Newbie with '03 V8 Limited

Had to get rid of my old '77 Land Cruiser FJ40 - getting too old/broken to work on the old war horse, not to mention trying to withstand the ride quality, lol. Needed a stout truck to take me to work (Construction) and something my old German Shepherd could get in/out easier. Was looking for a Tundra, but almost all of them were either shot or rusted out frames. Ended up with a decent enough deal on the 4Runner with 183k on the clock and decent service record - I'm the 3rd owner.

So far, I like it. Not fond of the stupid dash guage lamps dimming in auto lamps mode or anytime the headlights aren't in the ON position - I'm blind enough as it is and can't see the gauges worth a rip - need to address that one. Already did the dome light mod and went further by adding a couple of 1-N4004 diodes to prevent the map lights from turning on all the dome lights at night - works great as well as the map lights working like they should have from the factory with the interior entry lamp system.

Need to put tires on it after tax time, this summer it will need another timing belt and do something with the exhaust manifolds - has a cold engine leak/crack on the driver's side already.
Gotta figure out a decent cupholder setup - the stock one is a bad joke. Going to add in an auxiliary dual USB charging outlet to the right side of the dash as well as one in the back cargo area for work. Already put in a Proclip phone mount plate on the center console - that helped a lot. Amazing how little room there is in the console for the size of the interior, but it is what it is. Gotten spoiled with my '14 Dodge Ram 1500 Big Horn - that one is huge but I appreciate how well it's laid out.

Anyhow - spending time reading the posts/info here, hope I can contribute as well in some way.

Sarge

 

Welcome the group Sarge

 

Thanks.
Still figuring out photos - was going to add a pic of the old Cruiser, as well as the 4Runner.

Sarge

 

damn I love those things...

 

Well, pfft - there it is, hmm.

Guess I have to figure out how to edit where the photo ends up on the page - some of these forum layouts are well beyond my pay grade, lol.

Sarge

 

I miss the Cruiser something fierce, but it was really starting to rot out from living outside. No garage here and that alone was taking too much of a toll on it. That old '77 still had the original straight six and was strong as an ox, regularly beat it down the interstates at 70mph+ - never once complained other than a whole lot of fuel. Been quite a change going from that very basic, simple and brutually heavy SUV to this 4Runner, which is more like a car than a truck to me. Kind of starting to understand the whole draw of folks to these boxy new SUV platforms - they are quite handy. If I hauled groceries in the Cruiser, things that were fragile had to ride in the front passenger seat - otherwise it would make scrambled eggs for you on the way home. Yeah, they ride that hard - not kidding. More like driving a farm tractor at high speed, which is basically what the older model Land Cruisers were designed to be. The front axle alone with no wheels weighed far more than the 4Runner's engine, trans and transfer cases combined - and you felt it every minute. But, smiles per mile were like nothing else - I'd own another one in a heartbeat if I could keep it out of the weather.

Sarge