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my new '06 highlander, ques and suggestions ?
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#11
 
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Re: my new '06 highlander, ques and suggestions ? -
11-21-2005
, 09:23 PM
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If your car has side curtain airbags you can't use seat covers unless they are designed for the airbags. |
though was not aware they designed some for side airbags ??
Quote:
| "Bruce L. Bergman" <blPYTHONbergman (AT) earthlink (DOT) invalid> wrote in message news:b8mun1dmfgokgqr1rtt6ffq63nngskd39l (AT) 4ax (DOT) com... On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 18:02:11 GMT, "Rob B" <RobB (AT) where (DOT) on.net> wrote: just took delivery of '06 highlander, I asked dealer these questions but not quite satisfied with answers. Q1. Break in Period ? Is there a break in period ? eg. drive easy for 5k ? Not really "Easy", just don't do your imitation of Mario Andretti. You can floor it if you need to get out of the way of someone else or get up to speed on the freeway, but don't flog it continuously. And on longer trips with a new car, vary the speeds constantly every few minutes, go hang out in the left lane at 75 for a few minutes, then slow down in the right lanes for a while, then go take the "Business Loop" surface street route through town and stop at the signals. Don't set the cruise control and have the engine holding exactly 2,100 RPM for hours on end as you cross the entire Texas flatlands - that's bad for getting the rings to seat. Q2. Transmission ? There is a bit of a slight **clunk** when you shift into Drive or Reverse etc from Park at idle Normal to some degree on all cars. There has to be a little slop in the drive train, or it binds up. The Clunk is just the slop being taken up when you apply torque to the drivetrain, and you get another Clunk when you shift into reverse. There are slip splines so the driveshaft can lengthen as the suspension travels that creates most of the Clunk, and a little slop in the U-Joints and between the gears in the transmission, transfer case, and rear axles. Sometimes curing the Clunk for a while is as easy as giving the slip splines a shot of grease. What you have to listen for is when that Clunk starts getting a lot louder, most people get used to it through the years and don't notice changes. It might be a sign of normal aging, but it can also be an early sign of trouble that a mechanic should check out. Q3. Fabric / Seat protection? Any recommendation on fabric seat protection ? 3M Scotchguard , Nanocoat, etc Good fitting set covers ? Anything you want - Scotchguard is good stuff, but buy a can and do it yourself - they want WAY too much money for it at the stealership. Q4. Already looking to replace Stock/Base radio and speakers (as reviews state, too Bassy/Boomy and treble to tinny no fine adjustment) Don't let them butcher the dashboard or the existing truck wiring harness installing the new radio - they have wiring adapters that plug into the truck harness, and mounting kits that fit in the existing dashboard hole. If they cut up the car now, and you ever want to put it back to stock later to sell it (and keep your good radio bits) you'll be shocked at the price of interior panels and covers. You can spend $50 on a stupid radio surround trim, or several hundred on door panels. You CAN find good speakers that will fit in the stock holes without a lot of trouble. They just want to sell you what they already have on the shelf and move the inventory. On the '84 truck the stock front speakers looked really odd, but a regular 4" speaker fits right in with a quick tin-snip snip to take off one mounting ear, and bending another mounting ear up about 15 degrees. And stay with a major brand headend, they have realistic power ratings. If they start claiming 400 Watts in a dash mount headend, they're lying - yeah, 400W at 25% distortion. Any THD rating over 1% and you'll hear it, some people can hear far less. You want clean sound first, volume second. Q6. Interior Light Option ? Is there an aftermarket version easy to install ? Go look around at Camping World or any local RV Supply shop, a lot of what they have is 12-volt and very easily adaptable to cars and trucks with a bit of planning on how to mount it without butchery to your car's interior. And they have trained installers who can put them in without a lot of fuss if you can't. I took the two stock dome lights out of my LandCruiser and put in triple units, each with a dome light and two bullet reading lights with #194 lamps. (And I added a matching rocker switch on the side of the front-seat light to cut off both dome lights like the stock units had.) Or you can leave the stock dome light and put the reading lights separate. Make an aluminum or plywood mounting adapter plate so you can use the existing screw mounting points for the old dome light - and make reversal to the stock lights again easy without leaving holes in the headliner. Again, you don't want to find out how much it costs to have a replacement headliner installed... Same goes with plugging tab crimp connectors into the existing stock dome-light harness socket to connect the new reading lights, or using "vampire tap" connectors, rather than chopping the socket off - you might need it again someday to hook up a stock dome light. ( And don't use over-long screws and go through the roof...) If you want a light where there's nothing to mount it to, you can always drop the headliner and epoxy a piece of plywood to the body steel. Or make an aluminum strip stock bar that stretches across the gap and screws to the roof ribs on either side. Or both. On my old pickup, I left the stock dome light over the rear-view mirror and mounted a double 15W Thin-Lite fluorescent over the back window - Lots Of Light. But I had to leave it in when I sold the truck because of the whole 'holes in the headliner' issue. Need to do that on the Work Van, and no headliner to worry about... --<< Bruce >>-- -- Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700 5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545 Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net. |
#12
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"Mitchell Trockman" <mitch-trockman (AT) goldengate (DOT) net> wrote in message news:438263cc$0$277$8046368a (AT) newsreader (DOT) iphouse.net... If your car has side curtain airbags you can't use seat covers unless they are designed for the airbags. My highlander does have side seat airbags , so i can not use seat covers, though was not aware they designed some for side airbags ?? "Bruce L. Bergman" <blPYTHONbergman (AT) earthlink (DOT) invalid> wrote in message news:b8mun1dmfgokgqr1rtt6ffq63nngskd39l (AT) 4ax (DOT) com... On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 18:02:11 GMT, "Rob B" <RobB (AT) where (DOT) on.net> wrote: just took delivery of '06 highlander, I asked dealer these questions but not quite satisfied with answers. Q1. Break in Period ? Is there a break in period ? eg. drive easy for 5k ? Not really "Easy", just don't do your imitation of Mario Andretti. You can floor it if you need to get out of the way of someone else or get up to speed on the freeway, but don't flog it continuously. And on longer trips with a new car, vary the speeds constantly every few minutes, go hang out in the left lane at 75 for a few minutes, then slow down in the right lanes for a while, then go take the "Business Loop" surface street route through town and stop at the signals. Don't set the cruise control and have the engine holding exactly 2,100 RPM for hours on end as you cross the entire Texas flatlands - that's bad for getting the rings to seat. Q2. Transmission ? There is a bit of a slight **clunk** when you shift into Drive or Reverse etc from Park at idle Normal to some degree on all cars. There has to be a little slop in the drive train, or it binds up. The Clunk is just the slop being taken up when you apply torque to the drivetrain, and you get another Clunk when you shift into reverse. There are slip splines so the driveshaft can lengthen as the suspension travels that creates most of the Clunk, and a little slop in the U-Joints and between the gears in the transmission, transfer case, and rear axles. Sometimes curing the Clunk for a while is as easy as giving the slip splines a shot of grease. What you have to listen for is when that Clunk starts getting a lot louder, most people get used to it through the years and don't notice changes. It might be a sign of normal aging, but it can also be an early sign of trouble that a mechanic should check out. Q3. Fabric / Seat protection? Any recommendation on fabric seat protection ? 3M Scotchguard , Nanocoat, etc Good fitting set covers ? Anything you want - Scotchguard is good stuff, but buy a can and do it yourself - they want WAY too much money for it at the stealership. Q4. Already looking to replace Stock/Base radio and speakers (as reviews state, too Bassy/Boomy and treble to tinny no fine adjustment) Don't let them butcher the dashboard or the existing truck wiring harness installing the new radio - they have wiring adapters that plug into the truck harness, and mounting kits that fit in the existing dashboard hole. If they cut up the car now, and you ever want to put it back to stock later to sell it (and keep your good radio bits) you'll be shocked at the price of interior panels and covers. You can spend $50 on a stupid radio surround trim, or several hundred on door panels. You CAN find good speakers that will fit in the stock holes without a lot of trouble. They just want to sell you what they already have on the shelf and move the inventory. On the '84 truck the stock front speakers looked really odd, but a regular 4" speaker fits right in with a quick tin-snip snip to take off one mounting ear, and bending another mounting ear up about 15 degrees. And stay with a major brand headend, they have realistic power ratings. If they start claiming 400 Watts in a dash mount headend, they're lying - yeah, 400W at 25% distortion. Any THD rating over 1% and you'll hear it, some people can hear far less. You want clean sound first, volume second. Q6. Interior Light Option ? Is there an aftermarket version easy to install ? Go look around at Camping World or any local RV Supply shop, a lot of what they have is 12-volt and very easily adaptable to cars and trucks with a bit of planning on how to mount it without butchery to your car's interior. And they have trained installers who can put them in without a lot of fuss if you can't. I took the two stock dome lights out of my LandCruiser and put in triple units, each with a dome light and two bullet reading lights with #194 lamps. (And I added a matching rocker switch on the side of the front-seat light to cut off both dome lights like the stock units had.) Or you can leave the stock dome light and put the reading lights separate. Make an aluminum or plywood mounting adapter plate so you can use the existing screw mounting points for the old dome light - and make reversal to the stock lights again easy without leaving holes in the headliner. Again, you don't want to find out how much it costs to have a replacement headliner installed... Same goes with plugging tab crimp connectors into the existing stock dome-light harness socket to connect the new reading lights, or using "vampire tap" connectors, rather than chopping the socket off - you might need it again someday to hook up a stock dome light. ( And don't use over-long screws and go through the roof...) If you want a light where there's nothing to mount it to, you can always drop the headliner and epoxy a piece of plywood to the body steel. Or make an aluminum strip stock bar that stretches across the gap and screws to the roof ribs on either side. Or both. On my old pickup, I left the stock dome light over the rear-view mirror and mounted a double 15W Thin-Lite fluorescent over the back window - Lots Of Light. But I had to leave it in when I sold the truck because of the whole 'holes in the headliner' issue. Need to do that on the Work Van, and no headliner to worry about... --<< Bruce >>-- -- Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700 5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545 Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net. |
#13
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"davidj92" <davidj92REMOVE (AT) sigecom (DOT) net> wrote in message news:N8qdnfOABMQCxuPenZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d (AT) sigecom (DOT) net... Rob B wrote: just took delivery of '06 highlander, I asked dealer these questions but not quite satisfied with answers. Not trying to be a smartaleck but, most of your questions are answered in your owner's manual. Read through it and you'll be more enlightened on your wise choice of a Highlander. They got a "Most Reliable" rating for large SUV's on Consumer Reports. davidj92 and thanks for feedback you did get me to read the manual more quickly than i might have robb |
that reason you should be able to get a lot of help from this ng.
1. Breakin periods are usaullly appx 1000 miles. You don't want to go over
50 mph and no constant speeds during that period. A few hard or even full
throttle accelerations up to that 50 mph are good as this helps rings and
bearings to set. If you are as particular as a lot of others you may want to
change the oil and filter somewhere between 1K and 1.5K.
2. I don't notice a clunk on my Camry but my Tundra does. Probably due to it
having a driveshaft with U-joints. It's not unusually loud, if yours gets
loud(er) I would ask dealer to check it.
3. Scotchguard is the only protection I've used and it's good. There are
others I'm sure are just as good. Do you know a detailer you trust? Might
have a suggestion.
That's the end of my expertise. :-)
Good luck, davidj92
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