85 4Runner Re-Build Thread

[85toy]

you could always swap bodys and exo it lol.

[AxleIke]

Originally Posted by DIRTCO

Thanks! I had a lot of fun watching your rig too; I was very impressed at how well it worked for its size, a true example of a sleeper.

Thanks man. I'm doing some cutting this winter to hopefully improve some more. Should have some pics up at some point. Sawzall's do cool stuff.

[DIRTCO]

Originally Posted by Volcom

When's the next trip?? We had a good time at Indy

It's going to be a while ...

I would have loved to run Indy with you guy's but the truck wasn't up for the drive down there, I'm sure you had a good time though! Instead I ended up running the last two trails for the 4Runner (although I really didn't know it at the time).

First up was the Trough Trail. I've only ran it once before and it was pretty close to home so it seemed like a good trail to run until I figured out the windshield situation. Everything was going great until I snapped my passenger side hub studs towards the top of the upper trail. I was able to get back out in three wheel drive but it took a little work.

Cory





Poser shots







Towards the top

[Volcom]

Nice pics!!! I'll have to hit that trail with you guys one of these days. Tell Cory I said "What's up!"

[DIRTCO]

And the damage!

[Volcom]

Ouch, looks like it's time for some ARP hardware I've got an extra pair of SFA hubs if you need them.

[DIRTCO]

The next morning I went to the shop and replaced the wheel bearing/hub/rotor assembly and the hub body. The plan was to head up Red Cone with the GF and check out the mountain goats and views. So we went to the top of Radical Hill and watched the goats for a while, then dropped down and went up Webster Pass and over Red Cone. It was a great trip but the lack of doors made it pretty rough, towards the top of Red Cone it was pretty close to freezing and the rain was starting to turn into snow.

Top of Radical Hill with the goats

[DIRTCO]

Originally Posted by Volcom

Ouch, looks like it's time for some ARP hardware I've got an extra pair of SFA hubs if you need them.

I think I have to agree with you on that one, but it was better than breaking a ring and pinion! Thanks for the offer, but I have a couple spares too. With 40's you might want to hang on to those.

There's more to the story but it's getting late so I'll finish later ...

[Volcom]

Originally Posted by DIRTCO

With 40's you might want to hang on to those.

I've actually got 2 pairs, one pair for my trail spares toolbox and an extra set I picked up at the pull-n-save because they were easy and cheap

Nice pics of the goats on Radical Hill. Every trip report I've ever seen of Radical Hill has some goats

How's Breck? Getting cold yet?

[DIRTCO]

Originally Posted by Volcom

I've actually got 2 pairs, one pair for my trail spares toolbox and an extra set I picked up at the pull-n-save because they were easy and cheap

Nice pics of the goats on Radical Hill. Every trip report I've ever seen of Radical Hill has some goats

How's Breck? Getting cold yet?

I'll have to remember that just in case I ever need one.

The goats just hang out there, it's pretty cool. As long as you don't get too close they just mind there own business, you can get 5-10' away from them before they start backing away or getting upset.

I spent the last week in Oregon, but there's snow on the mountains and frost on the deck today! You can tell fall is here and winters coming soon.

[DIRTCO]

Some more pictures from the trip

[DIRTCO]

I've been debating what to do about the truck for a while now (even before the Carnage trip). I always figured that I would just get a tow rig and trailer but after putting some numbers together, I realized that's just not possible for quite a while. Even if I picked up something cheap, I don't think I could afford the fuel for the thing, not to mention no place to park either of them.

So I came to the conclusion a while ago that I needed some thing more streetable. I also realized that running the super hard trails has become more stressful than fun. Without a tow rig you pretty much worry about whether it's going to make it home or not the entire trip (and sometimes it doesn't). At first I thought about doing a body swap but since the cage, engine and body are all solid mounted it would require a ton of cutting and refitting. Also, I don't want a bobbed rig and solid drivetrain, it works great on the trail but sucks on the road.

The next issue that came up was horsepower. Whether I did a body swap or put all of my stuff on another truck, it wouldn't be any faster. It does good on flat roads but as soon as you hit a hill plan on going 45 miles per hour. I thought about some kind of engine swap but realized that's just not in the budget.

After ALOT of debating, planning, and thinking about every aspect I could; I've decided to do a milder build on the turbo 4Runner and keep it the daily driver at the same time. I want something that I can drive everyday, take on mild and moderate trails (Wheeler Lake, Chinamans, Holy Cross up to the city) and still be confortable, have room to go camping and cruise along at a decent speed

I thought about selling the rock crawler all together but realized there was no way I was going to get much money out of it, the body just too beat. The final straw was Red Cone. I pretty much froze the entire day and since the doors won't fit back on there wasn't much I could do. Then when I got home and looked at the truck I noticed this, another broken front leaf spring.





The spring were hammered when I got them (used) and I was cruising through some water bars at a decent amount of speed but I never really jumped it. They are pretty bent too.

[DIRTCO]

Since I don't want to spend money on a truck that I can hardly get money out of, I decided to start chopping it. Some parts will go on the Turbo 4Runner, some will get sold and some will be kept as spares. As hard as this was it needed to be done.

The two trucks together before the cutting starts.



And after a couple hours of work. I still need to be able to drive it to the shop for the complete tear down but I wanted to get a little of a head start. There's some more little stuff to come off but it's coming along.

[Hayes]

what are you doing with your t-cases?

[Volcom]

Ah man, that sucks bro. I understand about the streetablity issue and not having a tow rig. Maybe you can build another hardcore crawler in a couple of years?? You're always welcome to join us (ride along) on the tougher trips.

[DIRTCO]

Originally Posted by Hayes

what are you doing with your t-cases?

I'm going to hang on to them for now, they might be going into the next project. I'll make sure to come up with a list of what I'm getting rid of as soon I get the final plan figured out for the Turbo 4Runner.

Originally Posted by Volcom

Ah man, that sucks bro. I understand about the streetablity issue and not having a tow rig. Maybe you can build another hardcore crawler in a couple of years?? You're always welcome to join us (ride along) on the tougher trips.

Yea, it sucks, but it's been a long time coming. I'm amazed I have not run into more issues, besides the body damage. I still plan to be able to run most the trails out there, besides for the nasty ones (mainly Carnage, but whatever else falls into that catagory). Thanks for offering a spare seat, I'll have to take you up on that some time.

[85toy]

aww man this was a very cool build to watch and it is sad to see it gone but i understand why you are doing it. good luck on your next build, the turbo runner is super clean looking.

[DIRTCO]

Originally Posted by 85toy

aww man this was a very cool build to watch and it is sad to see it gone but i understand why you are doing it. good luck on your next build, the turbo runner is super clean looking.

Thanks! It was pretty hard to do but it's for the best, I just can't afford it and everything that needs to go with it. I'm still planning on the Turbo 4Runner being able to run most of my favorite trails, just not the super nasty ones and I'll have to be careful what lines I take (I'll also have to know when to park it and walk up the rest of the trail). I've starting working on it already, but I'm waiting to post a build-up thread until I finalize how I want to build it .