Hey all!! I finally picked up my Expo (yeah right lol) and Off Roadin' vehicle!
It's a 1994 old man gold 4Runner! 164k on the clock.
This will be my Build/questions thread, as this is my first 'real' SUV/4WD.
Prior to this, I was taking wifey's 2000 Honda CRV exploring on the NF roads. It worked, especially with some Yokohama Geolander AT/S on the vehicle! I got through some things that nobody thought would it would be able to conquer, but I eventually was defeated by a rutted road that somebody used for a mud slinging fest. After 45 minutes of pulling out the vehicle, using a Land Cruiser as a tow truck, and working against the coming darkness/black bears (I would have liked to wrestle one of them for dinner ) We saved the vehicle and went home. That started my search for my first real 4wd truck.
I wanted an extended cab pickup, but everything local was beat up, too old, or just too expensive!
Somehow (fate?) I was browsing the Craigslist east bay/dublin/pleasanton section. That section is about an hour away from me. I come across a 1994 4runner, that is located in my local town! This 4runner was never posted in the local craigslist section. I call the guy, no answer. Leave a voice mail. Send a text message just to double up on my interest, to let the guy know, in case he was too busy to pick up the phone. He calls me back about 20 minutes later. He says its located at the local dirt lot everybody parks their vehicles at, and gives me the lowdown on the vehicle. I go check it out, and call him back. There were about 5 other people looking at the car when I got there. I call the guy, ask him to bring the title. I mention this part REALLY LOUDLY and everybody gives me the stinkeye and walks off.
Take it for a drive, it needs an alignment/tire balancing (probably just the balancing) and some TLC (paint needs buffing, I'll let the trail brush do that ) and the throttle feels a bit stiff, like the cable is sticky. There is also a power steering leak, but the fluid is topped off. Hood is rusting a little (surface rust) and there are two spots on the rear doors (same spot 1 each side) that are bubbled/rusted. No other rust on the car. It was a prior Bay Area car, which explains it though.
The owner used it as his daily driver/commuter, so he kept maintenance up to date. He sounded like a person that doesn't really do is own work, kept talking about how he needed it to be reliable so he's kept up on the maintenance, always taking it to a shop for the maintenance. (even oil changes!)
I start the 4Runner and it's like a brand new truck. No hesitation starting, no bogging while driving, nothing. Temp checks out. A/C works damned well, and there was no bogging down of the engine with the A/C switching on. I check the smog paperwork, and it passed with really low emissions.
It even has a tow hitch. I'm sold! Dude had it listed for $3800 at the lot, $3500 on CL, I told him what can you do, he said somebody offered $3200 but hasn't come through, and another one said he'd pay full price. I told him $3300, right now, cash is in my pocket. SOLD!!
I can live with the 3.SLOW V6 for now (3.4 swap? *drool*) and the Automatic. Wifey can drive an automatic, so that's a plus in her eyes.
Drive it home.
Now for the list of things to do!
*any dates in front of the list are when it has been completed*
(2/10/2012) Baseline fluid change. Need to change the rear diff fluid still, but thanks to a rounded differential bolt I'll have to wait until I get a new one.
Steering feels a bit 'loose'. Need to research and mess with that. (need to fix LCA bushings)
Throttle cable/pedal feels sticky, rather, stiff.
Fix power steering leak.
Fix rusted areas.
(2/4/2012) Door lock cylinders need to be lubed, they are VERY sticky. (lubed with dry lub, might need graphite instead)
Diff breather mods.
(2/12/2012) Replace burnt out bulbs. (fixed)
(2/10/2012) Realign headlights. (fixed, but not perfect)
Fix issue with 4WD.
Replace broken EGR Temp sensor. (broken while messing with the motor...)
Replace driver mirror glass (have new glass, need to tear apart stock mirror now)
(02/23/2012) Electrical gremlin with the back window? He says sometimes it will randomly roll down when you start the truck. (fixed a soda filled window switch)
Fix the single din radio install. The prev owner actually said he looked for a stock toyota radio as the original went out and it was too expensive (DUH?) so he went and got a cheap Sony deck installed. Whoever installed this looks to be about 10 years old. I'll get an actual install kit.
Install CB radio. Free, and have everything for it, might as well, until everybody in my group starts upgrading to HAM.
(2/23/2012) As a work in progress, ripped out all interior and cleaned it. Still need to finish the rear seats, and the seatbelts. That's about it.
Future mods:
ARB Medium Lift kit. Rear shocks are tired, I can bounce the truck easy.
Different tires. It has some M/S tires on it right now, maybe 50-60% tread left. (OE 17" Tacoma Sport/4Runner wheels replaced these)
Lockers-eventually.
ARB front bumper. IF I decide to get a new front bumper, it'll be ARB. As of right now, the OEM bumper works just fine. (might go with Marlin Crawler instead)
Marlin Crawler Sliders.
Marlin Crawler Rear bumper?
Winch. If I get the bumper, it's probably because I need a winch.
Foglights/Driving lights.
Now for questions:
Anything else you would do to my truck?
Any issues that I should watch out for?
Next weekend will be the shakedown run :wings: Can't wait to get out and do some recon!
It's a 1994 old man gold 4Runner! 164k on the clock.
This will be my Build/questions thread, as this is my first 'real' SUV/4WD.
Prior to this, I was taking wifey's 2000 Honda CRV exploring on the NF roads. It worked, especially with some Yokohama Geolander AT/S on the vehicle! I got through some things that nobody thought would it would be able to conquer, but I eventually was defeated by a rutted road that somebody used for a mud slinging fest. After 45 minutes of pulling out the vehicle, using a Land Cruiser as a tow truck, and working against the coming darkness/black bears (I would have liked to wrestle one of them for dinner ) We saved the vehicle and went home. That started my search for my first real 4wd truck.
I wanted an extended cab pickup, but everything local was beat up, too old, or just too expensive!
Somehow (fate?) I was browsing the Craigslist east bay/dublin/pleasanton section. That section is about an hour away from me. I come across a 1994 4runner, that is located in my local town! This 4runner was never posted in the local craigslist section. I call the guy, no answer. Leave a voice mail. Send a text message just to double up on my interest, to let the guy know, in case he was too busy to pick up the phone. He calls me back about 20 minutes later. He says its located at the local dirt lot everybody parks their vehicles at, and gives me the lowdown on the vehicle. I go check it out, and call him back. There were about 5 other people looking at the car when I got there. I call the guy, ask him to bring the title. I mention this part REALLY LOUDLY and everybody gives me the stinkeye and walks off.
Take it for a drive, it needs an alignment/tire balancing (probably just the balancing) and some TLC (paint needs buffing, I'll let the trail brush do that ) and the throttle feels a bit stiff, like the cable is sticky. There is also a power steering leak, but the fluid is topped off. Hood is rusting a little (surface rust) and there are two spots on the rear doors (same spot 1 each side) that are bubbled/rusted. No other rust on the car. It was a prior Bay Area car, which explains it though.
The owner used it as his daily driver/commuter, so he kept maintenance up to date. He sounded like a person that doesn't really do is own work, kept talking about how he needed it to be reliable so he's kept up on the maintenance, always taking it to a shop for the maintenance. (even oil changes!)
I start the 4Runner and it's like a brand new truck. No hesitation starting, no bogging while driving, nothing. Temp checks out. A/C works damned well, and there was no bogging down of the engine with the A/C switching on. I check the smog paperwork, and it passed with really low emissions.
It even has a tow hitch. I'm sold! Dude had it listed for $3800 at the lot, $3500 on CL, I told him what can you do, he said somebody offered $3200 but hasn't come through, and another one said he'd pay full price. I told him $3300, right now, cash is in my pocket. SOLD!!
I can live with the 3.SLOW V6 for now (3.4 swap? *drool*) and the Automatic. Wifey can drive an automatic, so that's a plus in her eyes.
Drive it home.
Now for the list of things to do!
*any dates in front of the list are when it has been completed*
(2/10/2012) Baseline fluid change. Need to change the rear diff fluid still, but thanks to a rounded differential bolt I'll have to wait until I get a new one.
Steering feels a bit 'loose'. Need to research and mess with that. (need to fix LCA bushings)
Throttle cable/pedal feels sticky, rather, stiff.
Fix power steering leak.
Fix rusted areas.
(2/4/2012) Door lock cylinders need to be lubed, they are VERY sticky. (lubed with dry lub, might need graphite instead)
Diff breather mods.
(2/12/2012) Replace burnt out bulbs. (fixed)
(2/10/2012) Realign headlights. (fixed, but not perfect)
Fix issue with 4WD.
Replace broken EGR Temp sensor. (broken while messing with the motor...)
Replace driver mirror glass (have new glass, need to tear apart stock mirror now)
(02/23/2012) Electrical gremlin with the back window? He says sometimes it will randomly roll down when you start the truck. (fixed a soda filled window switch)
Fix the single din radio install. The prev owner actually said he looked for a stock toyota radio as the original went out and it was too expensive (DUH?) so he went and got a cheap Sony deck installed. Whoever installed this looks to be about 10 years old. I'll get an actual install kit.
Install CB radio. Free, and have everything for it, might as well, until everybody in my group starts upgrading to HAM.
(2/23/2012) As a work in progress, ripped out all interior and cleaned it. Still need to finish the rear seats, and the seatbelts. That's about it.
Future mods:
ARB Medium Lift kit. Rear shocks are tired, I can bounce the truck easy.
Different tires. It has some M/S tires on it right now, maybe 50-60% tread left. (OE 17" Tacoma Sport/4Runner wheels replaced these)
Lockers-eventually.
ARB front bumper. IF I decide to get a new front bumper, it'll be ARB. As of right now, the OEM bumper works just fine. (might go with Marlin Crawler instead)
Marlin Crawler Sliders.
Marlin Crawler Rear bumper?
Winch. If I get the bumper, it's probably because I need a winch.
Foglights/Driving lights.
Now for questions:
Anything else you would do to my truck?
Any issues that I should watch out for?
Next weekend will be the shakedown run :wings: Can't wait to get out and do some recon!
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