huntersmail

My mom has just given me her 1989 Toyota 4Runner with only 60,000 miles on it. My plan is to drive it cross county with a few of my buddys. On my journey i want to be able to take any road i want and feel comfortable that the car can handle it with ease. What would be a good configuration for the car. I was thinking that I wanted to put on 35 inch wheels and change the suspension and supercharging the engine. What else should be done to the car to be able to do what i want. And are my ideas good ones?

89934runr

1. You need to give us more details... what engine/ trans does your truck have?

2. WOW- an 89 with only 60+K? daaaa-uuuum. Mine had 325K whenI sold it last year.

3. If it's a 4 cyl; I'd say go simple... you don't need much power to go anywhere, just traction. I'd suggest 31x10.5s, a simple 2" lift (BJ spacers, chevy 63" rear springs, etc).

4. Get some lockers & some decent gears.

5. Don't kid yourself that you'll be able to take ANY road. If so, get a winch!

huntersmail

I don't want the car so high that it will be unstable at high speeds so that is why i was deciding to go smaller than 35s so 31s sound ok. Everything about the car is stock it is a sr5 5 passenger. Price is not to much of a problem. Are their any specific manufactures that you recommend.

strykersd

I'd skip the supercharger just to save gas. Plus wouldn't it make the engine run hotter on the long drives? I agree on the 31"X10.5" tires, probably all terrains, but I'm not so sure on the re-gearing. The bigger tires and stock gearing might help with gas mileage on the long flat stretchs of highway. Good luck.

idanity

with any car that has not been driven, i would do a full tune up.
timing belt especially.

i would prefer a car w/500,000 miles over a car w/50 miles (to a point)
and just to be aware of the drive, i would start driving it around town every day to see how you like it, and make a list of things you want/ and can afford.

and then, get a AAA account, and have a safe/fun trip.

SKNKWRX

Forced induction give you better gas mileage. What motor is this truck running? Is it the 4 or the 6cyl? Nobody makes a SC for either one as far as I know. This is a 2 door removable hardtop 4Runner? More info would be necessary as to what the truck is, how it is currently set up and what conditions you will be driving it in to really make intelligent reccomendations.

huntersmail

The engine is stock. It is a 2.4L 22R inline 4-cylinder. And yes it is a 2 door removable hardtop 4Runner. I don't know what conditions i will be drviving it under. My goal is to make it able to handel almost all stitutions.

Jay351

You dont need any lift to run a 31x10.50" tire, but if you went with a rim with less offset it will stick the tires out farther and actually help the truck be stable on the hwy.

I have seen superchargers for the 22re, there was one on the local buy&sell, not sure on the power numbers though. Seemed like a big gain.

bigarms23

first straight axle it than cange gears to 529s than arbs than supercharge the motor or if you dont want to spend that much right away just put on some offroad tires

elripster

You truck can drive across the country just the way it is. You can lift it anywhere from 0-4" or more without stability problems.

Step back for a moment and ask yourself what you really need to make sure you get to where you are going. On a trip that long, you are not going to wheel really hard trails. Just doesn't make sense unless you can spend a lot of time and money when you have to pay someone else to tow and fix it. (no garage) I mean you typically don't wheel hard trails by yourself (Only one vehicle) even when your rig is all built up. You are looking at mainly fire roads which can be negotiated fine as is or better with a small lift and good set of shocks.

I worry about maintenance first. Change all fluids and tune it up.

Wanna lift, do the smaller ones they are cheaper, actually increase suspension travel, and require far fewer visits to the alignment shop than the 4" bracket lifts. Regear for the tire size. The 4 cyl is pretty underpowered in the heavier 4runner especially if it is carrying your buddies and all their gear. If you cannot afford to do that, stick with stock tire sizes for now.

If you think you'll be on a trail where you need a locker, get an ARB for the rear and regear to what ever tires you wish to run. Yeah it is expensive, but you'll see ice/snow this time of year and an auto locker is tricky in those conditions on the street. FYI, you can run 33X10.5's with no lift regearing to 4.88's if you have the 5 speed, 5.71's if the auto.

Any forced induction engine mods will lower your reliability unless it's a factor option where the manufacturer made it plug and play and designed the engine internals for it. That extra acceleration is present because there is more stress on the engine. I would leave it close to stock or stick with well tested mods like headers, cams, etc...

I have road tripped from San Diego to Washington to Montana and back in a 4" bracket lifted 1st gen as well as my ball joint spacer lifted 2nd gen. Both were fine on the road at 80+ although the 2nd gen is more refined being a newer generation.

Frank

leiniesred

I've had a 1989 4runner for 10 years. I had typed up a mile long reply, but for what you are going to do, here is what I would make you do.

31x10.50 mud tires. Put a lock-rite in the rear differential. Idler arm brace. Adjustable shocks. Crank up the torsion bars a bit. Put some add-a-leafs and slightly longer, beefy shackles in the rear to handle the weight of a few friends. Put a beefy back bumper on 'cause it is gonna drag. Bring a come-a-long, highliftjack, shovel, tree saver, Spill kit, extra fluids, and a 30'x 3" strap. Go have fun. Go to Moab, UT. Run elephant hill, hike the joint trail. Tear off the mudflaps backing up...run out of gas, make your "few friends" get out and push when you get stuck.



Optional

Stage 2:
Add a front bumper with a winch mount, a winch, rock sliders, and bigger torsion bars for all that weight out front. Ball joint spacers, low-profile bumpstops to get all you can out of the IFS.

Tired of breaking the IFS and lifting tires and that banging rear locker? Want to wheel harder trails and take the "fun" lines?

Stage 3: Don't spend any more money on the IFS if you want 35s. Yeah, you can do it. I did it. I wouldn't do it again. Solid axle swap. Longfields. High pinion ARB or e-locker. re-gear to 5.29s. ARB or e-locker the rear, re-gear to 5.29. Double cardan driveshafts front/rear. cut spring mounts from the rear and rotate pinion up. use longer rear springs and mount the longest shocks you can. U-bolt flip kits. Roll cage. Dual transfer cases. Toyota 3.4 V6 swap. supercharger.

Stage 4: Tube framed samurai, small bock Chevy, Dana 60's, 42 inch iroks on beadlocks, welded rear, ARB front, linked suspension.

foot0069

Find a shop local, splain what you want to do. Load up the credit card. Go have fun. Put in a CB so you can use the credit card some more when ya break it.

elripster

Unless the local shop really knows Toyota's they are just going to try to sell him a bracket lift which isn't really in his interests. Sure, they'll load up your credit card good though. I mean if you drive into Allpro or Protrux for example, it's a different story, but I would NOT recommend simply pulling into say 4wheelparts and letting them have at it unless you are sure they are doing exactly what you want done.

Also, there is a thread on the offroad tech section you should read about lockers. I won't repeat it all here but I will caution you against the auto lockers like Locrites if you plan to drive on snow covered roads.

I will again state, you don't really want a truck that can wheel "any" road. You think you do, but really you don't. Most of those trucks aren't even street legal. Check out the trucks on the hardest trails and ask yourself if that's what you want you truck to look like (body damage) and drive like (large loud mud tires). If so great, you'll spend a fast 10K but save dough for the inevitable repairs you won't be able to do yourself.

Check out www.sdori.com as well as our vendors listed on the front page. You can get a feel for an affordable reliable lift that will add functionality to your truck and ride as well or better than stock. The 4" bracket lifts do NOT increase suspension travel which a ball joint spacer kit does do.

Heck on a drive that long, I'd make sure the stereo is up for it while you are at it.

BTW, how much do you have to spend on upgrades? We can throw out ideas all day long but cost is usually a big driver in decision making.


Frank

ewong

Back when my 1989 Gen1 4Runner was "new" I drove it several times from NJ to CO for skiing over winter break.
Slept in the truck....
The memories are priceless.

Truck was basically STOCK.

IMHO - get GOOD tires.
If you are going in winter - get studded Hakkas.
Summer - a good AT if its more highway than dirt.

If you dont have the $$ for a R&P swap - new tires and a GOOD alignement on good AT stock sized tires and you will be good to go.

Get Bilstien shocks. Leave the rest of the suspension stock.
Top Notch tune.
Get the battery tested. Cosider an Optima.

Side bars and a hilift would help a bunch.

No you wont drive the Rubicon. But IMHO that isnt the point.

notanymore

if you dont already have one in would install a cruise control, its one thing i wish i had on my truck when going on long drives.

as2sb3100

Not knowing your budget, I'm guessing you wana go cheap.

In order of what I would do first:
1) CB (get a decent setup and TUNE it)
2) Power Inverter (Costco has a 1000watt one for $100)
2) BJ Spacers and AAL/shackle lift or new springs for the rear
3) manual hubs if you dont have them
4) rear locker, either a lockright or aussie (go ARB if you have a big budget)
5) sliders
6) front and rear bumper
7) winch
8) bud built crossmember/skid pate


And get a set of metric sockets, some extentions, and a ratchet of course

And make sure you have a good spare

I would just stay at 31" tires. You'l get better gas milage, and you wont need to re-gear (save a lot on money). Speedometer will still be accurate.