New Member Here - Original Owner of 2006 Sport Edition

Hello,

I ordered my new 2006 Toyota 4Runner Sport edition with V6 and 4WD, Appearance Package, Tube Rails, GPS Head Unit, etc. way back in the Spring of 2006. I took delivery on 8/10/2006. I've been driving it ever since and it now has 192,207 miles on the odometer.

The car has been largely problem free - just the usual maintenance needed periodically - and I let the Toyota dealer techs do 95% of the maintenance.

I'm about 5 years from retirement now and plan to keep this vehicle on the road for as long as possible. (I joke that I'll probably die before the 4Runner will and it will get passed on to my heirs. LOL!)

I presently only put about 4,000 a year on the odometer and I doubt it will be much higher in retirement except for occasional overlanding, long-distance road trips to see parts of North America I haven't yet visited.

So, in 2025 and 2026 I will be doing a major overhaul of this 4Runner to replace anything that is worn-out, tired looking, broken, etc. I want to prep this care to carry me forward for another 150,000 to 200,000 miles.

In the process I may also do a few custom mods to update the appearance and try to improve on some capabilities, as in better lighting, better ground clearance, etc. So, it seemed like a good idea to sign-up to this forum as I expect to come here from time to time seeking opinions, knowledge, guidance, advice, etc. I'm looking forward to talking 4Runners with many of you. Cheers!

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Welcome

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! Love the "white letters out" on the Dunlops!

 

Welcome

 

welcome

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

If it hasnt already, its soon to start leaking freon from the o-ring fittings on the evaporator. Its not mileage, its time that kills the o-rings and causes the leaks in the AC system. Its not a fun thing to do but it takes a fair bit of labor and time and help, pulling the front seats, entire dash down to the firewall, to get to the evaporator inside the box above the passengers floorboard. The line set has an o-ring on each line, and that line set bolts to the evaporator core. Those two o-rings eventually dry out and cause the freon to leak into the box. Normally it starts with needing to add freon once a year, then it turns into twice a year, then 3 or 4 times a year, then after about 2-3 years of this the o-ring blows out and you have to rip everything out.
This is a great time to drain the coolant and replace the coolant if you havent already. Replacing the coolant every 100,000 miles is pretty imperative in Toyotas and helps things last a lot longer. While i am in there i normally replace the drier and heater core just to be safe.
Wheel bearings normally go 175,000-250,000 but i suspect you are probably getting towards the point the wheel bearings may need looking at, and possibly replacing before they go bad and cause you downtime.
Your 4wd should have greasable u-joints, if you have been maintaining them and greasing them you should be good but if not they definitely need to be greased. On the off-chance you got the non-greasable sealed units they are likely starting to get dry. Those sealed u-joints seem to last around 200,000-250,000 before they start running dry and squeaking and getting hot which typically wears them out VERY quickly there after
If you have been replacing the coolant every 100,000 miles you should be ok, if you have not been replacing the coolant and are still on the OEM coolant, you may want to get a new thermostat housing and thermostat housing gasket. Over time the coolant gets acidic and an electric charge to it, this eats the rubber gasket up on the thermostat housing which will cause it to leak and drip water on the fan that blows coolant all over the under side of the hood. Even if preventative, replacing that thermostat housing gasket should be something to think about.
The engine is virtually bulletproof, if you havent already replace the spark plugs with OEM Toyota, not Amazon or ebay (knock offs) buy the OEM REAL Toyota plugs. Running worn plugs too long eats the coil packs up over time making them work harder to generate the spark needed. Its crazy rare to see anything go bad on the engine on the 06+, water pumps last forever, timing chains and guides go 500,000+ they just keep running and running. BE SURE to change the plugs if you havent already.

 

Welcome to the forum!

It was mentioned that the engine is bulletproof, and it is...IF...you have a "Build Date" of 12-05 or later, if it was built before that it has the old designed head gaskets, which are known to blow/leak in some T4Rs, you can find the build date on the VIN sticker on the driver's door jamb, check the date so you'll know if you should be concerned, if you have the early head gaskets and have to replace them at some point buy OEM Toyota sells only the new designed gaskets now.

 

Welcome to the forum!