3rd Gen for my son

Hello All,

I am the typical American shade tree mechanic. I am very good with everything from the 80's through the 90's as I grew up working on the family vehicles out of necessity. I am a bit longer in years (38) and some would still call me a young man. I am ok with that. Point is, my son, Zac (15), just bought his very first truck. He went with a silver 3rd Gen with 125k miles. Good pick I think, but I know NOTHING about Toyota.

However I have been working on Fords most of my life. Lots of great experience there. But i can tell you this Yota is different. It spent a few winters in Rhode Island and here we are dealing with rust like I have never seen (we live in Houston). Just bought a grand worth of MOOG front suspension components just to address the rust/loose steering and all that. This is the first of many projects on this 3rd Gen. I hope to be engaged and garner as much knowledge as I can from you seasoned 4Runner owners. Its all for the kids HA!

Thanks.

-SergeantWortham

 

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

Welcome to the forum, you probably should check the frame really good for rust damage, if you haven’t already. Thanks for your service.

 

Semper Fi, Brother.

This forum, and YotaTech as well, are both great sources of information. Having said that, do what you can to find an FSM for your son's truck. THAT will be a fantastic source of info for that 4Runner.

I'm no more than a shade-tree mech myself, but the FSM (Factory Service Manual) let me change out the head in my 87 Runner, without asking for help from any one. This was before the wide spread advent of forums, or much of anything else on the "net". Yeah, there were BBS's, but that's about it. I didn't even ask the mechs out at my work site. They taught me a ton of stuff, BTW. How to arc weld, and TiG weld, too. Braising, cutting, how to change the bearings in the pickup's drive shaft, a lot of stuff. But the FSM was my guide through the whole thing. Every nut, bolt, screw, and gasket, what parts can be reused and how to make sure they were good enough to be, and so on.

A paper version of the FSM may be fairly hard to find, and a bit, ok, a BIG bit, expensive, but some diligence will locate a PDF copy. Save it off to a few places, on different computers so you have a copy no matter what breaks. Also, your son will be able to study it, and pick up the little tid-bits.

But hey, feel free to ask any questions you might have Also, if you would, include the year, engine model, manual or auto trans, all that general sort of info about the truck. That helps us, help you.
BTW, my daughter, Arwen (yeah, I'm a fantasy/sci-fi geek), learned to drive in my pickup. I even let her use it after she graduated boot camp and got stationed at Pendleton. Yep, she's a fellow Marine too. I made her learn as I worked on it, and eventually, she could wok on it very comfortably. Now, she wants to tech HER three sons to drive a manual in it. Three generations of drivers in the Toyota should tell you something about their longevity and reliability. At least two of her sons are planning on joining as well

Sorry, I ramble. Good luck to ya!
Pat☺
Sgt, USMC

 

Awesome advice. I will find the FSM.

Congratulations on being the father of a Marine! That's great news. Thank you and your daughter for your service.

 

Oh there is rust. Lots and lots of superficial rust, but actually a couple of spots that must be addressed. Main concern at this point is finding steering knuckles for it. I would like a pair for the front that have bearings already installed. I cant find them anywhere.

 

Welcome Allen, thank you very much for your service.

 

And thank you for yours!