Athansinis

I'm starting a build thread. No promises regarding content, but I will try to keep the thread somewhat updated.

A teaser photo of the T100.



First a tribute to my 1996 4runner and the 60,000 absolutely trouble free miles we spent together. Unfortunately I don't actually have too many photos, but here's a few I found.

Fall along Rampart Range Road.


In the South Platte.


Eleven Mile Canyon.


Moab.


Ibex.


Antero (this spot is one of my favorite camping spots).






On to the T100 in the next post!

jaretstuff

Nice truck, ours are very similar, stop by my build thread if you get a chance

Athansinis

I guess I should kill off my 4runner before I move on to the T100. I swear this wasn't my fault! I was at work when I heard the news that my beloved 4runner had been murdered.

Here's what it looked like after the accident in 2010. Fortunately no one in either vehicle was hurt, so it could have been much worse.


This photo always reminded my girlfriend and I of Jim Carrey's face during the scene in Yes Man where his friends find him dead.


So the 4runner's life ended at about 150,000 miles.

Athansinis

Thanks! I will definitely check it out.

I've since lost the 33s (had to get new tires all around while out of town and couldn't get anything except the stock size), but hoping to have some back on soon (285/75R16s on the Land Cruiser rims I picked up last week).

Next post...finding the perfect(ish) truck.

Athansinis

Argh! Really want to update, but been too busy preparing to sell my house, move to LA, taking a summer class, working on the truck, etc.

So many small updates (resealed oil cooler, new wheel bearings, races, rotors, pads) and a few major visual ones (new wheels and tires on the truck...285/75-16 Goodyear Duratracs on fjz80 alloys painted black). Also put on Warn manual hubs. Doing valve cover gaskets, timing belt, new radiator, transmission flush, coolant flush soon.

Athansinis

Wow. So the last 10 months has been crazy busy. I moved to L.A. and recently finished my first year of a doctoral program. The workload for a Ph.D. (at least at UCLA) is 3-4 times what it was for my M.A. program. Unfortunately I have a four day conference starting in two weeks and I am still working on the paper I am presenting so I'm still stuck in L.A., hopefully once I get back from the conference, I'll be able to do a bit of work on the truck and then head for the mountains.

Okay, so back in time. After my 4runner was totaled I started looking for a either another 4runner or a Tacoma. The Tacoma seemed to fit my needs better so I was leaning that direction. One Sunday I was at a lot looking at a 4runner and stumbled across a T100. I hadn't really thought much about a T100, but my best friend's brother-in-law had one and I remembered a few climbing trips in the back seat and I thought it was a great truck. I added T100s to my search and within about a month, found one advertised on Autotrader in Southern California for $7500 with 67k miles. I had my dad (who lives in San Diego check it out for me). It looked great so he gave the guy a $500 deposit to hold it and I wired him the money the next day.

Here are some of the photos from Autotrader ad....













Looked to be in great condition!

I drove it back to Colorado and it seemed to do pretty well (gas mileage wasn't pretty though...at maybe 14 mpg, compared to the 18-22 I was getting with my 4runner). Discovered a few problems here and there in the next few weeks (the worst being that the tires were garbage...discovered this when one randomly tore apart at 75mph on my way from Colorado Springs up to Denver on I-25). I had spent most of my cash on the truck itself, so I ended up with stock size tires...which looked hideous after having only seen it on 33s. Also, I hated the alarm system which would lock the doors by itself and arm automatically, so I tore it out and discovered that what the guy told me was the alarm disabling the starter sometimes turned out to be the starter itself (but I just needed to replace the copper contacts).

Over the next several years it was just routine maintenance. My 4runner taught me to love the 3.4, so I only gave it Mobil1 synthetic oil.

Eventually it started having some issues, which I won't really cover here (although the work I've done on it might suggest what those issues were, although all are now gone).

Athansinis

So here's an update (which overlaps a bit with what I've already mentioned). Before I moved I finished the timing belt (all new belts, tensioner, harmonic balancer bolt, water pump, thermostat, and gaskets); new valve cover gaskets, camp plug seals, spark plug gaskets, etc); new plugs and wires; new PCV valve and grommet; flushed coolant and installed new Koyorad radiator and new cap; flushed transmission and cleaned pan and strainer and replaced fluid with Valvoline Maxlife; replaced battery tie down; installed new idler arm with SDORI bushings and a Moog Pitman arm; OEM air filter, new passenger side fender liner (the old one tore off when a tire explored shortly after I purchased the truck).

I also polished the headlights and repainted the front grill and bumper black and put 285/75R16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs on Land Cruiser rims (including matching spare). Zuk rebuilt the rear differential with a Kazuma LSD. Amsoil Severe Gear Oil in differentials.

About a week ago, I replaced the battery with a Bosch Platinum AGM (35% off with a Pepboys coupon code). So far this battery seems awesome.

And finally, here's a recent photo.

Athansinis

Upcoming plans...

• Herculine the bed and possibly the shell since it is a different color of green. I am not positive I want to spend the time and money on doing the shell since I am in the market for a pop-up camper.
  
• Install Firestone Ride-Rite Airbags
  
• Install Autometer Z-series oil pressure gauge (my stock gauge has never worked) and transmission temp gauge.
  
• Install B&M cooler on transmission (it got hot coming over the mountains into San Diego last year when I had the back packed with furniture/books/etc).
  
• Touch up painting (I have some worn spots that are starting to rust a bit).
  
• Also need new shocks all around.
  
• Also, need to remove the rusty nerf bars. I'd like to replace them with Rocky Road Sliders but not sure I can justify the money right now.

Will try to update once the work is completed.

jskijoe

I just noticed your thread as i was searching for examples of mild to no lift T100s with 33s. Yours looks awesome!
I didn't notice what kind of lift you have, if at all on your T. Can you describe what you did or the PO did to it for the 33s?
I have a set of the same wheels and want to step up to 285s also but don't want to lift high because of my camper.
I have a pop up camper in the back of mine and since I noticed you were considering air bags, I wanted to say that I would recommend going with a spring made to carry the weight. There are a lot of reasons to do it this way and one is the ride when you hit bumps that cycle the rear suspension. I had them on 2 trucks and switched to better springs both times...