nrgetic99

Took a 250 mile road trip in the 93 with the 3VZE this weekend. Of that, around 75% interstate, 15% two lane and 10% up a steep grade climbing to 3000 ft. (high for my part of the world).

On the way there, set the cruise at 70 mph after all of the dire stories of highway nightmares and was pleasantly surpirised to enjoy a quiet, comfortable ride with no apparent drama getting up the mainly gentle grades and one or two long drags.

The two lane roads were fine, dare I say fun with the OME setup working really well on smooth roads, not so fun on poor surfaces. I took the trouble to repair the siezed DS sway bar end link Friday night which had no bushings on it when I bought the truck as the lower nut was siezed on. A little finicky work with the dremel and I got the old nut off and added some nice ES bushings.

Cornering is actually very, very good on smooth roads as long as you remember you have a high CofG.

The trek up the hill (To Wintergreen Resort in the Blue Ridge mountains) was an eye opener. 3rd gear did not last long before having to give way to 2nd for long sections when the truck lost momentum. (I am learning maintaining momentum is key ).

Coming back down the hill was fine although I may need to tweak the LSPV a little (its still stock since lift) and as I wanted to get home , I set the cruise at 75 mph for the ride home. Again, Zero problems even on the long grade up into Charlottesville, stayed around 70-72 in 5th and got back to 75mph with no probs.

I even saw 80mph a couple of times when getting around traffic.

Seats are terrific (prolly the best I have had in any of my 4, 4runners) , noise levels fine, comfort great except on poor and patched concrete surfaces when the OME set up makes the truck ride like a bucking bronco.

Fuel economy for the trip was exactly 15 mpg which is fair considering :

* I was doing over 70mph for 75% of the trip
* I was driving it like I stole it to get up to the Resort.
* I got 173k on her now !!!

I think the recently installed Aisin's are going to pay back the $40 eBay investment in no time.

Anyway, for now, as long as its not a drag race (I got burned by an 80s Accord on the on ramp ) , I like my 3VZE.

David

snap-on

I bought my 92 runner in april specificly for road trips. Namely a 2K trip out and back to CO in june. I put a new OME suspension/shocks on it (less Tbars). I did a significant amount of mantiance to the engine before going. I was very happy with the ride with the gear in it.

I can cruise fine on flat road at 75-85. any hill at all will put me down in the upper 60's to 70 before overdrive dumps and i can maintain whatever speed I want short of pegging the RPM's (which is hard not to do if you want to maintain 75 ish)

Anything more than a slight hill and its dumping to third, and steep hills like you mention are rough.

VERY diffrent case in my truck with a 5 speed.

Fink

I remember back when my 2nd gen was failry stock and the highway ride was great, I never had a problem getting it up to 80 or 85 and then a hill would come and I would turn O/D off manually and cruise right up it going about 75, RPM's never went past 4k or so...what was completely stock except for clear corners (I have a feeling I could have gone 80 up the hill if it wasn't for those beasts) and I had 31's with 4.88's. I was extremely impressed, got about 16mpg...then came the bl, 33's, roof rack, ARB...took back roads as much as possible, then I did a bunch of maintenance stuff to her, t-belt, plugs, air filter, fuel filter, 02 sensor, pcv valve, ya know, the works and she did alright...nothin like when it was stock.

The 3.0 is definitely gutless...but not as bad as some people make her seem.

Fink

nrgetic99

I should have made clear, mine is a 5 speed.

I have also gone throught the engine thoroughly with plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, fluids etc. I found the TPS was badly adjusted ( and much newer than rest of intake system) and that seems to have helped economy.

I also have a K&N intake and a Dynomax cat back so the engine is probebly running about as good as I think it will ever run.

The ability to take it up to 80 mph or better on the flat was what really impressed me.

David.

P.S. I lived in downtown STL for a year or so before my company recocated to VA.

snap-on

OHHHH a 5 speed in it, well in that case ya im shure you had a great trip! my 4unner is expecially gutless with the auto and tired engine (im rebuilding one for it right now)

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

If I'm looking at your sig correctly, you've had a 4th gen, a 3rd gen and now a 2nd gen. How long before you get a 1st gen? Since you've had the opportunity to own these, which has been your favorite so far?

I had nothing but love for my 3vz-e. 153,000 miles with nothing but the recall (taking care of under warranty) and basic maintenance. With the 5-speed I usually got 16.5 mpg city and 18 hwy.

With my new 3rd gen v6/5-speed I'm getting even better mileage. I actually opted for the used 3rd gen over a new 4th gen because of the powertrain--the auto trannys just take too much of the driving fun away, even in an SUV.

nrgetic99

My 2nd , 3rd gen, the 99 was my favorite.

Unfortunately, due to poor advice and and poor research on my part, I ended up in a bad lease type deal that meant I was going to have to try and finance a 3yr old truck with an outstanding balance a lot higher than what the bank thought it was worth.

So...I stripped it of all the goodies which sold for nearly $4k and walked away from it :cry: Trust me, I tried every way not to do that.

There was also a lot of pressure at that time for me to 'stop playing with darn truck all the time' so I put down some cash and bought my 4th gen.

After two years, a combination of the awful seats and the less striking styling left me looking for a replacement. I priced an 06 Sport but then found myself adding $5k in bits just to get it as I wanted it which is nuts.

So, I just opted out for a while, bought the 93 for cash (no car payment) and dumped some funds into savings. I also dumped the person who's tune was now "When will you grow up and stop playing with that darn truck of yours after I installed a very trick 1500W stereo , all hidden, very stealth.

In summary :

96 3rd gen : My first real 4runner, put on 60k miles with limited mods. Built a huge custom stereo , very mild wheeling. Underpowered (relatively) but utterly reliable and bulletproof. Cup holder sucked... but prolly the best seats until the 93 arrived

99 3rd gen Sport : Great cupholders !!! (did I really change vehicles for new cupholders
Lifted, SC'd and wheeled. Seats looked as nice as 96 but were cheaper and less support. Actually started looking at a bigger cash injection for a rear locker, SC upgrades, Level 10 tranny etc etc... Then the lease ended (I know, one born every minute) so I waled away from it.

2003 : Great NVH, good stock power (felt great till I tried a VVTi version, I still think the non VVti 4.7 has poor low end torque) , more room, more toys but more money for everything. Even a mild lift was a PITA due to the X-reas and then TRD quit on the SC which was one of my goals when I bought the 03. So after exploring options to fix the crap seats (my back kills me after 45 mins in car and I roadtrip 450 miles every weekend in ski season) , I just decided to quit on it. I never flet it really fitted the need I had like the 99. On balance, I should have made the 99 work. After seeing Eric (FiltyRich)'s in person, THAT is the 4runner I really want.

93 : Ok, now I get it about the 3 slow Other than that, the seats are awesome, the ride comfortable and I really like the looks. Its very moddable cheaply and can be a good DD. I will either run it for a year, save some money and have fun or if I stumble across a good 3.4, who knows.

I think a well sorted 2nd gen with an SC'd 3.4 would really be a VERY good vehicle for what I do.

David

ebelen1

Wow, I thought you had a 4th gen for a DD and then the 2nd gen for fun. I always wondered why you got rid of the 3rd gen from reading a bunch of your posts and your inquiries to some of my PMs. Good summary above on the differences between 2nd, 3rd and 4th gens. I'm pretty happy with my 3rd gen and will try to improve the heck out of it. 2nd gen with a 3.4 supercharged, wow...

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Good post David. I agree, a 2nd gen with a 3.4 would be hard to fault. I am really happy with my 3rd gen V6 5-speed; love the looks, love the factory locker, love its durability, but there are a couple of areas where it falls short of the 2nd gen.

Have fun with the new rig; and enjoy having no car payment!