2002 Limited Owner Needs Advice

Hello 4Runner Owners.

I own a 2002 4Runner Southern California that I purchased about 5 years ago. I previously owned an Isuzu Trooper.

I use these in off road use as a gold nugget prospector. I have many detectors for the beach and deserts. My primary desert sites are California, Arizona and Nevada.

The only 'up grade' I've done to my 4Runner is put Cooper Tires on it. The 4WD and transmission are working just fine. It is getting near 200,000 miles. It smells a bit from gasket leaks. I can take it on long trips up to 80 mph as long as it is straight and level.

The big problem with it right now is the suspension. The swerve/stability light alarm comes on and it 'grabs' the wheel mostly on the left side. On my last trip to the Barstow deserts I could hear metal on metal. It is a second vehicle that is parked on the street most of the time.

I need to make some decisions about it as to repair/sale. Maybe I can find someone on the forums here who would give me an evaluation and I could have them fix it up if it is worth it. I don't have the ability to work on it myself but I like the idea of having a 4Runner with just liability insurance.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome. As far as the truck, in generalities, you're looking at roughly a few Gs. And you never know exactly what the metal to metal sound is until you rip apart the engine......could be small like replacing a worn out pulley. Our blown pistons. You just don't know.

So you either calculate your finances and see about repair or using that money for a different truck.

 

Oh, the metal to metal sound was from the 'bumps' on the rocks in the suspension like the 'bumpers' or bushings or whatever have broken or cracked.

The engine I can live with for now with putting a little more oil in it. It is the suspension parts I need someone to take a look at and see if the truck is solid enough.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

welcome

 

Welcome

 

As a side note: at 200k, if the radiator hasn’t been replaced, replace it. Are you aware of the strawberry milkshake?

 

I have replaced the radiator. Thanks.

 

Then that's probably a bushing gone or something like that. Just a lot of crawling around down there. Probably not as expensive depending on location of issue. The question there is how far so you want to go swapping or upgrading suspension?

I finally broke down and purchased a leveling kit for my 5th gen. Those things get up there.

 

I'm willing to put a bit of money into it if I end up with something that will drive for a few more years. When I wanted to get the brakes worked on I went to a local independent brake shop and they would not touch it. They said something about this system was problematic. I asked around and found a local home garage mechanic and he replaced all the brakes and also did my other car and things have been fine for over 2 years. I'd pay someone experienced to fix things up if I could find someone in Southern California like that. Shop time labor here now is over $100 hr and we all know that a 1 hour job is billed as a 2.5 hour job!

 

well, i did my own brakes so that wasn't bad. Maybe some of these SoCal guys can recommend you someplace. I know things are massively more expensive over there.

 

I'd be 'willing' to drop it off some other location and let it be worked on for a few weeks.