Out with the old, in with the new(er) - BlackAck's 4Runner thread
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Midnight Mystery (10-06-2020)
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As for the CL, it's inspection was up in July so I didn't drive it very much after moving it here, but I'm definitely trying to drive it now and then, but with Covid I really don't go anywhere ever.
I may just have to take it out for a joy ride one of these afternoons. There have been several times where I told the wife, man I wish I could take the Ack today, but I usually was on my way to a store or somewhere where I needed the cargo space in the 4Runner. Mainly I just pull it out of the garage to do work and then pull it back in lol, but at least I run it and pump the fluids
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Just take the CL out for a drive for the sake of driving it. I can't be the only one that just goes out for a drive as something to do with no specific place to go but finding good driving roads.
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97BlackAckCL (10-21-2020)
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I would in the Merc, take the long way round from time to time.
In the Malibu, not so much
In the Malibu, not so much
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Yeah, I definitely will. I usually drive it a lot in the summer/fall. We just had our roof done so I need to sweep the driveway for roofing nails one more time before I pull the Ack out. Don't want to be replacing tires, I've already found 30+ nails in my driveway
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97BlackAckCL (10-21-2020)
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I took it out to run errands today since I'd been meaning to get it out when the weather was nice. Old dude stopped me at the post office and complimented me on how nice my car was, and couldn't believe when I said yeah she's not bad for a 23 year old car. He said that "It looks better than most of the cars they make today" and I told him "Yep, that's why I still have it"
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Just a small update, since we bought the house and moved the Ack over, the 4Runner has been living outside in the driveway, here's a few shots of her from the deck after we took the 5 pine trees down that were dumping pine cones on her
I've been slowly working on organizing the garage and dealing with all the fallout from moving. I don't have any good before pics of the garage, but here's a quick before, before I cleared the rest of the clutter out on the left side of the pic.
And at long last, after 4+ months of ownership, I was able to squeeze both the cars into the garage!!!
Ignore how dirty the truck is lol, she's been living outside for the past 6 months or so
I've been slowly working on organizing the garage and dealing with all the fallout from moving. I don't have any good before pics of the garage, but here's a quick before, before I cleared the rest of the clutter out on the left side of the pic.
And at long last, after 4+ months of ownership, I was able to squeeze both the cars into the garage!!!
Ignore how dirty the truck is lol, she's been living outside for the past 6 months or so
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Neither of these posts make sense, you on drugs bruh? I didn't wash, and I don't grind stumps lol
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Just a small little update, I had this part in my backpack for months while I was moving, but didn't bother to install since I was hauling boxes and furniture every day and needed the truck to be as reliable as possible. I installed a voltage booster to help charge my Odyssey AGM battery. Here's a before pic of where my alt was hanging at idle
And here is an after, it utilizes the stock Alternator fuse, but boosts the alt output. The screen is dusty because I still have the stock radio screen protector on it, but a nice .4 Volt increase at idle will definitely help charge the battery better.
And a different angle
And here is an after, it utilizes the stock Alternator fuse, but boosts the alt output. The screen is dusty because I still have the stock radio screen protector on it, but a nice .4 Volt increase at idle will definitely help charge the battery better.
And a different angle
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That's neat and all, but my attention is on the tire pressure display... Are you reading the OEM sensors or aftermarket? I started looking into if it was possible to read OEM sensors with some standalone box or something but never got deep into it. But this has me really curious.
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You have three flat tires sir. Might want to get that looked at.
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that's neat and all, but my attention is on the tire pressure display... Are you reading the oem sensors or aftermarket? I started looking into if it was possible to read oem sensors with some standalone box or something but never got deep into it. But this has me really curious.
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cu2wagon (11-12-2020)
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97BlackAckCL (11-12-2020)
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Safety first!
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97BlackAckCL (11-12-2020)
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Did my first oil change on the 4Runner. The first 2 were free and part of the "Toyota (doesn't) care" program as part of the warranty. Should have just done them myself and saved myself the hassle but it's part of the warranty. Anyway, it wasn't too bad, and was a nice way to break in the new garage. I jacked her up and put her on jack stands and left the jack as a backup, although it wasn't needed.
The tires were off the ground even though it barely looks like it
I removed the stock skid plates, there's 3 total, 2 steel and 1 plastic. This is the main engine skid that you have to drop to get to the oil filter.
You can see the plastic skid here and the door for the oil drain plug.
I had bought a bunch of these TRD filters on clearance, gotta get that extra 5 HP ya know lol
Overall the quality of these filters are really good, and since I got them for clearance you can't beat it.
I also picked up an aluminum oil filter housing to replace the plastic housing that are known to crack. I had a HELL of a time getting the plastic one to break loose.
You have to swap the inner tube from the plastic housing to the metal one.
Mobil 1 as always, the only way to go
Last November I bought this skid plate with the oil filter door during a Black Friday sale. I actually bought this while I was in Mexico on my honeymoon lol. I had planned to put these on in the spring, but with selling the house and moving I just never got around to the oil change and install. So I installed this as well, during winter. *gasp* rust....
And here's the engine skid installed. I also got the bumper filler plate in the front and installed that as well. Here's a couple pics of them installed.
I also bought these some time last year, and was waiting until the truck was in the air, so I decided to throw these on as well. They are RAD Rubber Designs engine bay splash guards for the inner fenders.
The stock ones are flimsy and known to fail, no issues with mine so far, but I definitely had a lot of salt getting into the engine bay before. Here's a before of the stock ones.
And here's a little side by side, you can see how much thicker and better quality these new rubber ones are.
And here's the passenger side installed, the lighting was being a bitch
And here's another pic of the skids installed once the truck was back on the ground. Overall I'm very impressed with the quality and the fitment. I bought this mainly for the oil filter access, but it's also nice knowing that I have a quality engine skid plate now as well.
I got more mods to come, when I get time. But it was nice to get some wrench time in on the truck
The tires were off the ground even though it barely looks like it
I removed the stock skid plates, there's 3 total, 2 steel and 1 plastic. This is the main engine skid that you have to drop to get to the oil filter.
You can see the plastic skid here and the door for the oil drain plug.
I had bought a bunch of these TRD filters on clearance, gotta get that extra 5 HP ya know lol
Overall the quality of these filters are really good, and since I got them for clearance you can't beat it.
I also picked up an aluminum oil filter housing to replace the plastic housing that are known to crack. I had a HELL of a time getting the plastic one to break loose.
You have to swap the inner tube from the plastic housing to the metal one.
Mobil 1 as always, the only way to go
Last November I bought this skid plate with the oil filter door during a Black Friday sale. I actually bought this while I was in Mexico on my honeymoon lol. I had planned to put these on in the spring, but with selling the house and moving I just never got around to the oil change and install. So I installed this as well, during winter. *gasp* rust....
And here's the engine skid installed. I also got the bumper filler plate in the front and installed that as well. Here's a couple pics of them installed.
I also bought these some time last year, and was waiting until the truck was in the air, so I decided to throw these on as well. They are RAD Rubber Designs engine bay splash guards for the inner fenders.
The stock ones are flimsy and known to fail, no issues with mine so far, but I definitely had a lot of salt getting into the engine bay before. Here's a before of the stock ones.
And here's a little side by side, you can see how much thicker and better quality these new rubber ones are.
And here's the passenger side installed, the lighting was being a bitch
And here's another pic of the skids installed once the truck was back on the ground. Overall I'm very impressed with the quality and the fitment. I bought this mainly for the oil filter access, but it's also nice knowing that I have a quality engine skid plate now as well.
I got more mods to come, when I get time. But it was nice to get some wrench time in on the truck
Last edited by 97BlackAckCL; 01-03-2021 at 04:25 PM.
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00TL-P3.2 (01-04-2021)
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Christ, even with as careful as you are you can see the elements starting to get at that subframe and components. I don't blame you for
wanting to preserve as much as you can.
the skid(marks) plate with the door to access the oil drain plug is a fucking NICE addition...function and form in one. Metal filter housing as well...
Nice update, Chris. Happy new Year.
wanting to preserve as much as you can.
the skid(marks) plate with the door to access the oil drain plug is a fucking NICE addition...function and form in one. Metal filter housing as well...
Nice update, Chris. Happy new Year.
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97BlackAckCL (01-04-2021)
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Christ, even with as careful as you are you can see the elements starting to get at that subframe and components. I don't blame you for
wanting to preserve as much as you can.
the skid(marks) plate with the door to access the oil drain plug is a fucking NICE addition...function and form in one. Metal filter housing as well...
Nice update, Chris. Happy new Year.
wanting to preserve as much as you can.
the skid(marks) plate with the door to access the oil drain plug is a fucking NICE addition...function and form in one. Metal filter housing as well...
Nice update, Chris. Happy new Year.
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97BlackAckCL (01-04-2021)
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So is the metal filter holder a Toyota OEM part too? Like, they have a good version AND a shitty plastic version?
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Most of the time, I feel like Toyota (and Honda) just get things right. Like parts commonality and interchangeability between and throughout models/years.
But then they'll do shit like that, and make a metal part and a plastic part, AND THEN also decide to stick the plastic part on the 4Runner?!? FFS.
What's the metal one for? A Yaris?
But then they'll do shit like that, and make a metal part and a plastic part, AND THEN also decide to stick the plastic part on the 4Runner?!? FFS.
What's the metal one for? A Yaris?
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Yes, it's an OEM Toyota part. I believe it's for the Corolla and Camry. I had to swap the filter tube since the one that came with it was shorter. No idea why they make 2 different versions. You would think a durable off road vehicle would have the metal housing and not some cheap shitty plastic version, but it does now lol
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Looks good.
I did the oil on the Flex last week (before my fancy new floor jack was here). No fun having a warm oil pan about 4" from your face.
The Merc was similar, in that you had to remove 2 underbody panels to access the oil pan. Huge pain & made a 20 min job into an hour. Especially with how low that car was, coupled with the limited height from the Craftsman floor jack.
I did the oil on the Flex last week (before my fancy new floor jack was here). No fun having a warm oil pan about 4" from your face.
The Merc was similar, in that you had to remove 2 underbody panels to access the oil pan. Huge pain & made a 20 min job into an hour. Especially with how low that car was, coupled with the limited height from the Craftsman floor jack.
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97BlackAckCL (01-04-2021)