Scott Wilson's 1988 4Runner Build, Version 2.0

[swilson]

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.

[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.

That's the guy that built my 4Runner back in his college days. This ones going to be pretty trick.

[THK Matt]

ill watch this one, i like it already! i miss my hiluxs

[swilson]

So nice that the heat wave broke, I could actually get a solid day of work in on this thing.

Lost a few hours to getting a rebuild finished off that I was doing on an SM420, but now it's ready to go to the new owner.  No SM420 for the 4Runner... it was a spare for my FJ40.  Then I got to cutting away the stock frame.

Parts of the frame in the area of my cut were a double thickness.  To fit the 2" wide tubing within the stock frame those double thick areas must be cut away.  Then I found that just to the rear of where I'm marrying the frames there's a panel entirely blocking the inside of the frame, this panel is just far enough back it's not affecting what I'm going at all.  Just thought it was a curious thing.

I decided to reuse the factory front body mounts, so I used the plasma cutter to remove them from the frame.

[swilson]

 I'm using 3x2", 3/16" wall tubing for the new frame section. I wanted to avoid straight lines across the frame, so I did a curved cut.  This left enough overlap of the two frames to use a hole saw to make some cuts so I can have some additional welds between the two frames.

I'm using a 2" body lift on this build.  This is mainly to let me lift the drivetrain.  Since the 3RZ is a tall motor that will help, and it will also keep the transfer case away from the rocks.  The other benefit is it will let me raise the very low stock gas tank 2" so it will sit at the height the p/u tank sits at.

I don't see any reason to keep the 2" body lift on the front mounts so though, so since the new frame section will be entirely new, I'll build it to fit on the stock front mounts with no body lift pucks.

[swilson]

Woo Hoo!  Haven't gotten this much done in one week ages!

Finished building the new frame section and got all of the new section fully welded.  Ran out of time and had to head into work for some mandatory overtime (grrr) before I could weld the new frame into the old. 

[zippo]

Sweet

[THK Matt]

Hell ya!!

[H8PVMNT]

Yeah that is cool.

[OVRAROK]

 

[swilson]

Thanks!

Forgot to mention, the front crossmember and rails ended up being 3" higher instead of 2".  Figured if I was gonna raise it at all, why not go as high as I could with the stock body mounts.  I sliced up the stock body mount so I could get another 1" of height for the frame rail.

[swilson]

Been getting my F250 ready for a camping trip, so not too much to report on the 4Runner.  Did a rebuild on the NP271 xfer case... this 1 ton gear is massive when you're used to seeing Toyota stuff.  Here is the NP271 output shaft with a Toyota 30 spline for reference.

I did get the new and old frames welded together and beefed up the lower edge with a plate.  I ran out of steam before I could put the additional bracing in that I plan to do.  Happy to have it off the jack-stands, so I can roll it out of the way again.

[swilson]

Between summer camping, a motorcycle purchase, and fighting off some nasty respiratory infection all month, I'm definitely behind on this project!

I'm retiring a high mileage BMW R1200RT I use as my commuter and just purchased a much newer version of the same bike.  2 weeks ago my 9yr old daughter and I flew to El Paso TX to get the bike, and rode it home over 4 days.  We took lots of time to see the sights, visited some National Parks, and rode some Route 66 too.  Definitely a trip to remember!

Today my 4WU 3-link kit was delivered.  The quality of this kit looks great.  I need to get some time set aside to start installing it!

[TacoRunner]

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

[swilson]

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

Tell me more... Is this to clear the lower links?

[TacoRunner]

Yes

IFS frame thickens vertically at the A pillar.  Its about an inch or so. Cutting it off and plating it so that it resembles the straight axle frame will help with your up travel numbers.

[swilson]

Yes

IFS frame thickens vertically at the A pillar.  Its about an inch or so. Cutting it off and plating it so that it resembles the straight axle frame will help with your up travel numbers.

Thanks for the info!

[swilson]

Well I had a hell of a week.  Woke Friday to my house on fire!  I ran out to find the corner of the living room where the entertainment system was, engulfed in flame.  We got the kids out safely.  I tried to use a fire extinguisher on the fire but the super heated air in the room blistered my bald head and right hand.  I could only grab my wallet and few guns from the safe before I ran out too.

The house is a total loss.  Even the fire-rated gun safe couldn't hold it back.  Most all of the remaining safe contents are destroyed.  The fire wall at the garage held pretty amazingly good for how hot this fire was and the garage contents were largely spared.  My new parts got soaked and rusted, but they didn't get cooked and are totally still usable.  So, it looks like this project will live on.

We lost everything.  Not a room was spared except the garage.  I miss my inaugural Round Up shirt so much!  LOL   But seriously, I'm only upset about the non-replaceable family-stuff.  Insurance is there to replace the rest of the crap.  It's just those little nick knack things your kids made for you when they were in kindergarten and photos on the walls that really get you riled up because there's no way to replace those.  I'm very blessed that all of my family got out safely.

I'm working on finding a rental house now.  That should get us back to a sense of normalcy.  Then we can start looking into rebuilding the house.  I imagine this project won't be on the trail next season as planned.

  Now go check your fire detector batteries and go buy that fire safe you've always known you need but don't want to spend the money on.

[daniresch]

WOW.. Glad everyone is okay!

[mudmaster]

Good to see everyone made it out alive!

[84 yota dude]

Dang, good thing everyone is ok

[OTO Phil]

That sucks... But looks like Yoda was watchin out for your build! Glad your family is safe, and I'm putting a fireproof safe on my list!

[THK Matt]

Thats incredible that you guys were able to make it out of that. Keep your head high and rebuild.

[TacoRunner]

Holy dude. Glad you guys are okay. How did it start?

[swilson]

Must be electrical.  When I got to the living room, the corner by the entertainment center was on fire.

[OTO Phil]

Can you show us pictures of the safe? And what brand it is?

Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

[swilson]

Looks like a nasty burnt, warped, box made of steel.  The only photos I have are of the inside and I'm not sharing those.  The interior looks like it was it was cooked in an oven.  A few of the loaded magazines got hot enough to warp.  I wouldn't trust any of the guns or magazines after seeing as much heat as they did.  The photos I had pinned on the door are unrecognizable.  The patches on the door are smokey and discolored.  I got a few items off the floor of the safe that were in great shape... big temp difference between the top and bottom.  It was a Liberty Safe.  The investigator said my fire was way up there as far as the scale of hot fires go... so the safe really got cooked.

[OTO Phil]

Dang, sorry to hear that. Thanks for being willing to share what you have. Would you suggest a 20 lb or possibly a 30 lb fire extinguisher for those of us who currently only have a few 2.5 lb extinguishers around the house?

[redneckcustoms13]

From the line of work I'm in I experience fires more often than I'd like. You can NEVER have too many extinguishers. The only way I would consider one too large is if you cannot physically carry it.

[swilson]

I'd concentrate on making sure you've got good fire safes, have new batteries in your smoke detectors, and backup all your photos to the cloud, or at least someplace other than your house. 

A go-bag is a nice idea too. Stuff you need immediately to keep things moving in the right direction.  Copies of your IDs, cash, a credit card, keys to all your cars, etc. 

I mistook a watch with a metal band for my keys in the chaos.  As a result we couldn't move my wife's car and the front of it melted.  Now we are without a car 2 weeks and have an auto claim as well... Sure wish I had grabbed the keys!

Oh... I guarantee I'll do better lighting in my next safe.  My last one ran off wall power, so when the fire took out the power my safe was dark, which was why I missed the keys.  The next one will have LED lighting with a good sized battery powering the LEDs.