YotaRu

So way back when we used to live in a house that my parents owned. I had just gotten out of school and had a good job but we had no rent or mortgage payment, a car payment was no big deal. So I was living high on the hog and loving my 2005 Forester XT!!! Then...my parents finally decided it was time for them to move into this house that they bought (that was the original idea) so they gave us the boot!!! Having to add a mortgage payment to our lives made a car payment out of the question.:sad: Both my Subies bit me with the offroad bug badly, however in exploring around I found that most of the trails accessible to me were beyond the stock Subies head. I searched high and low for an old GL, I wasn't going to get anything without a dual range tranny, but everything I could find was far to rusted out. My next move was to find an out of the box, offroad capable vehicle that was affordable and safe enough to haul the kids around. Plenty of research, and looking around at Jeeps and whatnot led me to good 'ol Toyota. Then I found a used car dealer who had a '94 4Runner in really good shape and was willing to trade and make the transition swift and painless. I really did not want to give up my Foz.

So, there's my story of how I ended up on a Subie forum with a Yota. I've actually been a member here since the board was first launched back in '04ish, and that was when I was still driving the '83GL.

YotaRu had around 150k mi. when I bought her, and had never been off road. She was sold by the previous owner most likely because her head gaskets were blown and they didn't want to put the money into her. The dealer I bought her from had the head gaskets and timing belt (not the water pump as I was later to find out:madred:) replaced and she was running great.

The day she came home.
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Immediately the 'Ruification' began.

Badge off of the XT.
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4WD badge off of my '83 GL parts car.
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Running boards and the floppy, pretty much useless brush guard were the first things to go.
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Yeah, it looks like crap here, but being a bike guy the steering wheel had to be taped up with Brooks leather handle bar tape. As I planned with wear and getting dirty it now blends in nicely. And it's still holding up perfectly.:)
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FJJami was producing Subie shift knobs for a while, he gave me this one which he accidentally cut off the lip that holds up the shift boot.
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I decided that I didn't like the bumper valence, so bye-bye. It now has an aluminum plate between the turn signals to clean up the look.
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Next bit of 'Ruification' '09 Forester aero wiper blades, two passenger side ones. Original blades lasted 2 1/2 years, just changed the inserts a week or so ago.
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In removing the brush guard I discovered this stuck bolt that held the tow hook on. Try as I might I could NOT get it out. I relocated the tow hook to the other side...
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...being a machinist, and there was another tapped hole behind the stuck bolt, I cut the bolt off and made my own recovery point.:cool:
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Next up, sump protection. BudBuilt is a cool local company that makes Yota parts, they have a few more that I will invest in at some point. Did the paint job myself, and this is the bain of my oil change existence...55lbs. off and on every 3k mi.
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I did have to do a bunch of 'catch up' maintenance when I got her (and after being unemployed for a while she now needs more) new brakes, shocks, drive train fluids, spark plugs, ball joints, and a water pump (see above), 200k+mi. and shes holding up great.:ebiggrin:

Latest addition.
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You need one, you want one, order one today!!!:iconwink:

Been meaning to do this for a loooong time. Now that I'm gainfully employed again, hopefully I'll be able to update often.:discomonkey:
 
Very nice!!

I went the other way - I had a 96 Toyota Hilux Surf (fantastic car that gave me the offroad bug) then when the family grew bigger we sold that and baught our Forester!!!
 
Just an awesome vehicle! I like the old yotas over their new stuff any day. The v6 over the 4banger models are def. a plus.
 
dirtyRU said:
The v6 over the 4banger models are def. a plus.
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I have to agree and disagree on this one, added power of the V-6 is nice, but they are a much bigger PITA to work on, that and the fact that if they over heat at all 'pop' goes the head gasket.

On your other point, I would certainly not want one newer than mine, the engines got better, but after that they started to be getting more like your typical American SUV, more family hauler than off roader.
 
dirtyRU said:
Just an awesome vehicle! I like the old yotas over their new stuff any day.
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carljwnc said:
I would certainly not want one newer than mine, the engines got better, but after that they started to be getting more like your typical American SUV, more family hauler than off roader.
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I don't quite agree on the "old is better than new" here. I love our trusty old 1998 Land Cruiser with the 3-liter diesel, which the kids have affectionately dubbed "The Bulldozer" (probably needs a thread too). But I certainly wouldn't mind a more recent-model Prado either. Or if I were confined to US-available models, the new 5th gen 4Runner looks quite decent to me and does well off-road.

Have a look at the pictures in this thread on t4r.org!
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/65893-post-your-lifted-pix-here.html
If you filter out all the bling-bling ones, some are kitted quite decently.

My real dream Toyota, however, would be a 70 Series HZJ wagon. Either the 4-door or the 2-door troop carrier model, in white with snorkel, like the Red Cross and other aid organizations still have them.

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As you can tell, while in Africa, I've been thinking about Toyotas way too much for a Subaru fan. :lildevil:
 
Escher said:
I don't quite agree on the "old is better than new" here. I love our trusty old 1998 Land Cruiser with the 3-liter diesel, which the kids have affectionately dubbed "The Bulldozer" (probably needs a thread too). But I certainly wouldn't mind a more recent-model Prado either. Or if I were confined to US-available models, the new 5th gen 4Runner looks quite decent to me and does well off-road.

Have a look at the pictures in this thread on t4r.org!
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/65893-post-your-lifted-pix-here.html
If you filter out all the bling-bling ones, some are kitted quite decently.
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Escher, you are probably right, and I am just biased. In all honesty I haven't really looked to closely at the new ones. Some of the ones in that thread look great. When I see the newer ones, I see the potential, but I don't see it with out modification, hence my 'out-of-the-box' statement above. And, my little nit-picky thing...once you got to the '95.5 model, you cannot (without great expense anyway) convert to manual lock front hubs. I haven't done it yet, but with manual hubs I can; run in 2wd low range, possibly (heard mixed things) get better mpg, weld my front diff for much less $$$ than a locker would cost and keep it street worthy, still weighing that one out though I would much rather have a selectable locker. All and all, I just like the simplicity mine has, no air bags, no ABS it's right at a level that I can understand and work on myself for the most part.:)
 
Simplicity is defintely a major plus, Carl! That's why I love our 1998 Land Cruiser and my dream-Yota would be an HZJ70.
 
:woohoo:Finally an off road mod to add.:ebiggrin:

After last weeks trip to Brown Mountain, and some serious water dunkings, it was time to install some extended differential breathers.

The ingredients; couple of Parker hydraulic fittings liberated from work (with permission, of course), some Loctite thread seal, 6' (1m) of 7/16" ID vacuum line hose (ended up not being enough), and some hose clamps. The elbow fitting I got for the front diff. strike 1, there is not enough room to spin it to thread it in, so the front will have to wait until a later time.:sad:

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Target resting place for the top of the breather tube, behind this splash shield that covers the fuel lines leading up to the fuel filler.

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The stock breather is a metric pipe thread, but with some thread seal and some torque, I'm comfortable with how an 1/8-27NPTF thread fits.

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Hose attached and zip tied to the rear brake splitter.

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Routed the hose up and over the frame, splash shield is removed here.

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Cut the hose to length, hose clamped on the stock breather to the top, and zip tied it to the fuel vent line. If I go deep enough to submerge this, I'm floating away anyway. put the splash shield back on now I'm good to go!!!

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Next week, with the proper fitting, I tackle the front...
 
Wow, Carl! Those pictures (i.e. Yotaru) look like abstract paintings. I would never have found my way around those parts. :raspberry: Kudos for having completed the project.
 
Another front diff breather extension fail...:sad:

I was able to 'fudge' the american pipe thread into the rear diff, but it's not going to happen with the front...off to source some metric fittings in the near future.
 
I think one reason you may have been short of hose is the conversion. 1.83 metres = 6 feet (approx).
 
Rally said:
I think one reason you may have been short of hose is the conversion. 1.83 metres = 6 feet (approx).
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Your right should have been 2m.:iconwink: My bad, but even 2m would have left me a bit short. Anyway I now have another 4' of hose, 1.2192m.:)
 
Picked up a free copy of 4WD Toyota Owner magazine the other day. Carl, it looks like there are many, many, many options for your 4Runner out there! :lildevil:
 
Escher said:
Picked up a free copy of 4WD Toyota Owner magazine the other day. Carl, it looks like there are many, many, many options for your 4Runner out there! :lildevil:
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Yup, plenty to choose from.:ebiggrin: I guess another reason I went with the Yota over another Subie was aftermarket support, no shortage of offroad goodies out there.:cool:

One of my co-workers is going to hook me up with a buddy of his, this may result in a rather large 'project' happening sooner rather than later...:twisted:
 
mr turbo said:
Sounds interesting, please carljwnc, do tell :discomonkey:

Regards
Mr Turbo
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Whelp, the steel blocks in the other thread were the beginnings of a 2" ball joint spacer lift. On top of the spacer blocks you still have to get new springs and shocks, and then there's all the other stuff I would want to replace while I had the front end all torn down; ball joints, wheel bearings, torsen bars, brakes...

I got to thinking about it, and why spend all that money only to do it again when I do what I really want to do??? SAS, solid axle swap.:monkeydance: Can you say articulation??? I haven't talked to the guy yet, but sounds like I may be able to get the SAS done along with a rear leaf spring conversion for just a bit more money (OK, maybe twice as much) than I would spend on the ball joint spacer lift, only to spend it again to do the SAS later. I'm afraid my off road driving skills are now exceeding YotaRu's capabilities and it's time to move on to the next level.:cool:
 
carljwnc said:
I got to thinking about it, and why spend all that money only to do it again when I do what I really want to do??? SAS, solid axle swap.:monkeydance: Can you say articulation??? I haven't talked to the guy yet, but sounds like I may be able to get the SAS done along with a rear leaf spring conversion for just a bit more money (OK, maybe twice as much) than I would spend on the ball joint spacer lift, only to spend it again to do the SAS later.
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Sounds like a great plan :) As you say, why spend all that time (& money) doing it twice, when instead, you can do it once & be done with it :cool: Especially if you're going to have a better end result :iconwink: :ebiggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
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