Way to go on the trail work.

Gonna have to check out Justin's podcasts sometime

 

Hab you over and over prove yourself a true listener, you bring up things I forget about lol. I have a fare amount of blooper audio I'm going to at some point add in at the end of an episode. More interviews on the calendar and some good things planned.

 

Thanks Robb, been doing it for over a decade now, kinda has become one of our things. Hoping the kid starts building more trail, he's got a good eye for the necessary angles.

Jason- I'm glad it's not perfect, I'm always up for a good chuckle, whether planned or impromptu. The 52 min was more manageable for someone like me who has trouble sitting still- that and wireless headphones! They make it all the way to the kitchen! It's gotta be hard to keep a trim show. Love those little tidbits in there of stuff I'm still learning from and about (like your personal experiences and the hi-lift rebuild kit). I enjoy hearing about your 3rd gen, your son's 2nd and the FJ and land cruiser stuff. I remember about the fender cracks in the FJ....does he have the windshield breakage issue too? Okay, now I need to keep a trim show!

Got the new cb antenna in the mail. Now, to get a break in the rain...
It's a Wilson Flex 4'. Thinking about getting a spring for it. One of my Wilsons got broken off when a tree limb fell on it at the base. Had it been anywhere else it wouldn't have been a problem. I think a pretty stiff spring would protect from that happening again, but I don't want the thing whipping all over the place and whacking the truck while driving (it doesn't now, unless I try to trim some branches with it). What do you all think? Good, bad, indifferent?

 

I don't remember know where you have yours antenna mounted, but I ran a spring on mine and it worked fine.

 

Above the right taillight. Good to hear...I think I'll give it a try.

 

So the hubby saw the Ebay Discount tire of buy 2 for $400 or more and get $100 off. He used it as an opportunity to jazz up the 99 with snazzy new tires. 2 for the front, 2 for the rear, 2 for the spare carriers. Now we're BFG'd all over the place! Really it was a deal that couldn't be beat, even with the $20 per tire mount and balance. Our anniversary is (very slowly) approaching. I guess year 14 is rubber? I can live with that.

It looks like they are out of LT285/75r16 in particular again, I don't know if they'll offer more or not. They did have a lot of other stuff and other brands. Cooper is one, and they've got a $70 off 4 tires deal that can be used on top of Discount's offer...anyhow...

I rotated tires today and added my new one to the mix.
The air line that goes to the gauge (OBA) got a small split in it so I fixed that today, too. Not sure why, it runs under the door sill in that spot, I thought it'd be protected.
Ah, well.

The new antenna is on but I still need to procure a spring. Also still need to tune it. Everything I need for building the winch power cables is here too. I crawled around under the 96 the other day trying to figure out where I wanted the solenoid for the switch to go. There is a negative buss under the battery box so that's easy enough.

Got a lower arm coming from EB Toyota for the 99 because the old bushings are rusted beyond removal. Also have parts coming for doing the valve covers and knock sensor wiring on the 96. The valve covers did have loose bolts, which I tightened, but it's still leaking.

Starting to accumulate parts for summer break, I have to double check, but believe the timing belt to be due and I need to get some gaskets replaced too, like the valve covers. I think I'll finally change my thermostat with 280,xxx miles. Does anybody know what Toyota uses on the oil pan? Sealer or a gasket? 96 3.4 v6...

Also, any tips, comments, or other useful stuff appreciated, as always.

 

Found it! Has it really already been 6 years??? I must be having a heck of a lot of fun because time has sure flown!

3/30/2010
96 4runner 208,000 miles Timing belt, belts, hoses, both idler pulleys.

I've got 72,000 miles on the timing belt. Toyota calls for 60,000 miles on the 96 and 90,000 on the 99. I'm not sure when they decided to lengthen the interval. I figured I'd be safe waiting for 90,000 miles as the parts are the same other than the crank bolt iirc. Huh. Maybe all I need to do are the drive belts and worry about the tb job some other year. Nothing sounds bad 'cept maybe the alternator bearings but that's a horse of a different color. Does this seem reasonable to you all or is there someone with a different opinion and maybe some sound reasoning to back it up?


Blue's changed a bit over the years.

 

They had an initial batch of 33" KO2's on sale that sold out very quickly. I just kept watching and a week later a second batch popped up. I guess those sold out quickly too. Not sure how long the sale will last or if another batch will be released, but $352 shipped for a pair is (was?) a pretty nice price.

 

96 4Runner 280,459ish miles

Took off the cowl (4 annoying buttons I will have to buy more of, 6 screws) and wiper arms



Wiper arms have been bugging me for awhile so they got a shot of paint...






With the wiper cowl off I was able to get the solenoid for my winch switch bolted in


^this was the closest space to the battery that I could find.

Hubby had his own work cut out for him- replaced the right lower a-arm on the 99.



and pics- it happened

 

Is your solenoid just a main kill for the winch Hab? Sorry if I missed something in a previous post.

 

I thought it was 100k miles for timing belt. I did my last belt at 125k miles and it is going to be this summer when I get to it again and it is going to be a little less then 110k miles. That belt is thick. A friend of mine just swapped an original belt with 200k miles on a new to him truck. I would be worried going that far on belt.

 

It is. I don't believe I've posted anything so you're up to speed. I'm thinking I'd like to be able to shut the power off so if something happens that would potentially cause a fire if there was power wouldn't happen.

I agree! 200k seems like a lot of hoping for the best! I'm gonna wait for 90k. I'm sure 100+ would be fine.

Been out wheeling a little, don't have access to pics right now, but will be posting up the fun and games when I can. Have a broken valve stem, but got it cobbled together enough to hold air so still have a spare tire if needed. Had a fine time and the hubby got to put the 99 through it's first lifted 'runner paces.

 

Good idea, I wouldn't have thought of it.

 

Hi Hab! Looks like you guys are gittin' it done! Sadly, the skinny boards have gone unused way too much this winter.....again. Oh well, soon it will be spring fishing season.

Home cured and smoked a pork loin and it made some good eating Canadian Bacon. tasty stuff!

Soon we'll be talking gardens again.

 

long expensive cables for that. Hard to believe that was the only free space under the hood...I will probably be in the same boat

Are you going to mount a switch inconjunction with the solenoid? Or a quick disconnect.
I have a switch like this in my stash of crap i had picked up for the trekker, stuff is slowly making it into the 4runner..


Just out of curiousity, out of the two different racks your family has, which one do you like better? I have debated about making one, but being able to order one is nice too

 

Thanks! I kept finding posts about winches that caught fire and I'd rather keep 'gonna catch fire' a joke than reality!

More lack of snows, bah. The Can bacon does sound tasty. I have the tomatoes and peppers growing in the basement.

I looked all over the place for a spot. There's one over by the cruise control (sorta) but that's even further away. Got all the cable-makin' fixin's, now I've just got to find a chunk of time to get it figured and fabbed.

I am going to have a switch inside (here we go with space and lack thereof again) for the solenoid. I was looking at switches like what you have but couldn't find anything in my price range. That one would have done it. Is it going in cab or under hood?

Of our two baskets I don't have a preference, really. Mine is taller and sitting on the stock rack makes it taller still. Being less stealthy maybe doesn't look as nice other than it helps keep my KC lights not looking ridiculous tall? I do like that there's room to get a hand under it for tying stuff down and it's deep so stuff isn't gonna fall out easily.
His is shorter and he made a different mount so it sits lower. It's a cleaner look by far (see next posts for pics of both). His rack is rusting and needs repainting, mine is starting to rust too, but not as much and it's been on the truck a lot longer.
He bought his new but it wasn't an expensive rack and I bought mine lightly used at a steep discount off Craigslist. Being cheap, I'll like mine best.

 

96 4Runner 281,xxx miles

Had a leak in the air hose from a kink so I fixed that, then got out one of those scraps of aluminum and...



Went wheeling last weekend. Couple o' after shots....






Here's the hubby testing out the new lift...









Waiting my turn on a fairly steep hill (no, I don't know what the inclinometer said, I was busy payin' attention to the obstacles)...



And this was fun. Rob from the Missouri Land Cruiser (Tornado Alley Cruisers, I think) club was an awesome spotter...








That's about all the somewhat interesting pics...as usual most everything looks tame, thank you so much camera. The meet was at Flat Nasty in Jadwin, MO. Good fun w/lots of 4Runners and a couple of Land Cruisers and a Cherokee.

 

96 4Runner 281,xxx miles

Annnnd the damage. Really wasn't too bad (not a ring and pinion at least!)
Tailpipe, of course. Has already been made back into pretty much a circle again...



And my left front valve stem got crushed into a football shape. Wish I'd taken pics before I started messing with it! Here's after I got it back into a circular form and started breaking the rest of end of the valve stem off to get to good unbent metal and thread, plus to be able to get the bent valve core out.



I also didn't take pics of the cobbled together stem. Got it round, got the cracked and bent stuff off, tried just a valve extension but it wasn't holding air so I was able to get the old busted valve core out and we put in a new one. Because of the stem being broken the core stuck out a lot, so I put the valve extension on. That allowed me to air up the tire, protected the core from being depressed or bent again and we finished out our vacation with that. That way I still had a spare in case I needed one.
Got the valve stem replaced today so all is good again.

Other than that I put a good ding in the corner of the gas tank skid.

 

Nice pics Hab. I haven't been wheeling since the first of the year, really have the itch.
Glad you had a good time.

 

I think I am going to mount it inside. If there is a fire or something I will have to get inside to pop the hood anyway.
I wish i had the stuff to make the cables, I might be able to find some wire in the recycle bins as work, lot of electrical remodeling going on.

Thanks for the info on the racks. I just checked Craigslist with out any luck
Not a real high priority yet but in the mood to find one.
A friend of mine just scored this rack for his daughter's Cherokee off craigslist for $100, came with the tire mount and pioneer tools..
Pretty nice rack


Glad you got back with out having to use your spare. I have changed out valve stems before, having to break the bead to replace one is a PITA

i have considered a snap-in tire valve stem tool kit but they are kind of hard to find. But it would be nice not to have to pop a bead to replace a stem