So I picked up a bone stock '96 with factory lockers and 85k on it. I was pretty excited when I saw how clean it was and how good the thing sounded (slight whine and all) and the owner had great records from the day he bought it as a certified used vehicle 5 years ago.
Thought I might just jot down a few thoughts and say hi.
I upgraded from a '93 4Runner 4x4 which served me well until a 16 year old
slid around a corner and hit it while it was parked, but that is a topic for another thread.....
The cruiser has noticably more torque and I barely use the throttle compared to me driving the 4Runner around with the gas pedal floored. With the 5 speed, the 4Runner was quicker in the end, but I had to wind it up all the time to get that.
The gas mileage isn't too bad, I got 14.5 mpg on my first tank in mixed driving. I changed out the front diff and x-fer case oil to Mobil 1 synthetic and will see if there is any noticable change. I'll change the rear diff fluid soon...
I get the Cruiser donk at very slow speeds coming to a complete stop or starting from a stop. Not every time and the severity changes, but I will check all the driveline joints and clean and lube the driveshaft splines by seperating the axles.
The braking on the truck has a lot of boost and makes the thing really easy to stop. I remember pushing way harder on the 4Runner brake pedal to get the same stopping effort. I wonder if this is why the brakes seem to wear faster due to the higher brake force and higher stopping effort compared to what a rig this size normall does. If the master cylinder was smaller and the braking was less effective, there would be less average brake force at the pad / rotor interface and the wear would decrease (unless one were to stomp on the pedal all the time). I can't think of another reason why cruisers eat pads and rotors....
I'm still going through the truck, changing fluids and checking stuff out, but so far I pretty happy with the upgrade. It seems like a lot of things in the engine bay are pretty accesible and designed for maintenance so compared to the 4Runner crammed-in-there-V6, I'm stoked....
One last thing, curbs and bumps are 10 times smoother in the cruiser and I can't wait to get to some offroad use. I'm not into hardcore wheeling, but I definitly want to check this bad boy out soon.... stay tuned....
Adios....
Thought I might just jot down a few thoughts and say hi.
I upgraded from a '93 4Runner 4x4 which served me well until a 16 year old
slid around a corner and hit it while it was parked, but that is a topic for another thread.....The cruiser has noticably more torque and I barely use the throttle compared to me driving the 4Runner around with the gas pedal floored. With the 5 speed, the 4Runner was quicker in the end, but I had to wind it up all the time to get that.
The gas mileage isn't too bad, I got 14.5 mpg on my first tank in mixed driving. I changed out the front diff and x-fer case oil to Mobil 1 synthetic and will see if there is any noticable change. I'll change the rear diff fluid soon...
I get the Cruiser donk at very slow speeds coming to a complete stop or starting from a stop. Not every time and the severity changes, but I will check all the driveline joints and clean and lube the driveshaft splines by seperating the axles.
The braking on the truck has a lot of boost and makes the thing really easy to stop. I remember pushing way harder on the 4Runner brake pedal to get the same stopping effort. I wonder if this is why the brakes seem to wear faster due to the higher brake force and higher stopping effort compared to what a rig this size normall does. If the master cylinder was smaller and the braking was less effective, there would be less average brake force at the pad / rotor interface and the wear would decrease (unless one were to stomp on the pedal all the time). I can't think of another reason why cruisers eat pads and rotors....
I'm still going through the truck, changing fluids and checking stuff out, but so far I pretty happy with the upgrade. It seems like a lot of things in the engine bay are pretty accesible and designed for maintenance so compared to the 4Runner crammed-in-there-V6, I'm stoked....
One last thing, curbs and bumps are 10 times smoother in the cruiser and I can't wait to get to some offroad use. I'm not into hardcore wheeling, but I definitly want to check this bad boy out soon.... stay tuned....
Adios....
