Builds Mak92-4Rnr's 1988 4Runner Build (1 Viewer)

[vipergrhd]

Just glad to see you back @MaK92 4RnR How about your brother still have the white 4Runner?
Maybe we can get back on Gold Lake next year I miss that place.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

$400 is slightly more than 10% of your bill. If we were talking about a human they would be offering 10x the bill to keeps malpractice suit away. I’m lucky to have a couple of great vets in my area. They are all about helping the animals, and not so much about overcharging.

You're correct that $400 is slightly more than 10% of the bill from the first vet, yes. But I pulled him from the first veterinary hospital and took him to the second where they had a proper prognosis within 15 minutes of me being there by simply taking a sample from his butthole. They started a treatment plan that had him back to normal in 72 hours. My total bill was $7296.30 between the two veterinary hospitals but if i had just gone to the 2nd one in the first place, it would've been no cost to me because the vaccination company is willing to "cover the expenses up to $5,000.00" because their vaccination is guaranteed up to 3 years. My dog isn't even a year and a half yet.

Honestly, I don't even care about the money. It's the fact that there's zero accountability for making mistakes in pet medicine. I had the first veterinary hospital send me over his "medical records" and everything they put in there was noted as "exploratory" or "experimental". I exchanged phones calls with the owner and I politely asked for him to refund the entire amount I spent from 10/26/19 to 11/1/19 and this offended him. He went on to state that I signed a release of liability for the surgery and everything was experimental and exploratory. This is when he offered $400.00 as a "good faith gesture".

At this point, I consulted a few attorneys and they've all said the same thing; "It's fortunate that your puppy survived, but it's unfortunate in terms of finances. There's just not enough money involved with malpractice case on an animal that survived."But they did offer a little bit of consultation advice. I was instructed to develop a timeline, get a copy of all medical records from 10/26/19 - 11/1/19 (which I have) and a copy of all invoices from the same date (which i have, as well). In the medical records, it clearly states that he was being treated for a gastrointestinal blockage from 10/26/19 - 11/1/19. They performed surgery on the animal because they assured me that it looks like he swallowed a plastic bag via x-rays. During surgery, one of the doctors called me mid operation and explained to me that she didn't find anything lodged in his body but did inform me that his small intestine is "pissed off" and she wants to take biopsy samples. Still not knowing what's wrong with the animal, I approved the extraction of the samples and hoped that my dog would last the 3-5 days that it would take to get them because again... We didn't know what was wrong with the dog.

The surgery took place on 10/30/19. After two days of my dog sitting in a steel kennel being stabbed with every needle known to man, I called on 11/1/19 and demanded the biopsy report. An hour after my heated discussion with the owner of the practice, he magically reveals that he has the biopsy results and that they're 99.9% sure that he has the Canine Parvovirus. Here's where it gets really interesting... The owner then states that "You need to relocate him to a different hospital because we don't have the ability to give him the proper care to treat Parvo." I exploded. I took the rest of the day off work, went down to the vet to recover my sick and dying animal and when I get there to pick him up the veterinary hospital refuses to release him to me until the entire bill is paid. $3740.13. I paid it, laid my dying animal down in the 4Runner and rushed to Vista Veterinary Specialists, get him admitted and he's there for another 72 hours. After the 72 hours, he's as good as new. Other than the fact that he's shaved and skinny, he survived. Adult dogs have a 1 and 8 chance of survival when it comes to Parvo and he still pulled through even after having it for nearly 144 hours without a proper prognosis.

Currently, he's back to normal. Hair is growing back and the 14-15 pounds that he lost is definitely put back on. But it still doesn't justify the lack of care he received at the first vet.

Needless to say, I can rant and rave about this all day. Let me know if you want to hear more or have more questions.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

Just glad to see you back @MaK92 4RnR How about your brother still have the white 4Runner?
Maybe we can get back on Gold Lake next year I miss that place.

Hey Viper,

I've always been around! Been over a year since i've gone camping, though. My brother is still cruising around with the white 4Runner. I think it's up to 300k miles now? He drives the hell out of it.

I'd love to do another gold lake trip. Maybe next summer?

 

[vipergrhd]

Glad to hear your dog is on it's way to full recovery, I would fight that bill if I were you even if you can get just half of that. I don't know if you can file any complaint with the vet but if you can put it out there or leave it on his Yelp review if he got one.

Oh yeah let's plan for next years Gold Lake trip.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

Glad to hear your dog is on it's way to full recovery, I would fight that bill if I were you even if you can get just half of that. I don't know if you can file any complaint with the vet but if you can put it out there or leave it on his Yelp review if he got one.

Oh yeah let's plan for next years Gold Lake trip.

Definitely fighting the bill. I just want my expenses covered. I understand everyone makes mistakes but that's why you have insurance.

 

[joseywales]

The first vet sounds like a complete idiot. The fact that they wouldn’t release the dog until you paid all the bill is a sure sign that they have screwed up before, and didn’t get payment because of it. I just hope you get a pet owning judge when you hit small claims!

Will the vaccine company cover the second vets bill? That’s the first I’ve heard of a pharmaceutical company doing something right,(or at least saying they will)!!

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

The first vet sounds like a complete idiot. The fact that they wouldn’t release the dog until you paid all the bill is a sure sign that they have screwed up before, and didn’t get payment because of it. I just hope you get a pet owning judge when you hit small claims!

Will the vaccine company cover the second vets bill? That’s the first I’ve heard of a pharmaceutical company doing something right,(or at least saying they will)!!

They were great at first when it came to a "puppy package" for Auggie. I get this wasn't an easy task to take on but I would've been OK with the "We don't know what's wrong with him, please take him to (insert referred veterinary hospital here) for him to get proper care."

The vaccination company is sending me a check for $5,000.00 since the going rate for parvo treatment is between $3-5000 dollars. Had the first vet just admitted they had no idea what they were doing, this wouldn't have cost me a dime but instead we're about 2296.30 over budget.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

I was finally able to track down a 1st gen 4Runner rear window regulator & motor. I found a ton of tailgates locally but they were all shells since the regulator, window and motors were ripped out of them. I should have the regulator this week and hopefully I can finally solve the problem i've been having.

 

[joseywales]

Congrats on the $5,000 and the admission of stupidity. Hope you got THAT on “tape”!

I just put my hardtop back on and to my pleasant surprise, found that the Keebler Elves came in the night and repaired my rear window motor. It is working again, as it did originally, so yay!

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

12-11-19 - Update - Rear Window

Almost have this project wrapped up. It took some time to find a regulator that was even worth purchasing, let alone finding one. The local yards were picked clean. They had a bunch of tailgate shells but unfortunately someone ran off with the regulator(s) and motor(s) way before i got there. Through a Facebook group, I was able to track one down in Idaho. The buyer was extremely generous with pictures so after $120.00 shipped and 7 days later, I finally received it. The buyer was nice enough to include the motor with it, as well.

I got around to installing it yesterday and everything went smooth. Pulled the motor, unbolted everything, slid the regulator to the passenger side, slid it back to the driver side, pulled the window and then finagled the regulator out. Reversed the steps to get the new but used regulator and motor back in, got it all buttoned back together.

I wasn't able to find any alligator clip electrical leads in my garage (surprisingly) so i'm basically stuck with the tailgate down and the window halfway up. It's like this because the regulator has to be removed and installed with the window half way up/down. I could essentially pull the motor off the new but used regulator, push the window into the tailgate but then i'd have to do a little bit of clocking for the regulator, which i didn't wanna do.

White at work i'm going to make some make shift electrical leads and jump the motor when I get home. This should lower the window even with the tailgate down and then i should be able to close the gate, grease everything and finally wrap this project up.

Here's a picture for good measure:

 

[pappy]

12-11-19 - Update - Rear Window

I wasn't able to find any alligator clip electrical leads in my garage (surprisingly) so i'm basically stuck with the tailgate down and the window halfway up.

BTDT. You need to trick the door into thinking it's up.

Plug in all the electrical connectors. Use a screwdriver to lock the latches on each end. Push down on the lock button by the handle. Use the key to roll down the window.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

BTDT. You need to trick the door into thinking it's up.

Plug in all the electrical connectors. Use a screwdriver to lock the latches on each end. Push down on the lock button by the handle. Use the key to roll down the window.

That's actually a pretty good idea. I didn't even think of that. lol. I just finished making some electrical leads here at work but i'll have to try this when I get home.

Thanks for the idea.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

BTDT. You need to trick the door into thinking it's up.

Plug in all the electrical connectors. Use a screwdriver to lock the latches on each end. Push down on the lock button by the handle. Use the key to roll down the window.

Tested this out last night and it worked flawlessly. I need to make some minor adjustments because the passenger cable doesn't open the "door latch" up and the lock itself it so tight to pull up that i have to put some force behind it.

Ill grease everything up when I get home from work tonight.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

12-13-19 - Rear Window Fixed

Wrapped up the rear window project yesterday and everything is dialed in. The window does appear to roll up and down slower than before but its definitely a lot smoother and quieter. If the motor craps out, at least I have a working unit from the previous regulator.

Thanks everyone for all their suggestions/help.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

12-16-19 - Blower Motor Replacement

The original blower motor finally crapped out so I replaced it with an Autozone unit. Took about 30 minutes to pull the original motor, pull the fan blade off, wash it, install it onto the new motor and reinstall. Original motor lasted 31 years and 254k miles.

 

[pappy]

Am I to assume you approve of the new unit? I've already replaced mine with a pair of boneyard units. If these are good I just might bite the bullet and replace it.
[QUOTE="MaK92 4RnR, post: 12767744, member: 63497"

The original blower motor finally crapped out so I replaced it with an Autozone unit.
[/QUOTE

I see Autozone has two units available. Which one did you get? Also, apparently still available from Mr. T. ... for $152 list.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

12-16-19 - Seized Brake Drum

Next on the list of things to do is address the nasty vibration in the rear axle. At first I thought that the U-joints were taking a s***. I pulled the jack out, inspected those and I didn't find anything out of the normal. I greased them up while I was under there for good measure.

From there, I moved onto the differential itself. Popped the drain plug, drained all the gear oil into a pan and then poured it all through a low micron strainer and little to no metal was caught. Filled that sucker back up with new gear oil and called that good.

After inspecting the differential, I moved onto the brakes. I pulled the wheels off the back axle, unhooked the e-brake cables, clocked the shoes back so i could pull the rotors off. Passenger side rear looked great but the driver side was completed rusted and warped to all hell.

At this point, it seems like the passenger side brake has just been dragging ass when driving around. Surprisingly enough, I didn't even notice since the 4Runner is slower than hell. I'll order up some rear brake hardware and see what I can do as far as getting the rear axle dialed in and hopefully make this sucker a driver so I can move onto getting her smogged and California legal.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

Am I to assume you approve of the new unit? I've already replaced mine with a pair of boneyard units. If these are good I just might bite the bullet and replace it.
[QUOTE="MaK92 4RnR, post: 12767744, member: 63497"

The original blower motor finally crapped out so I replaced it with an Autozone unit.
[/QUOTE

I see Autozone has two units available. Which one did you get? Also, apparently still available from Mr. T. ... for $152 list.

Hey Pappy,

I went with the cheaper version. I think it was around 30 bucks? My only complaint about the unit I bought was that it required 1/4" shims in order for the motor to seal/mount properly. The original blower motor box has plastic that sticks out where the bolts mount so when you try to bolt it down, it'll hold the motor on the box but air will leak through because it's not a 100% seal due to these plastic pieces. After adding the shims on (i just recycled some washers from the garage), it sealed great and the motor was kicking pretty good.

Also, don't listen to anyone who says you have to remove the HVAC and glove box to get this out. It's literally a 20 minute job and all you have to do is remove the 3 8mm bolts and unplug the 2 electrical connectors.

 

[pappy]

Also, don't listen to anyone who says you have to remove the HVAC and glove box to get this out. It's literally a 20 minute job and all you have to do is remove the 3 8mm bolts and unplug the 2 electrical connectors.

Ya, easy job. Thanks.

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

1-10-20 Update - Fixed Rear Brakes

Fixed the rear brakes on the 4Runner but the vibration still persists. The error I made on the rear brakes was on the driver side rear. Inspecting the shoes, it looks like the left side was basically pressed against the drum at all times and the right side wasn't touching at all. They were completely out of adjustment. Which is odd because I did the same adjustment method on the passenger side axle as i did on the driver side. Passenger side was perfect.

Anyway, Brakes are dialed in, e-brake works flawlessly and all is well. I still have a nasty vibration in the rear end for some reason. I'm beginning to think that it still could be the driveshaft. The vibration is only prominent on deceleration, which leads me to believe that it's definitely the driveshaft