The 3rd Generation 4Runner

Soon, my wife and I are going to be in the market for a 4Runner for her. Tired of always having to fix her unreliable clunkers she has now which are a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport and a 1998 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer V8 edition. And I think I've finally got her talked into a 4Runner for her next vehicle. We are in the market for a 3rd gen from 1995-2002 because it has the 3.4 V6 like my Tacoma and is in our price range. I'd love a 4.0 Runner, but those are a little out of reach. I like second gen Runners as well, but don't want a 3.slow V6 with the pesky head gasket issues. I want her in something she can drive all over and not worry about, something if we decide to take off on a 3000 mile roadtrip to Phoenix and back or beyond we can do without a worry in the world. Just like my Tacoma. I love the 3.4 V6 and believe it to be one of Toyota's most reliable engines of the modern day.
So I have some questions, what is there to look out for when shopping for these year 4Runners? I see them all over the place so finding one shouldn't be hard. I am just not sure of any differences they have compared to the Tacoma setup. Are the automatic transmissions the same? An auto is a must because she has fibromyalgia and rumetory arthritis and there are days she just can't drive a stick even though she prefers standard transmissions over autos. Also, do they have the frame rot issues that the Tacomas have too? And how good to they get around in snow? Are they all part time 4x4 or were their full time 4x4 options available? That's the one thing I liked about the Explorer is that it is an AWD so she never has to decide when to shift it into 4WD on slick roads, it's just in it all the time and she can just get in and go and not worry. Only thing I really know is a issue with these year 4Runners is the pink milkshake of doom when the transmission cooler lines in the radiator bust and mix in with the radiator antifreeze and it ruins the transmission. So I will be checking the radiators and transmission fluid out carefully. The car will probably get a brand new radiator in it when we get it first thing just to be safe.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more questions. And I apologize for the long post. Thanks for looking!

 

I used to have a 3rd gen 4runner until last week when I sold it and picked up myself a 2010 Tacoma. The 4runner was probably the funnest SUV I drove. It was a 2000 SR5 with a 5-speed Transmission. I had it for about 20K miles and never had a single issue. I sold it with 132K miles which is really low for trucks like these. I bought it from Salt Lake City so it had rust on the undercarriage but then I took a couple can of Rust Stop matte black and sprayed it all down. I took it snow wheeling here in California and it did beautiful, I just wish I had a rear diff locker on it. To get that part time 4WD option you talking about, you will have to look at the limited edition of 4runners. The 4runners are amazing cars and I am sure I will own one in the future. I owned 1 4runner which was 5-speed but my brother is on his 2nd 4runner and both of them were auto, he didnt have any pink milkshake problems. The one he drives right now is 135k miles and runs beautiful with not a single problem.
Here is a link to my 4runner build if you want to check it out.

 

So the rest of the models except limiteds are full time four wheel drives?

 

Nice 4Runner by the way! Loved that color, sucks you let it go. That's the color we want too, something dark like that.

 

Anyone else?

 

i just picked up my 2001 limited

 

Sorry I missed the post until now. Been busy with school and my new truck lol. The answer is no I believe. All of them are part time 4wd but the limited have a button usually that engages full time 4wd. I'll have to look what it says exactly on that button. With all 4runner you have the options 2WD, 4wd High, 4wd Low but with limited you get that 1 extra feature Multi-Mode which I believe puts the 4runner in AWD mode

 

@2004TacomaSR5 This ought to help you out with the 4wd thing.. Give it a good read. In my opinion (and I'm sure many others agree) the '99 and '00 were the best years for the 3rd gen. 2001 was the last year for the rear elocker option I believe. A lot of the 4wd '99s (all the limited's) and early '00s sat up the highest via taller coils. '99 and up got some interior upgrades/goodies. 2000 was the last year for the 5spd. Highlander editions (sport hood, sr5/limited flares some with or without 2 tone cladding) ended in 2000. The holy grail of the 3rd gens seem to be the Limited or Highlander '99/'00 Supercharged 5spd with elocker.

As for the pink milkshake issue.. Just do like you said check fluids. A lot of people run external trans coolers in line for extra cooling or bypass the internal all together. Make sure whatever 4Runner you get has at least one timing belt and water pump service. By now, the ones that haven't been sitting in a garage for the past decade should have had the service. Don't take someone's word for it, make sure they have receipts.

The biggest catastrophic issues seem to be pink milkshake and lower ball joint failure. Other than that just stay on top of maintenance and it'll be all good.

Good luck

 

I agree with JWaldz. I have 2 4runners, a lifted 00 and a stock 90k mile 02. Just did lbj's with oem toyota bj's and mounting bolts. Also just did the external trans cooler to prevent the pink milkshake. Another upgrade i've done to my lifted 00 4runner and my lifted 04 tacoma is the tundra brake swap, big improvement over stock. These trucks reach 300k miles easily if you take JWaldz advice and stay on top of the maintance.

 

Yeah I'm considering doing a Tundra brake swap when it's time to replace my brakes. Do you use the ones off a first gen Tundra or second gen?

 

My 00 4runner has the 1st Gen 199mm calipers and my 04 Tacoma has the 2nd Gen 231mm calipers. The main issue with the 3rd Gen 4runners is the thickness of the rotors so either tundra swap is a big improvement over stock.

 

Is the swap hard to do on a Tacoma?

 

It's a bolt on swap. With the bigger 231's you need the tundra banjo bolts, although I've read that some people drill out the oem Tacoma banjo bolts. Before I did my swap I ordered stainless steel braided brake hoses from Whhelers off road, their kit comes with the correct banjo bolts. Everything bolts right on. With the 231's you will need to trim the backing plate just a little to clear the larger calipers, i just used tin snips. Use the search bar and read up on the swap, a lot of good info here on TW.

 

Not sure if you bought her one yet, but if she isn't doing any offroading a 01-02 limited is the best year. Vsc/trac and multi mode, probably makes it better in the snow too.

If you Google 3rd gen 4runner buyer's guide it is pretty detail on issues and red flag.

 

None of the 3rd Gen 4Runners are full-time 4WD. In 2001 and 2002 all 4Runners went to the Center Diff lock, when not locked acts as AWD.

I have a 1996 Limited and I have the 4WD button, however it is just like going into 4HI when pressed. When un-clicked I am in 2WD, and I have no Center Diff Lock button. I do not have AWD in my limited, and that didn't show up till 2000 I believe. In all 2001-2002 4Runners had the Center Lock Diff.

 

I am totally new here, but I will share my expertise that I have gained in my time in the 4Runner world!

I bought my 99 Limited 4x4 in Bozeman in June of 2014. I see you're also in Montana, so I would suggest looking on Bozeman Craigslist. I paid $5600 for my truck, at 194k miles, perfectly mechanically sound. You should be able to find them cheaper if you look hard.

96-98 has no multimode, regardless of trim level. Multimode is center diff unlocked, aka AWD, aka Full-Time 4WD. 99-00 Limited ONLY has multimode. 01-02 all have multimode, regardless of trim level, thanks to a center diff lock switch.

99 is the one year with the tall coils, no other year has that. I believe they're an inch or so taller?

96-00 are the years you can find the rear e-locker differential in. The dispersal of lockers has nothing to do with trim level, and is total sporadic.

01-02 have traction control, or what I like to call the fun killer mode. It beeps at you like crazy and limits throttle input the second you have any wheel slip. This is no bueno for deep snow travel in the mornings before the plow comes, but can be bypassed with the AndyMod.

That's pretty much the basics I guess haha. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want any help searching for a truck.

 

welcome!

 

Thank you! Been on T4R for a while, glad to be on here finally I posted a new thread in the new member section about my truck and my plans if you're interested. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-3rd-gen-4runner-owner-from-montana.384555/