slimbobaggins
New member
Subbed... I have an '87 22R that looks the same, and is a beater/budget build, so Ill be watching this thread for encouragement.
Project: True Budget Build! 87 Toyota Pickup.
- Thread starter toyrunner95
- Start date
toyrunner95
Explorer
Well this thread has been dormant for a bit so I figured I would update it. I got a new job and have also been trying to get a business off the ground which I'm finding out is no small feat. I still haven't picked up the suspension but it is at the shop I ordered it from so fingers crossed it will be soon. I also have been working on a bed system for this truck and that got side tracked by my girl friend moving in with me, with a 53' semi trailer full of stuff I didn't know about. so once i reclaim my garage I will get more done. Soon!
Last edited:
toyrunner95
Explorer
ok timeline update: I plan on driving the taco and the smurf to the NW overland rally. The truck will hopefully have a whole slew of upgrades.
1. suspension.
2. bumpers front and rear.
3. rear bed kitchen.
4. RTT
5. interior, seats, lighting upgrades.
6. exterior lighting.
none of this should be too difficult to accomplish it will just take some time.
Stay Tuned. The Clock is Ticking.
1. suspension.
2. bumpers front and rear.
3. rear bed kitchen.
4. RTT
5. interior, seats, lighting upgrades.
6. exterior lighting.
none of this should be too difficult to accomplish it will just take some time.
Stay Tuned. The Clock is Ticking.
toyrunner95
Explorer
Suspension
OK so this is the first update in a while that's worth something.
I addressed the suspension back at Christmas but was unable to accept delivery because well, i didn't have the money that i thought i would. Anyway. I finally got around to picking it up, its OME torsion bars with Dakar springs. I skimped a bit on the shocks and went with rancho RS5000s. So down to the installation. I'm afraid i don't have any install pics but between a 3 year old and a 5 year old "helping" and this being a really simple install, i didn't feel that this warranted them.
first step was tools. this didnt really require any special tools.
22mm=7/8 wrenches. you will need a shallow socket on a 1/2 drive with a breaker or an impact.
17mm wrenches standard and ratcheting.
13mm ratchet wrench.
11mm wrench
3/4" wrenches.
one of those big orange sand filled hammers.
jack stands, floor jacks, one small, one large. (trust me, borrow one from a friend or something.)
some blocks to put on the jack. like 4x4s or something. this will make things easier. and ill explain later.
brake kleen
PB blaster.
so lets start with how to get the torsion bars out. since this was the part that gave me the most pause in the whole project, i decided to start there early in the morning so if i had problems i had time to figure them out.
get the truck chocked and blocked. soak everything in PB Blaster. Jack up the passenger side first under where the A arm meets the cross member. before the tire gets off the ground, loosen the lug nuts, then remove the tire. get under the truck and you will see where the torsion bar runs. there is what looks like a Y piece connected to the back of the upper A arm with a rod in it. follow that rod to the end and that's where we will begin.
there is a big bolt head on the bottom of that bracket where the 22mm socket will be needed. above it there is a big nut with another small nut on top of it. the small nut is a 7/8 jam nut. we will remove this first. this bolt has a lot of tension on it so it will take some force to get off. the breaker bar and a friend will help. once this is removed you can remove the larger nut. the larger nut will be holding the majority of the tension so this will take some force as well. this piece you loosened is the torsion key. after this is removed move up to that Y piece on the A arm. there are 2 bolts holding it on. i believe these will take 3/4" wrenches. remove these bolts. once these are removed the Y piece, the bar, and the torsion key can be removed. simply lift and rotate the bar as an assembly, work it around the brake lines and slide it towards the rear.
once this assembly is removed you can pull the boots off the ends by sliding them towards the middle of the bar. Then pull the Y piece and the torsion key off the rod. If you look at the ends of the rod carefully you will see a part in the gear teeth that looks like its flat. This is called the index mark. these marks line up the Y piece and the torsion key you just removed. it will take some arguing with them but once they line up they will slide on easy. DO NOT FORCE THEM! if you have to force them something is wrong. they should just slip on. once the ends are on go ahead and re install the assembly. Coat the threads of the torsion key bolt in anti seize liberally. it will help during the adjustment later. during the installation the index marks should be pointing towards the outside of the vehicle.
This can be repeated on the drivers side however the exhaust will get in the way. so the only difference is that the Y piece and the torsion key will need to be removed individually instead of as an assembly. remember how the pieces came out because they will need to go back in the same way. also there is a heat shield on that will need to be removed with 3 bolts all 11mm, i left this off entirely. this took a bit of working to get the new bar in lining up the indexes and so forth. just keep at it and it will click into place.
To adjust the height, the torsion bolts will be tightened or loosened. the bolts move the torsion key up and down, thus adjusting the height. i simply jacked up the truck to above the desired height and tightened the bolts until they stopped. then when the truck was back on the ground with the tires on it settled to ride height. do this at the end after the leaves are installed.
on to the rear. this is where the 2 jacks come in. jack up the truck and remove the rear tires. put the rear axle on the jack stands. now use the bigger jack to lift the back up the truck releasing the weight off the rear springs. undo the U bolts, undo the rear shackle, and the front eye bolt. again breaker bar and pb blaster will help a lot. install remove the old spring, then install the new spring. the new one will take some finesse. to ease this use the smaller jack to pick up the axle on the side you are working on. remove the jack stand, and use the jack to move the axle up and down. also i widened the front eye hanger with using a pipe wrench just enough to fit the new bushings in. maybe 1/8" the driver side exhaust will again give you issues with the hanger. i cut the rubber hanger above the tail pipe and used a ratchet strap to pull it aside.
once you install the rear springs DO NOT TIGHTEN THE BOLTS!!! leave them loose till you get the weight of the truck back on them. then tighten all the bolts down. this way it doesn't preload the bushings.
from here you will see the ride height of the truck in the rear and you can again jack up the front of the truck. this will allow you to adjust the torsion keys to the correct ride height. after all your bolts are tight, you can take the truck to a tire shop and have it aligned again because your caster and camber will be off a bit.
once your done it should look like this!
OK so this is the first update in a while that's worth something.
I addressed the suspension back at Christmas but was unable to accept delivery because well, i didn't have the money that i thought i would. Anyway. I finally got around to picking it up, its OME torsion bars with Dakar springs. I skimped a bit on the shocks and went with rancho RS5000s. So down to the installation. I'm afraid i don't have any install pics but between a 3 year old and a 5 year old "helping" and this being a really simple install, i didn't feel that this warranted them.
first step was tools. this didnt really require any special tools.
22mm=7/8 wrenches. you will need a shallow socket on a 1/2 drive with a breaker or an impact.
17mm wrenches standard and ratcheting.
13mm ratchet wrench.
11mm wrench
3/4" wrenches.
one of those big orange sand filled hammers.
jack stands, floor jacks, one small, one large. (trust me, borrow one from a friend or something.)
some blocks to put on the jack. like 4x4s or something. this will make things easier. and ill explain later.
brake kleen
PB blaster.
so lets start with how to get the torsion bars out. since this was the part that gave me the most pause in the whole project, i decided to start there early in the morning so if i had problems i had time to figure them out.
get the truck chocked and blocked. soak everything in PB Blaster. Jack up the passenger side first under where the A arm meets the cross member. before the tire gets off the ground, loosen the lug nuts, then remove the tire. get under the truck and you will see where the torsion bar runs. there is what looks like a Y piece connected to the back of the upper A arm with a rod in it. follow that rod to the end and that's where we will begin.
there is a big bolt head on the bottom of that bracket where the 22mm socket will be needed. above it there is a big nut with another small nut on top of it. the small nut is a 7/8 jam nut. we will remove this first. this bolt has a lot of tension on it so it will take some force to get off. the breaker bar and a friend will help. once this is removed you can remove the larger nut. the larger nut will be holding the majority of the tension so this will take some force as well. this piece you loosened is the torsion key. after this is removed move up to that Y piece on the A arm. there are 2 bolts holding it on. i believe these will take 3/4" wrenches. remove these bolts. once these are removed the Y piece, the bar, and the torsion key can be removed. simply lift and rotate the bar as an assembly, work it around the brake lines and slide it towards the rear.
once this assembly is removed you can pull the boots off the ends by sliding them towards the middle of the bar. Then pull the Y piece and the torsion key off the rod. If you look at the ends of the rod carefully you will see a part in the gear teeth that looks like its flat. This is called the index mark. these marks line up the Y piece and the torsion key you just removed. it will take some arguing with them but once they line up they will slide on easy. DO NOT FORCE THEM! if you have to force them something is wrong. they should just slip on. once the ends are on go ahead and re install the assembly. Coat the threads of the torsion key bolt in anti seize liberally. it will help during the adjustment later. during the installation the index marks should be pointing towards the outside of the vehicle.
This can be repeated on the drivers side however the exhaust will get in the way. so the only difference is that the Y piece and the torsion key will need to be removed individually instead of as an assembly. remember how the pieces came out because they will need to go back in the same way. also there is a heat shield on that will need to be removed with 3 bolts all 11mm, i left this off entirely. this took a bit of working to get the new bar in lining up the indexes and so forth. just keep at it and it will click into place.
To adjust the height, the torsion bolts will be tightened or loosened. the bolts move the torsion key up and down, thus adjusting the height. i simply jacked up the truck to above the desired height and tightened the bolts until they stopped. then when the truck was back on the ground with the tires on it settled to ride height. do this at the end after the leaves are installed.
on to the rear. this is where the 2 jacks come in. jack up the truck and remove the rear tires. put the rear axle on the jack stands. now use the bigger jack to lift the back up the truck releasing the weight off the rear springs. undo the U bolts, undo the rear shackle, and the front eye bolt. again breaker bar and pb blaster will help a lot. install remove the old spring, then install the new spring. the new one will take some finesse. to ease this use the smaller jack to pick up the axle on the side you are working on. remove the jack stand, and use the jack to move the axle up and down. also i widened the front eye hanger with using a pipe wrench just enough to fit the new bushings in. maybe 1/8" the driver side exhaust will again give you issues with the hanger. i cut the rubber hanger above the tail pipe and used a ratchet strap to pull it aside.
once you install the rear springs DO NOT TIGHTEN THE BOLTS!!! leave them loose till you get the weight of the truck back on them. then tighten all the bolts down. this way it doesn't preload the bushings.
from here you will see the ride height of the truck in the rear and you can again jack up the front of the truck. this will allow you to adjust the torsion keys to the correct ride height. after all your bolts are tight, you can take the truck to a tire shop and have it aligned again because your caster and camber will be off a bit.
once your done it should look like this!
toyrunner95
Explorer
I'm glad that i changed out some of these components one of the leaf springs were bent, the shocks were OK but well worn, and the torsion bars were good but i needed something a bit stronger.
toyrunner95
Explorer
Thanks. Hopefully it will just keep getting better
toyrunner95
Explorer
Got some more pieces today. Should have a pretty good smash and bash this weekend.
toyrunner95
Explorer
Update:
This weekend was productive. I got the roof bars made and the roof tent instlled. I also put the finishing touches on the camp kitchen.
Tent $1000
Bars $35 home made
Bringing the total up to. $5057.28
The kitchen is a bit more in depth and it's not a part of the build but it works well.
This weekend was productive. I got the roof bars made and the roof tent instlled. I also put the finishing touches on the camp kitchen.
Tent $1000
Bars $35 home made
Bringing the total up to. $5057.28
The kitchen is a bit more in depth and it's not a part of the build but it works well.
toyrunner95
Explorer
I forgot to add suspension. $747.00
Total: $5804.28
Total: $5804.28
