JJCRU23R

You must be really good with your hands since it would take me at least 1.5-3 hours longer to do that sorta stuff due to me double and triple checking for missing screws bits n' pieces as well as taking photos along the way just in case.. of course it helps if the car isnt so old that you are fixing someone elses "handy" work or damage from the previous owners.

how the hell do you *rate* or *like* in this forum?

if i knew how id have done so on this thread by now!

keep it up man! from 1 diy'er to another :P

Getting more dirty thoughts of what I should do next with my rav4... Rukus members are bad influence! lol! these boxes look awesome! Cant imagine how yall can turn with suspension so low but it looks really good~~!

Id be tempted to avoid the car for the interior alone.. since the work required to put in the new dash is more than Id be willing to deal with to change the colour! (Id insead just wait for an Echo with the ideal interior) Your hard work paid off though, it looks great!

The pics of the suspension look like the driveway, not a mechanics workshop. Did you install them yourself? was that a difficult process? I may have to do something similar with my rav4 sometime soon.

Also *clap*clap* for the number plates too! Hehe

This is audm?! Didn't think domestic 4 runners came with more than 2 doors! Guess I'm just thinking about the hilux surf.

Looking good mick!

I SOOO wanna get that badge for my rav4!

hey a.rice.. u still round? cars looking much better since you first bought it

Have you spent a lot of time in the car with only the radio and headlights on? Do you have plenty of electronic gadgets (amp/ subwoofers/ GPS/ DVD etc..) that may drain your battery sooner than expected

It's still worth checking the battery though! Plus any connections or even the alternator.. Auto electrician should be able to check it out for you.

It's nobody's fault that most people here are driving corollas Celicas camrys or aurions.. Sucks (4 me)that there aren't more rav4 owners here but you can't do much except find a more active car forum that relates to your car!

ahhhhh.. good luck with the sale! SOOO wish I had my old car right now

I've just replaced the lower control arm on my rav4. If you have a welder handy, you could try it but I wouldn't dare. Control arms take a lot of abuse so i wouldnt trust my own welding skills when a part like that is what need fixing. best to get a replacement part. If you are in Sydney there are a few good wreckers in Smithfield. Pick n Payless is my fave especially cos of price although at the moment they don't have any rav4 wrecks.

Cost me 110 for a drivers side lower control arm 2 weeks ago

If you can find a flat enough sub box,g o for it! However with it covered up underneath the floor, you wouldn't get the best sound compared to if it were uncovered.. If that makes sense. I made a parcel shelf for my rav4 and although its only made from fabric, it did make to more muffled sound for my sub

You could always custom make the sub box to fit exactly how you want + have room to spare! Wish my rav had that space in the back!

I doubt most would go to the local westfields to buy their groceries in 200k cars.

One obvious one is to park away from most & if possible, go shopping in places where most aren't around ( I mean as soon as the store opens or late at night when most of the traffic has gone).

When I had my 1zz there were many Instances where I'd wait for my wife in the car while she shops and I'd mind the kids, watching the random cars that would move in and out of the neighboring parking spaces next to mine. There were times when you'd see the good guys who notice your car and wrap their palms around their door just in case it gets too close to my car, but then there are those (larger) ladies in tall cars who've swung the door full strength to make room for their ample asses to get in/out of the drivers seat. I've been quick to confront them and if I had been more aware I'd have taped the whole incident instead of watching the whole thing happen in front of me.

Tried to buy a dash cam but got screwed on an eBay purchase in July - PayPal just sorted me out with my money back!

Or respond to posts. (Typing from my iPhone.. Posted prematurely )

There is a lot of good info on rav4 world, however even though I've become a member it's as if I wasn't since I still can't access some images in the threads

K&N Apollo Cold Air intake! Nice colour too...hmm

Getting more curious now.. What's the go with 3sfe's and mods like extractors, CAI and exhausts? As much as I wish for a newer car, I'm having fun working the engine bay!

Not planning on racing her down the street or anything but it obviously would be nice to improve the stock performance of this car.

Will probebly be passed down to my wife when I'm through with it but right now I'm not owing money on the car since I bought it cash.. Most of what needed fixing to get it back to decent running condition as far as the engine goes has been done.

Plus I'm definitely reaching around 310-330kms per tank since the ultratune service! Even though this was with a higher amount of highway driving than the usual drive to work, I wasn't getting 290kms per tank.

Fuel Economy ftw!

Took it for a test drive and a lot less knocking than before! To eliminate all knocks I'm guessing shocks and springs will need to be replaced. Will consider lowering both as I've been quoted upto $1500 for McPherson shocks and springs lowered and installed.

I'll have the radiator checked up after a couple months since although there is some rust, I can't see any sign of leakage or malfunction since my temperAture is always lower than 1/2 way up the gauge and I regularly check the radiator cap and there is always coolant. Spilling out of it. Will attempt to flush it out next weekend.

Engine shows no visible signs of oil leaking so the new gasket is doing its job!

UPDATE! first weekend after returning to work and the better half told me to get onto the lower control arm after breakfast. I did try to do the job after work on Thursday but I wasn't certain I had a big enough tool for the job, however with a bit of backyard enginuity I came up with this:

First thing: move the car into the backyard for level ground, loosen the lugnuts, jack the rav 4 up and remove the front drivers tire.

Used a few jacks and supports to hold up the car just in case.. Plus a few rocks behind the rear tires helped keep the rav4 in place. Previously I tbew I had the right sockets but thought I'd need a power tool to move the pesky nuts n bolts holding the lower control arm up.

This is the whole reason why I had to get this done:

This joint connects to the sway bar and the control arm.

And here's the bit of the control arm that broke off.

New control arm waiting for installation.

Had to take off the new ball joint (on the right side of the above pic. It's connected to the control arm via 2 bolts & 1 nut)

This long bolt needed the socket wrench & the extra pole for added leverage.

In the pic below you can see where I put the socket. That was the wrong bolt. I instead took off Two other bolts either side of that part to take off the original control arm.

It took a lot longer to take the original control arm off than it did to put the new one on!

I did have both control arms sitting side by side and tried to take a pic but I overheated my iPhone by leaving it in sunlight a bit too long. Next pic I was able to take was the new control arm installed.

Interesting - another individual has asked if I wanna sell the car !

After much consideration I looked at my last bit of $ and balanced out which should I work on next - broken lower control arm or slightly rusting but still very functional radiator.

I chose the lower control arm. The constant knocking isn't unbearable but very noticeable while driving. The radiator has been consistent up until now and I'll just flush it over the weekend if I get time to do so.

Here's a pic of the broken bit of the control arm on the front drivers side.

If you look where the brace connects to the control arm.. There was a tab that was welded onto the control arm that connected to the brace but has somehow broken off! Didn't notice it up until a few months ago so I musta hit a roundabout real hard to get that to break!

2nd hand control arm - $110 from franks auto wreckers in Smithfield. Not the cheapest but they knew they had the part just seconds after I made the phonecall so top knotch service there! I'd still much rather going pick n Payless but they ran out of rav4's to take parts from.

Looks like I need to take the tyre off and jack it up. I hate working under the car but its something I gotta do!

Just replaced the alternator fuse and put all the pieces back together again under the bonnet, all the indicators, radio and gauges lit up and test drove the rav FINALLY! There was a fair bit of white smoke initially after startup but none to be seen after the drive around the block. Temperature remained normal while engine was running, all seems back to normal!

Next on the list is radiator and then replace the drivers side control arm behind the tire..

Don't know why I can't edit my last post. I meant to say I don't think the engine ever sounded as well as it does now! Guess ultrAtunes engine carbon clean works really well. Doesn't sound like the old car I had before the service.