What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

[Brandt]

I pulled the passenger seats and over-soaked them with that Totally Awesome cleaner from Dollar Tree. Then spent half an hour hosing them down with a pressure washer.

This is step 1 of nursing the interior back to health after the previous owner abused and neglected her.

Next will be to steam clean all of the hard surfaces.

 

[Hammit]

*finally* got my forward skid plate off. Can't wait to get some fresh gear oil into the front diff and put my mind at ease

 

[LittleCaesar]

I remember that too...some people ending up going back to stock after trying it.
Agree on the curiosity.


Started tearing the '96 down today. Time to learn something new.

Looks interesting. Leaking plug tube seal? Good luck with the project.

In the Southeastern US I don’t mind the fan clutch due to the humidity here but never get more than fifteen years out of one. The Taraus mod was never in the cards for me.

 

[habanero]

Looks interesting. Leaking plug tube seal? Good luck with the project.

In the Southeastern US I don’t mind the fan clutch due to the humidity here but never get more than fifteen years out of one. The Taraus mod was never in the cards for me.

Thanks!
Coolant definitely leaking into #3 is as far as I've gotten. Plug tube seals are oem and reasonably new (but it would have been really nice if it were that!). Can see piston head, it's not shiny. This happened yesterday afternoon with no previous symptoms including the driving I did in the morning. After symptoms I drove it about 10 miles to get home and parked it. Did not overheat, coolant still looked good when I got home. Have started tearing it down to see what's what.

I've got the original fan clutch so far, would likely get another rather than this particular mod based on other's experience. Maybe this one will be different, I like when people try things out, vicarious learning is fun.

 

[Mark_BC]

I remember that too...some people ending up going back to stock after trying it.
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So what was this electric fan I bought with the Champion radiator I just bought? Haven't opened the box yet.

 

[habanero]

So what was this electric fan I bought with the Champion radiator I just bought? Haven't opened the box yet.

Add-on to replace your fan? You should have....

Only not on your back seat.

 

[Mark_BC]

I found a lot of flaky rust and sand. Much more debris on the driver's side than the passenger's side. I pulled most of it out with a 5' piece of conduit that I bent a 90 on. After it was relatively clean I smacked the underside with a rubber mallet. This broke up a lot more rust and exposed the holes. Luckily this is all repairable. Moral of the story for the rust belt dwellers is to keep the frame cleaned out as good as possible. Leaving a lot of sand and dust in the frame traps moisture and we all know what comes next.

Oh man have you looked in the frame in front of the LCA mount? If you pulled that much rust out of the rear part which drains well you might be surprised. I recently discovered that the best rust scraper is one of those metal handles for a 5 gallon bucket. Each end has a little bend that you can shorten if needed and bend to a different angle. This thing is strong enough to rip off the flakes but flexible enough you can get it at just the right shape to put it through the frame holes and scrape anywhere you want. It's basically just a super strong coat hanger.

Edit: it makes me feel like a dentist.

 

[Lamer]

pulled the fenders off to try cause I think it made the wheel base look too narrow. with the skinny 255 tires it kinda looked like the body of the 4runner was a muffin top over the tires. not pleased.

but now, it actually looks better than I was expecting. has a bit more of a stance now and still wont throw dirt/water all over the side of my 4runner!

 

[LittleCaesar]

Thanks!
Coolant definitely leaking into #3 is as far as I've gotten. Plug tube seals are oem and reasonably new (but it would have been really nice if it were that!). Can see piston head, it's not shiny. This happened yesterday afternoon with no previous symptoms including the driving I did in the morning. After symptoms I drove it about 10 miles to get home and parked it. Did not overheat, coolant still looked good when I got home. Have started tearing it down to see what's what.

I've got the original fan clutch so far, would likely get another rather than this particular mod based on other's experience. Maybe this one will be different, I like when people try things out, vicarious learning is fun.

Original fan clutch? That is impressive. The reason I shunned the Taurus mod is that I remember one guy’s fan dies on him during a climb on YT.

As other members can attest, get yourself a leak down tester. It takes all the guesswork out of the mechanical worthiness of the engine. Just make sure you have a good compressor to work with.

 

[tx_shooter]

Original fan clutch? That is impressive. The reason I shunned the Taurus mod is that I remember one guy’s fan dies on him during a climb on YT.

As other members can attest, get yourself a leak down tester. It takes all the guesswork out of the mechanical worthiness of the engine. Just make sure you have a good compressor to work with.

+1 for a good leak down tester. A good set of diagnostic tools makes the difference between a mechanic and parts swapper.

 

[Zombie_Hickey]

Today i finished up pulling off the heads just to realize that the lower end is all gunked up and now im looking all over for a JDM motor to swap out!

 

[habanero]

As other members can attest, get yourself a leak down tester. It takes all the guesswork out of the mechanical worthiness of the engine. Just make sure you have a good compressor to work with.

A good set of diagnostic tools makes the difference between a mechanic and parts swapper.

Agreed! Over the years we have acquired a number of specialty doo-dads for a variety of special instances- testers, tools, etc. I'm no mechanic though, just ask myself too many questions and have a thing for tinkering and messing stuff up and sometimes fixing stuff too.

 

[Paddo]

Installed a Lift Kit

Today (technically yesterday, but I was too tired to post after all the work was done) I installed a Toytec/Eibach 3" Lift Kit on my 4Runner! I also replaced the factory Upper Control Arms with SPC Control Arms.

It was my first time with a ball joint press so there was a bit of a learning curve removing the old control arms, but it got done eventually.

However, now I'm having alignment issues I can't figure out! I might need to create a new thread for that...

Links to parts installed:
https://www.toyteclifts.com/ttha-9602-toytec-eibach-3-lift-kit-96-02-4runner.html

25460 - SPC Control Arm - Battle Born Offroad - The Offroad Part Source!

 

[Sean K.]

Stole the wife's JLUR BFG KOs since she stole my 37 PBRs for her Jeep.

Obligatory Jeep pics with MY tires on it!

 

[theesotericone]

Stole the wife's JLUR BFG KOs since she stole my 37 PBRs for her Jeep.

How'd you like the Rockers? Mine are getting made and shipped soon hopefully.

 

[Sean K.]

How'd you like the Rockers? Mine are getting made and shipped soon hopefully.

I didn't run them on the 4Runner (obviously)....

They are awesome on the trail and road. They are really the best tire I've found that's a good compromise. Soft durometer...but still wear pretty well. I like that they are section rather than clam shell molded too. Very square profile. I balance mine with air soft BBs....10 oz. for the 37s. **EDIT**I also bought a set of centramatic balancers and they made them ride even better.

 

[68ChargerJMP]

Finally got around to getting the flares back on. Put some ProComp 7069 wheels and Falken Wildpeak tires on it. Trying to get this thing sprayed in the next couple of weeks.

Swapped over the OME 880/906/5100 setup to this one and finished the Raptor liner job.

 

[Kraftwerk]

yes dual electrode plugs are what we need in our 3.4's, they work great.

Thanks,
Completed plugs, valve cover gaskets and reseal the half moons. No more oil smell in the garage..

 

[Hammit]

Coolant flush yesterday!

so much brown liquid... so so much.

 

[RunningForNow]

Changed out the air vent on the passenger side. One of the vent blades was broken off.

Changed the rear wiper. Finally got one that had the screw holes for the rubber bumper.

Passenger side power window button was worn, with vague clicks when pushed/pulled, so got another one from eBay.

LED bulb swap for the license plate and the reverse lights.

All small stuff.