Toyota newbie here. Just acquired a 2001 4runner limited with unknown mileage. I'm thinking anywhere between 25000 to 27000 miles. No information on past maintenance but drives good and is clean. Besides replacing the valve cover gasket and transfer case seal due to leaks I plan on replacing the timing belt and water pump.

My question is what should I be looking out for if I plan on driving this across the US this summer in terms of preventative maintenance? I would love to get another 100000+ miles out of it. I'm moving to rural Tennessee and plan on being in school for 4 years with little to no time to work on it myself besides general maintenance with the nearest mechanic an hour away. Thoughts on rebuilding the engine and tranny before then or wait and see what happens?

 

do timing belt waterpump deal and add a exterior tranny cooler thats all i would do to it. im in the process of putting a external tranny cooler in this weekend so the milkshake syndrome dosent happem. id also do a tranny flush or change the fluid and filter

 

THIS ^
And those good ol' ball joints, especially the lower ones, anything over 150,000 change out the lower ball joints with Toyota ball joints, imo. In that case stay away from aftermarket. Check the tie rod ends and replace if any doubt- easier to do when you're doing the lower ball joints. Fuel filter would be nice if it looks to be oe especially. Check the plugs/wires. How are those belts and hoses including heater hoses at the firewall and heater lines if you have rear heat? Clean the maf, check the air filter. How are the u-joints? Does the drive shaft need greasing? No tell-tale flinging of oil on the insides of the rear tires, indicating rear axle seals? How does ALL the fluids look? Diffs, cooling system, engine, tranny, guess you're already doing the transfer case.
Drives good is nice to work with and pics are always nice. My 96 will have over 250,000 when I take it on yet another 4,000 mile trip this June, but I maintain it pretty well. It's been mostly pretty easy to work on, but do come up with something to catch the engine oil when you pull the filter, that's gotta be one of my least favorite things to do on the old truck. I use a veggie oil bottle with the bottom cut of for a funnel, works pretty good. The front diff uses a 10mm hex for the fill bolt.

 

Wow, 25 to 27 thousand, that's a really low mileage vehicle!