Motorvated

After about 10 years, I finally got my dream truck. Picked up a mostly stock 86 4Runner 5 speed. Truck runs phenomenally and is almost rust free. Will be using this for mud/fire trails and some rocks...with the occasional camping trip. This truck will be built over the next few months and plans are BIG.
plans are as follows : SAS, V6 rear swap with discs, 4:88 gears with ARBs front and rear, bumpers/sliders and a winch up front. Full interior cage, new seats/stereo and beadlocked 37s. Here's a photo of how she sits now and it'll start coming apart next week. Stay tuned!

supersaiyan93

Sounds exciting! Keep us updated.

cbr600rx7

If your planing on running 37s you might as well go 5.29s for gears unless you are planing a motor swap as well.

Motorvated

Planning on keeping the 22re and running a dual transfer case. I've heard 5:29s can be weak and im worries about chipping a gear. Deff open to discussion of it though!

ewong

I've been out of the loop

What is a "6 lug rear swap"?
Stock it has 6 lugs.

oh and Congrats, nice Gen1 4Runner!

Motorvated

Meant V6 rear axle swap. My bad!!!

cbr600rx7

If your planing on driving it on the street with the 22RE you need to go with 5.29s to run 37s. Most people go 5.29s at 35s. Your gears are not going to be your weak point.

Motorvated

What would the weak point be, as everything else will be upgraded?

cbr600rx7

I think you are confusing 5.71s for 5.29s. I personaly have never seen a 5.29 fail at the gears but I also do not play in the rocks. However I did run 5.29s in my 85 with a spooled rear and 35s. My buddy runs 5.29s in his first gen PU also on 35s with a locked rear and has never had a issue. Both of the above trucks had a 22R/22RE power plant and 7.5 axles and never had a issue. I don't have any personal experince with 5.71s except I have seen online warnings about them not being as strong as other gear sets. In addition the only guy I know who is running a 37+ inch tire and happy with his 4.88 combo is also running a 3.4 swap.. Not saying a 22RE with a 37/4.88 combo would not be usable but 5th gear would probably be almost unusable.

Motorvated

No I know that 5:71s are a no go, just heard from a few local guys about the 5:29s. I'm hardly going to be seeing the rocks, it's going to be a woods truck that'll see mostly stream crossing and muddy trails. Wih the ARBs front and rear and the dual stick transfer case, I'm hoping I won't even need to be in the throttle too much to get through/over most obstacles. Maybe I'll go wih 5:29s after all

osv

he's right, 5.29 is the only way to go for 35's to 37's... 37" tire is very close to the factory gearing, my odometer is perfect with that.

discs on the back is probably a no-go, because there isn't a common easy solution for the parking brake problem.

cage and winch is cool, but the little 22re is so underpowered when the rig is loaded down it's already too heavy, so i don't use either... stripping weight off has become a big priority for me, i first tried cutting out the side windows on the top, then removed it completely, it's just too heavy.

i would suggest not using the toyota mini-truck factory solid front axle that came on the '85 and earlier trucks, the axle housings are weak, look into the 80 series stuff, with hellfire knuckles: http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/tr...-swap-won-ton/

i went with the trail gear front axle housing, because they have all of the new parts to replace everything, including the front axle hubs, but their q.c. is spotty... i'd suggest researching all of the above on pirate, see what the state-of-the-art currently is for 80 series stuff.

be sure that you can move the front axle far enough forward to clear 37's, against the firewall floorboard area, and tie the steering box reinforcement plane into the front crossmember area, don't use the short reinforcement plate that some shops sell.

cbr600rx7

If you already know your going 37s even 5.71s may be justified. I personaly would never consider 4.88/37s/22RE a good road combo. You could get away with it on a trail rig especially with duel cases. However on the highway your going to be bogging down and struggling on hills. Heck my current rig is a mild 3VZE with 4.56s and 31s and i will not go to 35s on it with out re gearing.

Motorvated

I'll be going 5:29s. Thanks guys.

nothingbetter

Good call on the 5.29 gears. If you do the rear disc upgrade, you can easily install a transfer case mounted park brake when you build the duals. Buy Marlin for your duals. I've seen too many trail gear parts cause issues due to poor quality to even consider putting their parts in my transfer case. Go with the 4.7x2.28 setup. a bit more cost off the get go but you'll never complain about not going slow enough.

The 79-85 SFA is plenty strong as is but do your own research and make your own decision as we already have conflicting opinions on this thread alone. If its already on the work bench, weld on some knuckle ball gussets, some diff armour, ARP knuckle and hub studs and call it done. I'm running 230rwhp through dual case into my axle turning 36" swampers and its been solid for 7 years.

Happy building!

Motorvated

Awesome info, thank you. I'll be running Molly long fields and will look into the other things you mentioned as well!

Motorvated

Little update..got my All Pro Offroads front bumper and sliders in. These things are GORGEOUS.
can't wait to get these on the truck

Motorvated

Wheels came in as well. I decided against bead locks because this
truck is going to be driven on road a lot and cops around here know that
beadlocks are illegal so I picked these up. Not a fan of fake bead locks but
these were on eBay for $279 shipped, brand new! Couldn't pass Em up!

Motorvated

In other news, EVERYTHING showed up. (I'm sure I'll order more soon). I did get off of my original plan of ARBs and went spool rear and grizzly front. I wanted to save a few bucks and invest that in a Dual T-Case. I felt like that was a good compromise.
Also got the truck on jack stands and have started disassembling the IFS. Getting the front axle ready for the SAS.