Gremlins took over my life, and my "new" to me 4Runner TRD Pro! (Long + Pictures)

Wow, that’s quite the experience you’ve had so far. Buying used can be hit or miss. I’ve had good luck with three of my four previous vehicles. If it wasn’t for the price of used 4Rs going for only a couple thousand less than a new 4R, we probably would have bought a used one as well. Here’s to hoping the mismatched tires were the last of your problems so you can finally stop worrying and start enjoying it.

 

Man, nice one on getting it freshened up, but you have a lot more patience than I do! I probably would have burned it down after finding the insects. (Kidding of course)

It really makes me wonder in truth, like someone else said, a TRD Pro to do farm chores? I do love the colour though, and don't think I've ever seen that colour locally. It definitely stands out from the rest!

Nice one, and here's to many more happy years. I don't think you should have any mechanical issues. Toyotas are designed to take a beating... I found this out in university, as my first car was a 1988 Toyota Cressida. My parents bought it brand new, then passed it down to me when I was ready to go off to school. I drove all over the country with it, while away, didn't change the oil for almost 2 years and almost 25,000 miles. I topped up when needed. Once I drove back to Texas from New York and my dad checked, the oil was like molasses. Lol. If I knew then what I know now, but never had trouble...

Cheers,

Sean

 

Great work man. Lots of effort for sure - but, also very rewarding.

 

That's crazy! If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for that Pro?


Note on the Nitto Ridge Grappler Tires. Those are an All Terrain / Mud Terrain hybrid.
https://www.nittotire.com/light-truck-tires/ridge-grappler-light-truck-tire/

I'm planning to add them on my next tire change in size 255/80/17.


You living in Michigan might want to look into 2 sets.
1. Dedicated snow tire on steel wheels.
2. Off Road Tires for everything else.

 

Quite honestly I am embarrassed to disclose, especially after everything I've gone through. I initially thought I got a good deal, especially after a day of negotiating him down $3,900 from his asking price. In hindsight I should've seen that as a red flag. As for tires, I will share that and a couple of pics in the next post.

 

HO-LY COW!

 

Update: If you've been keeping up with this post, you know I recently discovered the previous owner had two 265's & two 285's on the Pro. As of today I ditched those and purchased/installed brand new Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus in 265/70/R17. WHAT. A. DIFFERENCE. I have to say the ride is incredibly smooth, very quiet and overall feels like a huge improvement, especially for what I need out of a tire. I look forward to seeing if they perform well in wet and winter as advertised.

Also after all of the above discussion around the differential, I did decide to get the fluid changed in the front & rear differential, as well as the transfer case. Due to not having enough time in the day for at least the next two weeks, as well as a vacation coming up, I did decide to just take it to the Toyota dealership. I don't know if its a bit cringy to say I did that on the forum, but here we are. He stated there was no visible metal on the magnet, but still pulled a sample from the front/rear and transfer case to send to the labs. The original quote was hovering around the $400 mark for all three, but after a 25 minute conversation (yes; 25 minutes), we were able to get that price down to a flat $250 out the door. I don't know if that's good or not, but I included the receipt as well to see if any of you can see as to whether or not things look legitimate.

 

Great work in disinfecting that poor runner and making things right OP.
Now it can be properly loved in your hands. Congrats and enjoy!

 

Honestly $250 is a good price IMO for the hassle. Tires look good. Truck looks great. I wouldn't sweat the buying experience so much, you got a unique, reliable vehicle...and you're quickly restoring it back to an optimum state.

 

Don't beat yourself up on buying your 4Runner. I'm glad you bargained him down as much as you did considering all the work you had to do to get her clean and nice again. I think you did well getting the service you got from the dealer too. Yeah, most of us here like working on our vehicles but sometimes circumstances dictate getting some stuff done by someone else. I remember my neighbor wanting to sell his Durango years ago because he said it was terrible in the rain. His tires were junk and he got the Scorpions. He said it was a completely different vehicle. I think you'll be happy with them. All in all it's all good stuff. I'm thinking you'll get many years and miles of good, dependable service from your 4Runner and I'm really digging that color!

 

Properly loved is right! Thanks, will do!

Great to hear! I wasn't sure, and after getting them down to that price point I was shocked there was that much of a cushion for them to be able to do so. Either they took a hit to gain a customer, or there is a lot of padding in the mark up.

I appreciate the words! While it has been head shake after head shake, I do feel its in a much better, safer and cleaner place. Unless something else rears its ugly side, the only two things that really remain from a mechanical perspective are the brakes and an alignment. It's veering just a hair to the right when the steering wheel is perfectly centered. I am guessing that is just due to ...well, who knows what happened prior to, just know it needs correcting. I imagine it'll be OK for the next couple of weeks until I can get it in for the alignment.

 

A friend owns a dealership, and I've had talks with him about the service department. I'm sure they still did fine even at that $250 price point. I don't mind overpaying some if you're getting great service. However, in most dealerships, you overpay for poor service. As long as they actually do the work (I hate to say that but there's plenty of dishonest people out there), that service will last you a long time, as diff oils and transfer case oils don't really need to be changed all that often.

With all that said, now that you've got the situation under control, do it yourself next time and you'll find you have about $75 in oils, so you'll be able to complete the job for less than $100.

What I did find interesting, is that Toyota transfer case oil is normally $80/qt retail. They gave you a pretty primo rate on that stuff, meaning most of the $$ spent was in labor, and considering it's "lift work", 2 hours isn't an unreasonable amount of time to charge.

Sorry for the rambling.

 

I did think about whether or not the work, or all of the work was actually done. I spent time on the phone with a service advisor the day prior to get that price point, and when we went to schedule the service he asked if I could come in first thing the next morning, to which I agreed. He said great, come see me, I am the first desk. When I pull in the following AM, he's no where to be found. I was told by another service advisor that he was gone for the day, and that's when I was once again quoted nearly $400, telling me it could be +/- that, but he wont quite know until the work is done. That's when I informed him of his colleagues price point, to which he made a call to someone asking about fluid levels that the 4Runner takes, etc. (I can only hear bits of the conversation). He then got off the phone and said he misquoted me and that the 4Runner takes less fluid then he thought, coming back with a price point of $289. I said thanks, but no thanks, I will wait until the other service advisor comes back to work, or you can call him. He didn't let me walk, said he will honor the $250 and that was that. I asked to talk to the mechanic afterwards about the condition of the fluids (metals if any, etc), but the service advisor said the tech was probably too busy for me to ask questions, but that he would go ask on my behalf.

All in all, I was in/out in less than an hour because he said a lift happened to be available when I arrived. That seems pretty quick when I was originally told I would be waiting between 2-3 hours. I guess I can only hope they truly changed out the fluids in all 3 areas as there's really know way for me to know. I don't see what benefit they would get by not doing it.

 

Eh don't sweat it, if you had a lift you could easily do all 3 in an hour.

Easy way to tell, open the FILL plug (not drain) on the rear diff, stick your pinky or something in there, the fluid should be up to the top of the plug. Check color against a white paper towel. Amber = good. Brown = not good.

 

How nice a lift would be. I need to get to know the neighbor that has one, although it’s not quite a lift to work on as it is to store his classic so he can drive his daily under it.

I was looking at the receipt more and tried to find some supporting documentation, but does 1QT per diff seem like enough? As for the weight of oil, does that seem like their standard? Asking those who are very familiar with this process.

 

Yea a quart is likely fine. Transfer case is 1QT max. Front diff is like 1.3QT maybe. Rear diff is 2QT max, or somewhere close.

 

So with the rear diff being 2QT max, it appears they only used 1QT. Does that mean I was shorted a QT? If so, do I need to get the fixed? I also noticed there is a different description off what was used in the rear vs. the front. Sorry for all the questions, just want to learn so I know what to look for, and if I need to get anything squared away or leave as is.

 

That’s what I was thinking! Why use a TRD for feeding the cows and horses? Must of had money to blow!

 

I think money to blow is exactly it. As I mentioned elsewhere, I have the original paperwork and he paid for it in full - no lein.

 

OP

Ima do you a favor for your sanity

You got a sweet truck

It had some issues. You corrected them or paid a reputable shop to correct them

It's fine

I repeat.... it's fucking fine

It's a Toyota

Somali warlords drive them, overloaded as fuck, 4 different tires, transfer case using blood as lube, 65 octane gas, no air filter, battery made from a potato and gum wrapper... and they still go 300,000 miles before they meet an untimely end courtesy of an Apache gunship.

 

I imagine what they did was just quote you 1 qt so they can charge you less, as each quart would trigger additional work order price schedules. So essentially I believe they put the full amount in there but only documented 1 qt to save you money.

Like I said, it’s an easy check on the rear diff, the procedure is to pull the fill plug (drain is at the bottom, fill about midway up, it’s a bolt). You just add fluid until it begins seeping out slowly, then stop and let it drip until it stops, then reseal it.

Like the guy above said, these things are much harder to kill than you think. They are harder to even internally damage than you think. I’d not sweat it, but for you piece of mind, you might as well learn some simple checks and maintenance, because this truck is typically a money pit of fun mods and tinkering. Before you know it you’ll be a master-couch-YouTube certified mechanic like me!

 

Thats the way a lot of old Land Cruisers were treated as work vehicles. The previous owner just wanted a work vehicle and didn’t care, obviously. For some a 4 Runner is just a tough vehicle for work, and can haul anything - for others it is their best friend and showered with devotion and care worthy of a queen. Go figure. Kind of nice knowing that someone didn’t perceive it as a mall crawler - in a perverse sort of way.
Great job salvaging it!
My first vehicle was a year old Mini back in the day that a rich university student far from home trashed and sold for $100 at the end of his semester. His loss was my gain, and a few months later after fixing everything, I was one of the few students driving an almost new car to school every day.

 

Not to cast shadows on all the hard work, but you may want to take some time and pull the headliner out one day. Make sure there's no issues from the leaking. Just my .02

 

Mechanic said "you're going to need some new tires"... ... ... . A few years back "tirestone" put mismatched tires on my girls Yaris, while i was deployed. She just swapped out the two fronts and they just went with what "the computer listed".

 

When I first read this I was thinking flood vehicle! What a great job cleaning this rig up!