agreendaya

My last car was a '74 VW bus, so I'm not used to actually being able to do stuff without worrying about destroying my car, so here's some pics of my latest 4Runner adventure, just wondering how bad this is for my car, if at all...

olharleyman

The jumpin it part can be pretty hard on the steering components along with the rest of the drivetrain but the playin in the mud will only help to make you start going broke buying upgrades for it.

Screamsalvation

IN my experiences with the two toyotas I have owned... If you didn't hear something go "Kabunk... Kaboom... Kapop.. or Kapow" Then you are prolly ok. I'm just worried about popping that front tire off the ground.

We just had 3 teenagers die in my area in a 4Runner, they were being stupid and going too fast over a hill. Jumped it and landed a front wheel in a small dip off the road, flipped the 4Runner onto it's side. The 4Runner literally stayed in the air for 80 feet (drivers door parallel to the ground mind you)before slamming the top into a tree and putting the top of the truck into the floorboard. But hey, if you are offroad and no trees or people are around Go for it! Just always be careful.

agreendaya

Killer, it was really just some small jumps, and my friends and I are generally pretty cautious. To be honest, having my car fully airborne scares the outta me! About the mud, the whole engine compartment and everything in it was pretty covered, should I just hose that off after I'm done, or something more intensive?

86blue4runner

couldn't have said it better! even some " pops " or weird noises are ok. Toyota's are known for some funky noises that dont necessarily means somethings broke!

NPE701

Jumping is never good, especially with no center diff (like in our case) being in 4WD mode.

As far as the mud goes - prepare for some seal / bearing changes. Might take a couple of years though.

sleaz22xx

These things are all great for a yota!!!(as far as repair cost for an owner, not so good, dont jump it) Just hose the engine bay down(engine not running), and get some cleaning solvent if your really anal. If your like me tho, that engine bay will be dirty again ASAP, so don't worry to much.

iamsuperbleeder

Lmao, you should see my engine bay. I was the same way when I first got my Yote. I always drove lowriders and fast cars; then when I got my first 4wd, it was covered from bumper to bumper in a week, never jumped it though. The engine bay was spotless when I got it; the lady that owned it bought it new and pretty much used it to drive to work in which was about a 45 minute drive for her, hence the 284kmiles . Now everything is covered in brown filth, unless something gets fixed; then it usually stays clean and shiny for a while, lol.

Beaniam

careful hitting deep mud fast, the intake is right behind the driver's headlight. I've hydrolocked once...

iamsuperbleeder

I second that, lol.

norcalsvx

your diff. breathers probably sucked in some water going through the deep stuff

nix4x4

I would:
a.) Do your best to keep all four tires on the ground

b.) Spend a lot of time spraying that crap out from the underside of
your truck. Its a chore, but mud is awful for most everything,
especially moving components/

infiltrator

Yeah, turn your engine off, and maybe let it cool for a while. If your engine does not look its best or all together, you might want to get some plastic grocery bags. Cover the distributer, and any other scarey looking wiring.

I have heard many different things on cleaning your engine, one is that you could crack the block if you throw cold water on it. I have also heard a few debates on using pressure washer or just a hose.

What I would do if I were you is to get some degreaser (like the stuff you use on your stove is alright) and wait for your engine to cool. Grab that, and a hose and just put some water on everything in your engine (cover at your own risk). Then spray reallly reallly good everything around and let it sit for a little (maybe 2-5 min). Scrub while your at it, or else not all the gunk/ mud will go away. After that hose it off, and you can use some tire cleaner for your hoses to make them last

Then, your engine can turn out like this:


Picture of my ISR mod, lol but love the clean engine, its nice to work on.

sleaz22xx

clean!! now lets get it dirty again

iamsuperbleeder

I'm not lazy, or a dirty person for that matter (in fact I'm pretty picky, and some would call me anal about cleanliness), but there's just too many nooks and cranies in an engine bay to screw with, so unless it's a show car, I could care less about cleaning under my hood to be honest, lol. It does makes things better when you have to work on it, that's for sure. But for me, unless it's coming off to be replaced or fixed, I don't mess around with cleaning it, cuz it'll only get dirty again, and then I'll just be mad later on that I spent all that time cleaning it only to get it dirty again, lol.

Good looking engine bay though... you should see mine, lol... you can kind of see what I'm talking about in my last post about the stuttering problem.

dirtoyboy

aye, if u are gonna jump your truck you NEED a truss on the front. Your A-arms WILL spread if you jump it hard..also you might wanna think about diff breathers

devldogs55

Everyone's already mentioned everything about jumping and cleaning.. but just a few mentions about diff breathers... I'd definitely check into that. Very easy, and may save you a LOT of grief.

agreendaya

Good to know. Yeah, I'm basically just hoping to have this one last me through summer, at which point I want to switch it for either an early 80s 4Runner, or possibly a jeep wrangler (I want a soft top).
About the diff breathers, what's their purpose, and is it somethin' relatively cheap? (hopefully).

agreendaya

I take it back about the breathers...
...don't you hate it when people ask questions without searching first?

norcalsvx

some info

Differential Breathers:

What's a differential breather and what do they do? On most vehicles with axles and differentials, there is a need to vent the axle housing to the atmosphere to allow for the air inside to expand and contract with temperature. If this were not done, the pressure in the axle would build up as it heated up, possibly causing gear oil to be forced past the oil seals. Similarly, when the axle cools, the pressure inside drops and if the axle were in water, this could suck water in past the seals, contaminating the oil.

So correct this potential problem, the factory usually installs a breather to allow the pressures to equalize. The Toyota breather consists of a nipple that threads into the top of the differential housing and a small cap that loosely covers the vent hole. The cap is designed so that as the vehicle moves, the cap jiggles and allows pressure to vent to the atmosphere. When the vehicle stops, it usually seals up to prevent contaminants getting in. One problem can come up with this design that if you suddenly dunk a hot axle into cold water and stop, a fairly strong vacuum is created inside as the air and gear oil cool, and this can cause water to be pulled in. A very common fix for this problem is to replace the stock breather with a fitting to which a hose is attached and run the hose up to a higher point on the vehicle, like the firewall or air cleaner. This allows the axle to breathe freely in or out to prevent pressure differences from occurring.

So, one might be tempted to simply pull off the cap and clamp a hose onto the end. While this will work (for a while) the exposed fitting is very short and irregular and keeping a hose attached is difficult. So, various other types of fittings have been used to replace the stock fitting. One commonly used fitting is a vacuum hose nipple similar to what is used on the engine. Another popular fitting is the Nissan differential breather part # 38323-C6010; cost around $4.50/ea.

However, the threaded hole in the Toyota axle is nothing more than 1/8" NPT:

NOTE:
Officially I would think the thread is either M10-1.0 or 1/8" BSP but its close enough for gov't work
NPT = National Pipe thread Tapered, and it is 0.407" (10.2mm) OD with 27 TPI (threads per inch)
M10-1.0 is 10mm OD and 1.0 mm thread pitch (or 25.4 TPI)
BSP = British Standard Pipe thread, and it is 0.407" (10.2mm) OD with 28 TPI (threads per inch)
So you can see the three are VERY close and for the few threads in the housing and the fact that pipe threads are tapered (meaning the male thread starts out small and gets larger in diameter as it threads in, female thread is the opposite) an 1/8NPT thread fits fine for this low pressure, low stress application, YMMV.
For an even better fit, run a 1/8" pipe thread tap down into the housing, apply grease to the tap to hold the few metal shavings it'll cut.