What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

[stuckinthemud]

It still has not failed to get me home!

It was actually yesterday. I went on a road trip north to rocket town California (Lompoc, Ca.). 95 miles north of my home. I noticed the battery light turning on and off. My Torque app voltage was 10.7 volts.

I drove about 2 miles to the first auto parts store (Autozone) took a chance and shut off the engine. They had one alternator in stock, I put it on hold and started the removal process.

Whoever tightened the bolts, way over tightened them and buggered up the lower 12mm nut. My 12 point socket could not get a bite on it.

Pick up all the tools and back into the store for a 12mm 6 point socket. Had to buy a set of 6 point deep wall metric sockets. Even with the 6 point, it took all three of my hands to push the socket on while using the ratchet and a large box end wrench as a cheater to break it loose, but I got it out.

I went in and bought the alternator and installed it much faster than the removal. I swapped the buggered 12mm nut with the nut on the battery hold down.

To my surprise the battery had enough juice to start. The app now reading 13.2 volts. My torque app always reads low.

Off towards home I go. I'm about 12 miles from home and stop at Trader Joes to pick up dinner and beer. I cant pull the key out of the ignition! I try wiggling everything, turning the engine on and off, drive around the parking. Nothing did the trick. the key will only go to the acc position will not go to the lock position.

Out come the tools again. I was able to pull the ignition assembly out by pushing the button under the ignition. After messing with everything for a while I determined that the park solenoid on the ignition switch causing the problem. I removed the solenoid and reassembled everything, went in and bought dinner and made it home.

today I pulled the shifter assembly apart and and put it back together. couldn't find anything wrong but it seems to all work now.

But it got me back home!

 

[calimobber]

It was actually yesterday. I went on a road trip north to rocket town California (Lompoc, Ca.). 95 miles north of my home. I noticed the battery light turning on and off. My Torque app voltage was 10.7 volts.

I drove about 2 miles to the first auto parts store (Autozone) took a chance and shut off the engine. They had one alternator in stock, I put it on hold and started the removal process.

Whoever tightened the bolts, way over tightened them and buggered up the lower 12mm nut. My 12 point socket could not get a bite on it.

Pick up all the tools and back into the store for a 12mm 6 point socket. Had to buy a set of 6 point deep wall metric sockets. Even with the 6 point, it took all three of my hands to push the socket on while using the ratchet and a large box end wrench as a cheater to break it loose, but I got it out.

I went in and bought the alternator and installed it much faster than the removal. I swapped the buggered 12mm nut with the nut on the battery hold down.

To my surprise the battery had enough juice to start. The app now reading 13.2 volts. My torque app always reads low.

Off towards home I go. I'm about 12 miles from home and stop at Trader Joes to pick up dinner and beer. I cant pull the key out of the ignition! I try wiggling everything, turning the engine on and off, drive around the parking. Nothing did the trick. the key will only go to the acc position will not go to the lock position.

Out come the tools again. I was able to pull the ignition assembly out by pushing the button under the ignition. After messing with everything for a while I determined that the park solenoid on the ignition switch causing the problem. I removed the solenoid and reassembled everything, went in and bought dinner and made it home.

today I pulled the shifter assembly apart and and put it back together. couldn't find anything wrong but it seems to all work now.

But it got me back home!

Good on you for fixing yourself. Im always socked how many people panic and take to dealers or shop. I tell them its a simple fix just youtube it and fix it. They say i dont have the tools with me. I say buy a set from autozone and it will still be way cheaper and you have set for car. They normally say .....ill just let a shop handle lol. Its your money buddy haha. Dont tell me you cant afford a repair bill then.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Raised the front another 1/2" just because I can ... And took it to the desert to play around.

 

[fatherohenry]

Raised the front another 1/2" just because I can ...

One of these days I hope to have all the "must do"s done so I can switch to the "can do"s. Refreshing my '96 one piece at at time has its rewards but it sure feels never-ending!

 

[Spiker Engineering]

One of these days I hope to have all the "must do"s done so I can switch to the "can do"s. Refreshing my '96 one piece at at time has its rewards but it sure feels never-ending!

I've been at this for 5 years, so it's a process. One step at a time, first the "must do", then on to "can do", and finally "why not?"

 

[fourfive]

Raised the front another 1/2" just because I can ... And took it to the desert to play around.

Color matched fender flares and cladding are looking good. Suspension questions:

What are your center hub fender measurements?
Did you start with both coil seats at Dobinson's recommended 164mm from the bushing eye?
Are both coil seats positioned at the same height or did you have to raise or lower the passenger or driver side to accommodate for lean?
I may have missed it but what rear coils did you go with?
What's your impressions on their suspension?
What tire size are you running?

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Color matched fender flares and cladding are looking good. Suspension questions:

What are your center hub fender measurements?
Did you start with both coil seats at Dobinson's recommended 164mm from the bushing eye?
Are both coil seats positioned at the same height or did you have to raise or lower the passenger or driver side to accommodate for lean?
I may have missed it but what rear coils did you go with?
What's your impressions on their suspension?
What tire size are you running?

Thanks!

My current hub to fender measurements are:

LF - 23" RF - 23"
LR - 24" RR - 24"

Keep in mind that this is with a 1" BL.

I did start with the recommended 164 mm distance, that's how Exit Offroad set it up for me. That gave me 22.75" on the front, which is weird because [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] had about 23" up front at that setting, which should have been 24" on mine with the 1" BL.

So I upped the fronts by 1/4", that raised the RF by 1/4" to 23" but dropped the LF by 1/4" to 22.5". I know that makes no sense, and I know there is some measurement error in this, but this is the best I could measure. I also ended up with a severe taco lean in the back (about 1/2" higher on right side). So I got a 10mm trim packer for LR, that more or less equalized the rear. A little annoying because the 906's I had before were different lengths to avoid the taco lean, not sure why Dobinson's couldn't do that.

I raised the front another 1/4", which gave me the 23" measurement on both fronts. Still 1/2" lower than my KYB/OEM spring/1/2" spacer combo, which had me at 23.5".

I don't want to raise the front anymore - I'm guessing the ride is only going to get harsher if I keep preloading the springs more and more, and it's already pretty harsh. Besides, I already raised the fronts by 1/2", which should have given me about 1" lift from where I started, but I got only 1/4"-1/2". Again, some of it may be measurement error. Plus it's getting tiring doing this over and over .

I went with the 131 coils for the rear.

My impressions are "a little underwhelmed". The ride is very harsh compared to my KYB/OEM springs up front and 906's in the back. The springs are already rusting in spots. The shocks came to me with some scratches down to bare aluminum. Not awful, but I was hoping for something more for the amount of money this kit set me back. And the small things (like not making the springs different lengths to avoid the taco lean) are annoying.

But the components are pretty .

My tires are 265/75/16 Wildpeaks.

 

[JZiggy]

[MENTION=636945]Spiker Engineering[/MENTION] man I hate that this lift did not work out well for you. It sounds like it was a lot of work to dial in the ride height and now the ride quality is not very good. Did you check with Exit Offroad if there may be other things to try?

 

[fatherohenry]

Oil dipstick o-ring and new skid plate bolts.

I replaced the dipstick o-ring in an attempt to track down a leak.

The old o-ring was very brittle and flattened:

I thought the new o-ring from the dealership looked a little skimpy but no leaks from here so far.

I discovered a year ago that I'd been missing two skid plate bolts and a third seemed stripped. I picked up a few 8x1.25x20 bolts from Home Depot and it's pissed me off every time I've had to remove the skid plates since then as the heads on the new bolts are 13mm while the originals are 12. Today I ran a thread chaser through each nut and standardized on the 13mm headed bolts. Now I only need one socket and I can thread them all in by hand.

It wasn't much but at least I moved the needle.

 

[Breaker Bar]

Replaced the bulky roller fairlead that came with my winch with a steel hawse style I snagged off of Amazon. You can almost see my front license plate now.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

[MENTION=636945]Spiker Engineering[/MENTION] man I hate that this lift did not work out well for you. It sounds like it was a lot of work to dial in the ride height and now the ride quality is not very good. Did you check with Exit Offroad if there may be other things to try?

No worries my friend! I wouldn't say the lift didn't work out, it did lift the truck by 2", which is the advertised lift. I think I'm just a little annoyed by the dings and scrapes, and the newly forming rust (my 24 year old OEM springs have less rust on them than these do at 2 months). I'm also annoyed by the same height rear springs, leading to the taco lean.

But mostly I'm surprised by how harsh the ride seems to be, and I still can't figure why changing the spring seat height did not lead to the expected changes in ride height. I need to revisit my high school physics to see if I'm missing something.

 

[busmup808]

It was actually yesterday. I went on a road trip north to rocket town California (Lompoc, Ca.). 95 miles north of my home. I noticed the battery light turning on and off. My Torque app voltage was 10.7 volts.

I drove about 2 miles to the first auto parts store (Autozone) took a chance and shut off the engine. They had one alternator in stock, I put it on hold and started the removal process.

Whoever tightened the bolts, way over tightened them and buggered up the lower 12mm nut. My 12 point socket could not get a bite on it.

Pick up all the tools and back into the store for a 12mm 6 point socket. Had to buy a set of 6 point deep wall metric sockets. Even with the 6 point, it took all three of my hands to push the socket on while using the ratchet and a large box end wrench as a cheater to break it loose, but I got it out.

I went in and bought the alternator and installed it much faster than the removal. I swapped the buggered 12mm nut with the nut on the battery hold down.

To my surprise the battery had enough juice to start. The app now reading 13.2 volts. My torque app always reads low.

Off towards home I go. I'm about 12 miles from home and stop at Trader Joes to pick up dinner and beer. I cant pull the key out of the ignition! I try wiggling everything, turning the engine on and off, drive around the parking. Nothing did the trick. the key will only go to the acc position will not go to the lock position.

Out come the tools again. I was able to pull the ignition assembly out by pushing the button under the ignition. After messing with everything for a while I determined that the park solenoid on the ignition switch causing the problem. I removed the solenoid and reassembled everything, went in and bought dinner and made it home.

today I pulled the shifter assembly apart and and put it back together. couldn't find anything wrong but it seems to all work now.

But it got me back home!

Damn, don’t you hate shit like that. My kids visited me from Hawaii xmas of 2016. I’m in WA and on my way to pick them up. As I’m driving towards the freeway, my truck is turning off and on. It’s 545 and Toyota is 5 minutes down the road. I call Toyota and ask if they have an Alternator in stock for a 3.4 5VZFE. The salesman says yes and their closing in 15 minutes. I told him to have it ready because I’m 3 minutes away and I’ll get the alternator out in 2 minutes. No joke, in a 6 month span, I went through 4 alternators from Auto Zone. That’s why I went straight to Toyota. Well Toyota’s around the corner and my truck dies. Luckily I’m going downhill and roll up in Toyota’s parking lot. I jump out and take the alt out, run inside the parts department with oil on my hands and grab the invoice for the alt. Pay the cashier for the alt at 555pm. Went outside to install the alt and when I went to start it, I had a dead battery. Low and behold for my dual battery system from Sweden. IBS DUAL BATTERY SYSTEM allows me to jump my own self in a situation like I have. I click the jump button and off to the airport to get me kids.
The next day we head 5 hrs away to visit a German town called Leavenworth. They celebrate Christmas like I never seen in my life. The atmosphere is beautiful. The only thing that wasn’t beautiful was watching my temp gauge rise a little high to my liking. That day we get there and settle down for the next day. I go outside the AIRBNB to make a phone call to Toyota at the town over. I call them and ask if they have a radiator for a 98 4Runner with a 3.4 motor. The guy says they have 1, so I buy the radiator over the phone. Next day is Saturday and I drop the family off at Leavenworth and drive to the next town to Toyota in Wenatchee,WA. Jump out and grab the radiator and 2 bottles of pink 50/50. In the parking lot I start changing the radiator. A security guard walks up to me and tells me I can’t to that in the parking lot, I told him that I already took the old radiator out and I’m installing the new one in. Plus there was snow on the ground and I had collapsible buckets on the ground so liquid doesn’t go on the ground. Get the radiator installed with new belts and back to Leavenworth. When I met up with my Family all I did the rest of the day was drink beer with my sons while the girls go shopping with their mom. [emoji1686]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fourfive]

My current hub to fender measurements are:

LF - 23" RF - 23"
LR - 24" RR - 24"

Keep in mind that this is with a 1" BL.

I did start with the recommended 164 mm distance, that's how Exit Offroad set it up for me. That gave me 22.75" on the front, which is weird because [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] had about 23" up front at that setting, which should have been 24" on mine with the 1" BL.

Thanks for the feedback. My guess with the initial front height differences between your's and [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] may be due to the weight of the 5vz vs 3rz but that is odd about the changes in ride height relative to your coil seat adjustments. I'm with you on the rear springs, I do wish they were side specific to account for lean like the OMEs.

 

[JZiggy]

Thanks for the feedback. My guess with the initial front height differences between your's and [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] may be due to the weight of the 5vz vs 3rz but that is odd about the changes in ride height relative to your coil seat adjustments. I'm with you on the rear springs, I do wish they were side specific to account for lean like the OMEs.

Amazingly, the 3RZ is only like 40 pounds lighter than the 5VZ. I don't know if the transmissions are much different in weight but that could also be contributing.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Amazingly, the 3RZ is only like 40 pounds lighter than the 5VZ. I don't know if the transmissions are much different in weight but that could also be contributing.

All good points, plus I do have a AOR plate bumper. So if the bumper is an extra 70 lbs, let's go wild and say my front is 200 lbs heavier than a stock 3RZ -> that's 100 lbs per spring, and for a ~500 lb/in spring rate, that's about 0.2" at the spring or 0.4" at the tire.

Still doesn't quite explain why I got 22.75" at the 164mm setting (which is really 21.75" without the BL), while [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] got 23". Maybe we're splitting hairs, given the measurement error, and maybe different flare thickness between the SR5 and my Limited.

 

[JZiggy]

All good points, plus I do have a AOR plate bumper. So if the bumper is an extra 70 lbs, let's go wild and say my front is 200 lbs heavier than a stock 3RZ -> that's 100 lbs per spring, and for a ~500 lb/in spring rate, that's about 0.2" at the spring or 0.4" at the tire.

Still doesn't quite explain why I got 22.75" at the 164mm setting (which is really 21.75" without the BL), while [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] got 23". Maybe we're splitting hairs, given the measurement error, and maybe different flare thickness between the SR5 and my Limited.

I suppose the "real" measurement should be the angle of the LCA with respect to the horizontal. I can try to find a protractor

 

[Spiker Engineering]

I suppose the "real" measurement should be the angle of the LCA with respect to the horizontal. I can try to find a protractor

Deal! I'll use my phone's Angle Meter app and we'll compare notes.

Oh, one other thing I should add is that I did not always have the exact same fuel load in all those previous measurements, and >100 lbs of fuel can obviously affect the results.

 

[DennisTheArtist]

Picked up a set of extended bump stops from [MENTION=90485]URBAN ASSAULT[/MENTION] then threw my JAOS ladder after dipping it. Still a little off center so I'll be adjusting soon.

Hi, where can I get that Jaos ladder? Interested in buying one. Thanks!

 

[JROTN]

Work done today

Timing belt job (complete kit)
Starter
Rear shocks
Front brake rotors, pads, calipers and two brake lines
RF axle seal
Valve cover gaskets w/ sparkplug seals, rear cam cover plugs and sparkplugs.
Oil change and lube
Took more than just today

 

[ViaPhoenix]

Wired in my Winch (HF 9k) and got my full CBI skid plates installed.

Next up, sliders and rear dual swing out bumper