Like the title says, dealer just looked at my 1993 3.slow 5speed 4wd 4runner with 164k miles.

4runner damage list:
Left front turn signal inop($20?) pm'ed a guy about buying his signals, owner before last spray painted them, and the last owner destroyed the driver side
Trailer harness is broken(Don't care right now)
Rear license plate lights inop($5?)
Rear Defroster is inop(Don't care right now)
Needs heated O2 sensor replaced $250 parts/labor (still need to source one, I think it's about $150 for parts)
Idler arm loose $345 parts/labor ($175.19 PN#45490-39365)
Steering Dampener Leaks $280 parts/labor
Rear U-joint on rear shaft needs replaced $200 parts/labor (might just have dealer do it)
Leak at top of transfer case(dunno what cause of leak is, it's covered in oil)(I assume I just need a gasket rebuild kit, so, $45)
Front parking brake cable is stretched $140 parts/labor ($60-75 pn #4641035630)
Transmission pops out of 1st gear when driving(should be around $20-40)

So, questions I have are the steering dampener, should I go with a stock replacement kit, like this, or is there an upgrade that I should do?

U-joint, should I just let the dealer do it? I'm reading that you have to have some sort of crazy press, or can I get the parts, and take it to an off road shop in town to get it pressed in, then reinstall myself? Not really sure how to do this part.

For the shifter popping out of 1st, it sounds like I need a shift lever bushing and shift lever ball seat. Or, the fork is bad, or the syncros are bad. I'm going to go with the cheaper solution. Marlin crawler has some upgraded products that seem like a reasonable price.

Finally, the transfer case. I need to scrub it off, and find the leak, apparently it's covered in oil/gear oil. Seems to be somewhat common. Is it probably just a gasket, and gasket and seal rebuild kit should cover it right? I'm reading I'll have to drop the transmission for this, not looking forward to that. Probably will do the clutch while I'm in there, might as well. I'll look at the flywheel, hopefully it's fine.

Also going to attempt to do all the work myself, I pulled the engine out of a 97 subaru to do head gaskets, I think I can tackle this stuff.

So, anyone have any tips for me? Anything I should upgrade while I'll have that stuff apart? I'm using this thing as my daily, I want to take it camping, off roading, not super tough trails, but, I would love to hit Moab one day, so, who knows...

Thanks a ton guys.

Here it is in all it's beater-ness. And yes, I took off that broken bug deflector. And it will be getting new bumpers and tires once everything is mechanically working and I can afford it.

 

For the U-Joints.. A press helps, but a BFH and a vice to hold it works just as well.

Do the idler and steering dampener yourself, really easy to do..

 

OH, yeah, I planned on doing it all myself. Found a guy that'll help me out with the ujoints, he works at a diesel shop, says he does them all the time.

 

Good idea seeking help. Do as much as you can yourself without paying a shop - especially if this isn't your daily driver. If I get impatient and have a shop do it, I'll cringe at the $$$ I could have saved. Plus, working on the truck is like therapy - I don't think about all the other crap in life.

 

Whew; for a minute there, it seemed like you were going to PAY them to do all that!!
$140 for a $31 parking brake cable, LOL.
Oh yeah - mechanics get paid for their time....we don't, so our repairs only cost pennies on the dollar!!

Nice lookin' truck; you'll have that back in tip-top in no time.

 

On your O2 sensor, I would suggest sparkplugs.com and around here, I can get a muffler shop to weld in a new bung for about $25.

 

Found the Denso Brand toyota(non universal) for $65+shipping there. Thanks!

 

Glad that will work for you. On your blinker cover, I see them on ebay that are new and arent to bad on a price.

I got to get the transfer case seal kit myself. I have heard they run about $30-$40. As long as you dont mind doing the work your self, cost goes way down and on 20 year old trucks that werent taken care of, there is bound to be some work involved, but atleast you know what is in it.

 

280 for a steering dampener!? That's crazy talk. Get an OME dampener - they're one of the most expensive at around $80 but worth it - side by side, stock would be a hotdog and OME a salami when comparing girth. Takes 10 min to install. Read writeup on which idler arm is best - get the $30 autozone one and some brass bushes to keep it tight. You'll need a torque wrench for that one to install - saving by working on it yourself is a great excuse to buy tools you could do it all yourself for a couple hundred in parts. Just start searching the items you listed and you'll find answers. Good luck.

 

OME is the one I was planning on getting. Do you know if all the parts are included such as all the bolts that need replacing? I am not sure what all would need replacing.

I'll look into an auto parts store version. The toyota one is really expensive.

Lucky me, I already have tools. Gotta get work done on the STI, and I'm not about to not use a torque wrench on that thing. It's my baby.

These 33's that are on there are annoying me though.. too bad I don't have money to get some stock size tires that will work in the snow...

 

Okay... Ran into some unfortunate news...

Called Marlin Crawler about which gasket kit I should get for the t-case. They informed me it was a 23-spline. Great. Bad thing, they don't carry chain drive rebuild kits. So, called toyota, they have a gasket kit for it. It's $95. At least it's a kit. While I'm in there, I'll attempt to see what needs replacing, and order it as needed. At least that is my plan. I just hope it isn't too borked in there. Thank god I have a second car...

 

Awesome. With some digging, I saved myself $30 on the transfer case kit. I was really worried about having to buy a new one.

I couldn't find anything about it on the forum, so, here is a link. Part number is #04362-35030

http://www.toyotapartszone.com/oem/t...362-35030.html

 

O2 sensor cleared the CEL, and got some front turn signals!

Tearing apart the Tcase today, wish me luck!

 

awesome...way to jump in an learn about your truck...

 

Parking brake works now!

Started taking the tcase off, not completely off yet, just a few more bolts. I needed to take a nap...

When I get the last bolt off, is it going to slide off, or will I need to bang on it a little? Also, how heavy is it going to be?

 

The front drive shaft is still attached, I need to run to the store tomorrow and grab a rubber mallet to get it apart. Wish me luck.

 

That's a nice runner. Good job so far.

 

Had to go get a mallet to beat the drive shaft off. That is after about 45 minutes of scraping the grease/dirt on that was on there. Going to get some simple green and a brush to finish cleaning it up tomorrow. Also tearing it apart tomorrow! Happy day!

Also got my OME dampener today, and it's pretty beefy!

 

Tcase is back together, back on the truck.

Need some zip ties to mount all the sensor lines so they don't get tore up by the drive lines.

Ujoints... I need a press, so, I'll be taking the rear drive line some where to have them install them for me.

Steering damper, I didn't know I needed pickleforks...

Tools acquired: Transmission jack adapter(we almost dropped the tcase on our heads when we pulled it off, didn't expect it to be so heavy), Rubber mallet, Dremel, pulley puller, gallon of simple green concentrate, 5" vice, I'm sure I'm leaving something out... About $250-300 well spent.

But, I'll still be WAY under what the dealer wanted for all this, including the tools.

 

FINALLY DONE!!!

Tcase is back in
Ujoints installed
Driveline mounted
All fluids except tranny changed(been up almost 20 hours, no need to explain, just wanted to be able to get it rolling again)

Ran into an issue with the transfer case... Of course, I didn't think to pull off the drain and fill plugs on it till it was back on the 4runner... Went and got a 24mm 12 point socket last night, changed the diff fluid no issues, go to fill the tcase, the fill plug is rounded off, and the 12point keeps slipping. I go to ace as soon as they open, get a 6 point, get it off, fill it, and everything mechanically works!!!

So, now I've only got the transmission fluid to change, and I need to go get another quart of gear oil before I do that. I have no motivation to do that right now, so, I'll do that when I come back from vacation, when there is a foot of snow on the ground, and it'll be 20F outside...

Oh, still having trouble with securing the OME steering damper, but, it'll work for going to and from work till I figure something out.