Mark in MD

I just drove home my new truck last week. I haven't bought a new vehicle in a while. It's got the 4.0L in it.

1) I am still astounded to see the oil filter up near the battery. How long have they been doing this? Do other makes do this too? This is 'friggin ingenious.

2) The plug boots: I've been out of the new vehicle buying thing for 12 years. I've never seen spark plug boots that look like the ones in this truck. The ignition wires look like they should be on a space ship. What is that all about?

3) I want to install a sunroof, so how do I deal with the interior overhead lamp? It's in the center of the truck, whereas in my old '95 truck, it was closer to the front. Is it easy to move it, or should I just throw it away and use the manual ones in the front. Or is there a simple way to make the manual ones in front go on when the door opens?

4) I have the Toyota bed liner which is standard these days, I guess. My concern is -- the last two new trucks I bought with bed liners -- I noticed the outside sidewalls eventually warped slightly for no immediately apparent reason. I finally realized this was caused both times by the expansion and contraction of the bed liner in differing temperatures. The bedliner was drilled into the steel bed, and as it contracted and expanded, it forced the sidewalls to warp. Has Toyota figured out a way to stop this yet? I know the bedliner is secured to the deck, but I'm not sure if the bolts I see are drilled into the steel or not -- and if they're going to cause my sidewalls to warp.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks!

justinh

1) Yes it is nice. All of the 4.0 have been this way since they came out in 2003 4runners.

2) The "plug boots" are part of the Coil on Plug Ignition, no distributor this way, pretty commong these days.

3) The sunroofs i have seen installed in these trucks were rather small and placed just to the rear of the front overhead console.

4) That isn't a bedliner, that is your bed, the inner bed on these new trucks is composite. I highly recommend the toyota bed mat, it really does a lot to keep stuff from sliding around and scratching/scuffing the bed.

Congrats on your purchase!

Mark in MD

Great answers justinh, thank-you! I'll consider the bed mat.

Okay, the bedliner is not a bedliner, it's the inner bed and it's composite.

Does anybody know if this composite inner bed will expand and contract in a manner to warp the sidewalls of the truck? Or is it secured in a way to allow expanding and contracting without stressing the thin outer steel body?

Thanks

justinh

My truck is about 2.5 years old and my bed is fine.