1988 4Runner: Summer Beater

[OSV]

wrt the rear driveline vibration...
1) is the noise there only when you let off of the gas, aka, deceleration.
2) anytime you change the pinion angle on the rear axle to point upwards, you *must* put a cv joint in the front of the driveshaft, or you'll get driveshaft vibration and noise on the street... you may have to slightly clearance the crossmember to get it to fit... i've been there, had to do that.
3) you didn't mention it, but after putting in the cv joint, be sure and get the driveshaft balanced.

nice build, i wish that i had your garage to work in!

I swear the fun never ends.....

Got my front driveshaft in. Fits fine and runs at low speed, but vibrates at any higher speed. By higher speed I mean above 20-30 km/hr. It's at a pretty good angle right now though. I really wonder ****** people do with other short wheelbase vehicles, like Jeeps? I think in the near future I am going to remove a leaf on each side of the front. Should lower me a bit and smooth out the ride a bit, and help my driveshaft angle.

Next up, the noise from the t-case. Replaced the front u-joint on the rear driveshaft......it was pretty crummy inside. So now I don't feel any vibrations at any speed, yet my t-case still makes the same old noise. I had a scary feeling all along that I didn't clearance one of the the shift forks enough for the lower gear set. I was hoping that wasn't it, because I don't want to remove the t-case and pull it apart.....but I might have to now.

 

[ssapach]

Hmmm, almost forgot to check back here.

As far as the vibrations go, I changed out the t-case u-joint on the rear driveshaft and everything is running smoothly. It was pretty dry inside. I still have my t-case noise, so I got mad and took the t-case right out thinking I needed to clearance some pieces a little more for the 4.70 gear set. Everything was fine inside and had enough clearance. I did notice that the coupler sleeve for the transmission to t-case was a bit loose, I mean it engages the splines and fits on both shafts fine, just not as tight as it could be. So I packed it with silicone and put everything back together. I figured grease would just warm up and run out of the couple and would end up only being a temporary solution (if the coupler is the culprit that is) but the silicone should last a good long while.

Took a leaf out of each side of the front to help with the shackle angle, height and ride quality. Seemed to smarten up every one of those issues a bit. I think it could still go lower and I'm tempted to take the lowest leaf out on each side yet.

Moving the frame tubes might be an option if it comes down to such drastic measures, but the front hanger is staying put. I'd do too much damage cutting it out and trying to move it. I followed the damn instructions from Trail Gear for installing the kit, kind of disappointed in their instructions really.

Working on some bits and pieces to make a rear tire carrier now....might have some pics a little later.

 

[Redneck92]

If you have access to a plasma cutter then moving the tubes won't be as bad as you think. Another option is Tacoma rear leafs or 90-95 pickup rear springs. Both are ~51" long, might move the front axle back a little bit though, could use a correction plate to get it back forward.

 

[ssapach]

If you have access to a plasma cutter then moving the tubes won't be as bad as you think. Another option is Tacoma rear leafs or 90-95 pickup rear springs. Both are ~51" long, might move the front axle back a little bit though, could use a correction plate to get it back forward.

If I used shorter shackles, wouldn't it give them better angle and lower my front end a bit?

 

[Redneck92]

It will actually make the angle worse with a shorter shackle and in reality the height difference won't be that much. Best thing to do is remove the shortest leafs first they really on add lift more than anything.

 

[ssapach]

Well I'm stumped with my t-case issue. Took it for a drive only to listen to the same old rattle/grind sound when it coasts. No noise under load at all, just that moment of slack in the driveline from when you are on the throttle until the load of deceleration catches up. Perhaps it's just the cheapness of the Trail Gear gear set.....?

Aside from that, been working on some bits to make a swing out tire carrier. I may have gone a little overkill on size, I'm not exactly sure....

Started with some solid stock, which used to be a 2" diameter stud that I cut the threads off. Turned it down to 1.5" and put some threads on one end.

Cut out a bracket for welding to the corner of my bumper. Cut a 1.5" hole for the pin to go in.

Something like this. There will also be a lower bracket added later, or at least some gussets for extra support.

I also took a nut and shortened it. Didn't need the full size nut.

Put it on the shaper to cut some slots to make a "crown" or "castle" nut.

All cut up!

Time to bore a hole in a bigger piece of steel to make a sleeve. This was also an old stud, 3" diameter I think....turned the OD to about 2.3"

Welded the pin to the bumper bracket.

Made some bronze bushings and put a grease fitting on the sleeve. The lower bushing is a little thicker and larger OD to allow me to cut out some of the ID to fit nicely over what was left of the weld. I turned the weld down a bunch so it wasn't forcing everything to sit higher.

Bunch of the threads at the top won't be needed and I'll cut them off later. The crown nut might have been a little unecessary as it's basically limited to where it will sit.......if I drill a single hole through the threads for a cotter pin, I wouldn't really be able to get enough movement out of the nut to use a different slot. Ah well, it will still serve its purpose! Also, a bunch of the lower part of the pin will be cut off later, it obviously doesn't need to be that long....

Next time I'm off work I'll start attaching it to the bumper and start building my carrier.

 

[ssapach]

A little more progress on the tire carrier:

Added this pin and a couple holes to allow me to lock the swing-out in place quickly. I'm sure if someone was determined, they could push hard enough and either bend the pin or the sleeve that it sits in, but that's not what it's for. It will just keep the swing-out from wondering on its own if I'm stopped on an incline or such.

If I swing it out, I can safely hang my own weight from about the middle of the swing-out portion (all of 240-ish lbs) but putting all of my weight on the end seems a little sketchy. Should be good I hope, tire and maybe a couple fuel cans won't weigh that much.

 

[ssapach]

Got a tire mount built up. At first I thought I was going to use one of my old axle shafts, just cut off the flanged end. No good, too hard/high carbon steel......I ruined an otherwise good axle shaft to find that out.

Then someone suggested a front brake rotor. Not a bad idea considering the wheel studs press into the rotor before going through the hub. Same issue, hard steel.....not gonna bother.

Probably took me less time and screwing around just to cut out a plate and drill the holes. Pounded the studs in and then welded them from the backside. Should be good and solid.

Swings open alright, I'm actually pleased it doesn't swing too easily. Less likely that it will be swung open too hard and end up hitting the side of the vehicle.

 

[sytfu510]

very nice work!

 

[ssapach]

Thanks sytfu510!

I finished up my tire carrier for now, including moving my licence plate. Lets hope I don't get pinned for not having a licence plate light.....and seriously, that is worthy of about a $54 ticket here.

Retaining pin for the swing-out, has 2 retaining pins of it's own. Can never be too safe!

New licence plate mount.

Took the time to remove another leaf from each side on the front. What I originally started with was some 3" lift "HD" springs. Thought the HD might help with the V6 motor and bumper and such. Removing the first leaf got me back to the original 3" non-HD springs. Removing another leaf got me here, where it sits nicer with better shackle angle and rides a whole lot smoother!!!

And one more just for a little prairie scenery

 

[toyotech]

Nice swing. Got to love having all that machinery


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[Loubaru]

Cut out a bracket for welding to the corner of my bumper. Cut a 1.5" hole for the pin to go in.

Something like this. There will also be a lower bracket added later, or at least some gussets for extra support.

Awesome build bumper/carrier build. I have a question out of curiosity... Its been along time since I've machined anything but with a 4 jaw chuck don't you have to bring each jaw in one at a time and use an indicator to center your work? How on earth did you center that piece? The only thing I can think of is you drilled a smaller pilot hole on a drill press then used an indicator to center on that hole? Probably a dumb question but I'm sitting in a hotel room by myself on a business trip so have plenty of time to burn...lol

 

[ssapach]

Awesome build bumper/carrier build. I have a question out of curiosity... Its been along time since I've machined anything but with a 4 jaw chuck don't you have to bring each jaw in one at a time and use an indicator to center your work? How on earth did you center that piece? The only thing I can think of is you drilled a smaller pilot hole on a drill press then used an indicator to center on that hole? Probably a dumb question but I'm sitting in a hotel room by myself on a business trip so have plenty of time to burn...lol

I actually just gave the piece a good and deep centre punch mark and then used a live centre in the tailstock to help line the piece up in the chuck. It doesn't always end up perfectly centre, but close enough for tolerances required on something like this.

 

[dorton]

Very nice! It's looking great.

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[ssapach]

Thanks for the comments guys!

I'm at a slight crossroad. I have a snorkel that was previously on this thing. My friends say I should put it back on. I liked the looks of it and all, but I feel that it will only be on there for looks. While it is my vehicle and I should do what makes me happy, I also sort of hate being "that guy" that does things more for looks than function.

Cheap insurance just in case I find a deep water hole one day......?