1st Gen 4x4 Trekker build *opinions needed*

[Magnum Johnson]

I'm interested in your rear bumper if you change it out. I have an 81 trekker and would like to have the stock bumper. I also have dual shocks on all corners. I have the aux fuel tank above the spare and it rocks. I was told it was raced in the Baja 500 in 84-85 but I'm not sure if that's true. It had a 4pt rollcage in the cab and 4pt harnesses for the driver and passenger seats.

Hah! Thats awesome! Im envious of your aux tank, I don't care much for having only 11 gallons of fuel. I had a friend of my Dad's tell me that he saw one on the show room floor in 81' and that it also had the dual shocks all the way around, so im thinking it was maybe a dealer installed option? Either way im pulling one off of each corner this week and im sure by next week ill probably be replacing 4 blown shocks. I also got my Marlin Crawler front knuckle/wheel bearing rebuild kit in and will be knocking that out too.

Will there be any issue with keeping the current springs and installing longer shocks with something like TG's weld in 12-14" shock tower?

Im not sure if you would be real interested in my bumper, its taken a few hits. I may also just keep it and straighten it back out too, but idk...I would really like to do a swing away tire carrier with a small rack above the tire and support for a few gas cans.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Why those trucks can take so much abuse has a LOT to do with not being over powered. You start dropping a big motor in it you are going to start braking parts.
The easy swap is the 22RE with a W58 (or is it the 56?) behind it and the gear drive case. It will fall into the truck. The FI wiring will be very minimal to change out. You best bet would be find a crashed 4 runner and swap the harness over. The only issue will be that the VSS is in the cluster. You can get a drive through VSS that will gee the pulse you need for the ECM but retain the stock speedo.
The New 4cyl the exhaust is on the opposite side and gives a bunch of routing issues.
That said go look on Marlins site and Marlins son Mike (Bigmike on the forum) did a REALLY nice swap on his 80. http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=4401.0

WOW is that clean!
I had just got my Drivers license when those came out and I was crawling all over the one at the local dealer.

Expedition travel does not require big lift, huge tires. Most of the builds you will see here are a middle of the road. Better then stock off road but respectable street manners. Its not rock crawling. Its back country travel and camping.

As rare as that is becoming I would do a mild build being mindful of body mods. you might be able to run a 33 10.5 on stock offset and size rims without having to cut on the body. 33's with 4.88 is a well rounded gear. A 65mph your speedo will run about 2mph fast if it was a 4:10 geared truck to begin with. I can get 25mpg out of my 22E, 33 inch tire 4.88 gear 4Runner on the hwy. The key was the right gears and trying to keep the tire and wheel combo light (go with a quality alloy wheel the 33x12.5 on Alloy wheels on my 4Runner only weight 6lb more per wheel then the factory Steel with 235 75 15's it had when I bought it) Rotational mass is the enemy of axle shafts, braking power and MPG.

I'd consider a E locker swap in the back and a lunch box for the front if you can't afford the second E-Locker. You can still run 70 mph on the hwy being in the sweet spot of the 4cyl motors (they like to cruise between 2800 and 3200). Steep hills will still get you dropping into 4th but not so bad.

Suspension on a budget I'd run a mild lift like a 4 inch long travel springs and cross over steering to fix the bump steer the straight axles are prone. Some axle wrap control on the rear and Bilstein shocks. Thats going to be best bang for the buck and get some of the buck board ride out of it. Money no object I would 3 link the front and 4 link the rear with the Trail gear system and relo the tank. Only issue is that system is set up for the big tire rock crawl crowd. 4 inch lift is more then enough and getting the rear coil overs in will be tricky with out hacking the bed.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

I plan on keeping that little 22r in for as long as it can still breathe on its own. In the mean time I will be looking for a 1.9 TDI to swap in. The way I see it is that I will get more torque and MPG out of that than any gasoline engine I can run.

As for my tires and gearing ill be running the Toyo 31's into the ground and will replace them with some 33's and 4.88's when the time comes. Until then its 3.90's and 31's. I would like to look into getting an Elocker for the front and will likely just keep the detroit in the rear.

As for suspension, I plan on going with OME springs all the way around with a set of decent shocks. I really value the collector appeal of my little Trekker so I refuse to cut it up or alter it too much, but im not opposed to making making tasteful improvements.

As far as actual Expedition travel goes I have no real experience or even a past history with it, just the desire to take the road less traveled to see where it leads. I can see this truck with mild suspension work, motor work, and driveline mods taking me almost anywhere I want to go. The way I see it is that this is my DD (3 miles to work) and weekend fun truck so there's no need to get too crazy with it for the time being. Plus with a new baby on the way and low income I couldn't get too crazy with it if I wanted to, more of just a dream.

The only things I really have in my favor are a strong mechanical background, tools, and I never give up. I always finish what I start and im too poor to pay anyone else to do something for me.

:victory:

I will keep my progress updated and enjoy living vicariously through other members until I can actually start my own adventure.

Mike Z.

 

[Grim Reaper]

I looked at a diesel swap with the early 90's 2TL Toyota motor that is a bolt in (never sold in the US but available through the JDM market) is what I wanted.

Sounded good in my head but I couldn't justify it when I put it to paper. Same power as the stock 22RE. Yes it gets better MPG but the difference between rebuilding my 22RE and doing the conversion and the fact that Diesel is about 40 cents or more a gallon the gas I would not break even for over 100k. Bio diesel sounds great but it is a LOT of work and finding enough free used fryer oil to make it really cheap is a thing of the past if you don't own your own restaurant.

Then there is the fact that it was not stock and finding parts for the diesel is not nearly as easy as a 22RE.

Your millage may vary.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

OK, so I got around to wrenching on the truck a little today and ran into some new issues....ugh....

My big issue is the fact that there has always been a bit of a clunk in the drive line that I ASSumed to be u-joints. While replacing the output shaft seal today I noticed that theses way too much backlash on the rear diff as well as sloppy u-joints. I see this as a VERY inopportune time to replace the 3.90's that I hate so much.

I would love to hear some feedback on going with 4.56's or 4.88's if I plan to run the 31's for a while until I eventually get 33's. I did read http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57277 and im thinking that ill go with 4.88's but I just want some other opinions.

Or should I just torque down the pinion a little and drive it till it dies?

 

[tanglefoot]

The auto-locker also adds some free-play as there is a little space around where the cross shaft goes through the inner locker halves for proper function.

Between the locker and my slightly loose pinion, I have about 1/3 of a driveshaft revolution of free play. I contemplated trying to do something about it but it hasn't changed at all in the last 9 years. I'm just going to leave it, myself.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

Oh ok, I have no experience with any lockers only LSD's, its good to hear that im not the only one with that slop. My diff is quiet so I guess that its probably ok. Ill look at mine a little more closely but this is good news, maybe now my wife wont want to kill me.

 

[randito]

Did you pick up the trekker in Oceanside? I think that I look at this one a while back, but wasn't able to drive it as there was a motorhome blocking it that wouldn't start. I've kinda been kicking myself for not taking a second look and am stoked to see that someone who really values it picked it up. Can't wait to see what you do with it. Also, just a suggestion that you may be able to pick up some 4.10's for next to nothing if you keep a look out on craigslist, which would help out a little bit with the current 31's.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

Did you pick up the trekker in Oceanside? I think that I look at this one a while back, but wasn't able to drive it as there was a motorhome blocking it that wouldn't start. I've kinda been kicking myself for not taking a second look and am stoked to see that someone who really values it picked it up. Can't wait to see what you do with it. Also, just a suggestion that you may be able to pick up some 4.10's for next to nothing if you keep a look out on craigslist, which would help out a little bit with the current 31's.

Ya that's the one i got! I paid more for it than I would have paid for a pickup with the same setup but I took into account the Trekker aspect and paid the price. Im still happy with my little Trekker and im just pluggin along getting all the critical stuff taken care of so I can reliably drive it. All I can say is thank god I can repair fiberglass, there are a lot of cracks on the rear hatch area and I will eventually have to reseal the cab to camper seal.

Ya I have my eyes peeled on CL for some cheap 3rd members.

 

[PirateMcGee]

if you plan on 33's you'll want 4.88's

 

[Magnum Johnson]

So the other day I got a new weather seal for the rear hatch but after removing the old one I found that there were a few large cracks around the hinges on the rear glass. So I spent all day today removing all the bad fiberglass around the top corners of the camper and laying new layers of fiberglass so that this wont happen again. I had forgot how slow the fiberglass process is, took me all day to get a few layers on, hopefully I can get it all done tomorrow.

 

[RobD]

I'm going to admit that right off the block, I didn't read every line of every post on here, so for that I apologize.

That being said, I've seen Corey Trekker and I'm not sure how much of his build you've read, but he's put a supercharged 3.4 into it.

I'm running a normally aspirated 3.4 out of a '97 Tacoma in my '91 4Runner and can guarantee that it's plenty strong enough to turn 33"s with the stock 4.10 gearing and a 5 speed.

So, my two cents worth is maybe to consider that down the road.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

Hah, ya I have been reading through Cory's build and I think that a SC 3.4 would just be insane in that truck. Im sure that I would still be happy with even the 2.4-2.7L, but until I kill this 22r im just going to drive it into the ground.

On a side note I did find a COMPLETE front and rear axle set from an 85 22RE 4runner that im going to get for $300. I figure for that price I prob cant lose and I hope that there still 4.56's because I know I can still run 33's with those. Just wanted to ask on here too to confirm if that's a good deal or not. From what I can come up with it seems to be fair, the gears seem tight, and the housings look ok. The rear feels like it may have a detroit already in it too.

 

[slus]

Hah, ya I have been reading through Cory's build and I think that a SC 3.4 would just be insane in that truck. Im sure that I would still be happy with even the 2.4-2.7L, but until I kill this 22r im just going to drive it into the ground.

On a side note I did find a COMPLETE front and rear axle set from an 85 22RE 4runner that im going to get for $300. I figure for that price I prob cant lose and I hope that there still 4.56's because I know I can still run 33's with those. Just wanted to ask on here too to confirm if that's a good deal or not. From what I can come up with it seems to be fair, the gears seem tight, and the housings look ok. The rear feels like it may have a detroit already in it too.

I think all 85 4runners were 4.10 from the factory. 300 bucks is an ok deal for both in good condition, the 84 and 85 fronts have the good full length gusset from the factory. Not many people are looking for 79-85 rears, 86+ is 3" wider and those go for 100-200 bucks usually. Why do you say it already has a detroit? Lots of pinion play? If you support the axle up off the ground so the wheels will rotate, turn the pinion, and if the wheels turn the same way, there's some kind of traction device in there. If they turn opposite ways, that diff is wide open. The diffs just get a lot of pinion play in them after a while from what I've seen.

 

[Magnum Johnson]

Well the pinon feels like mine with the detroit, and it has been resealed at some point, plus the truck was very well built at some time with all old school ******** Cepek goodies including DC 35's. The guy seems to think its a 4.56 but cant find the body tags. Once I have time to go and verify whats in it and if its open or not I will, but I mostly just wanted to know if $300 is fair for complete front and rear axles.