Yeah, that was a harsh glance away from breaking all on its own. I barely touched it before the fittings crumbled.

 

96 4Runner 334,xxx miles

Pulling parts off, time for a new Toyota r&p. The one I replaced in August of 2014 made it 70,000 miles.
Skid plates, front sway bar, diff drop, all fought me, but I have mostly won. Next is outer tie-rod ends, the steering rod, the ps lines and then the rack.
This time I'm installing poly bushings beforehand. The Toyota rubber just doesn't hold up.
I'll probably also re-use my Beck/Arnley rack boots because they're nicer than the Toyota boots, depending on what shape they're currently in.

 

96 4Runner 334,xxx miles

Things went smoother today, lines off, outer tie-rods disconnected, steering coupler separated, rack out.
One of the diff drop bushings was frozen to the bolt so I pulled the whole dog leg/ diff bracket, Mr. Moka got the two to stop with the hugging. I had a couple of stock bolts in the basement so am going to put it back together stock and decide if I want to go back to the drop or not.
It's been lightly raining so I made use of the awning but the water finally ran down the driveway and under the truck enough that I don't want to crawl under there any more.

I still need to replace the rubber bushings with poly because of my last experience where I ended up having to replace the oe bushings with poly after a couple of months or so and stick it all back together.
The lines took 17 and 16mm wrenches, I find my regular set works better than the Craftsman line wrenches I have because of their being straighter gives a better angle to work with. I've covered the open lines with saran wrap and rubber bands, to keep it sort of closed up until install. Of course I will be changing what fluid is left, and maybe the magnafine filter after I look to see when I last did it.

Got a little more dry time-
Toyota bushings have been replaced with poly and rack is back in. Lines are installed. Return line (closest to driver wheel) needs 17mm wrench, Pressure line (furthest from driver wheel) needs 16mm wrench.
The center rack mount is always a bear for me, today being no exception. I ended up having to bend the mount enough to clear the bushing and install the rack. For anyone who wants to know, the nut on that is tack welded in, not meant to come out.
The weather hasn't been the most cooperative and it's supposed to storm again tomorrow. Maybe I'll get this done....someday...

 

96 4Runner 334,xxx miles

Am finally (mostly) done with the rack and pinion, new poly bushings right off the bat. Have an alignment appt on Tuesday. Just gotta double check and tighten it all up. Will put the skids back on after the alignment.

Also need to get a new dash cam. The Roav C1 I bought in 2017 still works, but the Lithium Ion Polymer batteries are puffing up and pushed the screen out and off. Not feeling comfortable with that scene, and the screen no longer fits.
Apparently newer dash cams use capacitors instead...still need to do the research.

 

Got an email from Serra Toyota of Decatur (Alabama), 20% off their already Toyota Parts Group discounted parts. Over $75 ships free.
Discount shows up on the check out page.
Of course I won't think of anything I need until after the sale...but if it helps anyone else....
https://autoparts.toyotaofdecatur.co...53UW6J,4YS51,1

 

96 4Runner 334,758 miles

Rack and Pinion (new Toyota) is in, truck is aligned. For the record the replaced Toyota r&p made it 70,000 miles.

For the dash cam I chose a Vantrue Sonnet 1 Pro. It was decently rated and not as expensive as some. Has a capacitor instead of a battery and came with a rear camera too. It's bigger than the old Roav was, but still fits kind of behind the rear view. I put it on the passenger side to minimize the impact on my view. Being 7 years newer than the Roav, it has a better camera w/Sony Starvis2 optics along with other features I need to learn about and how to use.
I spent this morning finishing installing the wiring behind various trim panels until it got fry-an-egg hot. I still need to button up some stuff and see how the video looks but with a still-climbing heat index of 106 I believe I'll do so at another time.

I had to mount the rear camera a little off center so my bike handlebars won't hit it.




The front camera


And my view of it from the driver's seat.

 

96 4Runner 335,061 miles

Referring to post #4599
I noticed my throttle body was worn and catching the butterfly so it couldn't fully close unless manipulating it. I actually had a spare and replaced it, that appears to have solved my P0171.
Other than that the truck is putting along just fine, my gas mileage is returning to a more reasonable number with the replacement TB, need to get the skids back on.
There are a few small interior things I need to finish as well, but nothing too exciting.

A bit of a health glitch on my part kept us from out CO/UT trip this year, hoping to get some smaller trips in this fall. Fingers crossed to return to the high country next year. I've heard multiple reports of Imogene re-opening on the ToHellYouRide side, will be confirming that for when we do go.
So far we've biked 5 days from the Kansas City stadium to St. Louis mo in June via the Rock Island, some road, and the Katy trail (super HOT, but it's a wet heat )
and later we squeezed in a couple of days in July to do the Racoon Trail (biking) in Iowa and a nice extra day side trip on the Katy/Columbia trails from Rocheport to Columbia MO and back on the way home instead.
Not the same, but a very enjoyable time for a couple of bikeaholics on short notice and not a lot of time to play.

 

96 4Runner 335,349 miles

Happy 30th birthday, truck!
built 12/95, it's not been an adventurous year so here's an older pic until I can get back out there

 

96 4Runner 335,xxx miles

Haven't been out much for awhile now, haven't done much to the truck. Yet.
I do need to install my set of year of manufacture plates and some other piddly stuff.

Did drive in the woods with a great group from STL Toyota Off-Road a couple of weekends ago. Been too long.
Only have one pic, but it's a good one, taken by Mark Spinner:

 

I got a couple more: