1993 4Runner SAS, 3.4, auto, duals

[ruegs21]

My wife and I are planning to travel down from Idaho next September to attend MCR13, so I guess now is as good a time as any to introduce myself, post some photos and become more active on the forum.

About me: I bought my first Toyota 4x4 back in 2000. I lucked out and found a cheap 85 efi 4Runner that had a blown head gasket. After rebuilding the motor and getting a chance to wheel it, I was hooked. I have had so many project vehilces since then I honestly have lost count. I enjoy anything that burns dinosaurs or goes bang. I'm in the process of finishing up my 4Runner, and am looking forward to working out the bugs in the Idaho snow this winter.

Vehilce Specs: 1993 Toyota 4Runner, 1996 5VZ-FE (out of a Manual 4x4 Tacoma), a340f auto (from 96 4Runner), RADesigns shifter & tripple sticks, Marlin dual adapter, Marlin 23 spline input gears in both cases, 2.28 front/4.7 rear, locked F&R. When I reach my post quota, I will upload some photos of my rig.

Glad to meet everyone in advance.


Justin

[ruegs21]

Dragging it home.



Before.



Ready for swap.



Pushed it out of the shop to pose with my 66 Land Rover

[R.DesJardin]

Justin, hey looking good. I'm sure you'll love than baby in the snow once you get the meats. Get Kevin and Weeks out there in the snow too this year.

[ruegs21]

Can't wait to find out. Kevin's got everything to swap the AOD into the Bronco but motivation! Now that the race season is over it might happen. I'll have to talk to Weeks, I haven't met him yet.

[Rocksurfer]

  II  :marlin: Hopefully I'll see you at Roundup.... be quite Justina!

[R.DesJardin]

Justin, what's up, super duper nice heated shop, you don't work Fridays, update time.

[ruegs21]

Got the auto and duals in. Working on the 5VZ wiring, trans cooler plumbing, mounting/wiring shifters, rear shock setup, coolant plumbing & F&R drive shafts. I'm hoping to at least have it turning over this weekend.

I was frustrated while working on actually getting the rig running and decided to clear my head by mocking up a plate bumper.

[toyotech]

i have an 88 and love to swap a 3.4 but keep it auto as well.  its currently auto and i love it. 
i would like to use the newer auto that came with the 3.4.
did you have to take the auto apart to install the adapter or did you just have to take the auto t case, slap the adapter and 4 cylinder t cases?

[ruegs21]

Using the A340F that comes behind the 5VZ's makes life easy when doing the swap. All I had to do was separate the stock t-case, slap in a new seal and bolt on the adapter. I used a TG adapter because at the time Marlin and Inch Worm were back ordered.

[toyotech]

Using the A340F that comes behind the 5VZ's makes life easy when doing the swap. All I had to do was separate the stock t-case, slap in a new seal and bolt on the adapter. I used a TG adapter because at the time Marlin and Inch Worm were back ordered.

thanks, just what i needed to know.
did you use the taco auto ecu? i know some have used the 3vz auto trans with 5vz motor but i rather use a newer trans due to wear and tear on my old one.

[ruegs21]

My donor engine came from a 1995.5 manual trans Tacoma, and the auto is out of a 96 4Runner. I got a smoking deal on the donor rig, otherwise I would have sourced a factory 5VZ auto setup. Because my vehicle will be used for mostly off road use, I decided to run solely the RADesigns shifter for full manual control, and not worry about wiring in a factory Toyota TCM. After wheeling with Rory and driving his pickup, it was a no brainer.

[toyotech]

My donor engine came from a 1995.5 manual trans Tacoma, and the auto is out of a 96 4Runner. I got a smoking deal on the donor rig, otherwise I would have sourced a factory 5VZ auto setup. Because my vehicle will be used for mostly off road use, I decided to run solely the RADesigns shifter for full manual control, and not worry about wiring in a factory Toyota TCM. After wheeling with Rory and driving his pickup, it was a no brainer.

ahh. i see. well in CA i need to run the correct ecu to pass smog and keep the CEL off

[ruegs21]

What's smog? 

[toyotech]

haha i know you lucky b*std. cant wait too see your rig built

[tgmaul88]

what front leaves are you running?

[ruegs21]

For now I'm running a pair of Sky-Manufacturing 5" springs I picked up from a guy locally.

[tgmaul88]

nice they look stout

[ruegs21]

nice they look stout

They feel very stout too. Even with me jumping up and down on the front spring hanger the springs hardly budge. I'm curuious to see how they perform compared to the rear TG springs once i get it on the trail with the winch and bumper hanging off the front. Worst case if they are too stiff I will do some mix and matching with factory rear leafs i've kept from past projects.

[R.DesJardin]

Ok, thanks for the update. Now don't let the atmosphere of that shop and that welder take over the design of the bumper, I spent hours probably staring at the front of my truck figuring out the bumper's lines to get the look I wanted. It's a little weird looking at your Runner sitting there. What the heck were you standing on to take that picture my lathe? 

[ruegs21]

Ok, thanks for the update. Now don't let the atmosphere of that shop and that welder take over the design of the bumper, I spent hours probably staring at the front of my truck figuring out the bumper's lines to get the look I wanted. It's a little weird looking at your Runner sitting there. What the heck were you standing on to take that picture my lathe? 

Close, I was standing on a folding chair.

Trying to decide the lines of the bumper is consuming. I've been mocking up, tacking, grinding tacks off, and using cardboard cutouts for a month and I'm still not satisfied with anything. My priority obviously is getting the 4Runner on the road, but I want the winch bumper for when we hit the snow this winter. I'll let you know if I make progress.