slow, budget built '89 toyota pickup expedition rig
- Thread starter xlcaferacer
- Start date
killzone90
New member
this truck is real nice. I love that camper shell and wish i could find one. Ive been looking for one for awhile
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
It's been a while since I have done anything notable to Ruby. Well that has changed, although they are not huge changes. I have had a little overtime cash and some really cold and snowy days off with a small (heated) one car garage calling my name. We have had over 4' of snow in the last week so it was a perfect time to take a break from work and shoveling and spend some time working on my backcountry motorhome. I have been collecting parts for a while now and figured it was a good time to get some work done.
I had the Old Man Emu medium springs on the rear for over a year now and with the weight of the Wildernest camper they sat about level or maybe shy of 1" over stock. I have had a 1 1/2" 4crawler BJ spacer lift and 1" diff drop in my garage for over a year now. I decided that it was time to order an Old Man Emu add a leaf and make my springs the "heavy" model. I installed it and the rear sat where I wanted it with about 1 1/2" of lift.
Now it was time to get the front lift installed to level it out. So, on went the bj spacers and diff drop, along with new KYB Monomax shocks and new Moog upper ball joints. I also needed new rims because the backspacing on mine were 5". I think the bj spacers require a maximum of 4 3/4" backspacing to work. I found this out the hard way by installing everything and realizing that the tires hit the upper A-arms. I had to pull the spacers back off until my rims showed up and then do it all over again.
However, this gave me an excuse to get rid of the crappy old chrome rims and put on a set of cheap black modular rims from Summit Racing. Another plus is that for $50 each they are also rated to carry 600lbs more per rim than the old rims. I also have a new pitman arm and idler arm with bronze bushings and a Blazeland idler arm brace ready to go on but that may have to wait a bit as it is a bit frustrating working in such a small garage.
My garage's interior dimensions are about 11' wide by 19' deep and in order for my truck to fit I need to take off my tire carrier in order to have about 1 1/2' of working space in front of the truck. I would like to encourage everyone that has a garage or a warm driveway to work in, to work on their own trucks as much as they can. You get to learn about how your truck works and maybe gain some confidence to fix it if it breaks while out in the middle of nowhere. Almost everything that I have done to my truck other than tire mounting and welding my sliders on has been done in in this small little garage.
So, as I have stated before, I am a bit computer challenged and I don't know how to post pictures individually with captions. The following pictures include pictures of my small garage, my front end parts, and a before and after lift shots. The before shot is the one with chrome rims on the truck with the rear add-a-leaf installed. The picture with the black rims is with the lift fully installed and the alignment done and ready to drive.
I had the Old Man Emu medium springs on the rear for over a year now and with the weight of the Wildernest camper they sat about level or maybe shy of 1" over stock. I have had a 1 1/2" 4crawler BJ spacer lift and 1" diff drop in my garage for over a year now. I decided that it was time to order an Old Man Emu add a leaf and make my springs the "heavy" model. I installed it and the rear sat where I wanted it with about 1 1/2" of lift.
Now it was time to get the front lift installed to level it out. So, on went the bj spacers and diff drop, along with new KYB Monomax shocks and new Moog upper ball joints. I also needed new rims because the backspacing on mine were 5". I think the bj spacers require a maximum of 4 3/4" backspacing to work. I found this out the hard way by installing everything and realizing that the tires hit the upper A-arms. I had to pull the spacers back off until my rims showed up and then do it all over again.
However, this gave me an excuse to get rid of the crappy old chrome rims and put on a set of cheap black modular rims from Summit Racing. Another plus is that for $50 each they are also rated to carry 600lbs more per rim than the old rims. I also have a new pitman arm and idler arm with bronze bushings and a Blazeland idler arm brace ready to go on but that may have to wait a bit as it is a bit frustrating working in such a small garage.
My garage's interior dimensions are about 11' wide by 19' deep and in order for my truck to fit I need to take off my tire carrier in order to have about 1 1/2' of working space in front of the truck. I would like to encourage everyone that has a garage or a warm driveway to work in, to work on their own trucks as much as they can. You get to learn about how your truck works and maybe gain some confidence to fix it if it breaks while out in the middle of nowhere. Almost everything that I have done to my truck other than tire mounting and welding my sliders on has been done in in this small little garage.
So, as I have stated before, I am a bit computer challenged and I don't know how to post pictures individually with captions. The following pictures include pictures of my small garage, my front end parts, and a before and after lift shots. The before shot is the one with chrome rims on the truck with the rear add-a-leaf installed. The picture with the black rims is with the lift fully installed and the alignment done and ready to drive.
NorthernWoodsman
Adventurer/tinkerer
awesome! lookin' great xlcaferacer.
huntsonora
Explorer
Amazing build! Love the 22re's
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
No new bumper yet. I don't care much for chrome so I took off the stock bumper's end caps, rubbed the remainder down with a scotch bright pad and hit it with a rattle can. So for now it is still the worthless stock bumper painted black. I can't decide what I want to do to the front yet. I have a few ideas, but I need to come across a winch so that I have something to build around.
grotto
Observer
Been watching your build since joining the forum recently. I like that you use the truck, see what you need based on how you use it, prioritize your needs, scrounge up the parts and then put it together. Great approach. I appreciate the budget builds as that's the only one I can afford too!! Thanks for sharing, lots of good ideas.
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
Thanks to all who have looked at, and taken something from my budget build. We have had a really good (long, snowy) winter in my little town. But I look forward to the snow going away so that I can camp and explore again. In the meantime I would like to ad a few updates to past mods. I am a ski lift mechanic by trade and my mountain (Crested Butte) has about 240" of snow so far this year. I was asked earlier how I thought the BFG KM2's would do on the snow. Well, I did not sipe them like I originally intended because I wanted to see how they would perform out of the box. With that in mind, they did what I thought they would, they do O.K. in the snow and slide around a bit on the ice. I do have a locked rear end which amplifies sliding a bit, but I still believe that if you; take your time, know what your truck will do in different circumstances, and drive for the conditions, you can run a mud tire year round. Will I let my wife drive the truck during the winter? Only around town; otherwise no, as she doesn't drive it enough to be familiar with its quirks. Besides, she drives a 97 4runner with Hankook Dynapro ATM tires (which I highly recommend as a great tire for mostly street use that sees a lot of different weather conditions.)
grotto, welcome to the forum. To answer your question, I had the basic KYB shocks on a stock pickup in the past and I thought they were pretty good. Definitely a step up from the wasted shocks that it came with. With that in mind I thought I would give their upgraded Monomax a try as they offered them for a 0-2" lift. I feel like they are a decent shock and they ride a little firm but o.k. Again, I'm on a budget. What it came down to for me was: $200 for all 4 monomaxes or almost $400 for the Old man emu shocks that I wanted. They do fine and are worth the price if you are trying to save for other expenditures, but I would like to upgrade to the Emu's down the road after I take care of some other things (skid plating, winch and bumper, transfer case gears). So, for my budget, I am happy with them but I will upgrade after several other things on the want/need list are taken care of.
grotto, welcome to the forum. To answer your question, I had the basic KYB shocks on a stock pickup in the past and I thought they were pretty good. Definitely a step up from the wasted shocks that it came with. With that in mind I thought I would give their upgraded Monomax a try as they offered them for a 0-2" lift. I feel like they are a decent shock and they ride a little firm but o.k. Again, I'm on a budget. What it came down to for me was: $200 for all 4 monomaxes or almost $400 for the Old man emu shocks that I wanted. They do fine and are worth the price if you are trying to save for other expenditures, but I would like to upgrade to the Emu's down the road after I take care of some other things (skid plating, winch and bumper, transfer case gears). So, for my budget, I am happy with them but I will upgrade after several other things on the want/need list are taken care of.
Crenshaw
Adventurer
Love your truck. I have it's twin over here in Salida, same truck/wildernest but white. Where did you source those shocks? I'm in the market for some and $200 for 4 sounds pretty tempting.
I apologize if its mentioned earlier in the thread, but what gearing are you running? My 3.slow with stock 4.10s and 31s is downright painful.
I apologize if its mentioned earlier in the thread, but what gearing are you running? My 3.slow with stock 4.10s and 31s is downright painful.
xlcaferacer
Adventurer
To answer Toyotech - I have run the BFG AT's on many different trucks and I like them and would recommend them. Years ago I ran the old version of BFG's MT and really liked them and wanted to try out the new version. The new MT's also have a much thicker sidewall than the AT's which was another selling point. If that is not enough, in an issue of 4wd Toyota Owner Bill Burke says that they are his favorite tire. Now that is an endorsement from a dude that knows his stuff.
To answer Crenshaw - I got my shocks online through Shock Warehouse. They have several options to choose from and have bought from them a couple of times. As far as gearing goes I am running 4:88's and my re-gear made a huge difference. Some 4runners from our era came with this ratio from the factory. My front diff is a factory 4:88 diff that I got at a Toyota salvage yard in Denver. Check them out at Jimsgotparts.com. I have used them a few times and have been to their yard . They have a pretty good sized Yota only salvage yard, they are great to deal with, reasonably priced, give you a warranty (30 days?)and they ship. I highly recommend them if you are looking for something used.
To answer Crenshaw - I got my shocks online through Shock Warehouse. They have several options to choose from and have bought from them a couple of times. As far as gearing goes I am running 4:88's and my re-gear made a huge difference. Some 4runners from our era came with this ratio from the factory. My front diff is a factory 4:88 diff that I got at a Toyota salvage yard in Denver. Check them out at Jimsgotparts.com. I have used them a few times and have been to their yard . They have a pretty good sized Yota only salvage yard, they are great to deal with, reasonably priced, give you a warranty (30 days?)and they ship. I highly recommend them if you are looking for something used.