What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

Do you still have the previous one with the thinner lines?

 

Yes sir

 

I finally installed the RedLine Goods leather boot for the transfer case shifter, which I picked up in the 4th of July sale. I'm glad I went for the baseball stitching.

The hardest part was attaching the boot to the rim, mainly because it's so hard to find the needle holes you have to make in the leather. I ended up using a silver Sharpie to mark them, and even then it was difficult. The next hardest part was popping the cover off the trans tunnel. I was worried about breaking tabs, so I went slow and easy.

 

Took the 4Runner up to the cabin this weekend. It was my first real chance to evaluate it with more aggressive AT tires over a longer road trip without some confounding variable such as towing. 220 miles one way with 7300 feet elevation gain.
Per the computer 20.0 mpg heading up.
Did not individually monitor the downhill return trip.
Overall trip mpg of 22.2 mpg, again per the computer.
Tires are Discount/America's Tire branded Rocky Mountain AT in stock 265/70/17. SL rating.
MPG is very similar to what I experienced with the Bridgestone HTs that were on it when I purchased.
Very solid feel and remarkably quiet overall. I'm about 5k miles into these.

 

Wasn't happy with how pale the yellow on my fog lights were with one layer of lamin X so I added another.

 

I've been looking for a set of tires for my '03 Tacoma that are decent, and not too loud. Do you recommend these for that? The price for 265/70/16 is around $126 each, which is pretty reasonable. I just use my Tacoma for around town.

 

Yes. I had some of that same thinking when I got them. Sadly these will hit the grocery store more than the trail for the time being.
Also, I'm still new to the 5th gen so my wheeling will be light-ish for a while until I have a feel for it and I think these will be fine for moderate wheeling. And it's still over 110 degrees here so wheeling season doesn't really start til the end of October.

Noise wise they are really only slightly louder than the Bridgestone street tires Toyota sends these things out with. You can have a conversation or listen to light music and not even think about them. Ride might even be an improvement over the Bridgestones.
I run them at about 33-34.
I think they are good value. Made by Giti tire.

 

It looks great, I almost purchased one during that sale, but the installation looked like it sucked.Seeing yours makes me wish I would have got one.

 

The computer ,or wish-o-meter , is usually pretty spot on when I manually check the gas mileage. Usually only when the wife complains about my truck getting less than half the mileage her Rav4 Hybrid gets.

 

That has been my experience too. It has been close enough to make it not worth the trouble to manually calculate. I'll have to revisit if I ever change tire sizes though.

 

Thanks! Installation takes a while, but it's not risky if you maintain patience.

 

So if I buy one you can I install it for me?

 

Link?

 

Send him a DM for quote and logistics. I have one of his C-pillar decals, which I really like.

 

Took the SR5 and took my used oil container to collection place, stopped by the office (I'm on vacation) and headed to the gun club with pistols and ammo!

 

First “mod” - removed those factory steps as soon as it got home from the dealer. Looking forward to building this vehicle up.

 

It's too bad you're not in my area, I have a friend looking for those.

 

filled the runner tank in beautiful Sumas, Washington State.

 

https://www.4runners.com/threads/dashboard-decals.32480/

 

I put those tires on my son’s 2001 Tacoma and they look and perform great. I will likely put some on my 4Runner when it’s due for new shoes.

 

Had my front 285's road forced balanced today at Discount. Another Discount just balanced and rotated all 4 tires a couple of weeks ago. I knew something wasn't right after they did it and we took a 1200 mile trip. It felt like a little bump steer and wandering and of course the shake at 62-67MPH. I watched the guy force balance them today and the left front needed 6 oz of weight! No wonder why. Not going to that Discount anymore. Drives fine now!

 

All Discount Tires are not created equal as I found out. New set of Wildpeaks a few months ago and they rode absolutely horrible. My wife even asked what was wrong with my new truck. So I looked at the tires and noticed they totally ignored the red and yellow dots so took it back in and complained. They then came back with "Oh yeah, you had one tire that was ever so slightly out of balance." How much weight did you add? "5 ounces, so almost nothing." What a bunch of clowns. You should have seen the rows of weights on the inside of my wheel, had to take it to another shop to get resolved. Screw that place.

 

My discount tire is pretty good. But I only use them for patches & the free stuff that comes with buying their tires. Unfortunately, Discount Tire Direct is no more. Looks like I'll find out how much stuff is free when I buy from Tire Rack. The deals suck compared to discount tire direct old monthly promotions

 

Installed the ECGS bushing last weekend, had a pretty severe steering wheel shake like a tire was out of balance. 2 shops diagnosed it as the steering rack, lived with the shake for over a year because it came and went as it pleased. One day recently I thought "what if..." put the truck into 4hi and the vibration went away! Installed the ECGS bushing and the vibration is 99% gone. Might have a bad control arm bushing now from driving with the shake for so long but all in all very pleased with the outcome of the bushing.

Would wager a lot of 4runners have this issue with the needle bearing and it gets misdiagnosed.

 

The steering racks on the 4Runners and Tacomas are known for wearing pretty quickly. Check for excessive play. Needle bearing, tire balance, alignment issues etc can speed up the wear on the steering racks exponentially.

 

I assume the one on Smokyhill? They are good to me as well. They even price match Walmart, Costco, Amazon, etc. When I want to try 285s on my stock TRD Pro they had no problems returning the tires.

 

Have researched this issue quite a bit, came across a video from a Toyota tech saying basically what you just said and it has me worried that I might still need to replace the steering rack. Back last year I checked for play in the steering rack and felt something internal which is why I believed the shops diag for so long. I would almost believe a bad steering rack over control bushings but I really don't want to replace the rack.

 

I've done a few steering racks, while they're not great, they're not impossible for a DIY.... I was just letting you know it's a known issue that they wear out pretty quick and other issues with suspension etc make it wear out quicker. KO2s .... Can do a number on them if you don't keep up with your wheel weights. I have KO2s on ours and I balance the tires twice as often as I change the oil. Any vibrations in the front end cause premature wear on the steering components in general but unfortunately our steering racks are prone to it. Sad face... Hahaha! Just check everything for wear and fix what needs to be fixed when it needs fixin! One weekend on the trails does more damage on my steering rack than a year of driving with unbalanced tires! Haha

 

Holy cow, so you balance your tires every 5000 miles?

 

Swapped to the Four Cam Engineering vents in hopes that I see less dust inside. It was easy enough to do that I kick myself for not doing it sooner.

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Four Cam:



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