92 4runner PROJECT

[gofalls]

Had some problems - Heres how I fix'd'em

ABS LIGHT would not turn off
Solution - The sensor connection on the ABS Power Steering Actuator was just resting on top and not plugged in. Cheap plastic lip on the connection was broken. Zip Ties

BAD SHAKE when accelerating
Solution - Tighten nut at the south end of the transfer case behind the propeller flange/ubolts. I could grap the drive shaft and shake it too see that it was sloppy in the case. I thought it was the Carrier Bearing or Ubolts but it turned out to be the loose nut.
Carrier Bearing = $400 Estimate
Ubots = $200 Estimate
Tighten Bolt = Bloody knuckle

4wd Light not turning on
Solution - Sensor wires on the ADD (auto Disconnect Diff) were missing. I think they got torn off from brush. Plus I found the return vacume hose was toast. I think this vacume hose takes it out of 4wd but it must have a spring or fail safe out of 4wd too b/c it still seems to have been working fine even without the vacume on the disconnect side. Not sure how that works?

Also, couldnt find a connector for the sensor so I just soldered wire directly to the sensor. Seems to have worked.

Tire Mount - What to do??
Plan - buy arb swing out rear bumper - Conclusion - Out of my budget
Plan B - mount it factory style - Cheap - Simple - less moves to open tailgate - less likely to get the spare stolen?? ..maybe

Welded a 1/2 drive socket to the spare tire crane.
= Now a theif will need a 1/2 drive with a 20" extension to get it out insted of the factory wrench. Might slow them down or detour them.
= I can hook up an impact wrench and get the spare down in no time.
= I was bored and felt like melting metal together

Its a 33" tire with 1 -2" clearence from the pipe. Do I run the risk of melting my spare?

 

[gofalls]

New Tires and Hurculiner Skirt

I bought 1 gallon of Hurculiner for $80
-used half for trunk
-used other half for skirt on body

New shoes
- Five 33x9.50x15 BFG AT -corrected
- Went with this size b/c they are the closest thing to 155/85/16 without having to purchase a new set of steel wheels.

 

[RU55ELL]

I doubt the tailpipe will get warm enough to do anything to the tire. Also, those look like BFG A/Ts, not Bridgestones. Do you have any other pics of the Herculiner job?

 

[gearbox]

You're making a lot of progress quickly! Very good!

 

[gofalls]

Latest problem.

Front end makes alot of noise at speeds above 30 and is really loud between 50 and 60. Its almost like whatever is causing the noise resonates at 55 and is unbelievably loud. The noise sounds like I am running huge tractor tires at high speeds, really loud humming knobbies.

Tested
Pulled rear drive shaft, popped it in 4wd and drove it - STILL NOISY
- not the u-joints in rear drive shaft or rear bearing carrier

Drove up to 40 and threw it in neutral and popped out of 4wd - STILL NOISY
- basically coasted at 40 without any drive shafts turning.

Swapped tires - STILL NOISY

I think I have isolated the noise to the front end. What would cause this kind of noise? The bearings are packed and both axles are new. What should I be looking for or what else can I try to identify where the problem is?

 

[RU55ELL]

Are you sure it isn't the transmission? I had one with bad counter bearings and it vibrated and was loud.

 

[gofalls]

Are you sure it isn't the transmission? I had one with bad counter bearings and it vibrated and was loud.

Would it still be loud when coasting and in neutral?

 

[RU55ELL]

No. Maybe motor mounts?

EDIT: Just remembered it depends on travelling speed, not engine speed.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I'm not sure what the noise is but a good cheap mod is to install some manual locking hubs. It would make finding this sound a bit easier.

Fist things to look at are the wheel bearings, see if there is any play in the wheel when jacked off the ground. You can also go down the road at a speed you can hear the noise and then swerve a bit side to side and see if its amplified on one side or the other that is a good indicator of wheel bearing and the side you have the problem on.

Truck is looking great BTW love the 33x9.5's wish there were more manufacture options.

Jeremy

 

[gofalls]

update

4wd warning light problems again – This was very confusing. Took a fine tooth comb over the system. Pulled the ADD Indicator Switch to see if the Actuator was pulling the rod back and forth properly. It struggled and was sliding only about 25% of the way back and forth. This explains why it was occasionally locking and occasionally turning the 4wd light on. Tested the vacuum on the solenoids and found vsv4 was open when it should be shut off to allow vacuum to disconnect the ADD. Also found the metal hose connections on the Actuator was plugged completely. It was plugged in a position that created a vacuum on one side of the actuator to disconnect the Diff. It was as if the system failed in a perfect position that allowed it to work properly occasionally. Its amazing it worked at all.

I think there is a problem with the design. The 4wd light indicates if the diff connects properly but it does not indicate if it has disconnected. If you have a faulty solenoid, a leak in the vacuum hose or faulty actuator then the ADD will stay locked but the 4WD Light still turns off when you shift to 2wd. You can be driving on the freeway with the front diff connected and not know it.

Front Diff not always locking – Discovered problem when troubleshoot ADD system

Blown driver side rear wheel seal – Replaced bearings and seals, (shade tree/cut it off method)
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/rear_axle/wheel_bearing/

Loud resonating noise at speed above 30mph – Thought it could be the wheel bearings / Differential / Spindle bearings / tires / steering

Swapped out tires with my stock Gen 3 – Still noisy – not the tires
Packed wheel bearings and torque to spec – Still noisy - not the bearings (so I thought)

Packed the Spindle bushings – still noisy – not the bushings

Replaced outer tie rod joints – still noisy – not the joints

Pulled both front axles – still noisy – not the diff or axles or spindle/axle bushings – must be wheel bearings

Replaced passenger wheel bearings – QUITE – what a PITA

Installed passanger side Axle – STILL QUITE

Installed driver side Axle – STILL QUITE = PROBLEM SOLVED

http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1990-199...rmsour/1995/954runne/sa/frontaxl/frontaxl.pdf

Entire dash loose – new clips and screws

Rear window inoperative – was just a faulty switch on center console – Popped it out, took it apart and scratched the connections with a small screw driver - Fixed

Loose tie rod ends (outer) – new ones – Fixed

Ebrake not holding – pinched cable housing – Fixed

Radio – turns off and on – PO had all sorts of speaker and sub woofer wire strung all over the place so I ripped them all out and rewired the deck and speakers (soldered and heat wrapped) I can run it off a cliff now without worring about the wiring.

Too Loud – Emptied 2 cans of rubber undercoating in the wheel wells

Rear Bumper – need something temporarily until I can build something with some meat on it – PO beat up the rear bumper pretty bad so I bobed it, sprayed it black and bolted it back on.

Power Steering Leak – pulled the stearing gear out, cleaned and inspected it and found it to be easier to buy a replacement box than to tear apart and rebuild. Have my eye out for a new box.

Alignment – did a driveway alignment and found it was not holding so I inspected the IFS and found several bushings in the control arms were toast and the rear cross member was bent so bad that it pulled the lower control arm mounts out of alignment. Replaced all control arms upper and lower and build a new brace out of 2x2x1/4” tubing and 5/16” flat stock. – fixed

Window Covers – ¼” wood with outdoor carpet liquid nailed to wood

HID Lights – Bought 4 HID conversion kits. 2 of them went into Harbor Freight flood lights on a relay with a 15amp fuse and the other 2 replaced the 9004 stock headlights.

Sleep/Storage Deck - Made it so the front portion can be removed making the rear seats functional again. 1x1x16 gauge square tubing, 23/32 ply with outdoor carpet liquid nailed, grade 8 bolts holding it down to the trunk.

Flex – Tested to see if the control arms hit the bump stops. In this position the rear lifts off the ground but the front still has an inch or two before hitting the bump stops. Should I loosen up the front torsion bars to allow the control arms to hit the bump stops?

UPDATE - Ended up slacking up the TB's so there is 1.5 " between the top of the nut and the end of the bolt on the TB adjustment bolt. This puts about a 1/2" of space between the bumps and control arms on flat ground. Gives a pretty soft ride too. Im going to stick with it.

 

[gofalls]

Wheeling –
Trip 1 Tortilla Flats to Roosevelt Lake to 4 peaks back to Saguaro Lake
Took it out for a Shakedown run on 100 miles of dirt. The idea was to try and break everything at once. I took extra care in trying to hit every washboard as fast as I could. Surprisingly we made it back in one piece.

Trip 2 Verde River – The battery died and we didn’t have jumpers so we parked the trucks close to each other and linked a wrench from bumper to bumper for ground and held several tools together from + to + to form our own jumper cable. Worked fine but I won’t be forgetting cables in the future. Still not sure how the battery died.

Trip 3 + 4 Verde River – I Actually needed the rear locker for the first time.

 

[gofalls]

Recent Trip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74kCtbQoO_I

 

[ldivinag]

4wd warning light problems again – This was very confusing. Took a fine tooth comb over the system. Pulled the ADD Indicator Switch to see if the Actuator was pulling the rod back and forth properly. It struggled and was sliding only about 25% of the way back and forth. This explains why it was occasionally locking and occasionally turning the 4wd light on. Tested the vacuum on the solenoids and found vsv4 was open when it should be shut off to allow vacuum to disconnect the ADD. Also found the metal hose connections on the Actuator was plugged completely. It was plugged in a position that created a vacuum on one side of the actuator to disconnect the Diff. It was as if the system failed in a perfect position that allowed it to work properly occasionally. Its amazing it worked at all.

I think there is a problem with the design. The 4wd light indicates if the diff connects properly but it does not indicate if it has disconnected. If you have a faulty solenoid, a leak in the vacuum hose or faulty actuator then the ADD will stay locked but the 4WD Light still turns off when you shift to 2wd. You can be driving on the freeway with the front diff connected and not know it.

Front Diff not always locking – Discovered problem when troubleshoot ADD system

simple solution?

ditch the entire ADD asembly completely. i did that on my 90 4runner.

go find a 86-95 pick up or another 4runner that doesnt have ADD.

you essentially replace that entire mechanism with a longer axle tube and axle.

problem solved for me. plus the non ADD axle is slightly thicker. the ADD axle actually tapers down, and that's where i sheared my off...

everything still works, from the 4WD light on the dash, to actual 4wd... lol... plus you lose all the vacuum crap that could go wrong.

 

[ldivinag]

well the 3.slow is a turd, even when its fresh and polished.

it's a turd... but gosh darnit... i just cant break mine.

i really wanna swap in a lexus v8, but i keep waiting for mine to blow up... lol...

 

[ldivinag]

Its a 33" tire with 1 -2" clearence from the pipe. Do I run the risk of melting my spare?

yes, it will...

go pick up some spare heat shield from a muffler place. then weld that ON THE PIPE itself...

i had a similar thing happen to the OEM p225 tire on mine. i noticed small burn spots. i had the shop that installed the custom bent exhaust look at it.

all the guy did was weld a shield on it. i rotated the tire on the mount and didnt have issues after that.