Topic: Scott Wilson's 1988 4Runner Build, Version 2.0

[TacoRunner]

My sister works for Canyon safes. She's always telling me how so many of the other manufacturers dont actually fire test the safes like they say they do.

[ccolby]

The investigator said my fire was way up there as far as the scale of hot fires go... so the safe really got cooked.

Any Structure fire will quickly have high temps. With the use of plastics and synthetics (furniture, carpet, etc, etc.) in the homes, The temperatures rise quickly. Your very lucky you only got some burns, If that thing would of flashed or rolled over it would of been a different story...
Even in Structure Fire Fighting gear, you can get injured.
Like you said, the family is safe... other items can be replaced.

Enough about that, I'm liking your build. I too have 88 4runner.

 

[swilson [OP]]

Well I've gotten the 4Runner moved to our rental house.  Our house plans are nearly complete... building mostly the same house with some great improvements.  The garage will have a 13.5' ceiling height and a 6" slab, so I can install a 2post lift.  Hopefully we'll have the old house demolished before the end of the month.  The property claim is really burning me out.  So crazy to have to itemize every item in your house. 

I took a couple days off from the craziness and spent them in the garage.  I got the air compressor wired and plumbed and brought home a replacement welder.  Went with a Miller Multimatic 215... does both MIG and TIG.  I'm pretty stoked, I've always wanted to learn TIG.

This new welder is so much smaller than the Millermatic 210 that was burned in the fire I decided to build my own cart.  Plasma on the bottom, Multimatic215 on the next level, Swag Off Road tool caddy on the side, room for more tools on the top, 4 spots to hang coiled wires, and two tanks on the rear... Argon for TIG and CO2/AR mix for MIG.  The Swag tool caddy kicks ass.  I used to have to rummage through a milk crate to find my tools... I love having them all in their place.

Best of all, with working air/plasma/welder at the rental house, if I take some more garage time I may actually get some work done of the 4Runner this year!  I'd love to get the engine/tranny/xfer off the floor and get the 4Runner on its tires before its time to move.

[swilson [OP]]

The TIG kit finally came in for the new welder.  I've been practicing on some 1/8" tubing.  I'm having a blast!  I got some scrap tubing from an exhaust shop so I can start practicing on some thinner material next.  Very happy with the Multimatic 215 so far!

[swilson [OP]]

You're going to want to trim that fat section of frame under the A-pillar.

Thanks for giving me a heads up on my upcoming clearance issues with the 3 link.  I was surprised how much reinforcing there is inside of an IFS frame!

[THK Matt]

very nice!

[swilson [OP]]

I've put a few hours in on it, but not nearly what I had hoped I'd have time for.  Strengthened the frame where my new frame meets the factory frame.  Then I started in on the NWU 3 link install, but realized I really need my motor in its permanent location so I can set the clearance between the axle and oil pan.  So the motor is now sitting on its mounts.  I'll get a photo of them when I pull the engine and finish welding the mounts.

My triple shifters finally arrived, took nearly a year to get a set, but the look great.   I'll get those installed next and will set the final height on the xfer case cross member.  Once the mounts are finished off for the drivetrain I'll get back on the 3 link.

Got my wheels and tires too.  I decided to try the new Maxxis RZR MT.  37x12.5-17.  Went with Raceline aluminum beadlocks, but with steel rings.  These wheels are sexy.

[Gnarly4X]

Geezz Scott... that thing is looking REALLY nice! I can't help but feel some "envy-ness"..... Great job! 

Those weld beads look every bit as sexy as a Playboy bunny center fold!!    I love the photos! 

Gnarls. 

[84 yota dude]

Seriously!! Nice progress and wheels too

[SnailPowered3RZ]

love the build!

[swilson [OP]]

Got the Triple Shifters front Dave's Off Road installed this weekend.  They were worth the wait.  (11 month wait!)  This way I'll get to keep the center console with rear heater.

[swilson [OP]]

This week I burned in the lower link mounts for the 3-link and set the final height on the Xfer case crossmember.  To get the height I wanted for the crossmember, I had to make some body mods.  First was since this used to be a automatic tranny 4Runner, there was an extra sheetmetal bracket spot welded to the body near the back of the xfer case.  The linkage for the Xfer case shifter was attached to this.  Removing this gained me around 1/2" more height.

As I tried to raise the crossmember higher the next clearance problem I ran into was the height and width of custom piece for the triple shifters, on top the rear xfer case.  I ended up cutting out the top of the tranny tunnel, beating the sides of the tunnel to a pulp with a small sledge, then cutting some sheetmetal to fill the gaps.  I'm pretty happy with the finished product.  Still fits beneath the center console and let me get crossmember up until it just cleared the coolant lines for the rear heater.

I'm not sure the driveshaft will clear the frame crossmember now, but I'll look into that later.  Next is to finish the 3 link and assemble the front axle.

[swilson [OP]]

More pics.

[swilson [OP]]

Well the pace is about to pickup on this project... I'm making my best attempt at attending Rubithon.  My youngest told me she really misses camping on the Rubicon.  So I told her I'd try my hardest to get this 4Runner trail ready in time to make that happen.  It's gonna be rough.  Still have my hands full dealing with the house rebuild, which by the way hasn't even started yet.  I was dealing with a crook of a soils engineer and had to have his work re-done at my expense, which set me back about 5 months.  But on the bright side, that gave me enough time to realize I had hired the wrong contractor, so at least I have the right guy hired now.  Now I just need a building permit... getting close.  I expect construction to be started before Rubithon gets here.

This week I jumped in on the 4WU 3-link.  Installing my first 3-link has been a big learning curve.  I have no doubt I could do another 3-link in half the time now.  I think I lost the most time trying to fit the axle brackets by going off the instructions... they were written for someone using a stock housing, not aftermarket.  I also wasn't realizing how much trimming I'd have to do to the axle bracket to get it to fit around the huge center section on the Diamond housing. 

The other thing that cost me a lot of time was getting the distance between the axle brackets correct.  Instructions call for 34.5" measured from center of brackets... I took that to mean literal center of brackets, which is large because it includes a pad for bump stops.  But it really means from center of where the link attaches to the bracket.

My new front frame section worked great and has gobs and gobs of clearance to the links.  If I had to build it again I would keep the front of the frame rail (where the front body mount attaches) at its current height, but then only go up 1" rather than 3" like I did before dropping down at 60-degrees to where I tied into the stock frame. At this height it would still require no notches to clear links and would have been a better height for attaching the frame-side panhard bracket.  I had to do a 2" drop off my frame to get mine bracket to sit at the correct height.

Last part of the mock-up is setting the height of the towers for the ORI struts.  I got into this tonight but realized to do this right I'd need to pull the fenders, hammer down the fender seam, trim here, hammer there, to make sure the tires won't rub.  I need to either trim out the fenders too, or more likely I'll flair them.  We'll see what I come up with.

[Gnarly4X]

Geezzz... Scott, we may have to name you "Fab-Master" of the Year!!... totally awesome work! 

I hope you can make the Rubithon trip, and all the best works out for you and your family with your challenges and speed-bumps for getting settled in your new home.   

Gnarls. 

[84 yota dude]

^Agreed! Totally awesome work
Those wheels are pretty sweet too

[blackdiamond]

Excellent work. I like what appears to be a very methodical approach.

I see you have bump stops, but are they necessary if you get the ORI mounts at the perfect height?  I thought the ORI struts could be their own bump stops but also know that the kit you're using includes bump stops to go with the coils they sell.  Doubling up certainly won't hurt anything, just curious about your thinking for setting the height on the struts.

[swilson [OP]]

Thanks. I made great progress this week.  Suspension setup is done, axle and suspension are painted.  I expected to have it reassembled by now, but I over did it and my bad disc let me know it.  I'll stay out of the garage a few days and then reassemble, and FINALLY get it on four wheels again.

As far as the bump stops, they're set to keep the panhard off the oil pan when both wheels are compressed... high speed, hard landing.  When I stuff only one wheel, then it's the ORI limiting travel to keep the tire off of the inner fender. 

[blackdiamond]

As far as the bump stops, they're set to keep the panhard off the oil pan when both wheels are compressed... high speed, hard landing.  When I stuff only one wheel, then it's the ORI limiting travel to keep the tire off of the inner fender. 

Smart setup it sounds like.

[blackdiamond]

Here we go!  DC Custom Fab has already done what I was thinking, but using box tubing.  After seeing this I think I also will be going with box tubing.

I borrowed this photo from his thread on Pirate.

This is the guy that built my 4Runner back in his college days.  It was almost exactly ten years ago.  He's actually planning to meet me for a few days of wheeling at the end of next month.  It'll either be in the 4Runner, if it's done, or the JK.

[swilson [OP]]

I can't take credit for the setup method, it's Brian's from 4WU.  I called him a couple times with questions during my install.  He was super helpful... and he makes killer stuff.  He gets high marks on the design and quality of his stuff from me.   Can't wait to see how it works out on the trail.

[blackdiamond]

I can't take credit for the setup method, it's Brian's from 4WU.  I called him a couple times with questions during my install.  He was very super helpful... and he makes killer stuff.  He gets high marks on the design and quality of his stuff from me.   Can't wait to see how it works out on the trail.

A big part of what you're paying for when buying the 4WU kit is the knowledge and engineering that went into the design. Good choice in products I think.

[swilson [OP]]

I finally got it on it's tires!  Sheesh, I think its been about a year since I chopped off the IFS... long year!

Very stoked to see the front end together.  Realized during assembly I forgot to the swap the knuckles left/right like the FROR website says to do to use their big brake kit.  I just sliced off the caliper mounting tabs off the knuckles instead.  I like this big brake kit.  The 2005 Tundra calipers and rotors are massive compared to the 1988 V6 stuff I pulled off.

Looks like I was wrong about the bump stops.  Once I put the tire on the axle and then set the ORI height to keep the tire off the inner fender, the bump stops became useless.  Also looks like I didn't get the height on my ORI towers quite equal, because its got a little lean sitting on the ORI bump stops.  Oh well... it'll still crawl awesome.  So nice to see no jack stands under it!

[OVRAROK]

Are you running 17" rims?

[swilson [OP]]

Yes, 17" Racelines.

[blackdiamond]

That's a super clean looking installation.  I guess you know you don't have any clearance issues with the ORIs sitting on the bottom.  Are you bump stops making contact?  I thought this was the scenario that they were used for?

[swilson [OP]]

Yeah, I just mentioned above once I put the wheel/tire on and set the ORI's to keep the tire out of the inner fender, the poly bump stops became useless.  Didn't realize that till yesterday.  Oh well.  I'm a crawler, not a racer, the built in ORI bump app will be sufficient for how I wheel.

Forgot to mention, decided to flare my stock fenders.  Cut them up and flared them out for another 3"of tire coverage.  Will cut pieces from some old fenders and fill the gaps later on.  I think they'll be great.  Plan to flare the rear fenders to match.

[blackdiamond]

Yeah, I just mentioned above once I put the wheel/tire on and set the ORI's to keep the tire out of the inner fender, the poly bump stops became useless.  Didn't realize that till yesterday.  Oh well.  I'm a crawler, not a racer, the built in ORI bump app will be sufficient for how I wheel.

I missed that when I read it.  It won't hurt to have them as a 2nd line of defense thought you'll likely never need them.

[swilson [OP]]

Here's some more photos of how the suspension turned out, and those big Tundra brakes.  Today I set the final position for the steering box, making sure the drag link is parallel to the panhard.  Used FROR mounting plates.  Then I ported the steering box for the hydro-assist lines.

[THK Matt]

damn!