Wayward_skye’s third gen 4 Runner build.

WashingtonTaco

Adventurist
Well my daughter wanted to do the van life thing for the next 6-9 months but needed a all wheel drive vehicle at minumum. So we looked at a few Subaru’s, Honda’s and the Highlander. Nothing really excited her but the Subaru Tribeca the dealership didn’t want to work on the price so we walked.

Sonoran Steel posted on FB they were selling a one owner 1998 4Runner for a friend with complete maintenance records for way cheaper price then they go for in the Seattle area. The 4R was located in Tempe and a bit of a logistical problem as we live in the Seattle area. Fortunately my nephew lives in Mesa and had his mechanic buddy looked the rig over. The records looked good and truck was clean! So my nephew made the deal and brought it to his home in Mesa. Not wanting to risk a 1500 mile drive home I had my nephew take it to the shop that works on his own rigs for a second look. Again no issues and clean bill of health to get it back to Washington.

We booked one way tickets and flew into Phoenix last Friday hopped in the 4R pointed it north and rolled!!!
 
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It’s a clean SR5 that the previous owner had leather and the fake wood installed to make it look like a Limited. It has 270,000 on the clock which pans out to be around 13k a year. It’s an automatic trany, 4X with the rear diff lock.

This whole long distance purchase thing was a huge leap of faith for me as I’m very picky especially when it comes to cars. But the price was good the records proved proper maintenance.

As we headed north out of Phoenix we stopped by Sonoran Steel for a few items. We picked up a set of 4R Trail springs that were a take off and a rear receiver hitch. The 5th gen 4R Trail springs will provide the weight capacity and a mild 1.5- 1.75 lift to the truck according to Steve of Sonoran Steel.
 
We arrived in Flagstaff around 1 PM this past Friday for some lunch. When we returned the the vehicle the battery was dead. My daughter had left the lights on. She located a guy in the parking lot to jump start us and we were on the way but not before swinging by Napa for some jumper cables. This would become a reoccurring problem.

It was a long day but we had made it to Salt Lake City late Friday night. When we went to head out Saturday morning the battery was dead again, this time the lights weren’t left on. We got another jump and headed out. I wanted to charge the battery so we headed north for a hour. When we stopped to fuel up the battery was dead again!!!! So by this time your thinking replace the battery already!!!! That would have been ideal but we already had plans to install a group 31 battery in the 4R as part of the build process and didn’t want to spend the money on a group 35 just to get home. So every stop to fuel we needed to get a jump. Other then the bad battery the vehicle performed flawlessly!!! Everything works as new and ran 75-80 mph all the way home!!
 
This is going to be a fast paced build. She plans on skiing and traveling by early to mid November.

The build plan is more of a RV than a trail rig on a students budget. First things first it needed a exterior detail. We clay bared, cut wax, polish waxed, and final paste wax. Turned out great!! The previous owner had kept the paint in great condition and had receipts over the years for full details.
 
While she buffed away I removed the rear seats, placed my fridge in the back and set about planning the living space. It’ll have a platform, sitting area, and access to the fridge from both inside and outside of the truck.
 
It was a full weekend of road tripping and polishing!!

The build plan goes something like this;

Baseline all fluids, plugs, lube, new front rotors, pads and brake lines next weekend.

Suspension the following weekend.

Then the living space build out for the next few weeks.

Last night we put on order a set of Bilstein 4600 shocks to go along with the 5 gen 4R Trail springs and a set of 5 BFG KM2 ATs. Along with that a few basic but necessary recovery items. 48” Hi Lift, Lift Mate and winching accessory kit along with a tire plug kit.
 
Does anyone have a solid solution for front recovery points? This won’t be getting a off-road bumper. Sonoran Steel sells a bolt on recovery kit but it’s $160 and kinda spendy. The rear will be getting a receiver hitch for recovery.
 
After the issues with the battery on the drive home and the planned living quarters that are yet to be built 4R was in dyer need of a new battery! The budget is not there for a dual battery set up so a CBI group 31 battery tray and Optima group 31 yellow top are in the works.
 
After I removed the old battery I happened to find the mess that someone could have easily cleaned up to prevent this corrosion. So I went about grinding, sanding and wire brushing. Washed, rinsed with baking soda solution and final clear water rise. Dried the area, final wipe with alcohol and coated the area with three coats of POR 15.
 
Nothing to exciting last weekend. While I removed and disassembled the starting/charge wire harness to install a longer positive battery cable I had Skylar changing fluids and learning where the low hanging fruit was along her drivetrain. She was turning and learning! So all fluids are fresh including coolant. While disassembling the the start/charge harness I managed to brake the connector on the back of the alternator, 20 year old plastic. Fortunately the connector and wiring is available from Toyota. My buddy Will came over Saturday and replaced plugs and plug wires while I installed the rebuilt start/charge wire harness.
 
It was a great learning experience for Sky! Using torque wrenches and why. Use of new drain plug seals and why. Location of diffs and our on going conversation of how they work, location of the t case how it functions and when to use low range and her rear diff lock. Great weekend hanging out with my daughter!!

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Work weekend #2! We started Thursday replacing front brake pads, rotors and brake lines. Friday morning we bleed the brakes and took a quick spin to ensure everything was a okey before we started in on the suspension. My garage is small and allows you to only work on one end of the vehicle at a time. So with that being stated I wanted to get after the rear suspension first as it had less chance of pitfalls.
 
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