96 4Runner 325,826 miles

Noticed one of the aux reverse lights was very dim. Plugged in the working light and it did the same thing, so wiring related. Followed the wiring, found an intermittent bad ground via Highly Scientific Wiggling, repaired it.
All better now.

 

I would go with Grainger or McMaster-Carr. Starting with Grainger. They have an excellent selection of electrical/electronic parts, tools, and equipment. Including pins, crimping tools, insertion/removal tools, heat shrink (!!!!!), and various colored wires. Well worth a look.

Good luck to ya
​​​​​​​Pat☺

 

Thanks Pat, I'll try those. I'd like to use the bad harnesses to make back-ups.

 

96 4Runner 329,157 miles

Home. Some few repairs needed, but no transmissions this time!!

 

Don't leave us in suspense! What some few repairs?!?

Enquiring minds, that own 4Runners too, want to know

Pat☺

BTW: My 99 Runner has a locker too! It works great, but I think it came from the factory with it. "Stuff" is happening to it as well, but I have a great mechanic who's keeping the "stuff" under control. So far, any way...

 

Heh...both our rear lockers are Toyota e-lockers, the 99 came with, and I added/wired one to my 96. The fronts are both aftermarket. Arb air for me and Harrop for the husband.
I laughed at the 'under control' stuff...so far

1 NA168 bulb for the right marker turn signal, just a blown bulb I think
All 4 REAR lower control arm bushings
Figure out power steering leak on the rack and pinion
figure out why the rear dif nuts backed off slightly
Look over everything for damage and/or wear
oil change

Okay, I gotta get some pics together and make a report. July 7th-24th, Missouri, Kansas, Tall Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and reverse. Hiking, Biking, and of course, Bumpity bumping.

 

something might go here at some point.
But not the something I want!!!

96 4Runner 329,158 miles

Today was the first time I drove the truck since pulling into the driveway at the end of our big trip.

Made it to the end of our street. When the light turned green I stepped on the gas and heard a big bang.
TA DA!! No more forward movement. No more backward movement. No any movement?
Luckily I'd only rolled forward a foot or so, didn't block traffic. Hit the hazzards, called the husband for a tow back home.
Once we got the 96 on flat ground he said he could see the rear driveshaft turning. In gear it's making a noise back there.
He's thinking a broken axle shaft. It's a reasonable guess. He locked the front hubs and I rolled it the rest of the way home in 4wd.

Guess what I'll be pulling apart once the shade hits the driveway....
and guess who's super-glad it's not anything to do with any part of the truck that starts with the prefix Trans-!

 

It's in the 3rd member. There's a gear in there that's wrong, it might be broken the way it acts. I'm really out of my depth here so I've got some learning to do.
Ring and pinion look good, just the guy on the side that the passenger axle shaft fits into. There appear to be two separate splined pieces. They're both notchy and wobbly and catchy, but not good like a tune.
Unfortunately it also took out the end of the right axle shaft.
Okay, off to read.

Hey, it's not a transmission.
Yet.

 

 

The right side axle


A normal side gear thingy


The 96's broken side gear thingy

 

2023 Colorado/ Utah trip
ALL OF THE GOOD PHOTOS PLUS MOST OF THE REST WERE TAKEN BY MR. MOCHA...

Day one was a stop at Ellis Lakeside in Kansas to camp for the night. It’s a place to sleep and we got lucky with quiet neighbors.


The next day we drove to Guanella pass, hiked part of the Burning Bear Trail,


then drove up Kirby Gulch to camp. Another quiet night with good neighbors and c-c-c-cold in the morning as we’d gotten to the end of the road just below the treeline before we found a spot.

 

Buena Vista’s Midland trails were fun. We did Midland, Bacon Bits, Sausage Link, and Bacon Strip- a little under 7 miles. And off to Salida where we camped off the road to Marshall Pass.




Another bike ride, this time Salida’s Methodist Mountain trails. 14.5 miles of up Race Track/ Sun Up/ Sol Train West/ Little Rainbow/ Spartan West, Spartan East/ Little Rainbow/ and back down Race Track. The altitude got me a bit, especially going up the first 2 trails.

Afterwards we drove down to Crede Colorado with the intent to check out Wheeler Geological area. The 4x4 road to the monument was closed and us without our backpacks to sleep up near the area had us camping off of Pool Table road.

 

The next day we decided to drive the Bachelor Loop with a couple of divergences. We took 502 to 503 to a pass that was closed due to snow, then headed back down and over 504 and back to Crede. It was pretty.

 

From Crede we headed over to the Alpine Loop. After a night camping off the road to Cinnamon Pass we drove to Lake City and on up to Engineer Pass. There a motorcyclist asked us for a jump and the husband let him borrow the jump pack to get his friend going again.




Down Engineer towards Ouray via Mineral Creek, he made another save with the jump pack- a dead battery in a side by side. Mineral Creek is a fun drive.

 

We drove through Ouray and out to the Dominiquez-Escalante conservation area. Once there we took the Triangle road out til we found a camp spot.


In the morning more triangle road. The goal was to cross the Dolores River. After driving to 3 different crossing sites and finding a faster flowing, deep sand, eaten-up high bank river we back-tracked a different part of the Triangle loop and took hwy 70 from Grand Junction to the La Sals. Ah, well. The river was higher than usual, but the drive was mild to moderate wheeling and a good day was spent exploring the area.

 

After waking up in the La Sals


Another biking day, we staged the trucks and rode Hazzard County, Kokopelli to UPS, Eagle Eye, and Hawk’s Glide. We’d planned for more, but it was getting very hot and we called it a day.

 

Back up into the La Sals we went, off a little fs road to a spectacular view of a campsite. I got tons of pinstripes on the very narrow road, but I already have tons of pinstripes. Luckily there was nobody else on the trail- passing would have been muy dificil.









Driving back out the narrow 4x4 road we met a large party of Jeeps and 1 FJ cruiser at the end, getting ready to drive down what we just came up. We were incredibly lucky they hadn’t gotten started yet!!

 

And on to Poison Spider
rated a 6, there were some interesting moments. It was fun.








The Waterfall...






My turn...the view from the windshield. If you look behind and down from my husband you can see it roof of the 99...




And onward

 

After a quiet night (once we packed up camp and moved far away from the buttheads that decided to arrive late and party next to us) and breakfast in Moab we biked the Slickrock practice loop (I practiced not losing my breakfast- too much food this morning!)




We drove more of the Triangle road towards Gateway, Colorado and hwy 141 east.
It was unexpectedly pretty coming down the canyon heading towards Gateway,
neither one of us took pics

and from there on to Lost Lake to camp.

 

In the morning we hiked the 3 lake loop,




then drove to Crested Butte where we found a dispersed site near lake Irwin. Crested Butte is cracking down, as are many towns. The dispersed sites are numbered and there are a few areas that have them. We used google to find a map of the dispersed sites and got lucky with the spot we chose.


Another biking day, we started in town and did a loop that consisted of both natural and paved paths, some road, the Lupine trail, Gunsight, Upper Woods Walk and Budd trails. Another butt kicker altitude for me, the downhill parts were fun.