Author Topic: Scott Wilson's 1988 4Runner Build, Version 2.0 (Read 115881 times)

84 yota dude · « **Reply #90 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 12:03:09 PM »

So awesome! How wide is the front axle?

swilson · « **Reply #91 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 01:50:43 PM »

Thanks. I think 63" wms, but I didn't measure when I finally assembled it.

swilson · « **Reply #92 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 08:46:53 PM »

This week I installed the fittings in the PS box and cleaned it up. Today I made a custom steering shaft to get around the strut tower. I used a Borgeson support bearing and an old Toyota steering shaft. I think it was out of an earlier mini truck, but I'm not positive.

The 2nd photo shows how I laid out the pieces. On the right is the my stock piece that connected at the steering column. Left of that is the u-joint which I cut off of my stock rag joint along with the piece of shaft which was originally connected to it. On the left is the lower part of the donor shaft.

For the connection of the right I hogged out the piece I had cut off the rag joint until I had an interference fit for the shaft I wanted to connect. I think TIG welded them together. I also cut off a section of the original slip joint and TIG welded that over connection as well.

swilson · « **Reply #93 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 08:49:59 PM »

Once I cut the two splined pieces to length I TIG'd them together. Then I slipped a piece of tube over the welded joint (also a scrap of the donor steering shaft) and TIG welded that to the splined pieces.

Put it all together and the steering wheel turns the tires... hooray!

emsvitil · « **Reply #94 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 09:09:21 PM »

Will the steering column collapse in a front end collision like the stock does?

swilson · « **Reply #95 on:** Jun 03, 2017, 09:15:44 PM »

Nope. But its also not a straight shaft aimed at my chest any longer.

swilson · « **Reply #96 on:** Jun 04, 2017, 09:45:06 PM »

After the drivetrain lift the rear driveshaft was going to interfere with the crossmember behind the xfer case. I cut it out today and raised it 2". This also raised the gas tank. The 4Runner gas tank sits 2" lower than a pickup tank, so now its raised up to stock pickup height. I also got the parking brake bracket welded back in, so it functions again.

joeyf · « **Reply #97 on:** Jun 04, 2017, 09:59:40 PM »

Didn't know that, about the gas tank. Is it going to interfere with the body at all know.

swilson · « **Reply #98 on:** Jun 04, 2017, 10:06:27 PM »

I'm using a 2" body lift , so yes, its fits.

blackdiamond · « **Reply #99 on:** Jun 05, 2017, 05:11:44 AM »

Quote from: swilson on Jun 03, 2017, 09:15:44 PM

Nope. But its also not a straight shaft aimed at my chest any longer.

Is this mod expected with your kit?

swilson · « **Reply #100 on:** Jun 05, 2017, 06:12:08 AM »

I can't imagine being able to use a stock steering shaft with the way the 4WU shock/strut towers sit on the frame rail. Maybe with a different tower it would work.

gdmcondev · « **Reply #101 on:** Jun 07, 2017, 08:38:14 PM »

Nice work Scott

84 yota dude · « **Reply #102 on:** Jun 10, 2017, 09:35:24 AM »

Great work!

swilson · « **Reply #103 on:** Jun 11, 2017, 08:52:59 PM »

Thanks guys. Not a huge amount of progress this weekend. Brake lines seem to take me forever. Finished the lines on the front axle. Need to buy some more fittings before I can make it up to the master cylinder. Made a bracket to mount a proportioning valve beside the master cylinder. I also plan to use line locks. They worked great on my FJ40. Gave me great confidence, being able to use the service brakes when I needed to park in a less than desirable spot on the trail.

I also spent a little time working on hydro assist lines. Had to cut into the body a bit to make room for one fitting. Bent the 90-degree fitting a little tighter to avoid having to cut into the body mount on the frame.

txlonghorn · « **Reply #104 on:** Jun 17, 2017, 12:04:42 AM »

Really awesome job and attention to detail on this thing.

Are you running the FROR brake kit with the 1/8" spacer ring tack welded to the back side of those caliper spacer? I know that is an option that they with brake kits for certain applications. I was sent that kit (with the spacer) when I told them which brakes I'm running (same tundra setup as you), but I ended up flipping the spacer to the outside (so its not in use), and it seems to fit better.

swilson · « **Reply #105 on:** Jun 17, 2017, 06:05:42 AM »

I also was sold that ring. When I mocked up the parts the caliper was not centered on the rotor. After removing the ring it lined up perfectly. They're sitting on my shelf now.

txlonghorn · « **Reply #106 on:** Jun 17, 2017, 05:33:51 PM »

Glad I'm not the only one! Sounds like they might not be familiar with the tundra brakes. They were convinced it needed the spacer. I decided to not swap the knuckles and just run the calipers on the front of the axle, making sure bleeders are on top. Only downside for me is that it's a bit more reach for the brake line.

swilson · « **Reply #107 on:** Jun 25, 2017, 02:10:37 PM »

Well I gave it my best, but I won't be making Rubithon. I've gotten a lot done lately, but nothing finished. I'm also burning out bad. I took this week off from working on it and will get back on it next weekend. I enjoy the build as much as wheeling, so I need to keep a pace that is enjoyable, and won't lead to burnout.

Had a friend come help me with the 3RZ wiring, so that is moving along... but not done. I finished plumbing the brake lines, but took no photos. I'll try to get some photos next week.

blackdiamond · « **Reply #108 on:** Jun 25, 2017, 02:24:01 PM »

Quote from: swilson on Jun 25, 2017, 02:10:37 PM

Well I gave it my best, but I won't be making Rubithon. I've gotten a lot done lately, but nothing finished. I'm also burning out bad. I took this week off from working on it and will get back on it next weekend. I enjoy the build as much as wheeling, so I need to keep a pace that is enjoyable, and won't lead to burnout.

Had a friend come help me with the 3RZ wiring, so that is moving along... but not done. I finished plumbing the brake lines, but took no photos. I'll try to get some photos next week.

Sounds like a smart decision. You'll like the final product better and enjoy the journey more if you don't rush for a deadline. Another one next year.

swilson · « **Reply #109 on:** Jan 17, 2018, 09:15:16 PM »

I'm getting back on this project. Need to have it ready for Rubithon.

I went to assemble the rear axle and realized the housing was ordered without the inspection port. I was able to buy the port from FROR and welded it in. Love these housings... so robust.

swilson · « **Reply #110 on:** Jan 17, 2018, 09:21:09 PM »

The rear axle is a full floater using mini truck spindles and hubs. Brakes are FRORs new D-rotor setup. Its 5th gen 4Runner brakes which are disc with drum parking brakes. Chromoly shafts and Diamond flanges. Waiting on some stainless flex brake lines and ARP hub studs to finish it off.

RB · « **Reply #111 on:** Jan 18, 2018, 06:09:21 AM »

Killer update! Really want to do the d-rotor rear brake upgrade.

swilson · « **Reply #112 on:** Jan 18, 2018, 02:24:35 PM »

Thanks

Forgot I wanted to tell a little story about something I learned about factory wheel hubs...

The IFS wheel hubs I got had rotors that were extremely rusted onto the hub. I finally got the rotors off using a small sledge hammer, but in the process I hit the edge of the wheel hub and caused it to mushroom a bit, which ruined the flat surface that the wheel would rest against.

So off to my friend's machine shop for a fix. He positioned the wheel hub in his lathe using the inner bearing races, so we knew it would be spinning true and the measured the run-out on the flat mating surface for the wheel (in an area I hadn't damaged with the hammer). I found out that factory hubs have a surprising amount of run-out. I've forgotten exactly how much we measured, but it was more than I ever would have guessed.

Might not be a big deal when from the factory it was only spinning 30" tires, but now that we're all running big ol' tires, having all that weight not running true can create significant vibration. So... if you're chasing down a vibration on your truck and have ruled out the more common causes like tire balance, tire out-of-round, bent wheels... might want to put a dial gauge on the face of that wheel hub and see if its true.

John Doe · « **Reply #113 on:** Jan 20, 2018, 10:54:19 PM »

Great progress!

I am really liking the Drotor set up that FROR sells.

swilson · « **Reply #114 on:** Feb 03, 2018, 10:25:12 PM »

Big day... the 4Runner is finally sitting on all it's new rubber.

I've used Alcan leaf springs on all my Toyotas. I've found them to be extremely flexible and I've never had a failure. The previous 88 4Runner used the 52" long pack in the rear. The FJ40 used a built to spec pack in the rear that had orbit-eyes in the rear spring eye only. Both of those flexed great, but especially with the FJ40 it really ate up the big poly bushing that sat in the forward spring eye. This time I decided to go with dual orbit-eyes to eliminate the poly bushings completely in the spring ends. I also opted for the 56" long springs this time.

To run orbit-eyes in the front it requires a wider spring hanger. To run the 56" length you'll also need to move the shackle hanger rearward. To find how I was going to mount them, I disassembled the pack down to only the main leaf. Then put in a 2" piece of tube to take up the space of the leaves I had removed. Then I could mount the axle and flex the spring with minimal effort, to see how it behaves and decide where I wanted me mounts to be.

I decided to french in the forward spring hanger, so I started with 1/8" reinforcing plates on the outside of the frame. Then I cut away the frame and welded in new spring hangers, along with some 3/16" plate to strengthen the frame.

The axle sits 1.5" farther back than stock. The rear sits really high right now, but there's not much weight on them yet. With my previous Alcans it took a couple Rubicon trips before they settled down to a more permanent ride height.

swilson · « **Reply #115 on:** Feb 03, 2018, 10:56:34 PM »

Oh... good news on the house-front too. Framing is nearly complete. The garage is blowing my mind. We kept the house the same size, but the garage went from 500 sqft to 1000. I'm hoping to move home in around Aug-Sept, just before the 2yr anniversary of the fire. Never would have guessed it would take this long.

joeyf · « **Reply #116 on:** Feb 05, 2018, 06:12:36 AM »

The springs are going to last forever. I run the same thing and the orbit eyes eliminates that twist the spring gets when it flex’s up. Makes them last so much longer

84 yota dude · « **Reply #117 on:** Feb 05, 2018, 09:08:12 PM »

Looking schweeet! Talk about a garage upgrade on that new house.

:)bestgen4runner · « **Reply #118 on:** Feb 07, 2018, 04:00:05 PM »

swilson · « **Reply #119 on:** Mar 05, 2018, 09:14:14 PM »

I'm not getting nearly as much done as I want to lately. I did get most of the interior and most of the dash back together. After several failed attempts to patch up my badly cracked stock dash using a vinyl repair kit, I ended up finding a dash cap on Ebay. I ground down the high spots around the cracks, then put this cap over the dash with the supplied adhesive around the edges and vent holes. The finish product looks pretty clean. Still need to spray dye it gray.

I started putting the 4x4Labs rear bumper kit together. I would have finished it by now, except half way trough I'm suddenly having major welder issues. I'd be willing to bet it'll end up being a contaminated tank of shielding gas, but right now both the tank and welder are at the shop getting inspected. Very frustrating.

I love the design on this rear bumper. Very strong, very low profile. Very slick how the side protection mounting point is using one of the bolts used for the main bumper mounting. (I'll be sure to get a photo of that when I get the bumper finished) The kit still requires some careful trimming to get the side panels lining up nicely with the main bumper, so most people will want to order it pre-welded from 4x4Labs. Since I used a 2" body lift I had to hack up the mounts that slide in the frame rail and weld them up at my new body height. That was my motivation for getting the DIY version... since it knew it wasn't going to be a straight bolt on deal. Welding the nuts to the bumper mounts is a must-do... makes life simple, not having to get your wrench down your frame tube each time you're installing or removing it.

Hopefully my welder is working again soon and I can finish off this bumper this week.