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Mine hasn't changed much modification wise recently, but I'm currently in Oregon in the middle of a road trip so I have done a lot of maintenance recently.
- New O2 sensors (refer to my comments in a different thread cursing the location of the plug for the front one)
- New lower ball joints
- New outer tie rod ends
- Alignment
- Tires balanced
- New u-joint in the rear driveshaft
- Used (50%+ tread) 265/75/16 BFG AT for the spare tire ($35 mounted!)
Oh, and can't forget the new factory rear wiper blade.
A couple of days ago the truck rolled 110k miles which was exciting.
Overall the truck is doing great and my wife and I plan to keep it for a long time. There are two issues I want to resolve though.
1) My clutch is still very heavy. I flushed clutch fluid which didn't help, and I adjusted the clutch pedal which also didn't help. A local mechanic thinks someone installed an aftermarket clutch at some point, but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I think the clutch is old and either something is sticking or the pressure plate has an issue.
2) My tires are howling and I've got some weird vibrations. I had been trying to track down a vibration at ~60mph which was the reason for many of the changes listed above. I thought I had it fixed, but now it is back. Also, when the tires were balanced they rotated them and my Maxxis Bighorns are now really loud and annoying. I think the vibration is partly the tread of the tires wearing, and mostly that nobody seems to understand the difference between lug centric and hub centric when balancing the tires. I'm seriously thinking of going to an aggressive AT instead of the MTs I have now.
Other than the above, everything is great. Like Ken I am strongly considering installing a new headunit with modern features.
- Matt
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We've had a busy summer so I'm using the 4Runner more than anything else. Camping, day trips, some fishing, volunteering and logging miles. I know Sean just hit 200k, I think I'm at 157k.
Here's a load for a camping trip. 4 days, 3 nights with 37 kids and even fewer parents.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...524_071408.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8...524_071433.jpg
Recently I replaced the factory tail lights with some Eagle Eye LED ones. I have my bike on the rear bike rack at least 5 days a week and people don't tend to respect following distances. On any other day I'd say bring it on but with a bike, that I really like, that is close to the value of the 4Runner I decided some brighter brake lights were in order. I also installed a small red LED light I got from superbrightleds.com to my home made bike rack to come on with the brake lights. I had to tap into the brake light circuit which took some time and was slightly a PITA. In the end the Eagle Eyes make the bike rack light like a tiny spark, figures.
Last week or so I finally decided to fill a bucket with soap and water. This was the first real wash since last Thanksgiving. It rained a little here and there so I'd sponge it down but nothing fancy.
I did manage to use the drop gate on my trailer to put a nasty dent on my rear tail gate. It looks really bad and was inches away from the window. Since the 4Runner was all loaded up for a trip to the coast I was glad it didn't break the window but it still messed up the metal. I've taken it two dent repair places and both said they would leave it as is. Any work started at $300.
Whilst out driving around I've seen the Bing and Google street mapping vehicles quite a bit lately. Here is a shot from the Bing-mobiles one day after work. It's a pretty good image of the current state of my 4Runner...along with my sh!t eating grin.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...s800/First.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...800/Second.jpg
By the looks of the picture my bike looks invisible which is probably why people tailgate so closely.
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^^ I like the 87-88 era grille.
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It also has the 87 "4wheelDrive 4Runner" rear badge and shift knobs. I miss my old 87 :D
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I really like that....
I wonder how well the 85 grill hanging in my garage would fit on my '04 Taco?
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The Taco is pretty much stock these days, other than a set of bigger tires and some rock sliders. I really don't have any time or money for anything. I got a scholarship to CSU Fullerton so school and work consumes all my time. My girlfriend consumes all of the money (don't tell her I said that)! I wasn't even able to make it to Pismo last year because I've been so busy.
I want to go do some wheeling though, just needs to be while school is out!
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I can't win with my 4Runner it seems.
This past winter I got it road worthy again for the winter by returning it to 4.10 with an open rear.
Went and hit the trails a few weeks ago.
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc8e7a65a.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps01c1e6df.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psdbe0df89.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps23089488.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps4c498f45.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps015ab70e.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psba732d7b.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps984ebe35.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psf644f0ff.jpg
Current state of Tess:
Needs:
Rack and Pinon
Power Steering Pump
Windshield (crack started middle of winter)
In some of the pictures you can see where my drivers side rear flare came off,
Well when that happen that exposed some seriously bad rust on the body, just after putting a new frame on the truck this is what I got.
The interesting thing is the passenger side is perfectly fine, which leads me to believe it was a bad repair job from the body shop when I was broad sided years ago. Currently trying to figure out how I want to tackle this new Rust issue...
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Avy - that's exactly why I would never wheel a DD. I dont know how you put up with that headache.
A DD with rust is an issue that needs a correct repair, with good body work and paint.
A wheeler never needs good body work and paint cause its a waste of money to beat it up, so my wheeler would get wire wheeled, POR 15, and rattle can paint.
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Chris,
I don't nessisarily dd Tess anymore, I have the Camry for that now.
She is a trailer queen in my mind but I still drive her on the street.
Once I get the rack and pump replace and a new windshield I'll be registering it in DE and not having to deal with PA stupid laws.
I will probably cut out what I can and do a sime patch, I like having an enclosed body, I just don't see myself making it a buggy.