What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?

[fatherohenry]

Stitched on a $9 steering wheel cover [MENTION=95183]octanejunkie[/MENTION] posted about in his build thread.

Removing the wheel is definitely the way to go.

I can see every mistake I made so I kind of hate it. When and if I do it again, I'd put a stitch through every loop instead every other loop like I saw recommended more often than not. But for $9 I ain't complaining.

For anyone else doing this, I found that a plastic bicycle tire tool helped stretch out the material enough to get it around the wheel.

 

[yuckscott]

Chasing a misfire in Cylinder 6. Really hoping its not the injector... But so far I have tried swapping the plugs and coils, cleaned the MAF sensor and throttle body (which were surprisingly clean, actually). Gonna test continuity in the plug lead just in case, although I replaced the plugs and leads last summer with new Denso OE parts. Of course the CEL comes on a couple days before a long drive up north for a canoe trip!

 

[Spiker Engineering]

The wrong shim stack excuse sounds suspicious to me, but as long as the ride has improved then that’s all that matters. It could very well have been assembled wrong since I think you are the first person to have a negative review of them. (Granted there aren’t as many reviews as bilstein/OME/king/etc.)

It does sound very strange, and I haven't asked them exactly what shim stack they had originally and what they replaced it with. All I know is that it rides like a completely different truck now (in a good way), so whatever they had there before was definitely wrong.

 

[Bad Luck]

It does sound very strange, and I haven't asked them exactly what shim stack they had originally and what they replaced it with. All I know is that it rides like a completely different truck now (in a good way), so whatever they had there before was definitely wrong.

It’s good to know that they rebuilt (reassembled?) them for free. That’s good customer service IMO. I’ll be sure to keep my stock stuff if I go with Dobinson just to make sure the ride quality is good.

 

[Devbot]

Did Seven Mile Rim, Metal Masher, and Kane Creek in Moab this week. Kane Creek is no joke. Barely made it through on 33's with a rear locker. Got stuck on the very last obstacle and had to be towed out of it. Beat up my skid plates and rock sliders a little. Glad I got the lil skips gas tank skid plate installed before i went because I landed hard on it. If it was stock my gas tank would have a major dent in it. Definitely the max my rig can do in its current form. If I wanted to do the harder trails I think i'd need 35's, a regear, and a front locker.

How was Metal Masher? From the videos I've seen of it, the name seems a little excessive... always struck me as a little more on the tame side but I've never been in person

 

[Devbot]

The wrong shim stack excuse sounds suspicious to me, but as long as the ride has improved then that’s all that matters. It could very well have been assembled wrong since I think you are the first person to have a negative review of them. (Granted there aren’t as many reviews as bilstein/OME/king/etc.)

And "we had to have the australia office make it and ship it here" excuse too. I struggle to see how that's something they couldn't have done here, but I'm not on their logistics team so what do I know

 

[Twisted Sid]

After 417,788 miles, I replaced the front springs with some '99 tall Moogs. Did the matching rear spings a few months back. While in there I decided to throw some new KYB shocks on all 4 corners and ditched the Bilsteins I put on at 280k. Only drove it a few miles but the ride seems a lot better.
Debating about replacing the poly front lower control arm bushings with rubbers. If I keep the polys, I need to pull it apart and lube them because they squeak really bad.
Next up is to tackle the leaking valve cover gaskets and probably throw new plugs and pcv at it at the same time.
All this was put on hold to wait and see if it would pass smog and give me 2 more years and it did that last week.

Also picked up an engine hoist to remove the 3rz from my '97 donor 4runner and start the engine swap on my 94 pickup.

 

[toverturf]

How was Metal Masher? From the videos I've seen of it, the name seems a little excessive... always struck me as a little more on the tame side but I've never been in person

Yea almost all the hard stuff has bypasses so if you take all those it's not too hard. If you try all the hard stuff then yea it might mash some metal haha. Kane Creek is much harder imo because it has no bypasses.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

And "we had to have the australia office make it and ship it here" excuse too. I struggle to see how that's something they couldn't have done here, but I'm not on their logistics team so what do I know

Agreed - and how many other folks are currently riding on "the wrong shim stack"? I'm planning to ask them for more details on what transpired, just out of curiosity.

 

[JZiggy]

Agreed - and how many other folks are currently riding on "the wrong shim stack"? I'm planning to ask them for more details on what transpired, just out of curiosity.

I'm interested to see what you learn. Maybe I'm riding on the wrong shim stack too! Certainly if the ride could be a little cushier I would not complain, though I don't seem to have nearly the same ride harshness issues you had.

 

[Spiker Engineering]

I'm interested to see what you learn. Maybe I'm riding on the wrong shim stack too! Certainly if the ride could be a little cushier I would not complain, though I don't seem to have nearly the same ride harshness issues you had.

Unfortunately this is the best I could squeeze out of them - " I can't specify what exact shims we used but we basically revalved them to how the later batches are coming from the factory."

So not sure what to say to those who had the earlier version. Maybe ping Mike at Exit and ask him what's up? The difference between what I had originally and how it rides now is night and day, I sure wouldn't wish what I had on anyone. I wonder if they got a bad batch at some point, maybe due to a Covid supply shortage, and hopefully the earlier adopters like [MENTION=148218]JZiggy[/MENTION] don't have the same setup?

 

[Devbot]

Unfortunately this is the best I could squeeze out of them - " I can't specify what exact shims we used but we basically revalved them to how the later batches are coming from the factory."

Sounds like they don't have a damn clue and just made you a softer set to save everyone a headache. And if they've recently undergone a change in design in this regard that gives the impression it might've been a common complaint, at least to some degree. Idk, in my opinion their excuses don't add up... but as long as they're doing you right then I guess that's what matters in the end

 

[Brian.]

Unfortunately this is the best I could squeeze out of them - " I can't specify what exact shims we used but we basically revalved them to how the later batches are coming from the factory."

I used to do suspension work (motorcycle forks and shocks), it is Astoundingly easy to miss that there are 2 shims stuck together and make a very harsh ride. But we also ran every shock through a dyno.. couldn't do the forks as the unit wasn't big enough. No reason Not to dyno every shock, and that should really be included with the unit so you have a frame of reference.

So I agree that their replies are fishy, but they also took care of the issue... kind of a net neutral. Would be nice if they would own an internal issue.. like "oops, that was a shim stack for something else" or "oops, that shim stack wasn't done right". Heck it could be too heavy of oil was used (makes things hash) or a few other simple errors. Not that they would have tested to see if 10wt oil was used where 5 or 7.5 was called for... and not ever Brand of 10wt oil is the same viscosity, so maybe they had a different supplier for awhile that was thicker.

 

[roxiedog]

toyota front hitch

I am Roxiedog, got some repair and upgrade videos, but cant see how to send them. The website says I dont have enough posts, but it wont let me pist. Any help???

 

[roxiedog]

4runner fixes

done some neat stuff, but the web site wont let me on, I am a member....roxiedog....any help? It says I have not posted enough threads yet,,,but how do I do it???

 

[cl4Rk]

I am Roxiedog, got some repair and upgrade videos, but cant see how to send them. The website says I dont have enough posts, but it wont let me pist. Any help???

Welcome to the forum. You can usually post new threads after posting about 15 replies.

 

[octanejunkie]

Welcome to the forum. You can usually post new threads after posting about 15 replies.

*prepares for shitposting

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[3bears]

I am Roxiedog, got some repair and upgrade videos, but cant see how to send them. The website says I dont have enough posts, but it wont let me pist. Any help???

why not youtube them

 

[ClemsonRunner]

Replaced my steering rack guide with the newer style part. The older style in my 99 was the roller bearing style, 2 piece and then new one is a solid piece with a teflon like coating. Was a super easy install. Hoping it helps tighten up my steering. It would wander at higher speeds even though I knew my alignment was top notch. I also noticed that going slowly over railroad crossings that I could feel the wheels move side to side while the steering wheel was held firm. It felt like the rack was moving side to side by itself - hard to describe lol.

I did not test drive it because it was getting dark and I didn't want the possible disappointment that it didn't actually help/fix it. I have found the best way to ruin the rest of your evening is the work you just did didn't work.....

FYI, I checked my tie rods. The inner and outers are about a year old and there was no play in them. The bushings holding the rack are fine. No play from them. I noticed that with both wheels off the ground that there was a bit of play when I held the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock while pushing/pulling (no play however when trying to rock at 12 and 6 o'clock testing for the wheel bearings). I had a buddy hold the wheel still while doing this. I could see the rack moving ever so slightly into/out off the housing.

 

[octanejunkie]

Replaced my steering rack guide with the newer style part. The older style in my 99 was the roller bearing style, 2 piece and then new one is a solid piece with a teflon like coating. Was a super easy install. Hoping it helps tighten up my steering. It would wander at higher speeds even though I knew my alignment was top notch. I also noticed that going slowly over railroad crossings that I could feel the wheels move side to side while the steering wheel was held firm. It felt like the rack was moving side to side by itself - hard to describe lol.



I did not test drive it because it was getting dark and I didn't want the possible disappointment that it didn't actually help/fix it. I have found the best way to ruin the rest of your evening is the work you just did didn't work.....



FYI, I checked my tie rods. The inner and outers are about a year old and there was no play in them. The bushings holding the rack are fine. No play from them. I noticed that with both wheels off the ground that there was a bit of play when I held the wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock while pushing/pulling (no play however when trying to rock at 12 and 6 o'clock testing for the wheel bearings). I had a buddy hold the wheel still while doing this. I could see the rack moving ever so slightly into/out off the housing.

Looking forward to your road test report

Did you follow this?
How to: Replace steering rack guide- Pictures - YotaTech Forums

Did you replace all the parts or reuse any?

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