duc748s

Hi - Been lurkiing for awhile and found this forum to be a great source of info. Looked up a lot of usefull info dealing with the dreaded 2nd Gen brakes LOL. My dad purchased a new 04 4Runner limited sport (??) and had his 91 SR5 V6 sitting around and was debating on selling it. He put alot of work into it (I kept telling him to do a 5.0L swap instead of building the 3.slow). He had the motor rebuilt and bored over, heads done, headers, etc (but left the stock cams ??), spings, shocks, and some other small stuff. So he called me up and said when are you picking up your truck LOL Like I needed another car (I have 2 Broncos, 2 mustangs, a ducati 748 and a Subaru WRX) But I took it figuring it would be a good track tow for the Mustang. Day one - water pump takes a dump. 2 months later brakes don't work causing a rear ender (damn brush guard\grille guard did more damage to the truck) - DS fender, marker light, grille, small fan behind grille, bumper and valance damaged. New rotors, calipers, pads and drums complete drain and fill of the fluid and I still hate the brakes. Recent event - fuel line ruptures on the way to work (60 miles from home) - cost $500 plus rental car. Two things that sucked here 1. I had to rent a car when I had a perfectly good one sitting at home and 2. I had to pay someone to do work I could have done. The weird thing.... I like driving this truck just need to fix some of the glitches. Anyway thanks for all the good info and advise you guys post here, it realy does help some people out.


Thanks
ShaneV

Fink

First off, Welcome!

Sounds like you've had some bad luck with that 2nd genner of yours...thats too bad. Never had anything really big go wrong with mine yet...hoping it will be a long time.

I'm just curious but how does that 3.0L seem now with all those mods done to it, I know you have nothing to compare it to but does it seem pretty powerful compared to all of us complaining 3.slow owners? If so I may consider that when my engine finally goes, which I'm hoping won't be for a long time.

Again, welcome aboard!

Fink

Rick F.

Ditto what Fink says including the welcome! The 2nd gen's are typically pretty sound vehicles. I'm also surprised at the spat of bad luck. But as you mentioned, they ARE fun to drive. Keep us posted on your trials and tribulations!

duc748s

Thanks guys.... I also forgot to add 2 alternators and a battery to the list LOL

Fink... Honestly I really can't say if all the work was worth it. This truck has some issues that need to be tended to.
Bad sensor wire (runs under intake) - throwing CELs
Power steering pump leak
Possible bad cat
Throttle issue - need to drive gas pedal 'through' floor to get the truck to kick down and accelerate.
Feul line from rail to filter will need to be changed as it has some rust on it (not as bad as as the filter to tank was though)

So once I get some down time to get these fixed I can then make a decent determination.

But if you want my opinion now I would have to say no. There are other better cost effective solutions for more power. The 3.4L swap seems the most cost effective and a 5.0L swap most likely would have been cheaper then all the money my dad invested in this motor. I was trying to steer him towards a '94\'95 mustang 5.0L due to the shorter water pump and lower intake (I have all the parts in my garage for this motor from my '94 Mustang GT). I think the Ford 5.0 are a good motor for these trucks because they are torquey motors that have good HP and after market parts a abundent and cheaper that Ford factory parts. If I can find a way to adapt the trans\drivetrain (This truck is an auto) I might be tempted

But personally if I came across a 3.4L for a really good deal I'd end up doing the swap on this truck as it seems alot easier.

Thanks
ShaneV