BodyShop

Ill start off by saying, im not too sure where exactly to post this. If im in the wrong place please dont bash me.

Ive been raised a GM guy, so after a wrecked Duramax, and supercharged silverado SS that got 13mpg that i sold, i was ready for a winter beater without a payment. i admit i was looking for a cheap s-10 blazer or ranger pickup. i always wanted a runner because a friend of mine had a 2000 and i loved everything About it, but i refused to pay the price they were going for. I picked up my 98 4runner off of a craigslist post in Oct. of last year with 204k on the clock for the great price of $1,550. It was a one owner, the previous owners father had bought it new. The previous owner ran over a sign and dented the front bumper and the hood. The inside smelled like cat piss Nd was quite possibly one of the worst cars i have ever tried to detail.
After spending 8 full hours of cleaning and scrubbing i had it fairly clean, used a come along and a tree to pull out the bumper, zip tied the grill back into place, and bent the hood back to a almost normal shape. I had myself a pretty good winter beater.
Now 7 months down the road, all i can say is DAMN am i glad i didnt find a ranger or a blazer before i found this thing. It has 214k now as it sits, all i did to it was run about 3 bottles of chevron fuel injector cleaner thru it because it had a rough idle and missed under acceleration when it was cold, put a set of cheapo denso plugs in it, and changed the oil once.

The drivers seat is a little tore up, but otherwise the inside is fairly clean now. Im looking for a green hood at u pull it and a full bumper assembly if i can ever find one. I also have to replace the a/c compressor. picked a new oem compressor up off CL for $50. (score!) everything else is in awesome shape, All the buttons and switches work, runs like a champ shifts great.
I am definatly satisfied with toyota, and plan on keeping it until its a pile of dust. Ohh and the best part is that i found the recipt for the reman Jasper engine and trans the previous owners father had put in at the state college dealer at 140k miles! Wooot woot!

BodyShop

here is a pic of her flexing. It doesnt have an easy life here in central pa, but it hasnt let me down yet. I do almost all my own work, between my dad and i there isnt much we cant tackle. I also forgot to mention i put a cheap set of economy napa rear shocks on on it the day i brought her home because the LR was snapped off at the top mount.

Also questions like did you check the.....? or hows the.....holding up? or has ...... been changed yet? would be appreciated, because im sure you all know what to loom for in these things better then i do.

bruno4turbo

hello there as well, welcome to yotatech!

I also grew up GM, had a 98 GMC 3500 single cab gasser as my first truck, got about 8mpg with the 3" lift.... It was my mom's work truck then passed to my brother then to me.

looks like you found one of the rough diamonds in the woodworks of the CL haha.
as for the "have you checked..." I have a small list of stuff that should be checked and are relatively simple to change or repair

check these:
-brakes: front pads, rear shoes, and rear wheel cylinders (mine where leaking when I got him)
-all motor/transmission mounts and bushings, pretty easy to swap em out. (body bushings, sway bar end links, bump stops etc.)
-tie rods, searing linkage (if they need new grease, or if they need replacement.)
-u-joints, (grab the yokes and try and shake them, if there's play, get new joints.)
-CV axles upfront, thoroughly check boots, inner and outer. (if they are torn I suggest getting new)
---if you do swap CV's then service your front hubs, take the bearings out, clean and re-pack with correct grease.
-change the differential fluids, and transmission oil (get the capacities in a service manual.)


thats just maintenance stuff. you don't have to do all of that, just check if it should be done. if you look at your brakes and there's nothing left of them get new, if the fluids look black/brown/milky drain and fill with new, if the boots aren't torn don't mess with the axles etc...

good luck!

BodyShop

Ive had it ip on the lift a few times, everything for a PA inspection is spot on. Breaks are like new, everythings real solid, i forgot i did put new sway bar links and bushing on it up front when i had it inspected. no rust anywhere either. i just wasnt sure if there were Any common problems with these thinngs. the only one i knew about was the stawberry milkshake with the trans cooler issue. im going to take care of that one of these days. i have a tranny cooler laying around i just need to get to it. i also have a new trans filter i have to get the pan dropped and change that.

being that the engine and trans only have about 70k miles on them i already started using synthetic engine oil. 5.5qts of quaker state full syn. 5w-30. i changed the filter at 3k miles and it came out almost as clean as it went it. put on another napa gold filter and topped it off and plan on going another 3-4k then ill change it again. when i switch the trans filter ill prob just top it off with dex III and when i hit 100k on the trans im going to get it flushed and changed with syn.

thanks for the help also, i havnt even thought about the dif. fluids tho. considering there the ones woth the most miles on them i should prob. get to it.
That 3500 must have been a 7.4 big block, thats what my dads dually has, and he gets about 11mpg. the thing runs good tho, it was quicker then my dmax when it was stock

hilgeg

Hey - welcome to the club! I came from an all Jeep family, now we have all Toyota's.
Only items I would watch are the lower ball joints:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/w...ailure-268457/

And believe in the magic of Seafoam:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/s...y-work-243376/

Beyond that they are sturdy reliable rigs with tons of off-road potential.

BodyShop

thanks. ill be sure to check the ball joints when its up in on the lift. that seamfoam trick would be something i would try too. i worked at an autoparts store for a few months part time and we sold that stuff by the boxes. Ran it a time or 2 in my saturn and in my girlfriends malibu.

hilgeg

I'm always a bit sad when I see a 4runner live its life as a grocery-getter. Poor E-locker never having been engaged. If you decide to have a little fun with your (which I hope you do) here are two awesome and almost free mods that will help:

Little better low end torque:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f130...ate-mod-75169/

Locker for all occasions:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f129...unners-218074/

habanero

The front dif fill plug is there, on the bumper side. It's a 10mm hex and often hidden by dirt caked in it.

There's a lot of stuff on here to help you with your 3rd gen. Build threads (or in my case maintenance threads ) have lots of info. The search is kinda phooey but with some perseverance you'll find all sorts of things to do.

hilgeg

Here is a fluid run-down:
http://www.4runners.org/writeups/difftsf/index.html

bruno4turbo

that's good that you had all that checked out. I agree with the seafoam saved my sisters jeep, other sisters scooter, and helped my sisters bf get his jeep sold lol....

deff get that cooler on as soon as you can, old ones near the return end fill up with any/all debris that filter doesn't catch, so its a matter of time for it to clog, or let go of all that stuff and let it straight to your pump and tc.

and yea my 3500 was the 454 vortec, heavy but fast, dual flows sounded so mean, made all the guys jealous that they would lose to a girl racing haha. but with school i can't complain 17mpg to 8mpg and I love my yota just the same even if a snail beats it in a race...