Welp the girl friend does not use forums, and I want a place to keep track of what has happened and what will happen to this runner.
So here it is. My GF's 1995 4Runner SR5 5 speed. Im really proud of her for getting a 5 speed and she is very happy with her self as she should be. She is doing very well with it, especially sins this truck has kind of a notchy challenging shifter.
Im not sure what my GF's plan for this rig is, but it seams like she likes the idea of building an expedition rig out of it. I think it will just naturally develop as she sorts out her sorts out the relationship with her new ride.
We just picked this thing up a few days ago. Iv been ordering basic things like floor mats, seat covers, and so on. Iv also been trying to sort out a few small problems.



Mostly the runner is in really nice shape. Great interior and all the electronics work great. The engine just had a new head gasket with Japanese parts, so I wont have to worry about that for a few more miles.
The only issues right now are bad tires, a gear box that is a bit hard to shift, and a few leaks.
We ordered some Grabber AT2 tires. So thats taken care of.

I changed the trans oil with 3.5 quarts of 75w90. The shifts got easier for a bit, and now it seams like its getting harder again. The clutch was recently replaced, and the clutch seams to be bled well. Its just challenging to find the gear and then jam it in some times. Other times it feels better.
I feel like maybe the trans is leaking out of the boot where the clutch slave is connected on the bell housing. Maybe its loosing trans fluid and that why its hard to shift?

Then Iv been having an issue with with first the coolant cap leaking, so I replaced that with a locking cap, and now the over flow tank spits out a bunch of fluid when you park the car after driving. Im going to put a non locking cap on and see if that changes things.



Thats it for now. My GF has ideas for some simple mods like a bumper and safari rack, but I want her to drive the car a bit to get comfortable with it and sort out any issues the car has before she spends money on fancy stuff.

 

nice, looks like it's in great shape.

 

Nice. Looks clean

 

Thanks guys. My self and the GF are real happy with it.

I cleaned the TB today. It was real dirty inside. The truck is running much better now, and the idle issue went away.
I also replaced some of the small vacuum hoses that had cracks starting.

 

So my mechanic says that the oil leak is the power steering pump.
Im going to do the work my self. My question is this. Is it worth getting a re-manufactured pump for $65-70 or just get the rebuild kit for $25. I have the time and tools to do it, I am just wondering if its a bitch of a job.

Originaly we had the runner at the shop for new tires, and I asked him to look at the oil and coolant leaks. He called back and of cores the list was longer than I wanted it to be.
The runner needed lower ball joints, pitman arm, steering link, new shocks, new cv axles, and a steering pump. I told him to take care of the axles and front steering components so that he could do an ailment. I do the shocks and power steering pump my self.

 

Looks like there was bat guano inside that throttle body.

 

Right? Hahahaha
The intake hose after the filter also had a bunch of weird white stuff in it. I cleaned that out as well. Looked like he drove up bird s**t creak.

 

So I replaced the power steering pump, but we still had a very decent amount of some sort of fluid leaking around the transmission. Then I drove the 4Runner over to my moms in the city, and when I tried to go home it would not go into gear. There was so much fluid leaking and everything was so dirty I couldnt figure out what was going on. Some fluid was even leaking out of the bell housing.
So I took it into my mechanic. We will see what he finds.
I while ago I also installed some speakers and a head unit for the GF. I had this head unit sitting around so I stuck it in with some Alpine 4" and 5.25" Type-S series speakers. Sounds good for such small speakers.

 

Oh we also got these sweet seat covers. They are custom fit, water proof, and easy to clean. I really dig them. The front seats also have a nice set of little pockets here and there.

 

alpine speakers

 

We got the runner back today and let me tell you it feels sooooooooo much better! Gears shift nice and smooth, and the clutch pedal feels GRRRRREAT! Anyways, Im happy with the money we just spent fixing this thing up. Well worth the investment. I think my '86 SR5 truck is getting a but jealous of the money going into the runner though....
Next up I am hoping the Bilstein shocks that are on back order will ship soon. I also ordered a Pro Comp steering stabilizer which should smooth things out a bit.
I wanted to buy the GF a sweet Safari rack with part of my tax refund as she has mentioned wanting one for her 4Runner, but just last night she mentioned that she wants a good sleeping bag. Oh well.

 

Oh I forgot to mention what was wrong.
Turns out the trans shaft seal was hard as a rock. No joke, the mechanic showed it to me. So that thing busted and squirted trans fluid all over the clutch and clutch plate, which were new
I have no idea why the previous owner did not replace the seal while he had the trans off to put a new clutch in. The thing was already leaking a bit, and hard to shift when we bought it. Would have saved us a lot of time and money.

 

Seat covers look really good, where did you get them from?

 

http://www.precisionfit.com/

 

Nice 4Runner! Glad you got some of the major repairs done. Now on to the fun stuff!

 

Thanks man. Yeah it will be nice to move on to some fun things.
Cheers

 

Been doing some more TLC.
Recently done, spark plug wires, plugs, coil, distributor cap and rotor, some new vacuum lines, TB intake hose, oil change and filter, Bilstien shocks, new moog springs for the back, and greased all the drive line parts.

 

Was there a substantial increase in ride quality with the latest upgrades?

 

Yes, but how much of it was because of the Bilsteins vs. original Toyota shocks I do not know. It is possible you could get the same ride quality of you bought new Toyota shocks from Toyota.
The shocks that were in the runner were the ones sold with the car when it was new, and they were DEAD! So that's where the ride and handling increase really jumped up.
The springs in the back helped level things out a bit. There is less then an inch of ride height difference front to back now. So that was a nice aesthetic upgrade.