Rays94runner

Hello Everyone, Just wanted to post some thoughts and questions going on inside this brain of mine. I have 94 4runner. I bought it last summer with just over 100,000 miles on it. The previous owner had just had the headgasket done and a valve job. I was a little dissappointed with its performance especially at freeway speeds going up a grade. I put a K&N FIPK on it and did notice an improvement, but it still seems like it just has to work really hard going up hills on the freeway. My little Toyota Pickup with a 4 cylinder performs better, but I guess it is alot lighter. I also noticed that the 4runner seems to guzzle the gas. I was thinking if I bought a 4WD with a V6 vs. something bigger with a V8, I would get reasonable gas mileage. Despite those complaints, I am very happy with the 4runners performance offroad. It seems to have plenty of power on the low end. I am considering doing some exhaust mods such as a muffler and hi flow cat. Will this increase performance? Any recommendations there? Headers seems like more trouble then theyre worth.
At some point, I'd also like to add a locker to the back axle, but that looks like it might be quite costly for a quality one at least. I've heard about lots of problems with lockers too so I'm a little hesitant and I dont know if I want it bad enough to sink $1000 or more into it.
Im going to probably go with heavy duty downey springs to take the sag out of the back. It especially sags if I put any weight at all in the back. I dont want to raise it. I just want to take the sag out. More wheel travel might be nice too.
Im also going to be looking for a new Front bumper. My neighbor left his truck in neutral and it rolled out of the driveway and hit my 4runner. I called the dealer and they want like 400 and something for a new one. An aftermarket one cost $65. I cant believe the difference. Im worried though that the chrome on the aftermarket one might not hold up as well, not to mention strength. I need to replace the ends on the rear bumper too and I have the same concern there. Lastly, I wonder if anyone has ever replaced that padding on the underside of the hood. Mine was disentagrating into pieces so I had to remove it. I notice an increase in engine sound, but I wonder if the heat will damage the paint on the hood without it. Thanks for any comments.
Ray blurpps@aol.com

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Welcome the board!

I would just get used to the overall low amount of power these things have in them...I have a '95 and it is no where near "powerful" but I figure the bigger the engine I have, the more motivation I would have to speed. The gas guzzling thing is a well-known problem...I get ~12-13mpg if that makes you feel any better.

Overall...Toyota's are great, long-lasting machines that are not made to go fast unless you have a fast way of getting money...bottomline is YOTA'S RULE!! And so does YotaTech



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Plays_with_Toys

Welcome!

As far as the bumper, if your neighbor is the one who hit your truck, his insurance should be paying for your bumper, so price I would imagine shouldn't be an issue. Also, you may look at the TJM/ARB bumpers out there, or tube bumpers like from badland bumpers. Some of them are only slightly more than a stock bumper from toyota, so if you're neighbor's paying, you can get one of these.

Waterboy

If you use the search button up top and look for 3.0 performance there is lots of threads on it. It's a pretty common complaint.
My truck definitely feels alot faster now then when I got it. I raced an Altima a few weeks ago and kept up. I just put my headers on this last weekend and they definitely make a difference.
Some stuff you can look into are exhaust, headers, bumping up timing, electric fan (if you dont do much water crossings) oh yeah and some stickers. Welcome.

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Thats a good point brought up by Plays_with_Toys...his insurance should cover the cost of a stock bumper...and it sounds like the cost of a stock bumper will compare nicely with the price of an ARB/TJM. I wish that somebody had hit me, but instead I ran into the wall by my garage so I had to pay for the bumper myself.

If his insurance company is paying for the cost of the stock bumper then I would HIGHLY recommend going with an ARB...very nice bumpers, I am wanting one myself!

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85runner

You will be fine.

rimpainter.com

To squeeze more power from the 3.slow, you are gonna need headers and exhaust. The K&N was a good start - just be sure to use the K&N filter jacket if you off road in it. Another thought is to port the TB. But like the other guys said, its never really going to be a powerhouse - unless you get crazy.

Stick around and do some searches, you will find a plethora of knowledge around here.