The Backup Plan: My 3rd Gen 4runner

[Airmapper]

I sort of wanted to wait, kinda of a big purchase and I have other more important maintenance items to think about, but the 4runner had a bumpy ride, liked to spin tires on wet roads, and I was getting tired of it, so it was time for new rubber.

I purchased it with 2 dry rotted nearly worn out tires on the rear, and 2 fairly decent but obviously cheap tires on the front, that were not even the same brand tire. Combined it had 3 different brand tires on it, for a nerd like me that was like making all the paintings on the wall crooked and trapping Adrian Monk in there with them.

I opted for Cooper Discoverer AT/3's in P rated 265/75/16.

Since the Xterra is my rig of choice on the more difficult off road runs, and I use the Runner mostly to drive to work, I went for the lighter tires. I still don't want it to be helpless if I'm out and want to explore down some forest service roads though, so I think the AT/3 is a good compromise between commuter and weekend explorer.

Before:

After:

And with new tires I couldn't help myself, I took some shameless and totally unbecoming poser shots....

Flexing it out brought out an issue with the front fender. This is the corner that was in the previous owners accident, and shoddily repaired. They didn't even put any fasteners in the bottom. I'll put some screws, zip ties, or whatever I can in there and I think it will be fine.

And since I changed tire size, naturally I needed a spare. The spare it has was as bald as George Costanza, but I got lucky here. I set aside my stock Xterra's spare when I got a matching wheel and bumped it to 33's, so this left me with a like new BFG RuggedFail and guess what Xterra's run stock, 265/75/16.

I had to let a little air out but it finally tucked up into it's spot, wedged between the trailer hitch and sway bar.

 

[Arktikos]

Flexing it out brought out an issue with the front fender. This is the corner that was in the previous owners accident, and shoddily repaired. They didn't even put any fasteners in the bottom. I'll put some screws, zip ties, or whatever I can in there and I think it will be fine..

Yeah, that looks bad. I've never looked at how these fit, but in your shoes I'd look to put it back together the way it's supposed to go, if possible.

 

[Airmapper]

Done some more work today.

Since the fender was goofed up I just took it off the rest of the way, grand total of 3 bolts holding it on....

I wanted to install the new antenna and washer bottle, easier to mess with this way.

I got everything installed, but putting the center dash back in, I fell victim to the brittle wood grain....two steps forward, one step back...

Got the fender back on, got one more bolt in toward the bottom but it needs more. Seems it will stay put for now, but I'd like to get it a bit more secure later. I believe the sketchy body shop depended on the running boards to help hold it in, and since I ditched those it's free to pop out.

But aside from that, radio picks up great, and soon as I get some washer fluid I should be good to go. Not shown I washed it, and removed the extra roof rack bottom bars until I can paint them. Also took off the sunroof guard for now and see if I like it better that way, the gasket is not adhering right.

 

[dms1]

Before I added a transmission cooler to my 99 4Runner, my transmission ran about 145 Deg in the summer time, with the transmission cooler it barely goes above 120. Also, I have noticed if you are in overdrive and the temp starts to creep up to an uncomfortable temperature, turning off overdrive almost immediately drops the transmission temp by 10 degrees. I monitor my temp with a scan gauge.

 

[Airmapper]

Did a little bit this weekend to the 4runner.

Oil & filter change, I've put 5000 miles on it since I've had it now.

The roof rack has been bothering me, it has the typical paint gone and rusting thing going for it, so I completely removed it. I have it disassembled now and working on getting it sandblasted for fresh paint.

I picked out Rustoleum Satin Black for it, and I started off with the spoiler to see what the color looked like, turned out well.

I also pulled off the grille and painted it the same color. It was rough looking, chrome and chipping faded black. Probably going to go with it for all accent work since I don't really want to add any colors, it's close enough to the body color it doesn't detract but just a little subdued.

I'm thinking of doing the center caps for the wheels in satin black, what do you all think? Too much and look goofy or will it look okay? I can't color match the wheels very well, but the wheels themselves don't need anything as they are in great shape. But the caps don't look good as chipped raw plastic.

Photos of how it looks with the refreshed grille and no rack:

 

[4runnerteq]

Looking good sir