Topic: CBeers' 1985 4Runner

[liveoak]

  I had seen Blackdiamond experience similar on his 4runner but since everyone swears by the bilsteins that was what i went with. 

 The only downside is the body on these shocks are way bigger and get into my ebrake, creating yet another project later on. 
CB

Man, that's quite a story on the oil sender, sounds like my kind of luck.
Funny that you just switched to ranchos. I was just talking to a buddy about changing from my bilsteins to the rancho 9000s. I have always felt like the bilsteins were better suited for high speed pre-running. I like the fact that the ranchos have a little bit of adjustability to them. I did not know they were so much thicker. Can you post a pick of the e-brake shock/issue you are referring to?
Can you really tell a noticeable difference in ride quality? Does it still nose dive on braking?

[cbeers [OP]]

it's the cables
i mounted my shocks on the back of the axle....right where the cables go. wasn't too bad with the bilsteins but now it's worse. I'll snap a pic snd post back. or PM me your cell and I'll send direct.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

oh and the ride is way different. still some body roll and slight dive but nothing like before.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

You just couldn’t live without that sr5 cluster could you 

you know.....sounded like such an easy upgrade....but yeah 

just Chris luck. I'm getting used to it but like always making lemonade 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Shake down time!

I have a friend that bought a house on a few acres in Twain Harte and decided to make a trip to see him.  While there we would get the rig out and about to see if things were working properly.  Nothing crazy, more to see if anything was wrong.

It's about a 3.5 hour trip for me and it was hot the weekend I went so I left at 6am and am glad I did.  The heat in the central valley is significantly more than I what I deal with at home.  The truck ran great and I was pleased with the overall performance.  I chose a route that was more back country highways rather than freeways so that I could take it easy on the new engine and also continue to vary RPMs as much as reasonable.  I had to have short stints on I-5 and 99 but even there it did well.  I was certainly not one of the faster vehicles but I could hold my own and do OK.  The last grade up to his house was a doozie and I saw slightly higher temps but nothing bad....

Once I got to his place and unloaded my stuff we grabbed a cooler and went out to get on some fire roads.  Again, just looking to test things out and see if there were any red flags.  We did a few little trails that were really just overgrown dirt roads, never even needing to engage 4x4 but I did use the rear locker on a small hill climb full on loose dirt and grapefruit sized rocks.  All good.  Tested the front locker as well, just to make sure no air leaks...all good there too.  Posed on a rock for the sake of it and started to head back to the house.

As we were coming down the road (back on pavement) and just about to the highway, my shift lever began to flop around really bad.  What the heck?  We pulled over and broke out my tool bag and started to take out the center console and cover plate to investigate.  Ended up further breaking the center console trim piece in the process but it had already been started by my kids playing in it years ago.  Just something to upgrade/fix later on.  What I found was the shift lever had separated from the lower half right at the rubber piece.  Not sure if it supposed to do that or not?  I wrapped the lower half with a round of gorilla tape and put the handle back on, buttoned it up and off we went.  Whew, no big but it did freak me out a bit.  I find myself on the edge of my seat with this thing still, listening to every little noise but so far so good.

Had a big BBQ dinner and some drinks and hit the sack.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

man these resized pics suck, sorry guys.

Next day we hit up Niagara Rim Trail going the opposite way of normal from what I was told.  When we got to the start I locked in the hubs and up we went.  The trail at that part was a lot of loose dirt hill climbs with some off camber turns through the forest.  I wasn't really expecting this and was kind of nervous, plus the new rig but it was fine.  We got to a lookout after a bit and took a break.  I told my friend that I was a little nervous and he was second guessing taking us out the second half of the trail but said we'd go to the Rock Pile play area and see how it went.  OK off we went.

By the time we got to the rock pile I was feeling more confident in the rig and myself, it has been a loooooong time since I was on any sort of trail.  Plus I have been building this thing for so many years, it was like being a newbie all over again.  We got out and walked around on the granite slabs and checked out some solid lines that neither one of us was going to try but fun to imagine all the same.  He pointed out a wash between two slabs and said he had tried it a few weekends ago with some buddies when he was shown the trail but couldn't make it.  Being still a little hesitant I instead did a easy climb up the granite in a parallel super tiny gulch thing.  No problem at all.  Confidence grew.

So I decided to line up and give his gulch a try and pretty much walked right up!  The gearing and locker combination is so awesome!  I know you all know this already but it was great to finally see my rig in action.  Once out of that play area we made our way further on the trail and started getting into more and more of those hill climbs only bigger, steeper and more pucker factor.  But the rig just waltzed right up stuff like nothing.  I was finding myself still hunting for the right gear combinations for certain circumstances but settled on 4.7 second gear over 2.28 first gear for anything steep and loose.  I was slower than he was but I don't like to bounce over stuff and I put the gears in there for a reason right?  He was a little tired of waiting on me but eh.....so what 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

For some reason some of the pics come out sideways 
I figured out a way to trick the upload but they still look like 

We made our way to a high ridge closer to the end of the trail and waited for a group of newer Toyotas to make their way down.  We got out and talked shop with them as we watched each of their group come down what I later learned was "Hard Brake Hill" and I quickly saw why.  Pics won't do it justice but it was a pretty steep hill to the point that a couple of their group came down (what I thought was) way too fast, but nobody rolled so all good.  We were going to let them pass us up but they decided to take a break and let us go through.  I was hoping they wouldn't do that, more people looking only makes me more uneasy.  But, once again the rig went right up it, slipping a tire once in a while but never anything more than that.  I was really happy to get to the top.

After that it was pretty tame making our way back down the ridge, some tight turns, a few rocks and such but nothing much.  We encountered some dual sport riders making their way up a section as we were coming down and it was fun to shoot the breeze with them since I have been riding my whole life.  They were struggling a bit and later we saw them again and learned they turned around and came back out just past where we saw them.

We finished up the trail and found a spot to eat and have a beer and recount the day.  I was SO happy with the truck it did everything I wanted and more.  For a first trip out it was perfect, not too hard but not boring either.  I did wish for more rocks and less dirt but such is life.  We went back home for another BBQ and I slept good.

The next day I packed up and left in the morning only to find that my route home was closed until 6pm for road contstruction     Soooo I had to drive way out of my way but still made it home before noon.  I had to drive on I-5 WAY more than I wanted but kept the revs reasonable and just took my time.  Along the way my drip rail trim came loose and started flopping around in the wind so I pulled over and slapped a piece of gorilla tape on it and kept on going.

Got home and unpacked the rig but didn't really put everything away until just today.  It was a long weekend and constantly being a little uneasy the whole time wore me out a bit but it was a great trip.  I can't wait to do more!

I am now at about 1200 miles on the engine and it just seems to be running better and better.  I haven't even bothered to track mileage or anything yet but I will at some point.

I gave her a good washing today and tomorrow will go through it and verify nothing is funky or loose so that it is ready for the next time   

Happy 4th everyone 

 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXxMDQhCMgc

not us but it gives a feel for the decline

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

spill it Chris.....how so?
one thing is spring clamp to link clearance but i think that will be ok?   

CB

Also do a test fit with The radiator You plan to run. Jesse ran into an issue with radiator fit after relocating his box.
I checked really close when I did Mine and I could see what He was talking about. 
If You feel You need just a bit more room I recommend this. https://www.skysoffroaddesign.com/collections/toyota-steering/products/toy-bpa-001
I run the 3/4 less on mine and it works perfectly.
It's also super beef!

Thanks for this link Chris.  Sure enough, the spring clamp touched the TRE.  Never heard it but when looking around under the rig after cleaning it up I first saw rust on the TRE, then the very small scrape, then noticed the spring clamp was scraped a bit too.  I don't think too bad but I also wasn't on the rubicon so I am not going to wait and find out. 

Couple week lead time with Sky so hopefully by the end of the month I'll be sorted out again 

CB

[camhays556]

I had my shifter pop out a few times, the circle clip broke on mine so the spring loaded section can pop out.

This fixed my problem
 https://www.marlincrawler.com/transfer-case/parts-upgrade/shifter-parts/t-case-shift-lever-clip

[cbeers [OP]]

this was actually about 1/2 way down the shifter.
the lower half was fine but it sure made me sweat for a few minutes!

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

as you can see i need a new headliner, anyone have a good write up on that?


CB

Bump with no build updates posted yet   

Really though, anyone done theirs and could offer some tips? 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

** crickets **
 

all good, i may just end up trying to fix up the headliner i have in it now.  A shop quoted me $1k..uh, no.  I found a replacement on ebay and emailed the seller but no reply there either.  I need to get something sorted out relatively quickly though as another project is pushing the timeline on this one.

on we go.  As usual not a lot of updates but little things here and there.
On the trip to Niagara we were getting groceries afterward and while turning into the parking lot another driver gave me a look like "thanks a lot for signaling" but i had signals?  had my buddy get out and verify all was working, yep, but still I needed to improve them.
I had earlier ordered up a batch of resistors and another set of signals and had ideas on mounting them on the sides of the front fenders to help other drivers see them.  The led signals on the front of the bumper are small and during the day not the best.

So i first did the resistors to stop the super fast blinking i had as it was.  Pulled off the fender liners and mounted them. then wired up the second set of signals.  not professional but good enough for me!

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

next up was to sort out the pitman interference with my front spring clamp.  Not much but enough to scrape it on an easier trail like Niagara.  I had ordered the Sky unit, prepped and painted it then went to install.
Because i am me, i snapped my puller.  Awesome.  To be fair it was an old hand me down and who knows how old or what quality.
So i googled up a bit and ordered a new puller.  Covid shipping terms meant over a week before i saw it.  While i waited i prepped and painted my spare TR along with my helper, June.

Once delivered though, bam!  pulled the pitman in only a few seconds after i first jacked up the truck to allow the springs to droop enough for me to get the puller on good.

New pitman installed, MAN is that close!  On the road i was not happy, the new pitman caused some bump steer.  Of COURSE it did 

At first i was going to swap back and then grind my spring clamps but since then i have kind of got used to it.  I still don't like it but eh.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

next up while looking in on Scott Wilson's build i saw a link to a 3d printing place that did the B-pillar badges.  Mine looked like crap so i took the plunge and splurged.  Not cheap but really nicely made and would be a nice bit of icing on the cake.

So i started prying off the old ones, carefully, and eventually got them off.
cleaned up the old glue residue, wiped with alcohol until clean, taped up the badge area and shot them with rattle can.  Not good.  I guess they were still dirty because i got fish eye bad.  stripped it all down, REALLY cleaned it up and shot again.  Better, but still looking like crap.  F it.  I shot another layer.  then another. and another.  eyes were filling in, still looked hokey but i could live with it 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

i sure don't know what has changed with the MC upload process but the pics look like crap and some are sideways

Sorry guys 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

likely out of order, but one day when getting ready to leave for work i went to start it and AAAAAAAAAAAAACCKKKK!
crap
turn the key again and AAACCCCKKKK !!!

This is me typing that screeching/grinding sound of a failed starter.  great news 
Get out and drive the tundra.  Contact a place for a genuine Toyota/Denso starter and place and order.  A day or two later i get a notice that the order has been cancelled.  WTF?  Turns out they didn't have the unit and couldn't get one.  Great.
SO i called up OVRAROK and he linked me another place.  Called them to be sure and they said yes, they could get me one.  More covid shipping but it eventually came.  Smaller than the stock unit but looked to be OK.
Installed it and went to start it and AAAAAACCCCKKKK !!!

Now i am losing it.  what could be wrong?  flywheel is new from MC and surely if any issues they would have been spotted during my engine install. 

I pinged a couple of friends and the suggestion was power source.  Looked 'ok' for this age of truck at the battery, but at the starter i noticed a lot of broken wires.  Enough to cause this?  Dunno.  Off to Napa to try and find a replacement.  They had too short and too long so i went too long for now.  It worked 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

dangit while previewing the post, the evil turtle got me for 17 points 

Now that i was back on the road i made a trip to see OVRAROK.  He had made me a cowboy wok and i wanted to pick it up in person so we could BS and talk crawlers (and everything under the sun) for a bit.  GREAT day.  I had planned on an hour or two but drove home in the dark   

Once back home i started off with bacon and have used it several times now.  The family loves it, especially June!

Thanks again OVRAROK!!

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

during the visit he was checking over my rig and noted excessive play in my steering shaft.  I had extended it and sleeved it but there was still too much.
spoke to Yodaman and he suggested a roll pin.  that did the trick nicely but now i wonder if i have lost the factory safety feature?

Next up was another trail, this time Slick Rock.  It was awesome.  I had read about it and watched so many videos it was cool to finally be there in person.  I was with a YJ and a four door modern one, JK?  I dunno but you guys know what i mean. JK on 37s locked F/R and the YJ on 33s, ARB rear only.  We all did really well up until the exit, aka the Gauntlet.  This section of the trail was REALLY dug out compared to what i saw on videos.  In talking with a local group of jeeps they said the same thing.  There is a permanent winch plate fastened so it is a solid section.

We watched the local group go first and there was good and bad, worst being a broken front driveshaft.  He winched out the rest.  After the final guy, our turn.  JK went first, slipped and spun a bit but did really well.  Next up YJ and it was a tough go.  had to winch up part but then was fine for the rest.  Then my turn, gulp.

I stuck it in MC super low and set out.  Made my way up and through everything with nothing more than micro wheel slips a couple of times.  REALLY happy with the rig!

Full disclosure, we opted for the bypass on the upper part of this section after watching jeeps on 40s struggle.  Even the bypass was pretty fun though.

Out we went to celebrate our day   

No pics really but you guys know what it looks like and we really didn't take many.  I really liked the trail though and would go back any day.  There is talk of shutting down the Gauntlet but hopefully they just make a bypass or something because i thought that section was the highlight of the day.

CB

[OVRAROK]

TTT... this rig is so nice...