What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Cleaned the truck after a trip to Maine and New Hampshire and decided to clean it up a bit further and removed the badging and TRD OR stickers.

 

Got around to installing Bilstein 5100s all around and finally put new wheels and tires on. SCS BR6 17x8.5 -10mm wrapped in 285/70/17 Toyo Open Country R/T Trails.

 

Same here with the Jeeps, just a waste of money if not going to use it for what it is built for... lol
But to each their own... I have a spool (not mini) on my street/strip fun car build, and a full manual shift built valve body and trans that I built for it... Yeah at 1/2 throttle and 3000 rpms (normal 6k shifts) it feels like a mule is kicking you in the back... lol

I really don't get the whole buying a RWD and putting a lift kit and bigger A/T or M/T tires on it either...

Now my old Power Wagon had a real (lol) front bumper on it, it was a one off 3/8" thick x 9" tall steel C channel beam that we mounted and then notched in order to heat and bend around to almost the front tires, cut to curve of fender and then welded back solid at the notches, damn what a PITA to bend it, used a huge adjustable wrench (24" I think) and a 8' pipe with it red hot in order to bent that thing, then mounted a brush guard to it, this thing would cut a suburban in half and not scratch it lol.. We used the truck to push junked cars out of the way in junk yards (they got tired of moving them for us), made a similar but smaller one for the rear... Yeah it would bend the frame a long time before it hurt the bumpers... We also made 2" square nerf bars that basically went from the front tire to the rear so you could get out in mud and walk to the bed for whatever or get in it if needed...

 

Coming up on 30,000 miles on the ODO...tomorrow! I hit 29,995 miles over the weekend so I changed the engine oil, front & rear differential oil, transfer case oil, and swapped in new engine and cabin air filters (and did some small inspections here and there).

So far in all of my oil changes on this truck, I've never had put in the last 0.2 qts that the 2GR-FKS model calls for. The dipstick always reads full even after letting both the drain plug and filter housing drain for awhile. Has anyone else had to use the 7th quart bottle during their oil changes?

If anyone's curious what I used, see below:

• Engine Oil: AMSOIL Signature Series 0W-20 (6 qts + 1 spare qt)
• Differential Oil: AMSOIL Severe Gear 75W-85 (6 qts)
• Transfer Case Oil: Red Line MT-LV 75W GL-4 Gear Oil (2 qts with some remaining)
• This video was pretty helpful as well

 

I was just in Maine a couple weeks ago and loved it. What were some of your notable locations?

 

New shocks day. 82k miles and they were pretty much toast. One rear and one front wouldn’t even rebound after compressing them. Nice and cushy now. Not the most fun project, but not the worst either.

 

Nice! What perch setting did you go with up front?

 

4600s??? I’m looking at this move. Not really interested in a lift or oversized tires but these stocks shocks are terrible. Somehow bouncy and feel every crack in the road simultaneously. A true feat of engineering. How do they feel? Did you opt for an alignment?

 

Aside from the black flys and state birds of New Hampshire (mosquitos), it is so nice up there this time of year. Sure, it’s warm and humid and the weather can change on a dime. That happens here in Ohio but without the scenery and mountains!

Started the trip with the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time at Polly’s Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, NH. We did a large chunk of the NEBDR and had a good time. Drove the Mount Washington Auto Road for the first time in the Tacoma. Stayed at Crocker Pond for a few nights. Had a few beautiful dispersed camping sites along the way. Drove up to Millinocket and had a beer at the Blue Ox Saloon. It was our 10 year anniversary from hiking the AT. We had our dogs so we couldn’t get into Baxter state park but we still found a great vantage point for Mt Katahdin.

Oh! And hit 39k on the way home. Almost doubled the mileage I bought the truck with in April of last year. Putting ole Buddy to use!

 

They are great so far. I’ve only driven a few miles on them, but all the usually crap roads in my hood were noticeably less terrible. What made me realize they were shot was an on-ramp I use daily where I would hit a couple of buckled road seams and the truck would skip steer every time. That is completely gone now. Highly recommend. I’m driving it a bit for the next day or two then taking it in for an alignment. This video was helpful.

https://youtu.be/a9N1fvbGAEw?si=S0OJ4y0JgkNRPQcF

 

I got my oil changed at the Stealership yesterday. Out of curiosity I asked for a quote on a spark plug change —— drumroll for insanity please:

$213 parts
$687 labor



These dealers aren’t even trying to hide the theft.

 

If that doesn’t make someone invest in some tools and YouTube University, nothing will!

 

An interesting watch if you're into this sort of thing. None of what is said really surprised me. I always enjoy YouTubers who tell it like it is and aren't looking to clickbait.

Mike Rowe has been saying for years, the number of bodies going into the trades is dropping off a cliff. Don't even get me started on the airline pilot shortage as well....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cfbhxsqW84

 

Got oil and filter from dealer and changed the oil.

Boring but I actually managed to do it this time with almost ZERO drops on the ground LOL

 

I too live in a wildlife area. I had issues with my Silverado, the mice and squirrels, I think chewed the wires. I started putting a handful of moth balls in a nylon (panty hose leg) and leave it under the hood when we would go away. Never had anymore issues. It worked for me.

 

Here’s a hopeful read on the topic.

https://www.nasrcc.org/the-wall-street-journal-how-gen-z-is-becoming-the-toolbelt-generation/

 

My guess is you wanted to quote the post @bassmusic made but all good, I've actually seen that article ironically

 

Here is the thing, as long as you are within the Low and Max points (which is normally 1 quart) you are in the safe zone, now I would not recommend only ever putting enough in it to only hit the Low (minimum) mark, as you have no more safey zone..
You are not going to hurt a 6+ quart vehicles oiling system by not adding the extra 6.4 ounces (0.2 quarts) as you have, with only using the 6 quarts, put 97% of the called for oil in it..
The only downside I can think of right now would be if your engine was using (burning/leaking) oil, then you would just have to check/add the oil sooner...

So NO, i am not adding the extra 0.2 quarts even though I bought it for my 1 oil change to me, now I just need to buy 5 quarts...

Did the sales guy (who may not even wright up/price out spark plug replacements) even write up an est or just pull the price out of thin air??

The V6 spark plug labor is only 2.0 hours so is your dealers shop rate $343.5 per hour??
The $213 is $35.50 each, Toyota's website shows the MSRP price of $19.94, that should be the same price anywhere in the USA at any Toyota dealer (Lexus WILL be different)...

I would call a couple of dealers and ask them a price, I almost have a feeling that the guy you asked doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.. My thinking is whoever got that price for you either looked up the wrong vehicle or flat out guessed poorly and either way IF you would have set an appt to have it done a seasoned service writer, technician or Service Manager and even the parts department would have caught the error and corrected it before you paid the bill... I have caught stuff like that many times over the years...

I am NOT disputing you, just the price given to you...