things to do to my 4Runner....and spending a few $$ as well.

Ted

 

[acr_ted]

Nothing like a nice maintenance day and check this out if you need to replace your brakes.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...ements-231mm-13wl-tundra-calipers-rotors.html

Thanks for the link Matt...I am not sure at this time if I want to go that route or just keep the brakes original. I don't drive it hard (it still has the original brake pads!) so I don't think I need the heavy duty upgrades.

But it is certainly something to consider. A very good friend of mine has a 2005 V8 Tundra, so maybe I could swap parts with him

Ted

 

[jeremyc74]

Hmmm...looks like those ScanGauge things are something to consider! I'll have to do some research and see.

Ever since I joined this forum I keep seeing things to do to my 4Runner....and spending a few $$ as well.

Ted

On top of the diagnostics functions it has a trip computer that calculates miles to empty, and things like that. I do a lot of road trips, and I miss that stuff a little. So with this I get the ability to monitor all sorts of engine data in real time, and the bonus of some of the more modern features the 4Runner is missing. Well worth the money for me! :horn:

 

[Scramble]

Thanks for the link Matt...I am not sure at this time if I want to go that route or just keep the brakes original. I don't drive it hard (it still has the original brake pads!) so I don't think I need the heavy duty upgrades.

But it is certainly something to consider. A very good friend of mine has a 2005 V8 Tundra, so maybe I could swap parts with him

Ted

The original brake pads last a long time. I got 133,000 out of mine.