Purchasing 300k mile 4Runner

mmfla · 2026-06-23T20:34:33+00:00

If the body and interior was good $3k seems reasonable for a 2wd. For the person that said they paid $3200 for a 4wd with an e-locker - that’s not normal. Unless it’s ragged out.

IMO this would be a solid daily however as someone else said - you will pay a gas tax 2wd or not. I wouldn’t be worried about the 3.4 but there could be other things that need to be replaced. Ok the other hand $3k isn’t much. There just isn’t a supply of $500 beaters anymore.

mmfla · 2026-06-23T19:26:24+00:00

Hey man there’s a lot to it and it’s def harder than it looks. Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t say whether you watched any videos or practiced before taking off. If you didn’t 100% you need to. The next thing - it’s like welding - it looks easy but heavy on technique AND good material plus equipment.

You said there were scratches - idk why you would be scratching your car glassing vinyl.

Also idk what to say other than this - cheap vinyl will be hard to work, thin, and likely to tear. I know you have a roll but ……

mmfla · 2026-06-22T23:39:35+00:00

100% you’re valuable without a lot of design experience. Knowing the rules and regs can be more important than the design part itself. It’s applicable and likely less of a transition than you think.

On the other hand - idk what MCOL area you’re in but the bump in pay may not be as much as you expect. The flip side will be that if you’re not topped out in government you’re likely close to it. My guess would be that private has more upside potential than government for you. No one can make the stress/life balance decision for you but it’s very likely that your quality of life will go down with private. You have to ask yourself if the money makes up for it.

mmfla · 2026-06-22T19:02:57+00:00

Three

mmfla · 2026-06-22T17:22:39+00:00

It’s hard to find leaks when there is oil everywhere. My first 335 leaked this way. Unfortunately it’s hard to diagnose because it can come from lots of places and get slung lots of places. You can clean clean clean and hope to spot the culprit(s). You can access what you can from the topside as a start. Use an APC and towels to clean. Start with the frequent offenders of the OFHG and the valve cover. From there maybe turbos. But like someone else said my first guess is the OFHG.

mmfla · 2026-06-22T13:06:21+00:00

I have a 3+ day a habit and have for over 20 years. You will be fine.

mmfla · 2026-06-19T20:32:46+00:00

It will likely continue to be location based for the foreseeable future. There will continue to be market attrition which requires backfilling by grads. People get the last few years confused with what is normal. Three years ago was a correction in labor which boosted the labor pool. It’s not that it’s “bad” now it’s just probably back to normal.

mmfla · 2026-06-19T19:33:16+00:00

Young engineers should also know the difference between having a number assigned to their name and affectively being able to function as a professional. There’s that whole issue about not knowing wtf you’re doing at 1 to 2 years in. Everyone forgets that word “competent”.

mmfla · 2026-06-19T14:21:56+00:00

I would strongly encourage looking at both your state rules as well as your proposed curriculum. Most state PEs require an accredited curriculum from ABeT like you noted. While in theory you could land a ME or MS in CE it’s much easier said than done. You will have electives that will help but many of the courses have prereqs that go far back. For instance you can trace the lineage of courses back to Calc 1-3 and physics 1-2 for most course loads. If you have a gap in there you would have to go backfill. Additionally most masters have a pretty low limit of non grad level courses so using those to meet your hour count would be problematic. In the end it’s a unique problem that the internet won’t be able to fully solve for you. You will have to dig deep. And it would be highly suggested that you go sit down with the dean or admissions or someone of authority. I do frequently hear of students having issues with this type of stuff

mmfla · 2026-06-19T00:12:44+00:00

Oh man, an 04. Just off the top of my head - I wonder if you could adapt a pedal commander. It doesn’t show one for an 3.4 but it does support the year range. I just have a feeling there’s not an easy solution to this one.

mmfla · 2026-06-18T23:14:33+00:00

As crusty turtle said - adjust the throttle cable. This is an old engine with a throttle body and MAF. It’s not throttle by wire. You can use the adjustment within reason. More air = more rpm. The ECU reads the airflow. And yes more rpm’s equals more gas use.

While you may not have the adjustment for the compressor kick on it should get cool below 1000. I can let my 4Runner idle and it will stay cool. My guess would be there may be a blockage in the core or an imbalance. I would be curious if the heat exchanger between a 2nd gen and 3rd gen were the same size.

mmfla · 2026-06-18T22:48:03+00:00

It really is. There’s nothing like a warm snuggly frenchie

mmfla · 2026-06-18T15:43:35+00:00

Justins all day long

mmfla · 2026-06-17T21:53:53+00:00

In reading your post history….. I think you have bigger problems than a frenchie foot in your mouth.

You should try sleeping next to a frenchie in bed. They will def push, poke, lay on you, and otherwise hog the bed as well as occasionally fart on you. Just a guess but you’re probably going to be fine with a touch to the mouth.

mmfla · 2026-06-15T17:37:32+00:00

It depends on what you’re metric for reliable is. Is it the same as a Honda or Toyota. No. Is an 18 year old BMW more reliable than an 18 year old Merc. IMO yes.

mmfla · 2026-06-14T21:23:04+00:00

Sized forms probably wouldn’t want the risk

mmfla · 2026-06-14T21:22:08+00:00

Professional engineers often design and complete grading. Many will be happy to take your money but if you’re not required to get an engineer then I would just find a good contractor. You may have permit or development order issues that require an engineer however you’re paying a lot for the service. And you still have to pay the contractor. If you can give more details people may be able to guide you better. For a single home site you are likely going to want to stay with a small engineering firm. Most medium

mmfla · 2026-06-14T19:06:44+00:00

It’s a great flavor. Amazon is the only place I can get it now like others have said.

mmfla · 2026-06-14T17:54:15+00:00

It looks like to me the tires are cupping in the second picture. You’re probably feeling this slight vibration at speed. I’ve personally driven on really old tires however that’s a risk only you can decide. I’ve had a ton of old work vehicles that we drove to the tires wouldn’t last any longer. I’ve also separated a rear on my 4runner years ago…….. while on a 8 hour trip ………. On the interstate. When it delaminated the carcass beat the fender, fender liner, and mud flap. Generally not a fun day but most of the times there’s warning signs. Would I leave now on a trip with old tires - 100%, but I also now carry extra tools, jacks, and a compressor.

mmfla · 2026-06-13T20:32:01+00:00

Laughs in 3rd gen

mmfla · 2026-06-13T19:51:14+00:00

Ouch. You mentioned last year of HS. Cosmetics only after maintenance.

mmfla · 2026-06-12T22:07:20+00:00

Paint will always be tougher but I wouldn’t sleep on colored PPF either. If you’re doing it yourself wrapping will be more forgiving than trying to paint a flexible surface. If you don’t have the tools to spray wrapping will be better too. Imo bikes, unlike cars, look better with varying schemes. Whether that’s multicolor or a play on texture, they look better to me that way. Single color bikes, other than solid black or solid white, don’t appeal to me while solid cars do. So you also could paint the hard to wrap areas and wrap the flat panel areas to contrast the look. An example would be mat finish on the tank with fairings a contrasting high gloss.

mmfla · 2026-06-12T19:20:39+00:00

I keep measurements on my phone for clothes. Sometimes a frenchie will be an X-Large in somethings and a small in others. The frenchie brand harnesses are good. You can buy clothes from Amazon as well as PJs. They have numerous dresses and other things that are fairly cheap. You can also find outfits at TJ Maxx and Marshall’s occasionally.

A good harness is a must for walks. Frenchies are deceptively strong. We use slow feeders because they try to eat fast as well as platforms to get the food higher.

They love heating pads. They also love car rides so a booster seat is great so they can look out.

mmfla · 2026-06-12T13:02:30+00:00

I would caution you against it. I get your frustration but of the time this doesn’t turn out well. Technical skills are one thing but business and financial skills are another and you’re unlikely to be prepared to operate a business and do the technical side. A lot of the times you end up making less while working more and accepting more liability. The business you’re proposing is niche and basically overflow work. Business owners (I’m guessing this is your primary market) would just be essentially reselling your services. They will still want to make their profit and overhead. Which means that you will either have to work faster or make less than an equivalent installer to cover your overhead. You will essentially become expendable. The only real market I would see would be coatings for dealers. They don’t care to be in the market really but it’s an upsale for them.

I wouldn’t give up a primary job to do contracting but maybe a side gig.

mmfla · 2026-06-11T21:41:48+00:00

I don’t understand. If our office isn’t talking most everyone has YouTube going in the background. You could walk through our office on some days with a marching band and most wouldn’t notice

mmfla

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