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

We had a nice rain the other week while I was driving and I noticed drips coming in from the rear hatch. Opened it up and found a nice big gash in the rear seal, yay.



Turns out that seal is kind of expensive, $110 I think. It came in last week and I replaced it today, took all of three minutes to pull the old one and press the new one on. It even came pre-lubed/greased/whatever goop is on the inside.

Part #:

 

Changed the fluid in both diffs and the transfer case, dropped the spare tire for easy access and took the opportunity to lube up the cable mechanism, too. Only moments of cussing were when two of the four mid skid mounting bolts snapped add fixing that to next weekend's list..


Front diff was a pain in the dick, per usual, but I did the method I learned from when I had my Taco and changed the fluid on that one.
1) cut or grind the tip of your 10mm hex to be extra flat and sharp and fit in as snug as possible. Make sure the hole is as cleaned out as you can get it. You need a very good fit
2) use an all-metal ratchet and get it lined up at about a 45 degree angle from straight down, with the hex in the hole
3) use your three ton floor jack to push up on the ratchet handle and break the bolt loose
4) be amazed when your ratchet doesn't break and it actually pops it loose with no damage to or rounding off of the stupid head of the bolt

 

Cleaned and painted my mid skid, and drilled out/riv nut-ed the two broken bolts on the mounts. Pain in the ass, but the two skids will look nice being all fresh black together. Tomorrow I'm hoping to drain/fill the trans real quick (would have done it today but both my 24mm sockets are deep and the floor pan is in the way) and then monday the windshield is getting replaced.

Woo.

 

Well, this is kind of becoming my build thread I guess… crickets… kidding.


Today did a drain and fill on the transmission. Took a couple tries to get it into temp check mode, the first two times I did the sequence I had the AC on and it failed to enter the right mode. You have to have it off, apparently.

After that did the engine accessory belt real quick like, then chased a couple of the non-snapped skid plate holes and bolted the plates back on.

Noticed my AC hose dangling there and just happened to have a silicone hose that fit the ID so did a quick drain hose mod and ran it out the wheel well away from the cat.



Then lastly I reorganized my rear storage. Finally found another 10 gallon sterilite tote at wally world the other day to fit under the cargo deck. Tempted to buy a third so the two color match haha


Tomorrow is new windshield and hopefully new headlights arrive!

 

New headlights are on! Much easier than I expected. One side didn’t have the 4th bolt in, the other did. Put new high and low lamps in, then realized both parking lights were burnt out and replaced those after the pic and dinner. Pretty pleased overall, they were Akkon brand black housing for about $145 off Amazon. Ill probably end up pulling them at some point and doing a quick silicon seal around the edges just as extra insurance against water/condensation.

Oh, and a new windshield!

EDIT: these headlights failed real quick. The black around the turn signal lamps melted completely. Don't buy lol.

 

Definitely do the extra bead of silicone... Mine just failed lol

 

Wasn't today but rather last week. Got into a pickle when exploring the mountains and a cloudburst came through and turned the road into mush. Also got to assist in the rescue of a red Chevy pickup that tried to slide down into a ravine. I hate mud. The ol' T4R did pretty good though.

 

The 4th gen section of this forum has always been pretty slow. I still like this place better than the other forum though.

 

Me too!

 

Well, they didn’t even last long enough to need silicone. Yesterday my left turn signal went out, today the right. Went to swap out lamps figuring I had just touched the bulbs with oily hands or something. Both melted the housing of the lamp so they were cracked and stuck. Ugh.

 

What wheels are those?

 

Level 8 MK6 17x9 Gunmetal. these are the -12 offset. I don't like the center caps so I run without and think it looks pretty sharp.

 

Swapped back to my old crusty headlights, sigh.

But, sent the pictures off to the Amazon seller and got the $ refunded on the "AKKON" all black headlights, yay. In case anyone was curious, this is what they looked like after maybe six hours of use:



The area around the turn signal lamp had melted down onto both lamps, it was real bizarre. It was around 100 degrees for a few days, but even then, I wouldn't expect a freaking headlight to melt.

 

When mine needed new headlights I considered getting black housings. What I read however was most of them use black plastic inserts that can melt in the heat and sun. Lots of people have issues with the plastic melting just below the projector lens actually, seems the lens can catch the sun and focus it on that spot. Seems weird that you'd see melting around the turn signal housing though. I ended up just getting some OEM like TYC housings from RockAuto. So far they've been all right, beam pattern isn't terrible either.

 

They aren't having me return the melted ones, so I'm tempted to pry them open and see what happened. When I bought it, the PO had opened up the stock housings and painted the shroud, and I kind of dig the black housing with the clear plastic. Not a fan of the smoked lens ones. I'll probably just end up going with the TYC from Rockauto though, pretty cheap all things considered. Glad to hear they've worked for you, I was looking at them earlier tonight.

 

Well, I liked the blacked out ones better, but at least these ones shouldn't melt. They look unnaturally new compared to the rest of the rig haha

TYC's from RockAuto.

 

Upgraded from 265/65x17 to 285/70x17…… looks a lot better.

 

You aren't adding raptor lights to a 5th gen of course no one cares lol....

For real though, I care and I like to see people actually take care of their vehicles!! (this is not a bash or slight to anyone I am just a little candid)

 

I drove it yesterday for the first time in two weeks. I have my IS300 now that I daily so the 4Runner stays parked most of the time but I still try to take it around on the weekend even if it's just to run errands.

 

1. Removed Xreas and replaced with new shocks/struts, new springs front/rear.
2. New rotor, pads, calipers, brake lines.
3. Flushed all fluids/replaced with synthetic fluids.
4. Four new Goodyear Duratrac tires
5. Replaced left front axle seal.

Currently 200K with a track record of zero breakdowns on the road.

 

Lifted my 2019 TRD off road with Icon Stage 6 kit, Vision wheels, and AT3W Falken tires. Rides beautifully, now just need new running boards and couple other add ons.

 

Beautiful 4Runner, but you're looking for the 5th gen thread, this is 4th gen, 2003-2009

https://www.4runners.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-5th-gen-4runner-today.2261/

 

oops thank you for pointing that out lol

 

Swapping out the old girl's suspension today. Nothing fancy but should ride a bit better than the clapped out stock parts.

 

I think the previous owner's favorite hobby was following the gravel delivery truck around town. Did some paint and clear coat touchup today to try and at least make it look decent from 20 feet. One of these weekends once it's a little cooler I'll go through and knock the new clear back down level with some compound and elbow grease.

 

How would I connect subwoofers 2 10in and a amp to my factory JBL Toyota radio

 

Drove it up to check out our first snow last weekend.

 

A nightmare scenario happened to me today. After I finished changing the oil, the engine puked everything back up on startup. The culprit turned out to be an OEM oil filter that had a manufacturing defect (or something dented it while it was packaged) on the seal. Turns out the small indent will allowed all the oil pressure to escape along with the oil at a very high velocity. Fucker sprayed the entire engine compartment and my garage with all 5.5 qts. Walked straight to the liquor cabinet, going to deal with it tomorrow...need some kitty litter and lots more towels.

 

Better there than on the road I guess.

 

That sucks! I would have been equally mad.