What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

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Installed a new OEM roof rack. The original one was in bad shape. $200 well spent.

What did you buy exactly for $200? Just the 5 cross bars or the rails too? I've got mine sitting in the garage and don't see them ever going back on the truck with the WM rack up there. May look into selling them.
 
What did you buy exactly for $200? Just the 5 cross bars or the rails too? I've got mine sitting in the garage and don't see them ever going back on the truck with the WM rack up there. May look into selling them.

The whole rack. Cross bars, rails, and all the hardware. Brand new from Toyota.
 
[MENTION=115590]StreetCreeper[/MENTION] it was some blue testors acryl model paint i had lying around that seemed to work out well; opaque enough to see during the day but certainly illuminate at night. The orange on the needle is just a very thin strip along the back; this can be easily "shaved" off with a utility or xacto knife. I also used some nail polish remover to get rid of every speck as even a tiny dot of orange really shows up on the flip side.
 
Haven't done anything to the 4Runner today other than look at the pile of accumulating parts... I was driving down the main strip here today when a guy in a 4x4 second gen Taco pulled up next to me and had the passenger window rolled down. His little girl was waving at me trying to get me to roll the window down. I rolled the window down and he yelled "Nice truck, who made your sliders?" I yelled back "Shrockworks" and he gave me a thumbs up and turned off. Feels good to know some people notice stuff like that.

The whole rack. Cross bars, rails, and all the hardware. Brand new from Toyota.

Oh, I was hoping I had $200 sitting in the garage collecting dust haha
 
The whole rack. Cross bars, rails, and all the hardware. Brand new from Toyota.
wow ....really....that's like ebay price for used ones
guess people aren't smart enough to check dealer new prices first ( I wasnt at the time)
only reason I know is I looked at one that needed a rack before I bought my current t4r ( which had one)...so I priced them out on ebay.
good score
 
wow ....really....that's like ebay price for used ones
guess people aren't smart enough to check dealer new prices first ( I wasnt at the time)
only reason I know is I looked at one that needed a rack before I bought my current t4r ( which had one)...so I priced them out on ebay.
good score

I actually bought it on Ebay from a Toyota dealer. The one I used hasn't relisted it yet, but here another example for $215:

Toyota 96 02 4Runner Roof Rack PT2788900101 | eBay
 


Yeah man I love 'em! I got them to go on my 01 Tacoma but I think I'm gonna wait and get a set of SCS wheels for here and was thinking about getting the TRD center caps but I want them color match if I do. I might just repaint them and get some TRD stickers made to slap on there.
 


Yeah man I love 'em! I got them to go on my 01 Tacoma but I think I'm gonna wait and get a set of SCS wheels for here and was thinking about getting the TRD center caps but I want them color match if I do. I might just repaint them and get some TRD stickers made to slap on there.
 
Took the original muffler (split open) off, wasn't planning to do it until next Friday but the replacement muffler is arriving early (tomorrow).

I was also removing the tow hitch so I can sand off all the rust and peeling powdercoat then paint, but the very last bolt holding it to the frame is spinning :mad: Waiting for my dad to show up so he can pry on the hitch while I attempt to remove that bolt...if that doesn't work it's sawzall time.
 
A few large tree branches fell on my runner the other day and scratched the crap out of my car and cracked my windshield. Insurance quoted $3k in damage. I thought it wasnt that bad so i attempted to buff some of it out

Before

HPm4OpM.jpg


After

Erim3sF.jpg


I think I might keep the check.

Still havent done the roof, hood doors and quarter panel, but this fender was the worst of it so I think the rest will come out.
 
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Spent the whole day under the back. Wire wheeled and ground the frame, rust converter/prep and then chassis paint. Starting to look like new! Got the whole back half done. Upcoming weekends are the front half, then fluid film for the winter! Can't wait to see how it holds up after that.

Got my lil skip plate on! It's so amazing!! And painted the sliders. Just need a welder to get them on!
 
A few large tree branches fell on my runner the other day and scratched the crap out of my car and cracked my windshield. Insurance quoted $3k in damage. I thought it wasnt that bad so i attempted to buff some of it out

Before

HPm4OpM.jpg


After

Erim3sF.jpg


I think I might keep the check.

Still havent done the roof, hood doors and quarter panel, but this fender was the worst of it so I think the rest will come out.

Take the check, sell your truck and get a 4x4 rig!!
 
The Little Things

I'd love to write about installing a sweet-ass lift or mega-armored custom bumper — but I can't. Namely because I'm a father of 3 little ones and most of my free money goes for them. So I find 4Runner joy most often comes in little bite-sized bits ... like today.

It's not fancy or unique; no need for a detailed write-up or in-depth discussion about it (though I probably would ramble on about this or that given half a chance).

Anyhow, today I was able to spend a little time by myself wandering a junk yard looking for treasure.

According to the map, she would be buried amongst the other dead in row 72.

As I approached from a distance, I caught glimpse of her mangled hood. Beyond that I could clearly see she'd had her heart ripped right out of her too. Typical.

She sat the way all junkers did at the yard, perched up high on welded rims, her doors ajar and random guts spilling out. The sole 4Runner inhabitant of the junk yard today was a sad, munched up 99' sr5 2wd....that had already been gutted like a 5 pound catfish on Lent.

Still though, she hadn't quite given up all her gold to the vulturous parts-pirates who came before me. I managed to pry from the once pristine but now filthy innards, one slanted e-brake bracket for my console swap.

I contemplated taking the center console too, but it wasn't complete, and the console lid had a cut in the leather that my undiagnosed OCD would never permit me to allow in my own truck ... so I carefully unbolted it and set it in the back seat for someone else who might need just that thing after I'm gone.

I also found a shiny quarter under the seat, hiding amongst a handful of ancient rock-hard jelly beans, broken glass and scattered lug nuts.

But the real find came as I was leaving. I was triple checking my tool bag and visually scouring the interior for any stray tools I may have missed — when I spotted it.

There, between the drivers seat and the now exposed transmission hump, I spied the glimmer of metal beneath what appeared to be a fist size clump of dog hair.

At first I thought it was another lug nut and quickly dismissed it. But then curiosity got the better of me and I returned to brush the fur aside.

I was immediately greeted with a familiar sight. A swivel spark plug socket..."NICE"!. First a quarter and now this!

After brushing away the grime, I noticed it read Snap-On 5/8 S9706 AFU.

"SWEET!"



I didn't take any delight in finding what some other poor chap had forgotten — since I could clearly see an indentation the socket had made in the carpet after what I suspect was years of being wedged out of sight between the center console and seat.

In my mind, it was part of the truck and mine for the taking.

I secured my tools and after making my way back to the parts counter, I was happily surprised that I was getting a 33% parts discount too!

At this point, I was seriously considering stoping by a quickie-mart for a Powerball ticket... as typically luck does not favor me on most days. Never will I get a phone call telling me I have a distant relative I've never heard of — who recently passed and left me a million dollars. No companies ever send me cool stuff to review and write about. No, in my case, I'm usually the guy who is a day late and a dollar short.

Anyways, I got home and saw that the postman had delivered a few goodies in the form of a new brake peddle pad, one box of NGK spark plug wires, 6 NGK spark plugs (now you see why that plug socket I found was so fortuitous), and lastly, two new Toyota key blanks to replace my solitary and very much worn-out valet key I'd been using for the last year.





Happiness doesn't always come in the forms we expect. Nor is it always a lot of hard work and dedication that culminates in a grand event worth writing about.

Sometimes, there aren't even any tell-tell warnings — that things are about to suddenly head north for a change.

Joy can be subtle, like looking down and finding a $30 socket and shiny quarter. Or maybe just the feel of a new brake peddle pad under your worn-out boot tread .... as you slow for a stoplight on a trip to the Toyota dealership.

Today was a good day.
 
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