seanz0rz

ok, so heres a collection of my questions ive developed after 3 weeks of ownership. hope they arent too noobish, this is my first truck however.

Herculiner on the wheels/bumpers? bumpers, theres not a huge deal with that, other than do you guys think they look good?

as for the wheels, i have the stock sr5 alloy 16" wheels. would it look good to herculine them? and would i have to strip the wheels (im assuming theres a clear coat of some type on the aluminium) to do it?

second, has anyone removed their spare tire to decrease weight/ increase MPG? just kinda curious. i know a few vechicles that had them removed and it helped alot. i have auto club, with 100 mile tow, so if i get a flat i can either call AAA, or get someone to bring me a tire.

Finally, i have 137k miles on the 'runner. ive heard of alot of people's starters going out. should i replace mine? it takes quite a few cranks to start up. the only reason id consider replacing it before it goes out is i will be returing to school, and most likely not coming home all that much. i dont need the damn thing to die 50 miles away from my garage.

fireteacher

i would think by herculining the wheel, it would be hard to balance but i may be wrong

uberhahn

is your starter is still working, I wouldn't replace it. The fact it cranks a few times could be symptom of some other reason it isn't starting right away. Does it crank slowly? Strange noises? If not, figure out why it isn't starting.

I wouldn't remove the spare unless you were worried about theft, or off-road clearance. The 50lbs wouldn't kill it.

Don't herculine the wheels. Repair of the finish would be difficult. Balance, as Fireteacher pointed out, would be difficult at best. And, tire places may not even be willing to mount the tire if they were concerned about some sort of liability. There are ways of re-finishing/painting the stock wheels (search here).

4x4Lamm

I would not put Herculiner anywhere but on my rockers (where I did put it).

If my starter is alive by 200,000 miles I will replace it, I will have got my moneys worth and the piece of mind would be nice in the woods since I have an automatic that can't be "bump started".

I have been tempting fate for about a year now with no spare tire and plan to change that ASAP, it is not good to tempt the flat tire gods LOL.

Lamm

petros

I'd definately leave the spare on... And if you're not worried about calling a tow truck to get a tow for your flat tire, I wouldn't be too concerned about getting the starter replaced, the tow truck situation doesn't change any. I read somewhere that every 100 lbs. taken off of your vehicle means 1-2% increase in mileage, which if you think about it isn't much at all. Not worth it if you ask me.

My 4Runner's starter is a little slower than I would like it to be, but it's nothing serious. It has about 60,000 miles on it but it does the job. I'd just let it go until it dies, because it's one of those things that once you put it on there, it's going to start to wear out again. The longer you get on your current one, the better.

Bob_98SR5

Don't herculine the wheels. Not only will it look ghey, but as others have mentioned, there might be balancing issues as well. Probably not much, but it all depends on how much you put on it.

Did i mention it would look ghey?

now if you just want to have the all black look, paint it black. 96 runner has done this as well as others. it doesnt look bad, but imho, better to buy black steelies and some off road tires and swap out when you go off roading.

bumper: a few people have done it. not my cup of tea, but theres more reason to herculine it than the wheels. 96 runner has done it. tanto did it and also did the rocker panels.

starter: check the contacts first. if not that, then change the brushes. if too much headache for you, buy a replacement starter. i bought a non-oem one and it works just fine. or go to a junkyard and find a low mileage one and put it in yourself.

bob

seanz0rz

i really appreciate the input guys!

about the wheel paint: ive heard it chips really easily, hence the herculiner. just an idea that crossed my mind.

on a side note, one of these days ill get a writeup done about my carpc, so i too can become a contributing member!

i just removed my running boards. for now, mostly visual. looks more like a truck than a mall runner! the parents hate it, i love it. i found them to get in my way, and i never used them. plus the left side had been sent towards the rear nearly 2 inches by an unknown impact. something i could straighten out, but why bother?

any other preventative maintence that needs to be done? i know i need new drive belts, but the timing belt was recently changed, as was the water pump.

also, any cheep mods to be performed? i plan on repainting the gold emblems either silver or chrome, to match the hilux surf emblems im getting from [the guy with the red runner, was at big bear, his name escapes me now]

i really appreciate any input, i really love this site, more than ive loved any other site ive been a member of! just trying to find ways to make it run/look better, with out shelling out for a lift just yet... im in need of new tires, so im debating on doing the lift soon, in 3-4 months, thats if i can save up the cash to do it myself.

Bob_98SR5

sean,

in the old (archived) maintenance section, there is a link to the toyota online maintenance engine...if you give it a few hours, i am sure ebelen will post it up i thikn he has it bookmarked see if you can find it before him...it'll make him mad (not really). that should help you narrow down what you should and shouldnt do.

and that is edwin you are talking about w/ the all red 4runner w/ the surf emblems.

re lift: yes, wait on the tires and firm up waht you are going to do lift wise. make sure you read bamachem's tundra coils lift as well as taking a look at steve schaeffer's website for a good run down on what he's done and what worked for him (and didnt). and of course, search and read

bob

seanz0rz

yea, ive read up plenty on the lift, decided to go with steve's lift kit, its just saving up the 1200 needed for it, im about half way there, and have already set aside the tire money. edwin is awesome, and hope to see him and his rig soon.

i believe ive seen the archived maintence section, and will be downloading the FSM off of the internet this week.

thanks for teh help.