Topic: 84 4Runner Buildup - Last minute summer mods

[83yota]

congrats nice pics

[Shamb]

 congrats!  i've still got a few issues of crawl mag's I was in as well.

[874runnertoys]

congrats the 4runner looks good

[maltby101]

Hey man awesome build im putting together the exact same truck right now and I was wondering what size rear shocks your running I'm planning on running the same rear shock set up you have and i see people with 14" s and some saying run 12" s?

[Volcom [OP]]

Hey man awesome build im putting together the exact same truck right now and I was wondering what size rear shocks your running I'm planning on running the same rear shock set up you have and i see people with 14" s and some saying run 12" s?

I'm running 12's in the rear.  14's would be too long.  I have mine angled and they are almost touching in the middle.  Definitively not the most effective use of the shocks.  They need to be as straight up & down as possible to get the most out of your shocks.  I plan on redoing my rear shock setup.  I lost a shock in Moab and drove 8 hours to finish the trails.  I couldn't tell a difference that I was missing one.  That's not good.

[maltby101]

So would I benifit in running a shorter shock and keeping the stock mounts

[Volcom [OP]]

So would I benifit in running a shorter shock and keeping the stock mounts

You can fix a 12" shock under there with careful planning of the lower & upper shock mounts.  You might get away with using the stock upper mounts but you might need to build a upper shock mount like this
http://www.yotatech.com/f115/blisten-5150-mounting-question-223636/

I doubt you can fit a 14" shock down there without major angle (like I have).  I don't suggest it, the shocks are not efficient that way.

From 4Crawler.com (http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/4R_suspension-III.shtml#ShockAngle)
"So what does velocity have to do with anything? Well, a shock absorber, assuming a common hydraulic design as is commonly used in vehicles today, is a device that generates a damping force that is proportional to it's speed or velocity. Ignoring friction effects (like the seals inside the shock) and spring effects (such as from internal gas pressure) and variable damping rates (as from progressive shocks), if you compress a shock twice as fast, it generates twice the damping force. Likewise, compress (or extend) it half as fast and it generates half the force. OK, so where does this take us?

With the shock at an angle, it moves slower, relative to the suspension's up-down motion, and the more it is angled over, the slower it moves. Thus, if the shock compresses or extends slower, it is creating less damping force for a given suspension speed. So this is a dynamic factor affecting shock absorber performance.

Going back to the first part of this discussion, you need to combine the static and dynamic effects of the shock's mounting angle to estimate the overall effectivenss. Since both effects are independent, their combined effect can be calculated by multiplying the factors, which in effect squares the values in the above table

sin(90)^2 = 1.00
sin(75)^2 = 0.93
sin(60)^2 = 0.75
sin(45)^2 = 0.50
So we can see from the above table, that the shock effectiveness falls off much faster than could be accounted for strictly by the static effects of the mounting angle. And if you look at going from say 45 degrees (0.50) to 60 degrees (0.75) the shocks would feel 50% stiffer at 60 degrees vs. at 45 degrees (0.75/0.50 = 1.50). And going from 90 degrees to 45 degrees, the shocks would feel 1/2 as stiff. The above is a long-winded way of saying that as the angle of the shock decreases, it pushes less hard less efficiently in the vertical direction."

[maltby101]

Ok well I had planned on goin at a little bit of an angle cause I know too much is just pointless I think I may just go with 11's  at a minor angle

[theslayer85]

nice build and congrats on getting into a magazine.  So I don't mean to sound stupid where was that at, holy cross.  It looks amazing. 

[Zs Confederate Toy]

nice build and congrats on getting into a magazine.  So I don't mean to sound stupid where was that at, holy cross.  It looks amazing. 

Its over by Leadville and Camp Hale

[Volcom [OP]]

nice build and congrats on getting into a magazine.  So I don't mean to sound stupid where was that at, holy cross.  It looks amazing.

Yup, my picture was in French Creek on Holy Cross.  One of my favorite trails in CO!

[theslayer85]

Yup, my picture was in French Creek on Holy Cross.  One of my favorite trails in CO!

I am from colorado I am going to have to do that trail sometime.  I still need to finish my truck first, darn work getting in the way of play.  Then the hold ups of not knowing how to do someing is making it take longer.  Some day. 

[John Doe]

Did you ever get your taillites working properly? I have been wanting to rig up some LED lights for a while and dont want to wast a bunch of time figuring out the wiring the day of the swap.

[Volcom [OP]]

Did you ever get your taillites working properly? I have been wanting to rig up some LED lights for a while and dont want to wast a bunch of time figuring out the wiring the day of the swap.

They work as brake lights but not currently as turn signals.  I have a trailer tail light converter that I still need to wire in to get the turn signals to operate correctly.  It doesn't look to hard to wire in, I just haven't had the time to work on my rig.

[COToy91]

Any tips on getting the stock bushings out of the rear spring packs? I am having a hell of a time trying to get them out

[Volcom [OP]]

Any tips on getting the stock bushings out of the rear spring packs? I am having a hell of a time trying to get them out

Mine came right out.  I had to use a press to remove the thin metal sleeve around the bushing.  Lots of guys are saying heat and let them melt out.  I got very lucky with mine.  Sorry R!

[Volcom [OP]]

Christmas was good to my 4Runner!

My parents bought me some Rugged Ridge synthetic winch rope and an aluminum fairlead!


My brother and his wife bought me an Artec Ultimate Trail Quart crate!

[86bobbedtoy]

sweet!

[Volcom [OP]]

Ordered some more goodies for the 4Runner.  I was planning on using 6 55w fog lights for rock lights under my Toyota.  But they suck a ton of amperage and put out mediocre light.  I've always wanted to run LED's but they have been out of my price range.  I found a link on Pirate for a strip of 20 LEDs for $26.  The output looks great for the $.  They will be much easier to wire as well.  Since they draw little amperage, they don't have be wired with relays.  I plan on putting 2 or 3 inside the cab for dome lights and the rest will go under for rock lights.

I also wanted to upgrade my front Hella 500FF's.  They are a standard 55w H3 bulb.  I don't actually have them wired so I can't comment on how little light they put out in stock form.  But the hot modification for these lights is to buy a cheap HID kit from DDM tuning and convert them to HID's.  Granted, the converted lights won't put out as good of light as a true HID but the output will be enough.  I ordered the 55w 4500k lights.  Should be bright!

I also plan on upgrading my stock alternator to a GM CS130 style alternator.  I already have the Toyota to GM alt bracket.  I will need the extra amperage for the winch and the Oasis compressor.

[Peterbuilt84]

Interested to see how you wire/set up the rock lights. Seems like they should work really well.

[redrocket93]

Nice, I just ordered those rock lights as well. Can't believe how cheap they are. I also just finished putting a GM CS130 alternator on my runner a few weeks back. It was super easy and works great.

Oasis compressor? Why not just do a York? They are great.

[Volcom [OP]]

Interested to see how you wire/set up the rock lights. Seems like they should work really well.

I'll post up how I end up doing it!

Nice, I just ordered those rock lights as well. Can't believe how cheap they are. I also just finished putting a GM CS130 alternator on my runner a few weeks back. It was super easy and works great.

Oasis compressor? Why not just do a York? They are great.

Which GM CS130 alternator did you go with?  Junkyard, partstore, online?  Do they make a CS130 with a V-belt?  All the CS130's I saw on the Internet had the wider flat belt. Any tips on how to wire it?  I'm alittle fussy on what to do with the stock wiring from the fuse block to the battery.

I'm currently running a stock compressor for OBA.  It's plumbed to a 5gal tank.  It works great and use it all the time on the trail.  But I ended up picking up an Oasis compressor for cheap!  Can't beat 8cfm at 150psi!  My stock compressor probably puts out 1/3 of that.  I should just mount a York where the stock compressor lives.  I just couldn't pass the Oasis up.

[redrocket93]

I traded a buddy of mine some Toyota parts for a brand new CS130 he had laying around but never used. It did have a serp belt pulley but we swapped it with a v-belt pulley off a junk alternator he had laying around. All GM alt pulleys are interchangable as far as I know. As far as the wiring I just wired the Toy "excite" wire(yellow) to the "excite" wire on the alt.(brown). This could be different with your year truck. I also just used the factory charge wire from the battery directly to the Alt charge stud. I refered to this link a lot. http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Wiring/Part2/

I'm pretty sure the Oasis is just a York thats driven by an electric motor. Check out my build thread for the York install on my runner. It was super simple to set up and puts out some serious air. With the 3 gallon air tank I have I can run an 1/2" impact gun no problem. It fills 3 tires in the same time it took my buddy with a viar electric with a 2.5 gallon tank to fill one tire. I have less than $80 into my OBA setup including the compressor and all the plumbing. 

[bubs]

Nice 4 runner, good work!

[Volcom [OP]]

Jeff & Dave, owners of Rokmen and myself ran Indy & Patriot on Sunday. Perfect day of wheeling, minus the wind that kicked up in the afternoon. The 3 of us dropped in @ 10 and were out @ 1:30. We took our time and we got a ton of pictures & video. All 3 of us drove the trail without a winch pull or tow strap.

There was hardly anybody out there. Just us 3 and another group of 3 build buggies behind us. The trail is in good shape, no trash.

I only took a couple pics but Jeff and TrailBuilt took a ton. Here's my pictures.













Here's Jeff & TrailBuilt's pictures of my rig




























Full Trip report with all the pictures on Colorado4x4

[Volcom [OP]]

5/8/2012
I started working on my rear axle housing swap.  While I'm swapping housings, I'm going to build a traction bar to help with some of the axle wrap and wrapping the pinon up while in double low.


Started tearing down the 4Runner. I had to make some jackstand extensions since the 6 ton stands I have don't reach the frame high enough at full droop.


I trimmed the horse shoe collar above the driveshaft a couple years ago but once again, it's rubbing.  Guess it's time for more trimming.


Driveshaft rubs the side of the gas tank.  I already trimmed the skid plate but the DS still makes its way over there at full flex.  Time for some BFH action on the side of the tank.


Gas tank & skid are hammered.  Still holds gas so it's good.  I bet it's several gallons short now.


The junkyard replacement housing.  There's quite a bit to do to it before it can go under the 4Runner. 

* Cut the stock perches off

* Shave the drain plug

* Cut diff armor off old housing and weld to replacement

* Cut spring perches off old housing and weld to replacement

* Cut shock mounts off old housing and weld to replacement

* Replace diff studs with bolts that thread from the inside so they don't pull out of the diff

How the crossmember side of the traction bar is going to mount.  A traction bar needs to move back & forth and also rotate.  This heim shackle setup will do both.  This will connect to the upper traction bar.


The list.  This is the short list of stuff I'd like to get done this summer.  This poor 4Runner needs a ton of work but if I could get this done, I'd be happy for awhile.


The location of the heim shackle.  I will weld tabs on the sides of the bushing down to the crossmember.


Traction bar axle brackets fab'd from cardboard.  My finished brackets came out close to these mockups but I did make a couple changes.  I placed the lower bar low enough to protect the driveshaft.  Yeah, it's going to hang below the housing but it's a compromise to protect the driveshaft.

[Volcom [OP]]

5/22/2012

Finally got the housing from under the truck. 


The replacement.  Already cut the stock perches off and shaved the drain plug.  It's waiting for diff armor, perches, and shock mounts from the bent housing.


It's lived a good life.  Spent 4 years on 40's.  Can't complain at all about these Toyota axles and the tire size I've abused them to.


Shafts look good. No spline twists.  They're ready to slide into the new housing.


Marlin Crawler sells these Daystar spring bushings for the Bilstein shocks to mount them in the factory location.  I'm tired of running my rear shocks at an angle like this /\.  Getting the shocks like this || will help out a ton with my body roll and I'll get more out of the shocks.  I've ran the rear missing one shock and couldn't tell it was missing.  That's not good.


Might as well replace all the leaf spring bushings while I have it torn apart.


Scotty from Addicted Off Road hooked me up with a new U joint for the rear driveshaft.  It's gotten really bad and needs changed.

[Matty]

nice work Aaron! glad to see this thing going strong still

[Volcom [OP]]

I found some bad news last night.  I was working on the 4Runner and decided to check out the rear diff (I had taken it out of the axle and set it to the side).  I found a chewed up pinion      I guess it happened on the exit of Patriot back when I ran it on 3/18.  It made a ton of noise going down the highway and I assumed it was the rear U joint on it's last leg (it was dead before the trip but ran it anyways). I did find some strange flat metal chips in the old housing when I was pulling the 3rd and shafts.  Gear oil looked metallic too but it always seems to have a metallic look to it whenever I've changed the oil.

I'm trying to get it back together before a Holy Cross trip at the end of June.  I've got 3 options. 

Option 1 is buy new gears and have somebody build it for me.  Scotty at Addicted Off Road could do it.   

Option 2 is buying a spare 3rd from my buddy Cory.  He sold his Toyota and was planning on moving out of state.  His plans might have changed but he doesn't have a Toyota anymore.  He said he'd sell me his welded 3rd for $250. 

Option 3 is to swap the rear axle out for a 14 bolt my dad has that's laying around.  I'd have to have it geared to 5.38's and weld up the carrier.  Or I could keep it at 4.10's and find a stock Toyota 4.10 diff and swap that into the front end.  I would also need some 15" 8 lug wheels for the rear.  And a rear leaf spring U bolt kit.  And disc brake brackets, and calipers, and rotors......

[THK Matt]

Buy gears n have scotty set em up