Chaser88's 1986 T4R DLX "Casper" Build Thread

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Chaser88

Observer
Hey everyone! It's been a long time coming for me to get myself a T4R. I love the mountains and living in Calgary, Canada we are blessed to have the Rockies just an hour from the city centre. I'm super stoked to get out and use my 4runner for camping and wheeling! My interest in Toyota's has come from being around my older brother, who you guys may know as Rickshay on the forums, and watching him build several immaculate Toyota's. I've learned a lot from being around him but am looking forward to learning even more now that I have my own truck to learn on and becoming more active on the forum. Last year he convinced my dad to buy and build a 2001 Toyota Tacoma. Now I've become the latest victim of the Toyota bug.

So here it is...my 1986 Toyota 4Runner DLX with automatic trans also known as "Casper"....
IMG_6763.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6764.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6765.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6766.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

I purchased the truck from the original owner in Santa Monica, California who named the truck "Casper" cause he bought it Halloween day in 1986. I thought it was fitting for me to keep the name. The original owner is the Captain of a US airways airplane and took extremely good care of this 4runner. He gave me every single maintenance record since it was brand new, a log book with dates and milage of when everything was done, a custom care cover made just for this 4runner, owners manual, service manual, and the original window tag from the day the vehicle was bought. The top has never been taken off... The truck has 232k miles on the body (no rust) but the original owner had a new 22RE built by Jasper Engines put in at 189k miles in 2007. I flew down to California myself to pick it up and drove it back to Canada. The only issue with the vehicle is a small vibration at around 60 mph which I found out was the lower ball joints.

The first thing I did was remove the chrome stripping around the fenders and edges of the runner (no rust underneath!). Short term plans include new lower ball joints, possibly tie rod ends, replacing all fluids, new driver side corner (amber plastic was hit by a rock on the drive home), and making sure all basic maintenance is up to date. Spark plugs, timing chain, water pump, hoses, and belts have all been changed within the last 5k miles. Any advice on anything I should have done is much appreciated! I'd say I have very basic mechanical skills but am wanting to learn as much as I can and do as much work as I can myself.

Cheers!

**I'll be posting some updated pics of the runner with some interior pics this weekend :)
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
So...I ordered new Sankei 555 lower ball joints on Friday night and they arrived at my door Tuesday morning from an online auto parts supplier here in Canada. Here they are...
IMG_6769.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

I am aware of the issues with ordering non OEM LBJ's but I needed to find the quickest way to get the pats to my door to be able to pass an out of province inspection after bringing the truck up from California. I wanted to order OEM Toyota Parts from the states but they were going to take two to three weeks to have them shipped to Calgary from the US. I did get some OEM parts priced out from Toyota here in Calgary and they were wanting to charge me 150$ a piece. Which is far more than OEM parts from the states and from getting the 555's online. I plan to replace these lowers with OEM ones when the uppers go and am planning to do the tie rod ends at the same time (with all OEM components). For now the 555's will have to work....

I do have a question for you guys about the 555's. In the picture below, directly above the black grease nut the rubber boot has a tiny little hole that allows grease to escape from inside the boot when the ball joint moves. My brother told me that the OEM lowers do not have this hole and are completely sealed. Is that true? Would I be able to seal up the hole so that no grease is able to escape? For obvious reasons like water getting inside the boot and rusting/corroding away the inner side of the boot as well as not having to keep on top of greasing these LBJ's.

IMG_6773.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

Plans for this weekend...

Install new LBJ's
Install new driver side rear drum brake cylinder and bleed breaks (I do have a slightly squishy brake pedal. I'm hoping changing this leaky cylinder and bleeding the brakes will fix the issue)
Oil change
Paint and touch up front skid plate and wiper arms
 
Derek24

Derek24

Explorer
Nice runner! I'm excited to see what your brother talks you into for future mods, I'm sure he has all sorts of plans for you for Casper ha! Nothing better than getting a truck, especially and older one, from the original owner, and for him to swap a 22re in it, just tops it off. Good luck and excited to see what you do with it!
 
Simons

Simons

Adventurer
Well done sir! Definitely a nice score, in basically showroom condition.
@Derek24-I'm pretty sure the 22re is the stock engine and not a swap... I think that a carburetor was still an option in '85 but EFI was the only option in '86. Anybody??
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
Thanks guys! The 22re is the stock engine but the original owner had a rebuilt one from Jasper Engines in Indy put in. And yes @Simons EFI was the only option in 86.
 
rickashay

rickashay

Explorer
Awesome Chase! Glad to see you post this beauty over here. Expo is a pretty wicked community and tons of inspirational thinkers to get ideas from.

Can't wait to see this truck grow up and hit some trail this summer!
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
Small update...Got the new lower ball joints in, new rear driver brake cylinder in, bled brakes, and painted front skid plate and wiper arms. Ball joints were pretty straight forward but ended up having to re torque them today due to not having the right toque specs. Brake cylinder was super easy to replace, the FSM said to take off the entire drum but I was lucky to have my brother help me and we each just held a flat head and pried apart the spring loaded drum and swapped the cylinder out. I thought bleeding the brakes was going to help with the small amount of play at the top of the brake pedal but it didn't change. I feel that that's just the way the truck is going to be due to it being older. Also the truck does not need an alignment after changing out the lower ball joints.

Couple of questions...I'm still having a slight vibration going around 110km/hr. I notice it when driving 110 and have just a small amount (literally barely touching) of pressure on the gas pedal. Wondering if it could be a drive shaft issue? I would like to grease the drive shaft. Does anyone know how many grease nipples there are on the drive shaft? The sound to me doesn't sound like a wheel balancing issue. Could it maybe be a wheel bearing?

Second, a slight vibration when the brakes are pressed down when going higher speeds. Only noticeable when the pressure applied to the brakes is quite aggressive. Rear drums were done about 40k miles ago, front brake pads around 50k miles ago, has newer slotted rotors (maybe needs to be turned?) and a newer calliper on the front driver side? Thoughts?

Going to be getting some updated pics and interior pics this week sometimes! Cheers and thanks for any input!
 
L

lndhark

Adventurer
Looks great! My first truck was an '86 4x4 pick-up so I love that body style. My wife is from Calgary and it truly is a paradise for being outdoors. I recognize the view from some of your pics...above the Bow on Crescent Road?

Your vibes could be anything...the drive shaft, the mount on the cross-member, loose u-bolts, pinion gear. Try the easy stuff first like greasing the prop shaft. There should be 3 fittings if you have a one-piece driveshaft: one at the front u-joint, one at the slip yoke and one at the rear u-joint.

Can't wait to see what you have in store with your 4Runner!
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
lndhark said:
Looks great! My first truck was an '86 4x4 pick-up so I love that body style. My wife is from Calgary and it truly is a paradise for being outdoors. I recognize the view from some of your pics...above the Bow on Crescent Road?

Your vibes could be anything...the drive shaft, the mount on the cross-member, loose u-bolts, pinion gear. Try the easy stuff first like greasing the prop shaft. There should be 3 fittings if you have a one-piece driveshaft: one at the front u-joint, one at the slip yoke and one at the rear u-joint.

Can't wait to see what you have in store with your 4Runner!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info and compliments! The photos were actually taken up in one of the SAIT parking lots overlooking downtown. And yes we are super lucky in Calgary in regards to getting outdoors. Where are you guys at now?

Ya I got some troubleshooting to do next time I'm under the truck. Going to grease the drive shaft and make sure my ubolts are tight just like you said.
 
L

lndhark

Adventurer
Keep us posted on your progress and what you happen to find during your troubleshooting.

We are currently in Michigan but have started tp plan our move back west. We will wind up in or near Seattle by the end of the year...only 1 flight to Calgary or a long day's drive! We usually visit Calgary 2-3 times a year. We typically spend American Thanksgiving in Banff.

Oh, just to be sure, are you certain it is a drive line vibe and not an engine misfire while under load?
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
lndhark said:
Keep us posted on your progress and what you happen to find during your troubleshooting.

We are currently in Michigan but have started tp plan our move back west. We will wind up in or near Seattle by the end of the year...only 1 flight to Calgary or a long day's drive! We usually visit Calgary 2-3 times a year. We typically spend American Thanksgiving in Banff.

Oh, just to be sure, are you certain it is a drive line vibe and not an engine misfire while under load?
Click to expand...

Will do. I don't think it has to do with the engine misfiring under load. The engine doesn't have any issues and I do not experience same when going up hills with the engine under load.

My brother visited a smaller town (can't remember the name) in Michigan for work and took some photos and WOW was it ever nice. Seattle is a great choice! Like the Vancouver of the US. It's nice you have the option of not visiting Calgary in the Winter haha. However American Thanksgiving if Banff is probably awesome.
 
C

Chaser88

Observer
The nice weather has finally come to Calgary and I had some time this weekend to clean up the truck. Friday afternoon I cleaned up and painted the OEM wheels using Hyper Silver Duplicolor paint. I cleaned and sanded each wheel which took me around 1.5-2 hours. I used three coats primer, three coats paint, and one thick coat clear coat. I think they turned out really good....

IMG_4622.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_4646.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

Also finally got some interior pics....

IMG_4612.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_4614.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

Ariana...
IMG_4615.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

Then I waxed the truck and my older bro and I got out to take some photos. Something funny happened while I was at the car wash. In a huge apartment building beside the carwash I began to hear some screaming like a person or two were dying from way up above me. I looked up and two dudes were on their deck trying to get my attention. After I figured out they weren't dying they yelled, "We love your 4runnner!!!" HAHA I laughed and thanked the two dudes for the compliment. The classic look of the 4runner really seems to catch peoples eye. Personally, I'm having a hard time deciding on how far I want to end up modding Casper. I feel I really don't want to change the OEM look but am torn because I really want to use the truck for wheeling and camping. Anyways heres a couple of pics from my brothers and I little photo shoot. Photo cred to my bro...

IMG_4627.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

IMG_4624.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

IMG_4641.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr

IMG_4642.jpg by RickaShay24, on Flickr
 
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