1984RunnerCrawler

Greetings,
Here is my story =). I was never into cars until I bought a 1996 toyota T100 4x4. A friend of mine took me wheeling and I had a blast and caught the dreaded off road disease. This was particularly dangerous for me since my mechanical skills were close to none. I started researching 4x4's and my criteria was
1) solid front axle
2) fuel injection
3) decent back seat
Naturally I came to the conclusion that an 1985 4runner was the best option =). The next major step was determining if I should buy something stock or built. After looking at several off road rigs and pricing out my own build I decided buying something built was the cheaper way to go. So my search started. For what ever reason during my time searching for a 4runner there were practically no choices on craigslist in the entire north west. Finally I found a built one on craigslist in portland. I talked the guy down for a few weeks and ended up buying it =).

Specs

Longfields in the front axle
~6 inches of lift
bald 35x15.5x15 TSL SX's
Detroit locker in the rear
Detroit locker in the front (though this acts much more like its spooled, need to open it up and take a look at it)
off road lights
M8000 winch
dual cases (2.28's in each)
no back seat
external roll cage
disc brake conversion in the rear
EFI conversion

Here is how it sat as I bought it:


I kinda wish I would have bought something unmodified and done all the work myself so i knew what has gone into it. This thing definitely had been used and there were several things that I had to replace after the first few trips, which was discouraging because after spending a ton on the 4runner i also was now fixing it every trip i took it out =(.

Things that have broken:
Clutch - fixed
Alternator - fixed
Passenger caliper - fixed
starter - fixed
electrical issues which cause the battery to die if i do not disconnect it. Electrical is way above my head so I am currently living with this.

Another regret is that i bought this thing in Oregon when I live in Washington, I didnt know this when I bought it but to get this beast licensed I would have to get it inspected. And after researching the laws there is no way it would pass, so now im down to buying a trailer and towing it (this is also a blessing, love the peace of mind that I can always tow it home)

So this is where it gets fun and I start my rehab/build.

There was some surface rust and I dont like the color all that much so i decided to rattle can it. I did the drivers door with a hammer finish green enamel spray paint, but i didnt like it at all so stopped. living with a green door for the time being, future plans will be to get the forest green durabak bed liner and do the whole thing.

Found and installed the back seat.

Tires: found a set of 60-70% maxxis creepy crawlers on craigslist for 700 bucks.

Here it is with new tires at walker valley:


Tires rub a little bit in the front at full flex:


Hated this rubbing and was unable to attempt vnotch at walker valley due to approach angle so decided to do rears up front. Here is how it sits with the rears (wish i had a before and after). Also I got tired of trying to find a used car trailer and bought a new one. Seriously - people want WAY to much for used car trailers.


I only got 4 of the Creepy Crawlers so I started looking for a 37" spare, i spent months and months looking for a cheap warn 37 but was unable to find one that was reasonably priced. During this time someone was advertising 1 competition compound 37x12.5x17 BFG Krawler for 300 (way to much for a spare). So I took a chance and low balled him for 100 bucks and he accepted =). This turned into another learning experience, 17" rims are much more expensive than 15". Bought a new steely for ~90 bucks from 4wheel parts. So my spare ended up costing me about 200 (ouch). Here is the Krawler next to the Creepy's:

Getting 1 BFG krawler has also added the delima, should I run a full set of competition BFG's for my next set? They are ridiculously expensive tires but since I only have to buy 3 it would be about the same as a set of 4 37x13.5x15 pitbull rockers (the other tire im thinking about). ahhhh tough decisions (feel free to weigh in here) . =)

How my runner would look with the BFG's:



Due to the rear disc brake swap I lost my ebrake, this was an annoyance but I could live with it. However once i started having an electrical draw that would kill the battery I really dont like to turn it off and let it sit when out on the trail even though it takes 1 or 2 hours to kill the battery. So decided I needed an ebrake. Decided to go with a transfer case brake because they are easy to install and relatively cheap.
Arrived in the mail:


Installed:


This is how I sit after about 1 year of ownership:

Future plans:
1) Getting the forest green durabak bed liner and painting the whole thing (low on the priority list)
2) the locker in the rear sometimes doesnt work so going to either fix it or put in a spool.
3) move the rear shackle hanger forward to drop the lift in the rear a bit and provide more down travel.
4) Rear tcase: twin sticks and 4.7 gears (this is some serious cash, IS THIS A WORTH WHILE MOD????)
5) Fixing electrical (painfull)
6) Deal with tired 22re (swap, new 22re, rebuild).

socal85toyota

Looks good! I like the Krawlers. Did u have to move gas lines or cut the floor to install the trans brake? What brand is it?

1984RunnerCrawler

Thanks.

I did not have to move the gas lines or cut the floor. All you have to do is remove the rear driveline and the dust shield from the flange and it all bolts straight up. i was actually able to use the stock parking brake cable which was extra cool since i have dual cases =)

I got it from all pro:
https://www.allprooffroad.com/8489brakeupgrades/33

The directions are pretty crappy but it is pretty straight forward when looking at it.

socal85toyota

Looks awesome...do you have a body lift on your rig? thats the final questions before i pull the trigger...I have the same setup more or less(85 4runner/duals)

westjohns yota

looks like a good rig, what did you pay for it? i bet you hate not being able to take the top off due to the exo cage, with a few mods you most likely make it streetable im sure

1984RunnerCrawler

I have no body lift =). it is super nice to have an ebrake, pull the trigger.

1984RunnerCrawler

I am a little ashamed of what i paid for it (5k) =/, ive seen better deals than this since then. It took me months and months to find one though so felt like it was a ˟˟˟˟˟ or get off the pot purchase lol.

The cage is built in a way where i could slide the top off, however i do not have a garage (do all the work in alley behind my house) so i am leery of taking the top off! One of my future plans i forgot to mention was build a canvas soft top that goes over the cage. But not doing that until I have a shop or a week off, so wont happen any time soon.

socal85toyota

Thank you Sir!

1984RunnerCrawler

For general info, to support my external roll cage I used stock rear leaf springs i bought (85$) and the middle leaf of my stock front springs for my sping pack up front. They seem really flexy so far, havent taken it out yet. Going to walker valley on the 28th to test it out. Regret: wish i would have painted the leafs before installing them.

1984RunnerCrawler

4runner's been idling a little rough, and I randomly stumbled across the redline fuel system cleaner on amazon. The reviews of this product were amazing so thought I would give it a try since it is pretty cheap. Stay tuned for a full report.

1984RunnerCrawler

The redline fuel system cleaner really did make my 4runner idle better. It also use to sputter a little bit when first getting on the gas and that has gotten better as well. Pretty damn happy for spending 15 bucks, which included shipping.

1984RunnerCrawler

Went to walker valley last sunday. Had a really great time until I broke down and had to have the tow of shame off the mountain. Something is causing the injectors to not function properly, having a friend/mechanic tinker on it at the moment. Getting tired of dealing with little crap like this and just doing a full rebuild or put in a new engine (swap maybe???)

Here is a couple pic's of my runner going down a pretty fun obstacle (angle was wierd):



And a video coming off of it:

1984RunnerCrawler

While figuring out the injector issue it became apparent the person who did the EFI swap on my 22r really butchered the wiring harness. Plus one of the wires from the alternator was really fried so I had a short somewhere as well. This all pissed me off to the point where went out and bought a 22ret motor with 160k miles from a 2wd 88 toyota.

The old engine is out and the new engine is in, need to wire it up and connect all the fuel,oil and coolant lines.

The old motor had 300k miles on it, cant wait to feel the difference in a turbo engine with half the miles on it.

Snortin Nortin

That truck is madd kool man! I wish I could fit at least 33's soon enough ! hope your turbo build goes well as I'm doing mine custom after I get what I need! happy trails!

1984RunnerCrawler

Thanks, the turbo motor is in but there is some issue where it will not rev. It starts just fine and idles beautifully but when I open the throttle it sputters. The weird thing is that when I put in my normal 22re ecu it rev's just fine. Buying a new turbo ECU this sunday, hopefully that will be the end of my troubles and I can get back out on the trails.

if anyone has seen this before PLEASE let me know how you fixed it.

toastyjosh

iTrader: (1)

Nice runner!
Good luck with the turbo!
I have had the same issues you did with the revs, It was a few things but the ECU ground wire thing was all jacked up and the case had a nice dent in it. No Idea what happen to it, but a used ecu solved the issue.
When you do get it going again seafoam the piss out of the thing, it helps. Get seafoam from the local auto parts place.

Good luck!!

1984RunnerCrawler

The new ECU solved my problems and now its running like a dream! Its idling a little high but that is the only thing that I need to adjust at this point. The power difference is amazing with this new motor. My old motor must have really been preforming horribly to have such a dramatic power improvement.

Cant wait to take it out and do some hill climbs =).

1984RunnerCrawler

The engine swap was done at my mechanic/friends shop (if anyone needs a great mechanic in the seattle/Everett area PM me) and while there he had an extra magna flow muffler so he installed that as well. It sounds so much better now =).

Will get pics and video of the motor running soon

1984RunnerCrawler

here are a couple of video's from Snow Wheeling a few weeks back. The new turbo 22re is running pretty well and the sound is so much better with the magnaflow =).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_tds...ature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxbeb...ature=youtu.be

1984RunnerCrawler

At the very end of my last wheeling trip (videos above) my front right tire was no longer spinning under power and would bind up some times. The theory was my birfield exploded, and sure enough.......



So now I need to fix it. Here are the options that ive come up with.
1) trail gear chromo 27 spline birf: $119
2) Bobby Longfield 30 spline axle kit: $650

I really don't want to spend a lot of cash right now since I just put the 22rte in so I am leaning towards the TG 27 spline birf and when/if I break another component in my axle ill do the longfields.