What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Lots of people forget the “time” aspect of oil changes. I did my first one at just over 5 months. Happened to fit my schedule, and got to show the Parts guy and gal that the RAV4 radio knobs worked.

 

I've done 6 month oil changes on every vehicle I've ever owned. Usually works out to 5k~ miles in 6 months, my wife's car it's closer to 3k in 6 months.
Except my Miata, it gets yearly oil changes because I don't drive it in the winter and I only put 3-400 miles on it every year.

 

Changed my rear diff fluid at 9,600 mi. Seemed to quiet the Toyota whine a bunch. When I checked the level, I could not stick my finger in the hole (giggity) and have oil on the tip (giggity). So I think I was a bit underfilled at delivery. I've done some decent trailer drags in those first 9,600 mi, so wanted to change it out anyways.

 

My dodge and BMW e30 both get yearly, but they get maybe 20-30 miles a year put on them.

 

Do any of you all forego the 2 year Toyota care and just do the services yourself? Sometimes I feel like the dealers caused more problems on my highlander every time I brought it in.

 

I highly recommended doing your own maintenance work. This should help...
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-diy-maintenance-quick-reference.406712/

There's many threads available showing the aftermath of dealer incompetence.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/no-oil-filter.748693/

 

Right on. That’s been my gut vibe. I’ve got 500 miles on it and don’t want someone on a bad day at work to f’ it up.

 

I let them do the initial and 12 month. I took over from there. Glad I did. Fasteners were so tight another service and things were sure to be stripped, or skipped.

 

Thank you!
West Africa pulls at ALL sorts of emotions. Yes, at times it is very nerve-racking. Pulling into the border crossings always gives us butterflies as well as stopping at a country’s first police checkpoint. Driving through streets completely taken over by people and their food stalls is scary - at times the Tacoma feels like I’m driving a semi. But seeing the everyone’s completely warm smiles is amazing - something that’s missing in North America. Its shocking that these mostly poor countries can have crazily complicated visa procedures. Thinking of you Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. Makes us wonder if they want tourists


Utter chaos but a bystander decides to help and direct us, he was a lifesaver!

 

I let the dealer do it. I sit in my truck while they are working on it. It's free why not you paid for it. Been doing this with 17 and 21 New TRD's.

 

Not a bad idea. Did any dealer give you any crap for wanting to sit in?

 

My AFE rock basher is on the way! Which one you go with?

 

I'm on a 5k interval as well. 10k was too long for my i4 and I was burning an entire quart already at 30k miles.

I just changed my oil over the weekend and it was still dirty.. 5500 miles, but I didn't burn a quart this time.

I'd say change it at 5k intervals. That's what I'm sticking to now. 10k is too long.

 

Where did you get the portable cradle? And any photos of the wiring? This may be my solution.

 

Same.. I let them do the first 2 oil changes and then took over. My oil filter was cranked so hard I had to buy a lock jaw long arm oil filter wrench to get it off. Meanwhile my drain plug was a bit more than hand tight (certainly not 30ft/lb). My U bolts were all loose (not 52ft/lb), my bed bolts were not torqued to spec (at least not ALL of them), the plastic frame drain was busted on the passengers side (part of it is still floating around inside the frame), my coolant level was not FULL, and I had all 4 tires rebalanced at 18k... They didn't remove existing weights.... They just added more (my wheels are balanced, but this is a lazy and poor job).

When I did my first oil change I wondered why only 4.5 quarts came out? Did they underfill? Am I burning oil? I just changed my oil myself for the 3rd time and it looks like I fall under "severe driving" conditions and I am on a 5k interval.. 10k results in my burning about a quart which is no good long term. If I had the dealer do this it would cost me 2x as much vs the 10k recommended service. I called for the 30k service which was diff fluid, oil, cabin and air filters, tire rotation. They wanted almost $1200.00...... that's outrageous. I did it in my garage for about $200.00 (minus the transfer case since I'm not in 4wd that much)

I've had several Toyotas and all I can say is that the basic maintenance techs they have at Toyota in my area seem to be much worse than VW, Hyundai, etc..... I've never had problems with any of my wife's cars getting serviced at a local dealership (other than the high price). I've had nothing but issues with Toyota service centers. I've had things busted and ruined at just about every Toyota dealership in my area.... I went to them all and gave it the college try... Problem is that nobody cares about your stuff like you.... I take care of my shit, so for me (although I'd rather have someone else do the work).. I feel like I have to pull general maintenance.. I'm certainly not going to throw $1200 away on a half assed 30k mile service that doesn't take too much effort in my own garage.

My advice.. get what you paid for, and save a few bucks doing your own maintenance you feel comfortable with. Thus far I saved roughly $1600 on diy maintenance vs. what I would have paid a local dealership to do it (and by my vast 20+ year experience with my local Toyota service -- it would have been done half assed)

 

Ordered Rough Country neoprene seat covers for the front and back from Amazon. Sold out everywhere else till March.

 

Love these seat covers.. especially for the price.

 

Got some new wheels today, SSW Offroad Dakar MACHINED SILVER 17x9 -25. It's a huge change from the Black Fuel Shok D664 wheels I had, I have mixed feeling about them but I think I do like the look.

 

What is the rest of your suspension setup and alignment specs?

I'm swayless but there is nothing loose about my steering or feedback. The steering wheel is still snappy (at ~4° caster) and the whole truck is still very responsive. I can whip this thing around even with the shocks retuned with softer damping to allow increased body roll.

These looks sooooo muchhhhh better than any wheel Fuel makes <3

 

6112s at 3rd/4th out of 6 clips. Alignment is good, caster was set at 3 last time I checked. Does not wander, bumpsteer, or tramline on the road.

After a day of driving the steering isn't bad, and I wasn't meaning to imply something is wrong when I called it loosey-goosey. It's always going to be looser/less responsive than with sway bar in. That's just the nature of physics, you're losing that initial vector change to body roll.

It's one of those that took me by surprise within the first hour, and by the second hour I didn't even notice it anymore.