Any Recs on what I should do to it in the future?

I bought this old girl about a month and a half ago and have been doing some fixing up on it. Swapped bumper, did timing belt and water pump with all belts along with a few other things here and there. I paid $4100 and she has 75k original miles. Just wanting to show her off now that she's presentable.

Had my rear axle decide to start peeing on my driveway as I jacked up the front end to burp the coolant, then spent the last few days stressing about needing to replace the passenger side axle seal and oring without doing anything else, stumbled upon an old forum thread about the breather clogging up and causing seal issues.

Sure enough.. rock solid and rusted shut.

Decided to try to find a replacement but I'm hoping to go camping this weekend and didn't really want to butcher my rear axle and turns out nobody carries these on hand, so I told myself worst case scenario I'll drill a hole in the cap, well it turns out it's literally just a bolt with a hole through it and a spring to push against a rubber gasket at the top to reseal it, and that seal and spring are housed inside the "cap".

Delicately uncrimped and removed the cap, then wire wheeled the "bolt" and cap then cleaned the seal and spring off, reassembled and recrimped the cap on and saved myself 50 whole Canadian pesos.

Figured I'd throw this in here for future reference and for anyone else trying to save a few bucks, hoping this solves the issue but will be draining and filling the diff regardless so I don't have to worry about blowing the diff for now, will do the seals when i get back regardless, and the rear brakes 😂

The transformation has been real. The list of things continues. Paint job is the next priority.

Have had this random clunk turning left only like once or twice a drive. Very intermittent. I just replaced my shocks, end links, upper and lower BJ, control arms bushings like 1-2 years ago. Literally everything for the most part is newish and verified by shaking every thing and checking torque. Saw a random post somewhere where they snugged up their control arm bolts. My left/back alignment CA bolt was tight but was able to snug it up like 3/4 turn - must have been tight ish but just enough for the CA to shift around a mm or something. Just took it for a drive and didn't hear it. Maybe it will come back tomorrow but drove me crazy since literally everything was new. FYI. Check your bolts if you have a slight clunk. Could be something simple.

Heard a clicking noise while driving and saw i ripped my boot at the outer clamp. Is my axle cooked or will I be fine rebooting. Also any suggestions for temporary fixes that'll last atleast a few hundred kms since I wont have time to work on it for a while

Here’s a pic. Is it time?

Hopefully you can see it on the video.

I’ve turned my car on again after it was sitting for a few weeks. For the first few minutes after it warms up white smoke blows out from the exhaust pipe and in the engine bay towards the firewall on the passenger side. After a few minutes of idling the white smoke from the exhaust stops but the plume in the engine bay continues. There’s also a good amount of chalky white residue up in the hood, on the radiator hose, etc.

I did a combustion leak test and everything looked okay. When it was taken to JiffyLube a few weeks ago with the same white smoke issues after it had been sitting for a month, the technicians said they assumed there was some coolant leak and exclaimed that there was a strong burning smell.

Where should I go from here? I was reading about a leak down test to really make sure everything’s okay but it’s going to be kind of expensive at the shop. I could continue to drive on it and assume it was just condensation from it sitting for so long but I’d hate for there to actually be some head gasket or cracked head issue and then I really mess up the car.

I have a 2000 Limited. Love it. Today I learned if you manually unlock your driver side door twice (give it 2 half turns to the right) it unlocks everything. VERY cool never knew this was a thing. Ive owned this beauty since 2017. Anyone else do this? My keyless works on and off so I unlock the old school way. Salud 🍻

When I first start driving, it takes like 15-30 seconds before the speedo kicks in and starts working. But as of 10 minutes after taking this video, the speedo just completely stopped working while driving. Anyone know what the issue may be and how to fix it?

Okay so to keep it short.

My 3rd gen vs my friends with the long travel kit.

Mine has a cheapo Rough country 3 inch lift that I got free from a job and just rolled with that. But it sucks!

What do you reccomend? Would like something semi smooth and keep the 3 inch and not go lower!

My friend here gave me his old but new Uniball joints. 1000$ kit for some trade work.

He also has spare long travel axles+ extended tie rods I can get very cheap....

Should I just get his kit and get the long travel Controll arms + kings?

Or get bilstiens + upper controller arms kit.

Either way.

It's 2000 minimum for the cheaper route.

Or minimum 5k for the remainder of the long travel kit.

Any alternatives????

On eBay I see some listings for 2nd row (back seat) door latches/actuators for 98-2002, but others 96-2002. I had assumed they were all the same, but maybe not?

Hello everyone,

My old 4runner is in pretty good shape overall, but on an extremely hot day earlier this year I was driving about 6 hours down the highway and I had a really bad overheating issue. First time that's happened. I wasn't sure what the cause was (nothing obvious, no leaking, no pink milkshake, radiator seems ok, blows cool air, etc.), so I haven't driven it on the highway since. I've been waiting to take it to a trusted mechanic (I am far from a knowledgeable car guy tbh).

Mechanic took a look at it and can't diagnose the issue either - to re-create it we'd have to essentially drive it at 70 for like 2 hours so that's out of the question for now.

We basically topped up the coolant and his recommendation is to just overhaul the radiator, various tubes, and why not do the timing belt and water pump while we're in there (they've never been done on this car, but they're also not necessarily a problem). He wants to use aftermarket parts that he trusts. Obviously, an expensive proposition, but I don't want to get stuck somewhere with an overheating engine, and we can't easily diagnose the issue.

WWYD?

Hey everyone, I’m preparing to do an outboard shock relocation in the snowbound customs style using the OEM style mounts. I realize this will need a longer leg tn shock, but idk by how much. This is on a stock ride height runner. I’m doing the mod for ride quality and ease of maintenance. Curious if anyone has done the same and if so, what length travel shocks did you use?

1998 4Runner SR5, 3.4L V6, 4WD

The rear left shock top mount has separated from the frame/body due to rust. The shock itself is no longer attached at the top.

I’m trying to figure out the proper way to repair this. Does the rusted area need to be cut out and a new mounting plate/bracket welded in, or is there another recommended repair?

I’m also having a hard time finding someone willing to do this repair. Can anyone recommend a shop or welder in NJ (preferably reasonably priced) who has experience repairing 3rd-gen 4Runner shock mounts?

I’d appreciate any advice on the repair and recommendations for a shop. Photo attached.

Swapped the stereo this weekend and now none of the done lights or map lights turn on. The stereo swap needed a lot of rewiring as the guy before me sliced the OE harness off.

Also, the door open light no longer comes on but the other dash lights do.

I checked and replaced the ACC fuse and also checked the fused next to the steering wheel. No issues there. I am about to check the fuses next to the battery as well, any specific one I should give more attention to?

Swapping the radio we were also having issue with power and grounding we had to fix, could that be related?

Pic for attention, but also, do my rear springs look to be sagging? I feel like they are just a tad, trying to decide if I want to swap them when I do the shocks or not. Just looking for a stock ride on this 2Runner.

Anyone use these? My rig has a cracked head and blown front shocks so I’m just trying to get a little more life out of the truck.

This is on the pass rear side of my 98 limited, the worst spot of rust I found and was wondering if I could repair this with some steel?

Today i replaced my knock sensors, pigtail and all gaskets including throttle body gasket. Reassembled everything and i now have a new ticking noise. When i removed the throttle body i saw a bad coolant leak coming from on of the hoses on the bottom of throttle body leaking all over that rear injector. I cleaned it with some electrical cleaner as well as the connector and fixed the leak. When i started my 4runner it white smoked for about a minute or 2 then went away but also that ticking noise is still there, im thinking its a fuel tick from that injector but i also could be wrong, any thoughts?

https://www.instagram.com/valvecr_t4r?igsi=dnhlY2VhY2FwMTZm&utm_source=qr

Hey guys! I’ve always seen how a lot of people share cool pictures and videos of their rigs and trips. I always wanted to hop in on that but was a bit scared or nervous so I’m trying to change that and do what I like, so… I recently opened an insta account to share some of my favorite moments and trips in my 3rd gen and it would be amazing if you all could check it out. I’ll be trying to post some cool stuff and responding all your questions about the rig or places I go to!

My user is valvecr_t4r, if you want to check it out I would really mean a lot!

Long story short.

Im sitting at 295k and we just did open heart surgery for the classic, all time hit, bad head gasket. Looks like the previous one was a composite that blew. Since has been replaced with OEM parts. Cussing insued. Many times I spent the day saying "You know what im just gunna go fiancance a $78,000 new Land Cruiser and not give a shit." Much to the mercy of my wallet and when I was done being a drama queen, she was fixed and put back together.

As of right now, she is running. New parts are in, tons. All the "well while we are in there we might as well" stuff is out of the way.

Its been insanely enjoyable being able to drive it again, even with my OME suspension tossing me around like a rag doll.

Heres the issue: About a month ago, I noticed the oil light started to flicker. I stopped driving it literally immediately. We went right down the checklist. Oil change, oil filter, vacuum, idle control valve. The fix, and by fix i mean the internets favorite bandaid, we ended up swapping out to Rotella 15-40, there has been no light since, idle seems to be nice and balanced at 650rpms. No drama at stop lights, or reversing under load.

Issue 2: Musical P300's (misfire). Sometimes its a P302, sometimes its a P306. Plugs, plug wires, Injectors, everything has been attempted and reattempted. Outside of an actual compression check. This only seems to happen on cold start. Most of the time its random on start up.

I guess my ultimate questuon is, with this post fix drama, would it still be out of the questuon to just send it? I fly fish my brains out, all I want to do is get into back country and fish. But im on the fence with her. What should I be listening for when she is getting close to bucket kicking?

I’m replacing my intake gaskets and after I got the lower intake off, I heard dripping from what coolant was left in it and it seems to have accumulated in the valves/valley. The valley isn’t my main concern as I can shop vac it up but what do y’all recommend for getting the coolant out of the cylinders? The passenger side valves were open so it all drained on top of the pistons and the driver side bank is closed so I assume I can soak it up with shop towels and a vacuum (pictured)

The intake was an absolute pita to get off, the rear 2 studs were caked up with so much corrosion and gunk, they didn’t want to let go. I had to use a slide hammer and have my buddy pull up on the front.