Ownership Verified: So I went to go buy a commuter box...

EyeMWing;n3555043 said:
Interesting nugget up there about Snap-On replacing damaged bolt extractors. Every other tool vendor in the known universe explicitly excludes those.

Might be worth the buy, since I've been through way too damn many $70 sets of those things already.

My friend did get it replaced, so that is apparently a thing - though whether it is just the tool truck rep making nice to retain sales to that dealership's service department or if it is Snap-On corporate policy, I don't know.
 
Got the "factory big brake kit" installed - this consists of the front brakes off a 2005 Toyota Sequoia or Tundra. There is an even larger kit made by StopTech, but that uses aftermarket calipers and pads and costs a multiple of what using stock Tundra bits (or stuff offered as replacements for stock Tundra bits) costs. I bought a PowerStop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Upgrade Kit, which is the most cost-effective option among the one-box brake kits - this comes with slotted and crossdrilled zinc-plated rotors (meh), powdercoated and rebuilt factory Toyota Tundra calipers, all new hardware, ceramic brake lube and carbon-ceramic brake pads for the price of just replacing the stock parts at a parts store. I also decided to replace all the rubber lines (including the rear) while the system was open, so I picked up StopTech/Centric braided stainless steel lines.

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The hardware all seems to be of good quality and the rotor castings are more than acceptable.

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To fit the larger Tundra calipers to the truck, only one modification is required – the stock front dust shield has to be trimmed to allow the caliper to clear. The white paint pen marks are where it has to be trimmed, the yellow lines indicate guides or reference points for cutting.

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After that, it’s just a matter of installing the stainless lines, slapping the rotors back on and bolting down everything.

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After some issues with bleeding that led to the master cylinder needing to be replaced as it had started internally bypassing, the end result was quite good. It stops faster and harder than before, modulation is excellent even if the pedal travel is a bit longer than I’d like. It is now easy to brake hard enough to get the ABS system to kick in even on fresh dry pavement. Big difference in braking and the red calipers are nice and subtle out in the real world as opposed to the harsh light of a garage.

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Wait. What manufacturer are these seats from? They look kinda German to me. Maybe BMW-ish...?
 
:whistle:

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Mitchi;n3555331 said:
Wait. What manufacturer are these seats from? They look kinda German to me. Maybe BMW-ish...?
They are the front seats from a 2009 BMW E92 - and I have them installed in my 4Runner, with all power functions except heater working. :evil:
 
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Mitchi;n3555331 said:
Wait. What manufacturer are these seats from? They look kinda German to me. Maybe BMW-ish...?

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Not Toyota. :D That said, I can't take credit for the idea, I just saw something on Reddit and extended it. I would have posted the full build thread for the seats here but every time I tried the server tanked and erased my posts, so I put it up on the big 4Runner site instead.
 
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While we were down, I installed some 01-02 factory taillights. These are of a more modern style and feature jeweled lenses with better light output, especially for the reverse lights. Found a set very cheap on the local Craigslist.

New light design on left, older design on right - someone else's pic:
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Before:



As installed:

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Last Tuesday, the truck started running rough and missing - as if it was variably running on five out of six. As I carefully limped it back, it seemed to vary between four and six cylinders running at any one time. Running OBD2 diagnostics revealed that cylinder six was definitely misfiring and another was joining it. Lovely.


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The character of the misfires seemed to me to indicate it was an electrical issue, so I went to check the maintenance records. While the plugs and wires had been done previously and were only a little overdue, I found no record of the coil packs having been replaced and for all I knew they were original. 218K was around when the 4Runner forums seemed to indicate the coil packs should be replaced, and I'd previously picked up new NGK plugs and wires planning to replace them but recent foul weather had prevented me from doing so. Looking at the raw OBD2 data, it looked like spark issues and running fuel injector cleaner at high concentration didn't have any effect. The symptoms matched for ignition system issues and since it was appparently time to service it anyway, I ordered in some Denso coil packs - which turn out to be the original Toyota coils (no surprise there). However, not only was Denso the OE supplier for the coils, these coils were literally the Toyota coils, with the Toyota label on it covered by a Denso one at a significant discount off dealer price.


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These coil packs are interesting in that their epoxy potting around the transformer windings is translucent. The crappy aftermarket ones don't have this.


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The 5VZ-E engine uses a somewhat unusual setup for the ignition - the right engine bank has three coil on plug type units, but the COP units have an external port to which an ignition wire connects - and runs to a cylinder on the other bank.

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So, I pull off the intake ducting and am greeted by this - two original coils and one nameless brand Chinese coil.


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No record of the coils being serviced or replaced, and the Chinese coil had a 2012 production datestamp. Best guess is that the shop the previous owner had service it once she stopped taking it to the dealership around the same timeframe was told to change the plugs per the schedule. They probably screwed up the coil during the service, decided to replace it with the cheapest aftermarket coil they could get their hands on and 'forgot' to tell the owner about it.

These generic Chinese coils are well known to fail relatively early, many people report that their trucks don't run as well as they used to when Chinese coils were installed as replacements and the build quality is questionable. That last turned out to be especially true here - the two aged original coils came out without incident but the Chinese coil had its boot bond with the spark plug which had it rip in half when I removed the stupid thing. This forced me to spend an hour with a pick trying to get the remains out of the hole so I could get a socket on the plug.


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Yup, that's part of the torn-off boot that's bonded to the spark plug insulator - after about 20 minutes of removal work.

Once that stumbling block was out of the way, the plugs came out without incident. Their condition was a bit uneven but I think within acceptable margins. Looks like the shop used motor oil as antiseize as all the spark plug recesses were dry. Plugs are in descending order, with #6 on the left and #1 on the right.


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The ignition wires are extraordinarily slim on this system; here's the replacement NGK wires:


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Anyway, after replacing coils, wires and plugs and correcting some misrouting performed by the prior shop, the truck objectively starts faster and runs better than before. Love how the shop decided to replace the coil and didn't mention it to the owner...
 
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So, when you hear this noise coming from the driveshaft of your vehicle, it's probably time to look into replacing things like U-joints.


The above characteristic "something in your driveshaft is failing" noise was produced by my truck when reversing - not when moving forward, just in reverse - a classic sign of impending U-joint failure in this type design. Fortunately, I'd picked up a driveshaft from a junkyard donor (with demonstrably bad U-joints) some time back on a half-price sale so I had a core to bring in, have serviced and install at my convenience while my truck was still operational. The weather being nasty in the local area of late and thus making me not want to work outside, I hauled the driveshaft to a local driveshaft shop to have new U-joints installed and the whole assembly re-balanced and straightened as needed. The last is important when dealing with junkyard driveshafts as junkyards tend to move vehicles around with large forklifts - which tend to make contact with truck driveshafts. This shaft was no exception, but it looked like the forklift scratches were only cosmetic and it looked straight to the naked eye. The shop replaced the U-joints, found that the shaft was out of true by 0.06" but they were able to straighten it back out to within the factory spec, and got it perfectly balanced.


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Der Stig was generous enough to lend me his garage and also heckling/assistance, so I brought the truck and new shaft over to his place to install it out of the wind, rain and cold. It's only held in by four bolts, so it was easy to remove. The transmission seal was still in good shape as was the differential flange.


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And here's the original one from the truck.


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It all went together without a hitch... which was of course too good to be true. A bad vibration and harmonic developed at highway speeds, so I contacted the driveshaft shop. They had me bring it in then put it up on their rack so we could diagnose it; the place is an old line shop near downtown Dallas.


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Yup, that's an ancient in-ground car hoist. Anyway, after testing the rebuilt shaft and looking it over, we all decided that the best course of action was to rebuild the truck's original shaft with new U-joints as it was possible that the junkyard unit, despite passing all bench tests, could be generating a resonant standing wave due to the prior damage. This indeed turned out to be the problem and the truck is now happy again with a non-vibro driveshaft. :D
 
@loose_unit's recent post on his new-to-him Equus' fuel economy reminded me to post this.


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The recent decline is due to sub-0C temperatures we've had around here recently, which means vehicles run richer and consume more fuel. 17+ mpg even so is pretty good considering I don't drive the thing at all slowly; the brake and suspension upgrades listed upthread were installed because I'm going to use them.
 
I have had a bit of a puzzle with this truck since I bought it. Like many 4Runners, the truck either had a hitch installed at the time of sale or the original owner had one put on shortly thereafter. Unlike a lot of 4Runners, the original owner had an aftermarket trailer brake controller installed, which means the truck has a 7 pin trailer connector installed. So far, so good; the problems begin here, however. Whoever he had install the system couldn't figure out a reasonably neat place or way to install the 7 pin connector and bracket so they just picked a spot close to the receiver, drilled the bumper and slapped the bracket on. Because the hitch tubing was close to the bumper, they didn't actually have any standoff room behind the bracket for the connector and wiring to sit normally, so they just bent the bracket and angled the connector, making it sit out and back from the bumper in order to clear the hitch. Later on, someone backed the truck into something and crushed the connector between whatever they hit and the hitch; between the physical damage and the corrosion caused after the cover was lost, the connector was ugly and dead.


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You can see that at the point of install, there wasn't really clearance for the connector itself:


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Yes, that's a 4 pin trailer lighting connector taped to it. The installer decided to first install the standard 4 wire setup, then wire it in such a way that you could just unplug the 4 wire connector from the 7 pin assembly and use it for standard 4 pin trailering. Unfortunately, he installed a generic setup and ended up with quite a lot of excess wire - so instead of trimming the wires to a more correct length they wadded it up, taped it together and stuck it up under the bumper. Yes, the wires were broken as a result of that plus the effects of time and vibration. This whole installation was just inept to the extreme; the wires chafed through and broke in many cases. In others, the installer had simply taped the wires to a handy undercar surface and eventually the wires ended up making contact with rotating assemblies.

So, the puzzle: How the hell did anyone think this install was acceptable?

I had effected temporary repairs (or at least wire relocation) earlier shortly after I got the truck - the recent driveshaft removal gave me the space I needed to effect permanent repairs with proper tools and methods. Having cleaned that mess up, I turned my attention to the connector. I noticed that Amazon Warehouse had a Hopkins dual type connector assembly (having both 4 and 7 pin connectors) originally intended for a Toyota Sequoia discounted to $4.70. Basically it was this unit only with the wires terminated in proprietary Toyota connectors at around tenth of the cost.
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Of course, my 4R didn't have the plugs - no surprise. I figured (correctly) that I could cut the connectors off, splice it into the existing wiring and get a nice neat install without dangling adapter plugs. That went well, but where to put the unit? I couldn't put it on the bumper behind the hitch or I'd be right back in the same boat as the original idiot installer. I couldn't move it out to the ends of the bumper and install it parallel to the ground or debris off the wheels would likely destroy it, or it would eventually get hung up on something and get bent. After getting a sanity check from CrzRsn and the Dallas FG group, I decided to mount it up behind the bumper, perpendicular to the ground. The setup is nicely tucked away and you can't really see it at all except for a little bit of the bracket sticking down.


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That's nice, I need to fix the one I have on the X as well. While it has a factory hitch for reasons I don't fully understand the Nissan factory hitch has basically a thin and shitty piece of metal welded on the side for the plug. Said piece of metal rusted to shit in the unkind NE winters and I managed to both bend and crack it last time I backed into a snow bank (it's a Japanese Jeep thing you wouldn't understand).
 
As started here, my truck was infected with GMism/GTOism: https://forums.finalgear.com/threads/an-aussie-in-texas-march-14-24-2019.3555480/post-3560426

The missing parts were discovered when I took the truck in for an oil change and the techs found that it was much easier to remove the skid plate and checking the power steering level was difficult when there was no dipstick to check it with. (I watched them through the entire process so I am certain they didn't just lose the bolts and cap.) All these parts were in place when I'd done my weekly-ish regular once-over-lightly check of components and fluid levels a few days previously...

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So, having had the techs reattach the skid plates with the remaining fastener and a ton of zip ties that I provided a la Roadkill and temporarily capped the power steering reservoir, I quickly dashed off for the closest Pick-N-Pull to snag a power steering reservoir cap before they closed - and the impending storms. I get there only to find that the staff often remove and discard reservoir caps in the process of draining junked vehicles of fluid. Sometimes they put them back on, sometimes they don't. Of all the 4Runners and Tacomas on the lot, none have a cap. Some did have skid plate screws and I took a couple to match up at a local hardware store. Since there wasn't enough time to run to another yard, I had a quick inspiration and looked up the part and what it fit. Turns out that aside from various Toyota trucks, this cap also came on the Supra... and some other Toyota products that I had never thought of as being useful.

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Really, Toyota? It's the same one on the 1.5L crapboxen? There being no Supras or Scions in the yard, the only option on that list was a couple of -ew- Echos. One of them actually had a pristine cap with the original rubber boot in good shape. Grabbed them and quickly bailed just as the yard was closing.

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Hit Lowes on the way home to pick up some hardware, got back and had to deal with business (and GTO rescue) so postponed the remaining repairs until the following day.

Spent the entire afternoon wrestling the surprisingly heavy skid plate assembly around, 'adjusting' it with a hammer to get holes to line up, etc. All fixed now with bolts, flat washers and lock washers; I need to figure out how to repel GM/GTO radiation to prevent a return engagement. :p

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Exhibit A for why I've made a few subtle cosmetic modifications to the truck, such as blacking out some of the badging.

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There are so many of the damn things around that this is not an uncommon sight. Without the modifications, I would have to figure out which one of the identical trucks in the same area of the parking lot is mine. After the above picture was taken and I was leaving the store, a third silver 3rd gen 4Runner turned up and looked to be parking in the same area. :p I have actually come out of a shopping mall only to find no fewer than seven other silver 3rd gen 4Runners all parked in the same area.

In other news, more trailer connector fun. I had earlier discovered that I didn't have a constant 12V back at the rear 7 pin trailer plug. When I replaced the rear connectors, this wire was intact all the way to the positive battery cable; since this isn't actually required to tow (though it is highly recommended to power your breakaway failsafe brake box on the trailer) I let it go. It was tied to the battery via one of the crappiest plastic twist-and-squeeze glass cartridge fuseholders and given the condition of the wiring and connector prior to my repairs, I was completely unsurprised to find out the fuse inside was dead and the terminals making contact with the fuse were in abominable condition. More concerning was the fact that the hat the fuse holder was not rated for the 30 amp peak current that can run through it, and since they had used a fuse holder not rated for the current, the undersized wire was poorly crimped to a ring terminal far too large for either the wire or the battery stud it was connecting to. FAR more concerning was that the wire conducting the power to the brake controller to switch to the trailer was installed with a similarly poorly installed ring terminal - and no sort of fuse or circuit breaker. Nope, direct to battery, no sort of protection against shorts on a 10 gauge wire... yeah, that could be really bad. And there were ScotchLocks installed to mate the fuseholder to the proper wire. -shudder-


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This is a safety issue and I'm not willing to just disconnect wiring and let it dangle if I can avoid it. So, a couple trips to various parts stores later...

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I now have proper wire gauge fuseholders, a properly rated Mini ATO fuse for the 12V aux feed - which matches all the other fuses in the truck, a proper circuit breaker for the electric brake wire, properly heat shrink sealed ring terminals of the correct size for the terminal and proper marine heatshrink sealed splices for the wiring. AND NO F**KING SCOTCHLOCKS.

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The blue arrow points to the ATO-form-factor 30 amp circuit breaker and 30 amp-rated fuseholder, the red arrow points to the weatherproof Mini ATO 30 amp fuseholder.


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The Mini ATO fuseholder for those that might be interested:

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The circuit breaker installation will be weatherproofed through dielectric grease, a rubber cap of the proper size I happen to have lying around and probably some self-fusing silicone tape.
 
There are so many of the damn things around that this is not an uncommon sight. Without the modifications, I would have to figure out which one of the identical trucks in the same area of the parking lot is mine.

a while ago both me and my girlfriend tried to get into the wrong car
we came out of the store, and without paying attention, walked towards the dirtiest volvo V40...
...which for once, wans't mine! :D

we only noticed our mistake when my remote didn't want to unlock the doors...
(my car was parked 2 spots further away)
 
a while ago both me and my girlfriend tried to get into the wrong car
we came out of the store, and without paying attention, walked towards the dirtiest volvo V40...
...which for once, wans't mine! :D

we only noticed our mistake when my remote didn't want to unlock the doors...
(my car was parked 2 spots further away)

Exactly so - I am uninterested in doing that, especially when I'm carrying a heavy box full of stuff.
 
There have been a few upgrades since the last update.


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Unfortunately, one of the sunroof drains got clogged by leaf matter and it leaked into the cabin during one of the recent torrential rainstorms. I thought I had caught or mopped it all up at the time (and cleared the drains), but the smell of mildew wafting out of the passenger footwell a couple weeks later told me that I hadn't quite gotten all of it. Cue a professional carpet mold-removal treatment and a couple of weeks of retreating (and soaking - including the floormat and carpet pad) and drying with various cleaners, fungicides and dehumidifiers.


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More than a month after the last treatment and no further signs (or smells) of mildew or mold have appeared in or under the carpet, so it appears the lengthy series of treatments succeeded. Unfortunately, the passenger floormat is probably not going to clean up properly and will have to be dumped - however, that's a lot less of a concern than before due to the next item.

I'd been looking for someone selling Weathertech or Husky front floor liners for cheap since I'd bought the truck. Since this is my daily and parts shuttle, not to mention living in a place that gets lots of rain and therefore mud and such, I wanted to protect the interior of the truck and make cleanup from muddy boots easy. While the de-molding was going on, I happened to locate someone selling a serviceable set of Husky liners in my area for 1/5th retail price. I promptly collected them, cleaned them up and - after mold removal was complete - installed them.


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Since these require the stock floormats to be removed, the possibly bad passenger mat is a lot less of a concern.

Next I did some research into the trailer brake controller that came with the truck. It turns out that it's a cheap time delay unit that is less than ideal for a truck of this size and wheelbase. Since there's a possibility I might need to do some trailer hauling, I managed to pick up a Tekonsha Prodigy proportional brake controller very cheap and swapped that in.

The crappy aftermarket one that came with the truck.

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While removing it, found more of the crappy Scotchlock goofball wiring that I'd found in the previous repair. Fixed that properly, of course.

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The Prodigy can be unplugged from the truck and either stored or moved to another vehicle if needed.

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Finally, I've wanted some additional gauges since I bought the truck. Coolant temp, tach, speedo and fuel level just isn't enough. Thing is, there's not a whole lot of room in the cabin to put dedicated gauges. I noticed that I had some soon to expire store credits and discounts at Advance Auto, so I decided to buy one of these:


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Despite the overenthusiastic package copy, this is actually a highly regarded unit. It's a standalone OBD2 multifunction display; it's also the only one on the market that can read the semi-proprietary Toyota transmission input temperature sensor, an important thing to monitor if towing. It can also display some ridiculous number of other parameters four at a time. The driver can cycle through all of the parameters by pressing the appropriate buttons, and it can add trip computer functions to the vehicle as well (distance to empty, instant/average fuel economy, etc.) I have it semi-temporarily mounted to the aftermarket pocket below the radio until a different mounting option can be evaluated. It's very nice to have these functions back at my disposal, as I like trip computer functions and have missed them in the last series of vehicles I've had.


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One of the next projects is to hardwire the dashcam and Valentine One into the truck so I can eliminate the hanging cables. :p
 
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