New owner- things to check or must do mods?

Hey y'all,

Just bought a 2007 4Runner, SR5 Sport, with the 4.0 1GR and about 183K miles. Service history has been apparently "regular 3500 mile changes" but who knows, really.

Here's my initial list:
- oil change, filter, air filter
- cabin filter
- power steering fluid
- brake fluid
- sway bar bushings
- sway bar end links?
- tie rod ends?
- interior LED's
- possibly a new set of headlights (PO has some aftermarket retros in there that aren't in great shape)
- pull a plug and see what kind of shape they're in, possibly replace

There's a clunk in the front that I'm guessing is one of the bushings somewhere.


Maintenance items aside, any must have/must do mods? I came from a Tacoma and know there were a few quality of life mods I regretted not doing earlier.

 

Whoops, how dare I forget to include the obligatory pic:

 

Welcome from MD!

Few maintenance items for your consideration:
- all 3 diff fluid drain + refill/flush
- new water pump + thermostat (if you don't know if its been done, for peace of mind)
- new battery
- coolant flush
- grease your drive shafts
- grease every other thing you can find with a zerk
- new spark plugs, or at least verify spacing


Few mods for your consideration:
- HCF delete
- running board delete (unless your SO needs them)
- TPMS light delete (depending on how frequent you wheel)
- Fog + low/high beam mod (https://www.top4runners.com/ja/2007/fogmod.html)

Anything else you can think of... be sure to include pics!

 

Welcome from northern NY. Good looking rig

 

Oh man, I forgot about the diffs, I did those on the taco about six months before I sold it and I'm still getting whiffs of gear oil in the corner of the garage. You're right though, I should to those too. Battery is new-er, about a year old, so that's nice.

HCF? Not sure what that acronym is, sorry. Search wasn't helpful either, just folks in their signatures with it.

Fog anytime looks like the same relay mod that it was on the tacoma, that should be an easy one.

Not sure about the running boards yet. My fiance is 5'2" and may like them, but I'm already annoyed of hitting my calf on it when I step out.

Also spent an hour or so this morning looking at new head units. Looks much easier to change out than the tacos. No dash surround or anything needed which'll be nice.


Random question: the center console latch, on the underside of the lid, is that supposed to have a spring or be springy? Mine just kind of flops and doesn't feel real secured.

 

When we first got ours we did a seafoam flush and it did wonders.

 

nice rig...welcome

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

So many parts bought:

- PCV valve
- wiper blades all around
- front sway bar end links
- front sway bar bushings
- spark plugs
- main belt
- a haynes manual (always buy one for my vehicles)
- interior LED lights and plate lights
- fog lamp bulbs
- brake fluid
- ATF for PS
- center console latch
- the little rubber cover for the hatch button/handle (mine is all gooey and gross for some reason...)
- oil filter
- air filter
- cabin air filter
- valve stem caps (they don't match and it irks me)
- a set of crush washers for all 3 diffs
- injector cleaner
- license plate bolt set (to replace the rusty ones on there now)
- radiator cap


Still need to pick up gear oil and coolant. Should be a good couple weekends, woo.

 

I'm not into cures in a can, but this stuff is the real deal.

https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Purple...purple+injector+cleaner&qid=1622826038&sr=8-3

fwiw

 

Well, just ordered new coilovers for up front and shocks for the rear. I don't do much offroad anymore so just went with KYB gas a just pre-builts. Seems to be real hard to find anyone with 5100s in stock and these fit the budget.

I drove around this evening and just about got sea sick from how little the (I'm assuming) original shocks were doing to damp. Just bouncing everywhere ugh.

 

Welp. Guess I better start stocking up on stuff. My suggestion would be to go Amsoil for all the lubes. My 96 Taco with 400k thanks me every day for it. Used Amsoil from the first oil change I ever did...and every 20 to 30k miles after.

 

HCF is the hydro-carbon filter. So when you open up your engine bay air filter to swap to something better, there should be a separate flimsy little thin screen between the top of the filter and the rest of the housing going towards the engine. That is the HCF. Toyota installed it as a quick response to all of the new EPA regulations back when. Does it reaaallyy need to come out? Eh probably not. Is it just some thing else marginal effect that is one more thing in the way of getting air into the engine? Yep. So, I like many others just rip it out.


Also, when you look into greasing your drive train. Make sure to follow the manual, one of the spec pages in the back will stipulate exactly what the requirement is - look for something like NLGI 2 lithium grease or moly grease. Cause it matters for the longevity of your spider joints and slip yokes