Wish me luck...

[Tilt]

Wish me luck (updated - with photos)...

I've been a quiet member here for several months now. Back in May I was hoping to get into a 3rd gen T4R. It just didn't happen, and I ended up buying an older GMC Yukon (it was all I could find at the time). I wasn't particularly happy with the Yukon, but it was just a vehicle to get me by for a while. It worked okay, but I would continue to drool over all the 4Runners I'd see.

About a month ago I noticed a few nicer 4Runners for sale again....so I made an attempt to sell my Yukon. It didn't generate much interest until only recently. I finally got rid of the Yukon Monday (thankfully for almost exactly what I paid for it). But within the last 2 weeks, most of the T4R's I was spying were sold. Can't win!!

But I found a decent '97 that I'm going to look at tomorrow. I now know enough about the 3rd gens (thanks to this site) that I'm ready to lay down cash tomorrow if it hits all the marks. If I drive it home tomorrow, expect a few photos to show up in this thread. So wish me luck!!

 

[quicksilvr]

Good luck! Having purchased three 3rd gens in the last year, I understand the frustration in finding a good one!

 

[fightman80]

Good luck man! Can't wait to see the pics!

 

[notrayray]

Awesome....good luck.

 

[Hepar]

Look forward to seeing pics if you get it!

 

[RDS3030]

Good luck man! i feel your pain, took me forever to find mine.

 

[Tilt]

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!

Here's my new '97, just after getting home today. I think I did okay. This unit looks (and feels) pretty solid, with just a few things to take care of right away. It will need a new windshield, and the tires need to be balanced. Oh, and a VERY extensive cleaning inside is in order. There's certainly a few rough edges....but she's a very solid T4R, and will be a fun hobby fixing it up a bit. The tires and rims are deffinitely going to go. The guy had 2 of the factory rims yet, so I'm going to have to find a couple more....and get some decent rubber. I'll also need to replace a couple things in the interior (console parts and such). But all-in-all....this is a great starting point. I picked this little guy up for $4250. We haggled back and forth for a while to arrive at that number. I'm satisfied and can't wait to get using it.

 

[fightman80]

Looks good man! Sport Hood too! The color is sweet also!

 

[Tilt]

Thanks. Yeah, the hood was a bonus for sure. I would have been looking into setting up a scoop if I didn't get one like this.

 

[410toy]

nice! ah the almighty hood scoop! noticed yours like mine has no rear spoiler or roof rack. that means yours like mine needs a joas spoiler! color is great throw some black Craiger wheels on her and she will look rugged. here is a pic of mine

 

[Tilt]

Haha....I was just replying to your post. Yours look great, especially with those new tires and rims. I'll have to look into this spoiler you mentioned.

 

[410toy]

Haha....I was just replying to your post. Yours look great, especially with those new tires and rims. I'll have to look into this spoiler you mentioned.

lol

I bought the spoiler and hood with scoop just gotta save some cash to get them painted.

you can find the spoiler on Burtman Industries

 

[410toy]

how many miles on her?stick auto ?v6 or 4? 4x4?

 

[bak3rme]

looks good!. looks like Previous owner already took off the running boards. also looks like u got 265/75 tires on already..they look a bit big. what size are they anyways? but yea those rims gotta go!

 

[Tilt]

how many miles on her?stick auto ?v6 or 4? 4x4?

Just over 330,000 kms (about 200,000 miles). A bit high, but the previous owner did regular maintenance....so it should run forever. I don't put a lot of miles on my vehicles....so it'll be a while before I need to do anything major. It's a V6 with the auto. And the 4x4 worked great. I found a worksite today when I was test driving it, and got to put it thru the paces a bit. Mechanically it's pretty solid. The previous owner was a mechanic, and had recently changed every fluid in it. Also re-did the rear springs and brakes. It was pretty clean undernearth, so that certainly made me feel good. The interior sure needs a cleaning though. I'm also going to need a source on a replacement console (and a few other parts inside). Might have to go to some wreckers. Looking forward to digging into it.

 

[Tilt]

looks good!. looks like Previous owner already took off the running boards. also looks like u got 265/75 tires on already..they look a bit big. what size are they anyways? but yea those rims gotta go!

Yeah, they're 265/75's. I don't know if I like them yet or not. It was an hour and a half drive home (from buying it).....and there was some tire balance vibration for sure. Alignment felt nice though. So we'll see after I get the tires balanced. The rims are butt ugly (to me), so they're not staying any longer than they need too. I really like the factory 4runner rims, so I want to get that set up. Did a little looking around tonight. I may be in for a challenge finding them locally.

 

[.Yukon.]

I have not seen that color with the hood scoop before, looks great. Was that an addition? Good luck with the project.

 

[Tilt]

I have not seen that color with the hood scoop before, looks great. Was that an addition? Good luck with the project.

Yeah, the color does seem pretty unique. This is my 1st 4runner, and it will be my main vehicle for now. I really doesn't need anything done right away (especially mechanically) to have it as a daily driver. But the hope is to slowly add things to it, and turn it back into the quality looker it deserves to be. I just want it looking clean and sharp, nothing off the scale.

 

[Tilt]

Scoping out the future interior work. Other than a serious professional cleaning, I'm going to eventually have to replace a couple pieces here and there. The storage portion of the center console is in pretty rough shape, and I hope to find a replacement somehow (new or used). The panel around the radio and such has seen better days as well. Ashtray is missing (not that I care), but I'd like to fix it up a bit nicer. I also noticed that one of the instrument cluster back-lights (the exact middle one between the tach and spedo) is out. I did attack the interior today with my shop vac (just to get the dirt out). Cleaned up not bad, but still needs the pro cleaning.