Northern 4R Adventures

[max225]

Yea HD radio compared to XM is

I’ll keep you posted on the door panels. It’s a newish car so it should be fine.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Yea HD radio compared to XM is

I’ll keep you posted on the door panels. It’s a newish car so it should be fine.

I wish we had HD radio here, but alas...we're stuck with SXM. I didn't realize how bad the audio quality was until I had speakers that exposed it.

I found it how tight fitting the dash speaker grilles were. Fortunately they are new and somewhat bendy, but they're precision fit. Makes me nervous about tearing into a door panel, especially if the speaker upgrade isn't entirely necessary.

Are you looking at these?
https://www.amazon.com/Kicker-46CSC6934 ... deae8f9840

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts. If they're a drastic improvement like the DS18's are, I'll consider taking it on.

[max225]

Yea HD radio compared to XM is

I’ll keep you posted on the door panels. It’s a newish car so it should be fine.

I wish we had HD radio here, but alas...we're stuck with SXM. I didn't realize how bad the audio quality was until I had speakers that exposed it.

I found it how tight fitting the dash speaker grilles were. Fortunately they are new and somewhat bendy, but they're precision fit. Makes me nervous about tearing into a door panel, especially if the speaker upgrade isn't entirely necessary.

Are you looking at these?
https://www.amazon.com/Kicker-46CSC6934 ... deae8f9840

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts. If they're a drastic improvement like the DS18's are, I'll consider taking it on.

Yep these are it. But crutchfield comes with adapters that are plug and play in the end for free . Will keep you posted

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I wish we had HD radio here, but alas...we're stuck with SXM. I didn't realize how bad the audio quality was until I had speakers that exposed it.

I found it how tight fitting the dash speaker grilles were. Fortunately they are new and somewhat bendy, but they're precision fit. Makes me nervous about tearing into a door panel, especially if the speaker upgrade isn't entirely necessary.

Are you looking at these?
https://www.amazon.com/Kicker-46CSC6934 ... deae8f9840

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts. If they're a drastic improvement like the DS18's are, I'll consider taking it on.

Yep these are it. But crutchfield comes with adapters that are plug and play in the end for free . Will keep you posted

Crutchfield is 5/7 for that. They sent me $40 worth of adapters and shit to install the HU in the S10 for free, and I got a scratch and dent HU for cheaper than I could find it anywhere else.

[max225]

Hey Chris curious, how do you service the 4R. Did you do a break in oil change ? Or do you just do the Toyota Care crap ?

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Hey Chris curious, how do you service the 4R. Did you do a break in oil change ? Or do you just do the Toyota Care crap ?

I debated doing break-in after your blackstone analysis with your last truck. But I got lazy, the truck notified me that it wanted an oil change at 5k miles, which seemed early, but I took it in thinking that it wouldn't hurt (again, based on your past results).

Once I got there, I was informed that Toyota only pays for 10k mile oil changes, which seemed weird since the truck told me to bring it in at 5k. Fine, whatever. Since I was there, and it was $80 OTD including tire rotation, I told them to do it.

Toyota will pay for a 10k change, which is probably a waste since I did the 5k, but I'll take it in then do 10k after.

[max225]

Hey Chris curious, how do you service the 4R. Did you do a break in oil change ? Or do you just do the Toyota Care crap ?

I debated doing break-in after your blackstone analysis with your last truck. But I got lazy, the truck notified me that it wanted an oil change at 5k miles, which seemed early, but I took it in thinking that it wouldn't hurt (again, based on your past results).

Once I got there, I was informed that Toyota only pays for 10k mile oil changes, which seemed weird since the truck told me to bring it in at 5k. Fine, whatever. Since I was there, and it was $80 OTD including tire rotation, I told them to do it.

Toyota will pay for a 10k change, which is probably a waste since I did the 5k, but I'll take it in then do 10k after.

I just did my truck at 1500 miles … it was kind of a bitch. The 0w20 is so fucking thin it splashed out like water out of my pan no matter how I was holding it… and caused a huge mess. $80 is really good for an oil change … if they use Toyota oil it’s $70 in parts alone for that.

There is a big debate on 5k-10k intervals… as some prominent techs online claim 10k causes piston ring damage.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I debated doing break-in after your blackstone analysis with your last truck. But I got lazy, the truck notified me that it wanted an oil change at 5k miles, which seemed early, but I took it in thinking that it wouldn't hurt (again, based on your past results).

Once I got there, I was informed that Toyota only pays for 10k mile oil changes, which seemed weird since the truck told me to bring it in at 5k. Fine, whatever. Since I was there, and it was $80 OTD including tire rotation, I told them to do it.

Toyota will pay for a 10k change, which is probably a waste since I did the 5k, but I'll take it in then do 10k after.

I just did my truck at 1500 miles … it was kind of a bitch. The 0w20 is so fucking thin it splashed out like water out of my pan no matter how I was holding it… and caused a huge mess. $80 is really good for an oil change … if they use Toyota oil it’s $70 in parts alone for that.

There is a big debate on 5k-10k intervals… as some prominent techs online claim 10k causes piston ring damage.

The invoice said "toyota synthetic oil" and "toyota oil filter" so seemed like a decent deal

The 10k interval makes me nervous, it's more a financial decision on Toyota's part than it is a vehicle durability thing. Think about it, the engine in my truck has been in production for...20 years now? When it was first introduced, the oil change interval was probably 5-7.5k? There's nothing different, other than the fact that Toyota started paying for oil changes and wants to reduce that cost on the balance sheet. The engine won't fail while in warranty with 10k changes, so they don't care.

If you truly want to have the thing for 100k+ miles, I'd do more frequent changes in the 5-7.5k range. But lets be real, if either of us see 50k in these trucks it'll be so just do the minimum.

[max225]

I just did my truck at 1500 miles … it was kind of a bitch. The 0w20 is so fucking thin it splashed out like water out of my pan no matter how I was holding it… and caused a huge mess. $80 is really good for an oil change … if they use Toyota oil it’s $70 in parts alone for that.

There is a big debate on 5k-10k intervals… as some prominent techs online claim 10k causes piston ring damage.

The invoice said "toyota synthetic oil" and "toyota oil filter" so seemed like a decent deal

The 10k interval makes me nervous, it's more a financial decision on Toyota's part than it is a vehicle durability thing. Think about it, the engine in my truck has been in production for...20 years now? When it was first introduced, the oil change interval was probably 5-7.5k? There's nothing different, other than the fact that Toyota started paying for oil changes and wants to reduce that cost on the balance sheet. The engine won't fail while in warranty with 10k changes, so they don't care.

If you truly want to have the thing for 100k+ miles, I'd do more frequent changes in the 5-7.5k range. But lets be real, if either of us see 50k in these trucks it'll be so just do the minimum.

Yea totally worth it. The other debacle is 0w20 vs 5w30. Technically the 5w30 is the proper oil but there is a tiny FE benefit by going 0w20... so Toyota spec'd it.

I got the crown vic to 410k miles by going 3x the recommended 3k oil change interval. That's what the manual called for... 3k on dino. Oils technically got better... but weird shit has been going on due to FE and lord knows what else...

Honestly I can't figure out what the proper range is. I think I'll wait to 10k for my 2nd oil change... if I want to waste more money on #2 before 10k

[Desertbreh]

NP. Btw I am thinking about upgrading the door speakers to Kicker CS speakers. It's $107 and mostly plug and play also... Toyotas are super easy to work on so I figured why not.... the stock speakers are criminally bad.

I dunno...tearing into door panels is a tough one for me to get excited about. I've never been able to remove a door panel without breaking SOMETHING, and the 4R is so well put together that I really don't want to mess with that. The stock mid/bass is pretty solid with the DS18 tweeters now.

The biggest issue so far is SXM. We listen to a lot of it, and the new speakers really highlight how terrible the streaming quality is from SXM. The old shitty speakers didn't expose it, but the new ones...woa SXM sounds like streaming 10 years ago.

X2

[D Griff]

Since we're talking the ever debated OCI, I actually every 5K in the BMW due to timing chain issues with the N20 motor. Allegedly more frequent oil changes can improve your odds of avoiding all of that, so I do it. It's pretty easy and $45ish in parts. The Jeep I just do it when it says it's at 20-30% remaining life, which seems like about every 7K miles. I will probably do the next Jeep change myself, we got the free changes at first but at the two year mark I got one and it was like $130, seems a bit much for a car where I don't even have to get out a jack/stands to change the oil.

$80 is dece enough I would probably just pay it and save the hassle, but I also am sort of or at home or bust, I would rather not take my cars to Jiffy Lube or whatever to get a $40 change with Amazon Basics 5W30 dino piss.

[D Griff]

I dunno...tearing into door panels is a tough one for me to get excited about. I've never been able to remove a door panel without breaking SOMETHING, and the 4R is so well put together that I really don't want to mess with that. The stock mid/bass is pretty solid with the DS18 tweeters now.

The biggest issue so far is SXM. We listen to a lot of it, and the new speakers really highlight how terrible the streaming quality is from SXM. The old shitty speakers didn't expose it, but the new ones...woa SXM sounds like streaming 10 years ago.

X2

X3

[ChrisoftheNorth]

The invoice said "toyota synthetic oil" and "toyota oil filter" so seemed like a decent deal

The 10k interval makes me nervous, it's more a financial decision on Toyota's part than it is a vehicle durability thing. Think about it, the engine in my truck has been in production for...20 years now? When it was first introduced, the oil change interval was probably 5-7.5k? There's nothing different, other than the fact that Toyota started paying for oil changes and wants to reduce that cost on the balance sheet. The engine won't fail while in warranty with 10k changes, so they don't care.

If you truly want to have the thing for 100k+ miles, I'd do more frequent changes in the 5-7.5k range. But lets be real, if either of us see 50k in these trucks it'll be so just do the minimum.

Yea totally worth it. The other debacle is 0w20 vs 5w30. Technically the 5w30 is the proper oil but there is a tiny FE benefit by going 0w20... so Toyota spec'd it.

I got the crown vic to 410k miles by going 3x the recommended 3k oil change interval. That's what the manual called for... 3k on dino. Oils technically got better... but weird shit has been going on due to FE and lord knows what else...

Honestly I can't figure out what the proper range is. I think I'll wait to 10k for my 2nd oil change... if I want to waste more money on #2 before 10k

I absolutely would not do #2 before 10k miles, but that's just me.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Also, a vehicle that's driven a lot can go a while on oil, which is why the Crown Vic could go 3x the manual. Miles at operating temp are pretty for oil, but it's the short drives or infrequent drives where moisture can get into the oil and mess stuff up that causes issues. I drive so little that I could go off time more than mileage. Oil really should be changed before 12 mos.

[wap]

Also, a vehicle that's driven a lot can go a while on oil, which is why the Crown Vic could go 3x the manual. Miles at operating temp are pretty for oil, but it's the short drives or infrequent drives where moisture can get into the oil and mess stuff up that causes issues. I drive so little that I could go off time more than mileage. Oil really should be changed before 12 mos.

's what I do. I only drive 7k-8k miles/year so once a year earl changes works out fine for me.

[wap]

Also, a vehicle that's driven a lot can go a while on oil, which is why the Crown Vic could go 3x the manual. Miles at operating temp are pretty for oil, but it's the short drives or infrequent drives where moisture can get into the oil and mess stuff up that causes issues. I drive so little that I could go off time more than mileage. Oil really should be changed before 12 mos.

's what I do. I only drive 7k-8k miles/year so once a year earl changes works out fine for me.

[max225]

Also, a vehicle that's driven a lot can go a while on oil, which is why the Crown Vic could go 3x the manual. Miles at operating temp are pretty for oil, but it's the short drives or infrequent drives where moisture can get into the oil and mess stuff up that causes issues. I drive so little that I could go off time more than mileage. Oil really should be changed before 12 mos.

How do you manage to drive so little ? Even with no "job" I am still at 12k miles per year or so. We always drive around on the weekends etc.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Also, a vehicle that's driven a lot can go a while on oil, which is why the Crown Vic could go 3x the manual. Miles at operating temp are pretty for oil, but it's the short drives or infrequent drives where moisture can get into the oil and mess stuff up that causes issues. I drive so little that I could go off time more than mileage. Oil really should be changed before 12 mos.

How do you manage to drive so little ? Even with no "job" I am still at 12k miles per year or so. We always drive around on the weekends etc.

Zero commuting, and when we go somewhere, it's usually just 50-100 miles away max. Most weekends, we put less than 50 miles on a vehicle for the entire weekend and sometimes a vehicle doesn't even leave the garage for the weekend. The perks of living in the area you always want to be in. We used to PILE miles on the cars on the weekends driving up here, now we don't have to. If we don't want to be in our area, we don't want to be in Michigan and thus are flying.

Also, I've put 1k miles on the S10 since getting it home in August, those otherwise would have gone on the 4R, so some mileage benefit from multiple vehicles.

[Valkyrie]

We have driven less than 5000 miles in the past 2 years, including 1200 miles in the move down to FL. If I have to drive somewhere, I usually don't go (because of parking hassle or DUI risk). The exception is hauling music gear for shows, but even some of those I can walk to with a guitar and some cables.

[max225]

How do you manage to drive so little ? Even with no "job" I am still at 12k miles per year or so. We always drive around on the weekends etc.

Zero commuting, and when we go somewhere, it's usually just 50-100 miles away max. Most weekends, we put less than 50 miles on a vehicle for the entire weekend and sometimes a vehicle doesn't even leave the garage for the weekend. The perks of living in the area you always want to be in. We used to PILE miles on the cars on the weekends driving up here, now we don't have to. If we don't want to be in our area, we don't want to be in Michigan and thus are flying.

Also, I've put 1k miles on the S10 since getting it home in August, those otherwise would have gone on the 4R, so some mileage benefit from multiple vehicles.

Intersting... for me its friends and family... my friends are all 100mile round trip... i see them 1-2x a week... so it really adds up.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Zero commuting, and when we go somewhere, it's usually just 50-100 miles away max. Most weekends, we put less than 50 miles on a vehicle for the entire weekend and sometimes a vehicle doesn't even leave the garage for the weekend. The perks of living in the area you always want to be in. We used to PILE miles on the cars on the weekends driving up here, now we don't have to. If we don't want to be in our area, we don't want to be in Michigan and thus are flying.

Also, I've put 1k miles on the S10 since getting it home in August, those otherwise would have gone on the 4R, so some mileage benefit from multiple vehicles.

Intersting... for me its friends and family... my friends are all 100mile round trip... i see them 1-2x a week... so it really adds up.

We don't have many friends, the ones we do have live within 20 miles of us, and we usually meet up somewhere convenient for everyone or they come to our house on the weekend. We're also friends with a few neighbors, so not much driving there.

My family is all over the place, so I'm not driving to see any of them.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

We have driven less than 5000 miles in the past 2 years, including 1200 miles in the move down to FL. If I have to drive somewhere, I usually don't go (because of parking hassle or DUI risk). The exception is hauling music gear for shows, but even some of those I can walk to with a guitar and some cables.

This is truly excellent work!

[max225]

Intersting... for me its friends and family... my friends are all 100mile round trip... i see them 1-2x a week... so it really adds up.

We don't have many friends, the ones we do have live within 20 miles of us, and we usually meet up somewhere convenient for everyone or they come to our house on the weekend. We're also friends with a few neighbors, so not much driving there.

My family is all over the place, so I'm not driving to see any of them.

Interesting. I get sick of sitting in the house 7 days a week with no real "job" to commute to. So the weekends are free for all. Still averaging 15k miles a year between the two cars I think... Like we had to go to LA 3x this year alone... that's 3000 miles for "weddings". 1 of em was in a rental

[ChrisoftheNorth]

We don't have many friends, the ones we do have live within 20 miles of us, and we usually meet up somewhere convenient for everyone or they come to our house on the weekend. We're also friends with a few neighbors, so not much driving there.

My family is all over the place, so I'm not driving to see any of them.

Interesting. I get sick of sitting in the house 7 days a week with no real "job" to commute to. So the weekends are free for all. Still averaging 15k miles a year between the two cars I think... Like we had to go to LA 3x this year alone... that's 3000 miles for "weddings". 1 of em was in a rental

Well, I live in the woods for a reason. There's an epic 2 mile hiking trail I can get to from my backyard that I hike every time it's nice out. We're a 5 minute walk from Lake Michigan, and spend quite a bit of time chilling by the water as wife likes to rock hunt while I do some beach maintenance or whatever. I enjoy bird watching or wrenching on the truck or house that keeps me pretty busy overall without leaving my property. And even if I do leave, most of what I want to do is within a 20 mile radius of the house. For adventuring, there's more little towns within 100 miles of us than I can count, so even when we want to "get away" if we're not flying somewhere, it's 100 mile round trip to a new little town or spot to see. Since it's all a "tourist destination" there's stuff to see and do just about everywhere, so there's no need to drive far to do anything.

The furthest I'd have to drive for wedding or work stuff is Detroit, which is 500 miles round trip. This year, I flew more for work to NYC or client meetings wherever than I needed to drive to Detroit, and we don't have any friends that aren't already married. My sister's getting hitched next year in Arizona, so we'll fly for that (wife wants to buy a truck to drive back again amazingly) and that's about it.

Having few friends and a small family but living in an area with all your favorite stuff in it means driving long distances isn't really necessary. IDGAF that the 4R gets horrendous gas mileage, I don't even remember the last time I filled it up. I put rec gas (zero ethanol) in the S10 the other day to clean the fuel system and see how she runs, but most importantly because it'll probably be the last tank I put in it for 5 months.

[SAWCE]

Interesting. I get sick of sitting in the house 7 days a week with no real "job" to commute to. So the weekends are free for all. Still averaging 15k miles a year between the two cars I think... Like we had to go to LA 3x this year alone... that's 3000 miles for "weddings". 1 of em was in a rental

Well, I live in the woods for a reason. There's an epic 2 mile hiking trail I can get to from my backyard that I hike every time it's nice out. We're a 5 minute walk from Lake Michigan, and spend quite a bit of time chilling by the water as wife likes to rock hunt while I do some beach maintenance or whatever. I enjoy bird watching or wrenching on the truck or house that keeps me pretty busy overall without leaving my property. And even if I do leave, most of what I want to do is within a 20 mile radius of the house. For adventuring, there's more little towns within 100 miles of us than I can count, so even when we want to "get away" if we're not flying somewhere, it's 100 mile round trip to a new little town or spot to see. Since it's all a "tourist destination" there's stuff to see and do just about everywhere, so there's no need to drive far to do anything.

The furthest I'd have to drive for wedding or work stuff is Detroit, which is 500 miles round trip. This year, I flew more for work to NYC or client meetings wherever than I needed to drive to Detroit, and we don't have any friends that aren't already married. My sister's getting hitched next year in Arizona, so we'll fly for that (wife wants to buy a truck to drive back again amazingly) and that's about it.

Having few friends and a small family but living in an area with all your favorite stuff in it means driving long distances isn't really necessary. IDGAF that the 4R gets horrendous gas mileage, I don't even remember the last time I filled it up. I put rec gas (zero ethanol) in the S10 the other day to clean the fuel system and see how she runs, but most importantly because it'll probably be the last tank I put in it for 5 months.

Man this is the life.