Topic: CBeers' 1985 4Runner

[cbeers]

Inside the bellhousing was just as much of a mess as the rest.  No wonder I had drips of oil on the bottom of my cases when parked for months...

To better clean the Tcase, I had the idea to try a wire wheel that I had.  It was brass in color but I don't think it was actually brass.  I tried it out on the tcase first, above the front output thinking it would never be seen.  It worked great!  I mean, nothing show car but for me, same as if it was.  This thing has been such a nasty pig of gunk I am happy to see it turning into the proper polished turd that it should be 
I should mention I was NOT aggressive in this, I just did enough to knock off the crud.

I did the same thing to the transmission and called it good.

I started my planning for assembly even though I wasn't there yet and was getting conflicting input from various sources on how best to seal everything up.   Meaning transmission to crawl box, adapter to rear tcase etc.  Some use paper gaskets, some FIPG of differing types/brands so I made some inquiries to the people in the know and decided on Toyota FIPG orange.  This stuff is not cheap but man is it good.  I love it and ended up using it more often than I thought I would.  Stay tuned for those future episodes of me doing things the harder way.

I do think that this stuff is for real, just based on the warnings 

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Now that the outsides were clean(er) time to work on keeping them that way.

Transmission input seal and gasket.  Easy money only this was the only pic I took....more on that someday

New slave cyl

Then I finally gave in and started cleaning up the underside of the truck.  Years and years of oils and grease and who knows what.  I hated it, looking up at crud and trying not to get crap in my eyes and ears.  I wear safety glasses but stuff always seems to find me.  I started by scraping big sheets off and then working some wire brushes, then cleaner and softer brushes, more cleaner, spray down with water.  Curse a lot.  Drink beer.  Drag it out for far too long hoping it would just be clean one day.

I got it to about here and called it good enough for now.

[cbeers [OP]]

Dang I just realized I have a page two...progress.

I kept flip flopping around on various side projects while I had things out, one was the clutch.  One thing I was dreading was the pilot bearing. Not because it's hard, but because I don't seem to have a puller any longer and didn't want to try the local auto parts places too much.  I saw OVRAROK's post about his clutch project and using a hamburger bun to force the pilot out.  I had heard of this, grease, wet newspaper but never really thought it would work for me.  But there I was, so I pulled a mini bagel from my kids' supply and started shoving it in.  I kept at it until I felt like I couldn't get any more in.  Then I drove a 3/8" extension into it.  Big dent, refill.  Repeat.  Eventually it was truly full and started to drive out until it finally let go!  Nice break for me but I was still heavily on the losing side of luck in the garage.

I then went back to the idea of assembling the duals.  I think that more than anything else I just wanted to SEE duals in my garage.

Then another landmark day for me, MC08 getting unwrapped after months of waiting !!!!  I was so happy, even if nothing else happened but getting them mated up.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

another easy fix was replacing the seals on the Tcase tailhousing.

I also did the RMS.  It needed it badly otherwise I would likely have left it.  It seems to be one seal that many leave alone.  Fingers crossed.

Interesting that this clutch is from Korea?  Maybe not but to me it was.

New clutch master.  Didn't need it but I wanted to do it and forget about it from then on.

[cbeers [OP]]

On I went.

I installed the new flywheel and bolts.

I finally had duals on my garage floor   

finished up the clutch

and did a final pass on the undercarriage and applied some undercoating from 3M.  If it gives even a tiny bit of help with heat and sound I'll be happy and if not, oh well it's not going to change anytime soon.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

OK with those things done, I was now ready to install the transmission and duals so that I could set up my new FROR crossmember.  Sweet.  Only, this would be a hard lesson learned for me.....

I used my assistant Mr. Hoist again to lift the assembly up into place.  Put some bolts in to snug up the transmission to engine.  Then I moved to the back of the Tcases and slipped the FROR crossmember into place......
wait.
that's not looking right?!
So I take it off, stare at it puzzled....do I have it on backwards?  Nope, can't be but one way so it's Chris proof.  I put it back on again and figure I must need to do SOMETHING else.....but it's WAY off.  Like many many inches off from being aligned both level and bolt holes in the right places.  I stare up at it from the ground WTF?

Then I get a thought, what if MC didn't build me the 10degree clocked adapter?  What if it was just straight 0?
OR
Maybe FROR sent me the wrong part?   Not likely after waiting for months and talking back and forth with them so many times.....

So I called up MC and asked about it.   

I get the reply that they have not sold the clocked adapter for two years. 
Say what now?  Your site shows it as an added cost NOT to be clocked, so I ASSumed (again) that when I ordered the unit it would be clocked to avoid having to pay $70 for it to be non-clocked??
Yeah, the site has not been updated either.
So now I have to order a new crossmember??
yeah, sorry about that.
 

As I have said before I love MC and what they do but man, that was a big mistake and I was stuck buying two units.  Not happy but I had to do what I had to do at this point.  I literally had the Tcases hanging from a thread(ed runner for climbing) and no way to install them.

I called up FROR and told them what I was faced with and asked if they could overnight me a new set as the skid was no good either since it was clocked too.
Uh, the charges are ridiculous, let's take a look.  They were INSANE.  Prohibitive by a mile.  Two day was less but still crazy.  Ground was doable but meant no crossmember for about a week.  Dang.  Major buzzkill.  I need beer to wash that bitter taste out ASAP.

Where FROR went above and beyond was agreeing to take back the clocked set for no charge other than I had to ship it back again.  THANK YOU FROR   
That's how customer service should be!!  I am not fully bashing MC, I know they are doing their best and have taken care of me more than once, it was just frustrating to go through this expensive lesson.

So I waited   

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Time went by, slowly, and eventually the man in the brown truck showed up....right after I had cleaned up shop for the night.  No big, tomorrow would be another day and I could move forward.

I got the cases back up on the hoist.  I didn't want to leave the hoist hanging for days so I set up jackstands for the rear case to rest on.  I got things roughly right and went to install the FROR crossmember.  PERFECT !!!  I was so happy, I was getting close.

After quite a bit of fiddling around checking alignments, level etc. I got it to where I was happy and tacked it in place.  I then removed the crossmember and bushings and put the rear tcase back on a jackstand.  This would allow for room under the vehicle to weld without the hoist being in the way.

All burned in with help from a friend.

During the fitting process, I noticed that the CV driveshaft I was planning to use for the rear would not fit past the horse collar.   
I put up some SOS calls on the shout box and heard what I knew would be the case, but was hoping not to hear, I needed to clearance the collar.  Dang.  Ok, let's get after it.  So I cut a section out, trimmed it and welded it higher.  Then added a couple more pieces to fill in/support.  Looked good to me.

Final installation (only it wasn't) and looking good!!
Sharp eyes will notice the changed out rear output flange due to the other issue I had posted on 1980firstgen20r's thread in the Transfercase/Drive line section.

Little by little though, issues were being worked out and progress was being made which was a nice feeling.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

MC 4.7 #1024 
I had assumed that this was always a single built box for one of the POs of this 4runner but I am not so sure now.  When I went to install the doubler I was reading the bit about having to trim the driver's side shift rail.  OK, seemed easy enough so I went to look at my Tcase.
Huh, the driver's side appears to be already cut? 
It was the passenger's side that had the odd shaped end sticking out looking like it needed to be cut. 
Maybe I was thinking about it wrong, so I called a MC member to discuss 

Nope, I had it right and after I sent him a bunch of pics showing all possible shift positions proved out it was cut.  SO, while that was nice, it took a while to figure out.  I can only assume that this box was actually the back of a dual unit at some point and a PO bought it for this vehicle later on as there is no sign of duals having ever been in this truck.

One morning I was reading the new posts on MC like usual and I saw Gnarly4x's post about installing the transmission input seal backwards.  He went on to say it was counter-intuitive in that the seal faced the opposite direction of normal.  I thought about it and I didn't recall doing any seals backwards 

I went to my pics and found the time frame from the seals and ....no pic on install.  Of course.  I thought about it more, really trying to visualize myself installing that seal and just couldn't be sure I did it right.
Panic set in......

Sooooo, out it all came again 

At least I was getting faster at it.

Yes, installed correctly.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

We are essentially to current day now.....

Once everything was back in and happy, I could measure for rear drive line and get the CV shaft to the shop.  I took my measurements and hopped in the Tundra.  I met the owner of the shop and confirmed he does tons of these on a daily basis.  We talked over details and I got my place in line, two week backlog.  At  my speed that would be perfect.  I had to call him back anyway once I got the new rear axle under there, which was next on the list.

I needed to put that rear axle together and get things done.  Easy enough, the rear is far easier than the front.  Here's a comparison of OEM, brandofunknownquality, and MC ecoseal just for fun.

Larger wheel cylinders from MC as a little upgrade in the process.  The difference in drum size is already massive, as you all know, but I figured why not get a bit more stopping ability given we run larger than normal tires?  I wasn't ready to go disc yet. 

I pulled my perches out of storage and found only minor surface rust from sitting around for who knows how long.  I think these are from RuffStuff but I could be wrong.

I got it done and then pulled out the rear axle from the truck, moved it around, slid the new one under and got it bolted up to the ubolts to keep it from moving around.  Put the wheels back on and lowered it to the ground.

Ok, now how to set the pinion angle?   
I read up (and talked to DL shop guy) about it and then I also called a MC member to get their take as they had done what I was trying to do.  We talked it over and I started messing around.  Did more reading online to figure out how best to read the angle (I had no DL) in order to adjust as needed.
About then I realized that I hadn't centered the housing when putting it under the springs.  Sooo, jack the truck, remove wheels, loosen ubolts, adjust housing side to side until centered.  Put all back together again.

Ok, NOW to that pinion angle....
using squares, levels and an angle finder I figured it out and tacked the perches in place.

Took it all apart again and pulled it out from under the truck.

it was getting to be a three ring circus of built axles in my garage but things were looking better all the time   

CB

[OVRAROK]

Your on it, Dog gone it!!!!!   

[84 yota dude]

Nice work on this thing!
I dig the color too

[cbeers [OP]]

Thanks again guys I appreciate it.  I am not actually a fan of the color but I do like that it's low profile in the woods and doesn't get as much attention when parked on the street.

OK.  Not a whole heck of a lot has gone on lately but here are a few more updates.

I had my friend do the final welding on the spring perches (I pulled the axle out again for better access) as well as the shock bar.  I welded the plates to the shock bar, but he did the plates to frame....and it's obvious who is who      All good, I love watching and asking during the process to help me put more info in my pea brain.
Once those were welded and cooled off, I cleaned everything up and shot my usual black rattle can.

Then (as I often do) I stared at it all and wondered how I was going to do brake lines.....I had the original axle in tact to use as a guide of sorts and I had the IFS axle hard brake line.  Only trouble was, the lines were not bent for my leaf spring setup since they came off of a 90s 4runner with coil rear.  I don't have any bending tools or knowledge about how to make lines so I just started bending by hand   

I was able to work each section, often many times, and get the line to "work" but it's not pretty and has a lot of excess that is more likely to get snagged on something.  At some point I want to get tools and learn how to make my own lines.  If that is too much for me to do, I'll have it done but I still have to fit the shock mounts before coming up with anything final.  Maybe this will stay as is for years.

I ended up fabbing little plates and tacked them into the rear of the perches.  Welded nut on the back and it became a new mounting point.  I had left two factory brackets on the frontside of the tube....I wasn't sure what the plan was but for some reason I left them.  I think at some point I had an idea to use them for an anti-wrap bar?!?!?!   

Anyway, I used them for mounting the lines.  I didn't end up putting a mount at the center of the diff, but I don't think I need to?  Maybe if I redo these someday I'll change but for now....eh.



CB

[cbeers [OP]]

The last couple of weeks has been packed so again, not much getting done.  I am also waiting on my rear driveshaft to be done so I can turn the truck around and hit the front end.  I am not technically ready as I need to bleed the clutch and brakes, then again, I could easily start it in low range and do it all without either one right?  I'll bleed systems 

Yesterday I had a small window of time so I wanted to look at my exhaust closer.  I have to do something since the new FROR crossmember now lives where my cat used to be.  I was playing around with the idea of just moving the rear section up and skipping the cat so I could get it to the muffler shop without an open pipe.  It won't work easily so I think it will be open pipe time.  I had another idea to find a bypass/test pipe to bolt in place temporarily but can't find one yet.  My issue is the truck is out of date, really out of date and driving to the shop with an open pipe could get me noticed.  I should have it towed....but it's not that far.


Anyway, as I was laying under the truck, I noticed that the gas tank skid plate that I has just reinstalled hit the front spring hanger bolt.  Pretty bad.  I didn't want that so I decided to pull the skid.  Because of this, I had to face the boogered up cross threaded bolt #6 that I had just said F it to when installing.  I was tired.  It was dumb, but now I could make it right.  So, I dropped the skid and also needed to pull the rear bracket to fix the bad captured nut.  Tank on jack with plywood to support it while I pulled the bolts and off I went.

I ground off the factory nut and welded on a new one.  I was going to try to tap it again/next size up but in the end felt this was faster?  Who knows, maybe just a reason to weld something.  Worked out perfectly though.

While that was drying I notched the skid for the bolt clearance issue and shot paint on both.  Installed, good as gold.

Looking at these pics that bolt was REALLY pushing the skid down.....and likely why mounting it back up was so challenging and how I ruined that captured nut.  Sometimes working alone sucks for stuff like this.  An extra set of eyes and hands would go a long way!

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

and as always, lots and lots of caked on grease, oil and crud.  The skid took hours using a putty knife to knock off the big stuff.  Then wire brush.  All while rinsing in cleaner solution.  It's not perfect, again, but will do just fine for me.

I could tell the skid had been hit a few times.  I had to pound out a couple of bigger hits, just enough to sort of make it straight again.  I was going to weld up these rips but in the end thought that would be wasted time.

The tank was less caked but still required a good scrubbing with scotchbrite pads and rinsing with water.  Blew it all out with air once it had dried in the sun and installed it.....only to take it out for that bolt and captured nut   

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Then I had a couple of free hours so I decided to get started on the front end, new drive shaft or not.

So I jacked up one side, removed the wheel and started on the shock.  It eventually spun in vice grips and I ended up just cutting it off.  These are old shocks anyway so they are bound for the bin.  Then I started hacking away at the shock tower.  The base was not fun, there are a few different pieces all welded together but little by little it came out.  I still have some (more) grinding to do on top and bottom of the frame rail but progress is progress....

I found it interesting that on the forward "double weld" it did not penetrate at all...double weld meaning two pieces welded side by side essentially creating one big piece.  I think it was meant to be a gusset of sorts?  The rear weld was solid and much harder to get the bracket off. 

Today being Mother's Day I have been ignoring the garage.  Turns out, my wife has been gone far longer than I expected and I could have got some stuff done 

Oh well, I posted pics instead

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

What's up guys?   

New job back in May kicked my butt and continues to do so but I finally downloaded some pics and can update a little bit.  Truth is for months not much happened at all.  Little bits here and there but it all works in the right direction.

Moved on to the passenger side...not absolutely done but for then it was.


One day I fiddled around and made a cover for the ABS hole in the rear diff.  OVRAROK later showed me the cool guy version but this was free.


Then I finally got my driveshaft back!! 
 
Had a painting party with the eventual Sky shackles and waited overnight for it to dry.


CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Next day came and i got it installed (this was not final, bolts did get tight).  Looked pretty dang cool to see that.  Not so much for a simple driveshaft but the fact that this meant it could DRIVE again!!  After literally months the turd might move.  And it did, eventually but not then.  As always, time for me in the garage is random and limited so things you guys knock out in a weekend has taken me years   

 I still had to bleed clutch and brakes before I could do anything anyway and that didn't happen until one of my brothers in law came to visit.


Time passed.......

But then one day it actually did happen.  I had my wife assist by spotting the clearance on the roll up door as i slowly inched my beast out of the garage.  Open exhaust, waking up the motor after a long sleep, a bajillion things I took apart and hopefully put back together correctly all flooded my head but IT WAS RUNNING AND DRIVING 

I drove to the bottom of my driveway, turned around and backed it back in for my big first trip but I was happy anyway.  While not a true road test at least things worked as they should!

It was time to get into the front end, FINALLY.  You may recall the steering was one of my first purchases with MC and it was now becoming reality after seeing parts sit for years 

That's how it is with me though, buy, store and eventually install when time allows.

Anyway, time to get busy   

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

I started by taking off the front suspension, steering and axle.  I didn't know how the steering came apart but google to the rescue.  got that done and took a beer break 

I didn't like what I saw.  The truck was sloping down towards the front end, a lot.  Not good. I needed to get it more level.

First thing I realized was that my jack stands weren't going to cut it for me, even though they were already larger 6 ton.  I don't like the idea of stacked blocks so I got a pair of bigger stands from HF.  Again, not a big fan of HF but for this they were perfect.

But how to lift the truck up now that there was no axle?  Buddy's hoist to the rescue again!  I love that thing and this wasn't the last time it would be helpful.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

OK now I could continue so I removed the box.  There is always one fastener that doesn't want to play nice.  This of course meant more frame cleaning.  Both the grease and grime and then to bare metal.  My favorite job to do....     

but, progress.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Then the front hanger came off.  Nothing exciting just more cutting and grinding and certainly no going back now!
And why would I want to?   

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

We're at about October now....can't remember for sure.  As I mentioned before, I had always intended on removing the 3" body lift (and later decided on a 1").  Even before I bought the truck.

Before I did that though (and I didn't have any idea HOW I was going to do that) I wanted to take care of anything that would be easier with the lift in place.  One of those things was the engine mounts.  I had no idea of the condition of mine but they looked beat.  Turns out the driver side was sheared apart, as often happens.  I should have done the Marlin bolt trick before installing but didn't...

I used the engine hoist again to do this.  I ended up loosening all bolts on both sides to get it all done rather than one at a time.  It was too hard to get everything aligned without doing that.  Not a really fun project but I am glad it's done.  All Toyota parts and hardware.  Mated with the FROR Tcase crossmember mounts, my drivetrain should be good now.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

OK then....body lift and all new body mounts time.  I bought Roger Brown's 1" lift years ago and was now ready to install it.  But how?  I read up a bit and often it's high lift jacks or a group of buddies but high lift seemed sketchy to me and I don't often have a group of buddies available at the same time.  Like never really.

Sooo my good friend engine hoist and I went to work.  I first loosened up all body mount bolts but left a few threads to keep the bolts in place.  I then figured out a way to lift the body and made my way around the truck one at a time.  Some spots were tricky but by using climbing gear I was able to make it work.  End of day one and I had gangster lean, but the good kind that comes from ditching 2" of body lift.

Day two turned out to be the following weekend.  I used a length of 2x4 as extra leverage when needed and it worked well.  Until the last mount when the body pinched the board to the frame.  Rut roh.  I lifted higher on the hoist watching for anything going wrong due to the contraptions I was using to lift the body and eventually got it out. 

Nice.  This was I suppose the longest project I have done given i wanted it done before I even owned the truck!

Really heading in a good direction now   

I started to mock up the front spring hanger.

CB

[OVRAROK]

You going to be ready for next years roundup?..,looking forward to wheeling with you 

[cbeers [OP]]

I took my MC purchased IFS box out of storage and opened it up.  uh oh.  Hopefully just some fluid seeped out over time due to positioning while in storage.....
I clamped it to my frame to start thinking about how to mock it up.

Figuring out the front hanger and IFS box was tricky for me.  Too tricky in fact so I phoned a friend   

Have to tack the hanger in place and mock up the steering box/axle and just see how it looks.  OK, that makes sense to me.

ImmortalYota80 has been THE MAN when it comes to this build and I would have been lost more than once without his help   

He swung by one afternoon and we started in.  Tacked the front hanger in place and moved the front axle under the rig.

Nope.  Need to move the box forward more.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

You going to be ready for next years roundup?..,looking forward to wheeling with you 

You know something Dave, I honestly can say YES I WILL BE !!!!!   

Thank you for all of your advice, I appreciate it very much !!

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

So we tried first smashing the sheetmetal a bit and mocked up again.  Nope. 

Repeat. 

Repeat again. 

And again. 

No good.

So, we started cutting.  Mock up, no go.


Cut more, mock up....hey....now we're getting somewhere!
Sent pics to OVRAROK for his take, keep going he said. 

We knew this, but were tired.  Don't be weak, do it right 


CB

[cbeers [OP]]

So we cut more, smashed more and eventually had a good spot. 

Verified all was good, which is a time consuming process in all of this, double and triple checking all clearances before we drill and weld the frame.

Drilled out the frame using increasingly larger bits and finished with a step bit to get the holes large enough for the sleeves on the IFS box mount from MC.  Worked great.

Got the box mounted and called it a night!  Note my caster wheel on the diff, VERY handy over these many many months of moving it around.

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Dang, I thought I had all of my pics but I guess not and my cord is at work.

So, more when I can gents   

CB

[cbeers [OP]]

Well I did find these, the actual ending spot that night.....

CB

[ImmortalYota80]

Hey where’s the rest of the pics?! I know the welder finished his job