96 cruise vessel build

[Ramrod]

So I was driving down the street today and saw this little guy chilling there and remembered that it was sitting in the same place last week and looked like it hadnt moved so I nocked on the door.........  blah blah blah an hour and $3500 later this bad boy is sitting at my house




It has new old man emu suspension with longer springs in the rear and a ghetto shackle set up which is why it it sits all stinkbud and a NEW 3RZ and let it be known this thing hauls ass big time. 

This is gonna take the place of my 86 which is gonna be parted out and will be my new dd Wheeler.  Only positive specs so far are gonna be:

my used dual t-cases
my used 37"mtrs
used rears up front
used shock hoops
used chevy rears(probably cuz im cheap)
used tranny so I can bolt up my tcases

Goals:
keep somewhat clean
all mods done cleanly with time and care spent to look nice and be strong and functional
good body armor so it doesnt end up like my last truck
hopefully at least 2" lower than my last truck
keep totally streetable and nice driving

Other than thoses specs I dont know what im gonna do with it really.  I took out $5000 from the bank which obviously means I have 1500 left to fund this project right off not including the whole truck i can just steal parts from and sell.  So yep stay tuned its not gonna get torn into till atleast the end of december but after that it will come along quickly


CURRENT TRUCK SPECS- edited as they change
96 tacoma reg cab
3rz
w59
inchworm tranny-> t-case adapter clock 10*
dual geardrive tcases mco7 and tG 4.7s in rear case 3/4" below frame with skidplate longfield output
heavy wall cv rear cv shaft, square front
Stock rear housing trussed for 3 link+1.5" spacers, disk brakes with taco calipers and rotors summit proportioning valve
4.10s front and rear, welded rear detroit front
64" diamond axle housing, arp hub and knuckle studs, 30 spline longfields. 
2.25" exhaust from manifold back, no cat, flowmaster supper 44 muffler, TG Hydro assist with ported restrictor in pump
Cd player, pioneer speakers, 700 watt amp and jl audio sub
rock lights
12" bobbed bed
full exo cage
40" Iroks on 15x8 2.5" bs rims
35" toyo mud terrains on 15x8 aluminum 3 spokes

112" wheelbase 24-26" frame hieght depending on the day
currently 1st gen toy rears up front and wishbone 3 link in the rear with xj front coils

[yotadork83]

not fair i wish i could come by a deal like that.

[DTB]

  congrats, the trolls say we need better pics please. feed us

[Ramrod]

its night time and it was dark when I brought it home so thats all for now

[MiniSimp]

[DTB]

its night time and it was dark when I brought it home so thats all for now

i know just giving u pat 

[yotamckimboy4x4]

looks awsome cant wait to follow the buildup

[Duffil]

What's the sticker on the steering wheel?

[Ramrod]

It says "never forget Jake Atkison"  I dont know what it means but I see those all around on cars in sonoma and have for a while but it will get taken off tomorrow

[Shamb]

going to be a bad a$$ build, can't wait to see it progress into a crawler.

keeps us posted w/ updated pics!

[olivedrab85]

Nice find, can't wait to see how this one turns out. Does this mean you gonna give the old RAMROD the final beatdown at Fordyce? 

[Ramrod]

Ok first thought/problem going through my head on this build= Diamond VS Built 44
cost vs benefits of boths

For the diamond im looking at $1000 more for the housing and new custom inners but if I went Dana 44 i'd have less clearance but I could sell what I have for at least $1500 to just throw at all new parts but i'd need:brakelines, brakes, rebuild kit, pinion yolk , shafts, gears, joints, cover, steering.

What should I do?  Diamond is obviously the bling factor gone wild but is it worth the extra money and keeping it toy?(kinda)

[Ramrod]

Nice find, can't wait to see how this one turns out. Does this mean you gonna give the old RAMROD the final beatdown at Fordyce? 

oh yeah but I still gotta drive it up there and back which sucks but i'm not gonna worry about body damage thats for sure

[Shamb]

is this a driver side drop?   or passenger?

[Ramrod]

drivers drop now but will be passenger when I put in my tranny and duals.  If I wanted to be real cheap I could just run my front end I have now but it is a few inches narrower than a stock rear which is kinda gay but thats also another option

[Shamb]

I dont understand why anyone would even consider a dana 44 over a toyota axle. If it was me i'd just run spacers.. if you go dana 44 that will be the biggest mistake ever, I dont care what anyone says they're one of the weakest axles out there.. only way to make them "somewhat" strong is to dumb a crap load of money getting everything chromoly or " cryo'd "

[Ramrod]

i think im gonna go diamond but we'll see i'll decide next week.  I have the money for it and it will be bling for sure

[toyotagod69]

nice looking ride..... like it was said before, "wish i could find a deal like that....

[Ramrod]

yeah im happy with it.  I'm lucky though if all my friends hadnt flaked out on my today i woulda bought a 22re 91 4runnner for $4500

[olivedrab85]

I'm jealous you get to start a new build. Tacos are nice they have power and way nice interior, i wish i still had mine.

[kneedownnate]

Congrats pat.  What's wrong with it that they'd sell it that cheap?

[Matty]

cant believe you got another project already.  diamond housing all the way.  cant wait to see the build on this. 

[Ramrod]

Congrats pat.  What's wrong with it that they'd sell it that cheap?

body isnt perfect, cracked windshield, has another toyota and doesnt ever drive this one

cant believe you got another project already.  diamond housing all the way.  cant wait to see the build on this. 

ive actually been looking for a while now

[yotadork83]

how come it has a 3rz insted of the 2rz unless the extra cab is invisiable??

[Ramrod]

cuz I think all 4x4s had the 3rz

[CTENG in KS]

cuz I think all 4x4s had the 3rz

Werd, smallest std engine for the 4x4 is the 2.7L.

[BigMike]

Dude, AWESOME SCORE mang

So how does it run? When you say NEW, is it rebuilt, if so by who, or is it just a replaced low mileage 3RZ?

Now you can play with your 3RZ.

[Ramrod]

big mike man I am now a true believer in the 3rz.  This thing HAULS ASS seriously with the 31" tires if flys.  I cant wait to do a little work to it and see how it goes with the 5:29s and 37s.  The story with the motor is that the guys girlfriend somehow cracked the radiator and didnt think anything of the pegged temp guage and completely blew it and siezed all cylinders so it was replaced with a newer (98ish) motor from another wrecked car or truck with under 30,000 which all said and done costed the guy $6000 to have put in and that was 20,000 miles ago.  I'd like to look up some serial #s and find out for sure though but its a score either way

[papa mike]

great  buy /// going to be a awsome project

[Ramrod]

cleaned it up a little, fixed rear suspension  and removed all the bolt on billy body mods all over it.  Fixing the rears shackles makes this thing ride like a caddy




motor-


front old man emu springs and shocks:


rear old man emu spring, shocks, greasable bushings and shackles


Flexed it out yesterday and it caught me off gaurd going only about 20" off the ground when usually I can go over 40" in my other truck.  This is a sweet truck though and I cant wait to get it built and wheeling