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

Lost Trails' 4th Gen lopro winch bumper 20% discount code GROUP20 is LIVE through 10Aug at 11:59PM PST. Anyone can use it, not just those who indicated interest.

 

That’s a great deal! Thanks for the post!! Unfortunately, I have a couple of other things to square away on mine before adding a new bumper.

 

I cleaned up the threads on the mounts for the lower engine cover (skid plate) with a hand tap wrench, a tap set from Home Depot and a little Tap Magic cutting fluid. I also replaced the old worn down bolts with new M8x1.25 that are 25mm long. I had one of the old ones, photo below, strip out when I changed my oil last weekend.

 

One of my favorite mods was aftermarket skid plate with a hole for access to the drain bolt, and a fumoto oil drain valve. Easy money baby. Don't even have to jack it up or remove skids. Oil filter is in engine bay on my V6. Soooo easy.

 

Noticed Front RHS brakes were squeaking, so though id need to replace pads. parts ordered so off i went.

1st issue - whoever last took the wheels off way over torqued them going back on, so i snapped 2 lug studs in the process of removal... quick run to an auto parts store for replacements.

2nd issue - to remove the snapped lug studs, the caliper and rotor needs to come off. same issue with the caliper bolts. Had to use the bottle jack to press the wrench + bar to get them out, luckily they didnt snap.

3rd issue - rotor stuck on, still in VGC so no need to replace so then i proceeded to take apart bikes and stuff in the garage to get the right sized bolts to prise the rotor off the hub. Managed to find one holding together a folding beach chair thought.

Finally got everything off, new lug studs on so took a look at the caliper and pads. They are thick and look pretty new, but one of the return springs had snapped which i think was the noise creator. duly replaced and everything went back on fine.

classic, a 5 min job turned into about 4 hours of sweat and swearing.... off to the beach in it next weekend though!

 

Story of my life! Hahah I'm glad you figured it out and she's back to your standards! The struggle is real!

 

coming in on 375,000 miles so it was time to do some stuff. replaced power steering pump, alternator, and 2 idler pulleys, changed out the power steering fluid, the brake fluid and the coolant.

Next up is to install the iconic fabrication transmission cooler in prep to drive as far north as you can drive in the United States: Deadhorse

 

Wow! Nice work on keeping her smiling! Those replacement lasts will be great to know they're sounds while in your trip north!! Make sure you have 10ply tires and a sound spare!!

 

I drive it a few times a year and ALWAYS take 2 spares, I cannot tell you the number of times that has saved me!

 

Finished up the Transmission cooler install and did a fluid change for the transmission. The Iconic Fabrication bracket with the Hayden 698 cooler kit was super easy to install and already seems to be keeping things 10-20 degrees cooler.

Also had the Alaska Toyota Tuner give my rig a fresh tune and WOW what a difference. smoother shifting much more power and much faster to respond to pedal inputs. I wish I had done that a while back!

 

What platform, VFT? are you rocking the v6 or v8? Great results on the cooler and it looks great, too!

 

Added the Pro Grill.. miss the v8 badge though...

 

Took the family down to the outerbanks this weekend, nice bit of beach driving for the 4runner!

 

One of my favorite places. “Haze” is blowing sand. LOL

 

Road trip to Finger Lakes, 5-Tire Rotation and Full Maintenance Wash upon return.

 

What have I done to my 4th Gen 4Runner today? Apparently I pissed her off. Radiator hose popped off and splooged coolant everywhere. Was able to get the hose back on, top her off and get home with the temp creeping up. If it wasn't so old and have some other issues going on I wouldn't think to much of it so we'll see. She must've gone through my phone and seen I was looking at other 4Runners last night...letting her cool off then I'll see just how fudged I am. If I'm never heard from again, it was her.

 

Faaang! Nothing like a forced drain and fill! I hope she's purring again and feeling loved!

 

Fingers crossed Threw 3 codes so I'll be saving on gas for a little while

 

Hahaha I too, get my best MPGs when it's not running!!

 

I didn't think about taking before pics, but I cleaned up my headlights this morning and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I didn't do a full sand and re-coat (just did that on my '08 Tundra a few weeks back), the abrasive from a good polish was enough to get most of the yellow and haze off on this one after 2 coats.






Here's the funny part of the story - the driver side headlight was the clear one before I started. When I got it, someone had put an aftermarket replacement on, but of course it had condensation and leakage issues. I replaced it with a used OEM light, but even that was less yellow than the passenger side. After the buffing, now the passenger light is the clearer and less yellow one. But either way, it's a big improvement from the mismatched lights and one being full of moisture. And I'd say for being 22 years old, the old gal cleaned up alright.

In case anyone's interested...here's the before and after on the more thorough job I did with the Tundra. I also replaced the grille and the bottom plastic insert of the bumper, so it was more of a facelift project. I should have cleaned everything for the after pic, haha.

 

Nice work! That cleaned up nicely! That should keep any evening drives more comfortable, with the perk of keeping these platforms fresh looking!