94 2wd sas

[ChadStich]

Well got tired of dragging my transfer cases over everything so raised them up 2 3/8". I have the sky crossmember and originally I had the plates welded to the frame then the crossmember mounted to the bottom of that so moved the crossmember up on top of the plates for the extra 3/8" and put a 2" spacer between that. I don't have a before picture but it definitely gave me some extra clearance. I started on the tunnel last night and got the frame built and the top covered now I just need to do the sides. I also need to find some seats as the bench won't work anymore. I have temporary buckets now that came from the red truck I parted out to build mine but they are brown and uncomfortable.

It doesn't look like much because of the way the picture was taken but it only hangs down about 2in

[OVRAROK]

looks great, ive been wanting to raise mine as well, did you need to remake d-shafts?

[ChadStich]

looks great, ive been wanting to raise mine as well, did you need to remake d-shafts?

The front shaft is for sure long enough and I believe the rear will be too. Haven't taken any measurements on it yet and haven't had a chance to wheel it to find out if it will pull out.

[J_Cole92]

Nice. I've been debating on completely flat bellying my 4Runner. Looks sick

[ChadStich]

I almost did a complete flat belly but i only had 2x2 square laying around and the local steel shop was closed. I figured this was better than nothing so i just went for it. now i need to get it buttoned up because I'm hopping to get the rz swap underway before christmas break is over.

[ChadStich]

Went and played in the snow for a little bit on saturday and sheared the studs off of my passenger side hub. They must have come loose and I didn't check them so now I have to fix that. On the bright side though since I had the hub off I pulled the spindle and axle shaft out and was looking at it and realized I had 30 spline longs!!! The guy I got the whole axle from said it had 27 splines in it and Ive had them out before to do the e locker but didn't pay any attention to them and this time I counted the splines and sure enough there 30's. pretty happy with that find especially because there the old og longs from way before trail-gear.

[ChadStich]

Got the rz pulled out of the tacoma and on the engine stand finally! I pulled the intake off to get rid of some of the clutter while I work on it. I took the front timing cover off and installed the balance shaft removal kit. I can't believe how much weight comes out of the motor Ill get a picture of it all tomorrow if anyone wants to see. really excited to see how it runs. New timing chain is on and back together now and I started on the EGR block offs also painted the valve cover and put the rear sump pan on. Just a little more cleaning up one the rz and then Ill pull the re and start motor mounts.

[ChadStich]

Got some more work done on the rz swap yesterday. The re is out and the motor mounts are cut off. I reused the plates that the motor bolts to so I didn't have to make new ones. Today ill hopefully get the mounts made and tacked in.

[1985CRAWLER]

Sweet ! Cool thing about doing a re to rz swap is the fuel lines are a piece of cake ! Nice work so far man!

[redneckcustoms13]

In this case being the trans is already there you can just bolt the engine in and then make the mounts. Shouldn't take you long at all.

[ChadStich]

I didn't get much of anything done yesterday because I was waiting on flywheel bolts most of the day. I got the rz in and mounted to the trans and am going to do mounts today.

[ChadStich]

Got the rz mounted today. Ended up having to build new plates too to make everything work better.

[redneckcustoms13]

Nice and low. Looks good.

[ChadStich]

The power steering resi actually really close to the hood and the intake is even closer! I was hoping to get it up higher!

[1985CRAWLER]

Quick work on those mounts ! Wish I woulda made my own but I had good luck with bought ones , oh yea while it's all apart now id possibly look into another steering pump setup , the rz pumps work but I smoked one already and blew high pressure line in the snow , was no fun. All I've been reading is they blow when it comes to big tires and hard wheeling since they were meant for rack and Pinion .

[ChadStich]

Quick work on those mounts ! Wish I woulda made my own but I had good luck with bought ones , oh yea while it's all apart now id possibly look into another steering pump setup , the rz pumps work but I smoked one already and blew high pressure line in the snow , was no fun. All I've been reading is they blow when it comes to big tires and hard wheeling since they were meant for rack and Pinion .

Ive heard that from a few people now but don't want to spend anymore money right now Ill roast it then place haha!

[redneckcustoms13]

If it brings you any warm fuzzy feelings. I've put quite a few miles on mine turning 33s on 12 wide qheels with no problem 

[ChadStich]

If it brings you any warm fuzzy feelings. I've put quite a few miles on mine turning 33s on 12 wide qheels with no problem

Helps a little! except Im on 35s and occasionally locked in the front haha!

[ChadStich]

Haven't posted anything in a while but I've got some stuff done. I got all of the plumbing done and put together an intake. I had to build a mount for the MAF to support the weight of the filter. Also got the rock lights, radiator fan, and light bar rewired in a much cleaner way with a nice new switch panel. I left one extra space in the panel for a just in case. I also got a picture of everything removed by the balance shaft removal kit. It is hopefully going to a buddies shop this week to get wired up then off to the exhaust shop!

[1985CRAWLER]

Looks damn good ! I see you ditched those shitty balance shafts

? Why did you place the air filter right there ? I tried to place mine farthest away from the motor to draw in cooler air but I do see that's pretty popular with the rz swaps to place them there

[ChadStich]

Looks damn good ! I see you ditched those shitty balance shafts

? Why did you place the air filter right there ? I tried to place mine farthest away from the motor to draw in cooler air but I do see that's pretty popular with the rz swaps to place them there

My original thought was to get it as far from the exhaust as I could but then the that just seemed simple, easy, and I didn't need to buy anything haha! There is a good chance ill move it in the future or build a heat shield over the manifold.

[ChadStich]

Haven't posted to this in a while so here are the updates. The exhaust got finished just a couple days after the wring. Haven't had the opportunity to wheel it yet since the swap but I have been driving it and love it. The 3rz has way more power than the re did and does way better on fuel. I don't have a odometer so I can't tell what I'm getting but with the re I had to fill up every week almost on the dot and with the rz I can make it almost 2 weeks! Also ordered a set of cheapo racing seats from eBay and got built mounts for them since I couldn't find any good deals on bucket seats around town. Next on the list is installing my air bumps. there FOA 2.0 4" bumps but will be shorting them to 2.5".

[ChadStich]

No updates on the truck because Ive been super busy with boat racing. Here are a couple pics of how thats going. Started the season off by blowing it over backwards and putting my head through one of the sponsons a week before the first race. got it back going again though then managed to break my foot in 5 places wake boarding... we drew a motorcycle boot on the cast

Here are the pictures

[redneckcustoms13]

I yall run in some seriously choppy water. Thats cool as hell. Bo way I'd run my vector in that. I'm a smooth water guy lol

[ChadStich]

I yall run in some seriously choppy water. Thats cool as hell. Bo way I'd run my vector in that. I'm a smooth water guy lol

Were the only hydroplane racing club in the world who runs white water in the river instead of circles in a lake haha! Its not a common thing but man its a lot of fun!

[ChadStich]

Nothing that exciting but I pulled the t cases and resealed them because they leaked like crazy and I finally decided to start on the tranny tunnel and get that taken care of. I leave for school in less than a week so this thing is just going to sit for a while

[ChadStich]

Forgot to post a picture of the final product. I got both sides finished and sealed then rolled the carpet forward and tucked it underneath the aluminum top plate so it didn't vibrate. Crazy how much nicer it is to drive having a tranny tunnel again! Don't have a picture of it but I cleaned all the interior  and washed it since its just going to be sitting for a while figured it might as well be clean!

[ChadStich]

nice job all around. i should have deleted my balance shafts too. looks like you're still running the 2wd front fenders. are you able to clear them with the tires or do you plan to get 4wd fenders in the future?

I haven't had any problems with the 2wd fenders besides a little rubbing at full stuff near the firewall. I need to trim them just a little bit just haven't done it. I have a set of 4wd fenders that are trimmed but a little mangled i could through on but again just haven't.

[ChadStich]

Not much of an update but finally got around to building a radiator fan shroud out of some .100 aluminum. Actually turned out pretty good fit perfect. This should help keep it cool while wheeling. The old flat bar mount was not effective enough.

[ChadStich]

Finally got around to de-stroking and mounting my bump stops. This was the first time I've torn into any sort of shock/ bump but it was pretty simple. I made the spacers from 1.5x.120 wall tubbing and squared up and beveled the ends in the lathe. Also got some fancy new shocks. Ive got a second surgery on my broken foot on the 15th so this is the only weekend I have to go test it out so hopefully ill get to go saturday or sunday. Maybe both if I'm lucky.