1988 4Runner: Summer Beater

[ssapach]

I'm gonna try some rock chip protection:













Not sure how durable it will really be, but the spray on 3M stuff isn't available anywhere around here and I didn't want to fight with the sheets of 3M wrap. The worst case is this stuff doesn't hold up well, so it gets peeled off......no harm done.

This stuff goes on pretty rough, as in it looks lumpy and patchy. But it dries nice and flat and ends up with pretty good coverage, just needs a few layers to make sure that it doesn't have any bare paint spots.

 

[ssapach]

Ah it's beginning:







Things are actually unbolting much easier than I had expected. I was really expecting a serious fight with rusted nuts/bolts.

 

[ssapach]

Getting some work done finally. I opted for the "go big or go home" and decided to cut off all the old IFS brackets. Good things, it was annoying enough as it was without any leaf springs in the way. Not to mention, I'm sure the brackets would have interfered with the smooth operation of the solid axle setup.



Nice pile of parts I need to sort through later.



This was the easiest way to get the pitman arm off. I have a gear/bearing/hub/whatever else puller, but it was too big to fit.



Add some springs.....



..........and an axle

 

[toyotech]

Nice work. No turning back now. Hope it stays nice and low

 

[ssapach]

Well, front end is basically done! I actually still need to bleed the brakes and double check the diff......can't remember if I put oil in it when I rebuilt it.







It sits a little taller than before, a little more than I would have preferred too. But it will still settle a bit on the new springs. I also think that the 3" lift is a minimum to keep the steering clear of the engine oil pan on this thing. Perhaps the 22RE is a little more forgiving.....? I'm not sure. It's probably an inch or 2 taller than me to the rooftop......so maybe 6'5" or so.

So now to work on the rear end to level it out with the front

 

[toyotech]

That thing is TALL. Lol jk. Looking good. Nice to see an ARB bumper with a SA


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ChazXJ]

Man I like those old 1st gen 4runners and this thing is NICE

 

[84 yota]

Awesome! That's a lot of surface rust on those rotors and bolts

 

[ssapach]

Thanks everyone! I'm getting tired of this things......but that generally happens every time I start working on a particular vehicle.

The brakes were quite rusty because I cleaned all the packing grease off them when I put them on the hubs, thinking I was going to do my axle swap earlier in the year. But it ended up sitting under the snow for the last 2 months. No big deal, just surface rust and most will be gone the first time I hit the brakes.

I have finished with the SAS and rear lift now! And it still has that "pre-runner" stance......I'm hoping the front springs really settle down a bunch though, otherwise I still might have to try and take a leaf out.





And here's the pile of parts I have left over:



I also replaced all the u-joints in the front a rear drive shafts. I think some of them were original in the front......they weren't fun!

I'm also going to replace my master cylinder with a 1" bore master cylinder. It looks the same size as the stock one, but I'm told that it's better suited for disc brakes all around because it has residual valves for both front and rear.

On that note, I'm still waiting for my Front Range Off-Road rear full floater conversion kit. I have a feeling I won't get it until the new year now, seeing as how Christmas is a bad time to try and ship parcels and packages. I also have a 4 cyl t-case to rebuild....

 

[Anarchy Joe]

are you running the sr5 rims with your sas? are you having to run spacers because of the offset in the rim?

any info is greatly appreciated.
Anarchy Joe

 

[ssapach]

are you running the sr5 rims with your sas? are you having to run spacers because of the offset in the rim?

any info is greatly appreciated.
Anarchy Joe

I plan to run these rims.....as I have 2 sets, the other have my "summer" tires.

The SAS kit actually came with spacers to keep the front axle width the same as the rear, due to the rear being wider because of the IFS originally. I think they are 1.5" spacer, but I never actually measured.

I haven't had clearance issues yet from putting the wheels back on and spinning them, so I shouldn't have any at all.

 

[Freebirds]

Great work so far! I love the clean look of your 4runner. Like you said earlier, the surface rust on the brake rotors shouldn't be a big deal. My rotors looked about the same when I pulled them from the junkyard.

 

[ssapach]

Thanks Freebirds!

I can't seem to catch a break with this thing though. For once I thought I had a vehicle that I could do mostly "bolt-on" mods. I thought my transfer case swap would be all easy and straightforward. Nope......the rubber mount for the t-case isn't the same between the V6 case and the 4 cyl case. I had ordered a new one for the V6 a while back thinking I would just replace it, but it's not even the right mount for either case. Now I have to cut and weld my t-case mount.

The little things like that really make for a project to drag on it seems. This is all a result of my simple desire for a full floater rear axle......which I still haven't received the parts kit for.

Ah such is life.......if nothing was challenging then life would be boring.

 

[ssapach]

So......4.70 gears and twin stick prepped!



Had to bend the hi/low shifter to keep clear of the transmission shifter in 2nd and 3rd gear. Transmission even has a short throw shifter but would still interfere. I have a feeling that lots of people who go twin stick also go dual t-case and don't run into this issue.



And with all my new mods, why should I expect the drive shafts to work? I mean, I expected to have to lengthen the front, but I didn't know that it wouldn't flex enough to even line up with the front diff.

Minor mod to the CV joint to make it more flexible. The other options would be to special order a higher angle unit or remove the CV and just have a single u-joint at the t-case. A trip to the lathe made the mod fairly easy and fairly clean:



Damn near double the angle!



So I'm left with having to lengthen the front shaft and add a long travel spline to it as well. Then I think I need to have a CV joint added to my rear driveshaft. After I put the t-case in, it vibrates a little and makes some chattering/grinding noise when it coasts (never under load) and apparently a CV rear shaft is the answer.

Oh the fun never ends!!!

 

[dorton]

Very cool. Keep the updates coming. I ran into the same issue on the shifter hitting the low range stick going to second. I just utilized smaller diameter knobs/balls for clearance.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2