What have you done to your 5th Gen 4Runner today?

didn't do much other than clean it lol

 

I've had parts laying around for 3 months. Finally found motivation to do at least a little.

Rear diff oil replaced with Valvoline 75W-90 in the bags. Holy crap, that makes life super easy. Try it.

Coolant replaced with Peak pink Asian formula.

Both services were done at 58k, I'm now at 113k. Next up: front diff/transfer case (will use proper 75W there), and Toyota WS ATF. While the RCI's are off down below, I also will use Valvoline NLGI #2 red grease on the prop shaft.
I have the accessory belt and Denso plugs also. The plug job looks, um, a bit difficult. But I'll figure it out. $340 in maintenance parts and zero labor is the way to go.

 

First coat

 

Doneskie

 

Fun day today!

Installed the canvasback liner. Great product.
https://www.canvasback.com/toyota-4runner-cargo-liners-36552.html


Installed rear black valance from 4RL. Fit was not as clean as the front valance which was perfect, almost smoother than OEM. Few rough tabs and theres a bit of a gap in the back I need to figure out.



Deleted mudflaps with ark since I had the entire rear bumper off anyways.
https://www.4runnerlifestyle.com/products/ark-4runner-mud-flap-deletes?_pos=1&_sid=ad43ae374&_ss=r



Wired up the Yota Xpedition aux power stuff but the wire crimp went bad so I have to put it on pause until I run to the hardware store tomorrow.
https://yotaxpedition.com/products/8-button-auxiliary-power-kit-bracket-4runner



Fit was pretty good, the bracket comes REALLY close to touching the brake lines and some hoses. Will have to do some finessing but its real nice quality. Moving the second fuse box to get it to fit wasnt too bad.

Installed the Morimoto XB tail lights, super sexy sequential signals. Had to pull one out after I screwed it in because I noticed the side wasn't flush with the body of the 4Runner, there's a clip on the side of the tail lights that's easy to miss and you can install it without it slid in which will make it protrude out of the body by about half a centimeter. Very simple install.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to finish the aux power, then get my Morimoto XB amber headlights in, along with the raptor lights and AJT fang lights that I will wire to the switch board. Then swapping the fog lights with Morimoto 4banger amber.

Then I will be pretty close to done with the initial cosmetic mods! Almost at 1k miles too.

 

899-mile break-in oil and filter change in progress.

Once it had drained to a drip every 3 seconds, I put in one new quart. I'll let it keep dripping for the next hour.

I haven't even cracked open the filter yet. I'll probably just add a photo to this post. Looks a little like the psycho bathtub scene in the picture.

 

some real david lynch vibes here

 

Now the secret is out! Toyota uses the blood of children who have been eating fried food all week for their OEM oil!

Please don't sue me Toyota, I'm not saying you use actual children's actual blood, I'm just insinuating it.

UPDATE:

HOLY FREAKING COW!

I've watched plenty of YouTube videos, I see the larger chunks in the filter. I saw a guy with a microscope going on about how few particles were in there (of course I questioned how he took the sample out from the bottom of his drain pan, very sloppy and not scientific)...

I tried to take a picture of the pearlescent paint looking oil involved. That didn't quite work, although I got something that shows the larger chunks.

Standing over it ,it captures light. There are some larger particles in there, not even digging through the filter yet this is just the amount drained from the oil filter housing.

Now I'm wondering if I should have done it at 500 miles like I originally was telling people I would do.

Now, it's easy to say that that was all trapped in the filter medium and wasn't flowing through the system. Here's the thing, if it's trapped in the filter fibers, it's not coming out like it did. It would have been trapped within the fibrous media. I don't know how many microns these filters go down to, for some reason I thought 20 microns but that might be some fancy air filter...

I want my 4Runner to last until the United States puts freaking nuclear energy plants at every corner for all that mandated electric car crap, then I want my kids to keep it for another decade after that... Getting rid of these nano-sized abrasives seems to be a good first step.

 

Damn, I'm getting ready to do my break-in oil change soon. Almost 900 miles. Don't think I'll be able to take as good of lynchian victorian horror purple opium fueled bathtub esque photos but I will try

 

They say that oil is the lifeblood of your engine. To make an awkward Star Trek: Voyager reference, it looks like there's Seven's nanotechnology in that blood. Especially in that updated photo...

 

The only proper thing to do is take a shot of your used motor oil and chase it down with some everclear

 

I, uhhh, removed the rear valance. Or, should I say that it was removed naturally on a trail.

Ps: anyone in the S/E Wisconsin area looking to get rid of a rear bumper valance? Preferably one that still has clips??



Nevermind the Bluetooth speakers. I was in the process of packing up when I took the picture.

 

https://nguyenworksusa.com/shop/ols/products/5th-gen-4runner-plated-low-rear-bumper

 

Too much $$$ right now.

 

If you want to pay for shipping (no idea what it costs) I have one sitting in the garage right now

 

Finally replaced the OEM front brake pads on my 2019, at 118,980 miles. Comparison to the new ones:

 

Based on what I learned when I looked into shipping my front valence to someone a few years ago, it's not worth it. But, thank you!

 

Get the part number, go to parts.toyota.com

After checking all of the prices of your local dealerships, add the ZIP code 36606 and select Springhill Toyota in Mobile Alabama.

They've got all sorts of special pricing going on this weekend at 15% off, if you need to increase the size of the order for free shipping, oil filters, crush washers and air filters are always wonderful stocking stuffers.

They do up to $200 in free shipping with a minimum $75 order. My own order this weekend was $173 in shipping and included plastic trim pieces that were maybe 15 inches to 18 inches long. On the order, it looked like they saved me $300 with the discount and shipping, regular dealer discount on the parts and then the extra 15% off.

If your shipping comes to $205, you only pay $5.

 

Were your brake pads made in Japan?

I recently ordered OEM pads for my kid's RAV4... Made in Japan, baby!

PS I nearly shat myself, I started my just changed oil 4Runner and backed off the ramps and saw big puddle of oil.

It's that stupid bracket that caught a bunch of it when I took the filter housing off. Argh. Nearly started some cardiac arrest I've never had a leaky oil filter.

 

Fixed some minor rust starting on the welds

I did add some woolwax after the pic

 

They were the original pads that were on the truck when I bought it in 2018. Most miles I’ve ever gotten on a front set. I replaced the rears around 92k miles. Oddly, the rears typically wear more quickly these days, I’ve read.

 

Similar to my experience. I did my rears last year. The fronts are still hanging on, but they're getting close. Currently at 102-103K miles.

The rears might wear more quickly just due to being smaller. . Not sure how they're proportioned, though.

 

I don't generally do my own vehicle maintenance but with the 4Runner about to hit 5,000 miles, I figured I'd do the maintenance myself. So I just did the world's most expensive tire rotation and oil change.... On top of the 7 quarts of oil (5 gallon jug and two extra quarts) and filter, I had to buy a jack, 4 jack stands, oil drain pan, filter housing removal tool and a funnel.

All done. Didn't even have any parts left over. So I got that going for me.. which is nice.

 

Thank you for sharing. That is the low profile bumper I didn’t know existed. Love it.

 

Installed the ABS bugflector today. Not pictured is the white vinyl I cut to protect the front grille where the bugflector touches the paint.

I’m 3 weeks into ownership and already noticed one slight rock chip. I hope this helps !

 

Where did you get the black hood scoop?

 

It's the pro scoop ...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=4runner+trd+pro+hood+scoop&_sacat=0

bam wholesale parts.com/oem-parts/toyota-hood-scoop-7618135080?c=Zz1ib2R5JnM9ZXh0ZXJpb3ItdHJpbS1ob29kJmw9MjAmbj1Bc3NlbWJsaWVzIFBhZ2UmYT10b3lvdGEmbz00cnVubmVyJnk9MjAyMyZ0PXRyZC1wcm8mZT00LTBsLXY2LWdhcw%3D%3D

 

Came with it. TRD pro !

 

Wow already 119K on a 2019, damn.

 

Bought a Haul Master motorcycle carrier from good ole Harbor Freight and got myself a new toy. I definitely recommend it for lighter bikes/dirtbikes. Easy to load/unload and with a hitch tightener it was surprisingly solid throughout my entire drive. I will say though, cruising at 75mph on a hilly PA highway definitely brought on a bit of gear hunting with an additional ~320lbs hanging off the rear bumper.