Hey all,

Decided this would be a good place for my first post on here. First, a bit about me: My name is Dan, I'm in Fort Collins, CO and have been into cars since I was a kid. My most recent cars have been my 2003 Legacy GT which I tracked while it was stock (save for a set of wheels/tires), then sold in favor of my 2005 Saab 9-2x Aero, which became my DD project for about four years. A picture of that beauty if anyone cares:




I finally decided to sell that car in an effort to move into something slightly less expensive both in value and insurance. After a longggg search, I picked up my '96 SR5 from a seller down in Denver. It's brown (forget the official name off the top of my head, help?), a 5-speed, has the e-locker, leather, and is Dynamated throughout the car. Oh, and she's only got 130k on her!

The day I picked her up:









Since this is my new DD, upgrades will be mild and minimal in amount. First thing I decided to do was put some 265/75 Hankook ATM RF10's on for just a tiny bit of height and as aggressive of a tread design as I want to go on my DD, at least for now.




So far, I like them. I'm new to the off-road scene and this will be on road 90-95% of the time, so I didn't want to kill my MPG or road manners too much.

Next plans are to remove the side steps, then I'll have to weigh my options. I'm thinking some mild armor (skid plates and sliders) first, then I'll consider a lift or aftermarket bumpers. It could use new shocks, but I'm putting those off due to budget constraints, at least for now. I'm thinking about a separate set of M/T's to have for when I want to wheel, but since I'm so new, I'm just going to do some mild trails and such to get my feet wet before I jump all in.

Other than that, it'll probably get a roof basket at some point to help carry things, and from there I'll have to see where things take me. Who knows, I could end up with a lot more trail ready rig than I originally planned...dreaming tends to make things like that happen.

Thanks for looking! Comments, advice, or insight is always appreciated. I tend to research the hell out of anything I own, so I'm hoping I'll be able to be a helpful contributor in not too long.



My first question is this:

Where can I find the older SR5 black flares for cheaper than at a dealer? Is there an ebay vendor or similar who sells a non-OEM part that's basically identical to those older narrow flares? Is a junkyard my best bet? Toyota wanted close to $1k for the whole set. Yeah...right.

 

Sliders and skid plates are a good start. If I were you i'd go gears/lockers, armor, then lift ( in that order) but its up to you.

 

There's a lot of stuff your stocker can do in CO. Take a few tastes and get an idea of what you want, then you'll know more of what to do. Check out Stay the Trail while you're at it.
One of my favorite colors, anthracite metallic.

 

youve got a nice clean runner! i love that color, i think its one of my favorites. but take good care of the paint and keep it waxed and away from car washes as that color tends to have clear coat oxidation issues. as stated above, your rig can do a lot in stock configuration, especially with that rear locker. i would stay take it out stock(maybe put on some sliders to keep the body nice) and see what it does and get used to it and used to wheeling. then figure out what your into, -just trail running, overland, more advanced/rock crawling ect. each type of wheeling/off roading will have its own setups that will be more beneficial than others. -basically what im saying is dont go all out and build up a rock crawler or baja rig if you only plan on doing weekend camping trips. or dont build a expo rig if your more into crawling.

but before you start "building" it there are a lot of things that should be addressed first. thankfully you have a low mileage rig so thats good. but things like lower ball joints can fail and when they do they can total out a rig. id first go through the whole rig and make sure everything is up to date, plugs, wires, fluids ect. do you know if the timing belt was ever done, or the water pump? look into that before you start building and modding. -also look into swapping out your front brakes for a set of 00-06 tundra fronts.

 

Sooo clean!! Amazing you found one with such low miles, congrats.

 

Timing belt was original, just had it replaced a few days ago along with the water pump. Mechanic said everything else checked out. Alignment tells me the frame is straight and I'm not feeling anything abnormal. Last owner kept up with maintenance from what he told me!

It did have the transmission replaced back in 2007 when the first owner traded it in I believe. First gear wouldn't stay in, so they swapped it out for a 40k mile unit (car had ~90k at the time).

And I don't mean to make the impression I'm going to go crazy with the parts buying haha. Like I said, it'll stay stock (or mostly stock) for the near future, though I will detail come of the convenience mods I do on it.


Tundra brakes are in the cards once it needs it's brakes done anyway, so not right away. Who makes the best bolt on sliders? I'm off to search...

 

very nice clean rig great base to start what ever kind of build you choose. love the color. as far as sliders trail gear makes a good set as do many others its more what you want and how much you want to spend

 

Just got in a set of Monroe replacement rear hatch struts. I'll probably do the install on Friday or over the weekend. I'll do my best to post a write-up and/or review! Running boards will come off at the same time.

I am wishing I had gone slightly more aggressive on my tire choice though. Something like Cooper AT3, BFG AT, or General AT2 would have served me better. Not that the Hankooks are bad, just that I wish they were a hair more aggro. Anyone want to trade?

 

Bump from the dead. Finally got around to taking the running boards off and WOW what a difference that makes in the look of the truck. Thumbs up from me. I know, I know, saying that is useless without pics but still.

Still waiting to do the rear hatch struts. They're fine when it's warm (like it is now) so I'm being lazy with them. Maybe this weekend...

 

Forgot:

The truck is having some vibrations at pretty much all speeds from 20mph+. Steering wheel doesn't shake, and everything FEELS ok except for the vibration which you can mostly feel in the seat. Wheels/tires are balanced and the alignment checked out fine. Took it to a local shop to get it diagnosed (I was thinking a bad U-joint) and they pointed to my inner tie rod ends and the steering gear as the culprit. When the truck was on the lift there was a fairly decent amount of play when they wiggled the driver's front wheel up/down. When I got home I figured it might be the steering rack bushings, so I had a friend turn the wheel while I was under the car and sure enough there was probably ~0.5-0.75" of play when turning it. Is that too much?

I guess I'm just not seeing how either of those could cause a shimmy feeling in the seat without having the steering wheel shake. Thoughts?

Anyone in NoCo want to come over and help me diagnose? Beer would be provided.

 

A little update:

First, I'm debating if I should try just replacing the steering rack bushings + steering guide or if, at my mileage (131k) it's better to just replace the whole rack with a reman one. $100 vs $400 but with no promise the bushings/guide will fix it. Decisions...


In the meantime, a bad picture of the (lack of) running boards:



And what's that? DURATRACS!



I was happy with my Hankooks as a highway only tire, but I didn't like the P-Metric rating given this will go offroad in the future and didn't like how 100% not aggressive they were. Duratracs I've heard are quieter than the BFG A/T (my second choice) and more aggressive, AND cheaper so it was kind of a no brainer for me. 265/75/16 Load C.

Getting them mounted today, More and better pics to follow!

 

The bushings should not be allowing the rack 3/4" play. I just replaced some like that. MUCH better.

To me it doesn't make sense to replace the r&p just for the bushings and inner tie rod ends. If you do the reman rack go ahead and get a bushing kit anyway. It will save you the hassle of replacing the junky bushings that come with the rack 8 months later.
Ask me how I know...

 

I'm with hab I'd just do the bushings. Tires look nice look forward to your review of them.

 

My favorite color for a 3rd gen.

:wabbit2:

 

After looking back at your pics, I don't think I have ever seen a manual 4runner with the oak dash trim. That is super cool! I only thought they came in limiteds before tonight.

Always liked the look of Duratracs too.

 

Interesting...I guess there's the potential the last owner added it. It has quite a few non factory comfort items (heated seats, dynamat) so I'm not sure what is/isn't original.



I put in an order for the Wheeler's bushing kit and I'll stop by the dealer to pick up the parts for the steering rack guide today. Hopefully between those two it'll solve my issues without having to spend the money on a new rack!

 

Parts are all in, that was quite the search to find some of the steering guide parts. Hopefully can get the install done this week - it's hard with a broken thumb.


Question: Do you need a set of these to do the steering rack guide?

 

Saw this awhile back, if you haven't seen it, it might be useful....
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/h...ctures-215931/

 

Yup, have seen that, I'm just not understanding how to tighten the lock nut without them, and they're never mentioned in the thread iirc.

Oh well, off to Harbor Freight then.

 

BTW I am still possibly willing to trade for an automatic 4Runner/Taco in similar condition as mine:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f108...locker-251177/