Hardstripe

heres my trucks current specs and my project at hand: (click thumbnails to enlarge) 95 4runner Sas 85 runner front axle 5.29 gears Longfields ARB Air Lockers 4" marlin Crawler front leafs 1" rear superlift with 3" poly Spacers 3" body lift 8000lb winch my rear axle is cracking where the link mounts are welded on my front shock mount is cracking where its welded along the frame my cheap ass superlift springs are sagging my superlift link bracket extensions are hanging down so far that obstacles taller than 16" will hit the brackets instead of my rear tire So here is what im doing to fix all that crap: taking off the 3" body lift (this truck is waaay too high and tippy) Im cutting off the rear of the body and turning it into a quad cab flatbed relocating the fuel cell to the spare tire mount area cutting off the stock 4link and using trail gears rear axle link mounts fabbing up a custom crossmember for my links to mount on fabbing up custom longarms with johnny joints putting in aisin hubs and rebuilding my front knuckles / replacing the wheel bearings fixing the cracked frame and turning my shock tower into shock hoops putting yukon gears in my rear axle taking off superlift crap and putting 6" custom progressive coils bend and weld myself a nice rollcage Heres some pics: Heres a pic of my truck (before pic) Trashed Pinion Cracked axle housing Superlift 4link lift (note the long bracket extension hanging down like 16") Cracked frame (front shock mount weld failure) In these pics, Ive taken the axle off, I have my dropout complete and gears are all set (Thanks Wayne!), Ive ripped out the interior, and chopped the rear side of it off. Tomarrow I will drain the gas tank and take it off to be relocated after Im done with the cab fabrication and rear suspension. I was planning on fabbing up the new crossmember this weekend but it will have to wait until Thursday, the shipment on my new plasma cutter was delayed. I think Ill start working on the front side until it gets here, Ill try to have the knuckles rebuilt, the aisin hubs put in, shock tower mounts ground off, and the cracks in the frame fixed. ........... BTW I think all my neighbors hate me now.... 8) got my gas tank removed and cut out the spare tire crossmember, ill need to cap that off with a new cross member on the end to reinforce it. mocked the new mount in place, welded it in- only tacked the lower link mounts incase they need adjusted I decided to start doing my knuckle rebuild I put blocks up so that we could put in the crossmember had to massage it with my hammer a little so it would fit under the body a smidge too long on one corner, had to grind it down tadaaa! crossmember is welded in place on the collars, just need to drill holes and bolt it in Got the rear axle together with wheels on, slid it under the truck so we can mock it up soon Heres a pic of my repaired cracks and shock hoops I was getting ready to cut the parts for the cab and i figured out that I could make the luggage rack on top work, just make it shorter Here it is cut off, getting ready to mock it in place I cut the top of the bed off and I will use it to seal the window Here is the track the window used for going up and down... Im going to cut it into 1/2 and use it for the bottom window supports Finally got it mocked in place, almost ready to weld Here in the next week Im going to be blasting out as much as I can, the association of homeowners has been informed of my vehicles state and has informed me of my infraction lol! 8P OK here it is, I have the back wall welded in place pretty well.. welds are ugly as hell, I guess there is some kind of learning curve to welding on sheet metal- I definately would rather not in the future! I also have the roof portion welded up. Tomarrow Ill be going to buy some metal tubing for supports and filling in the rest / reinforcing everything. Here I have the back welded in finally... I tried out the back of the taco cab but it didnt work out so well, I was like a half inch short, so heres my new cab end. Next i cleaned up the top portion and drilled some holes in it, measured to make sure it was centered and symetrical, then welded it up.. please heh dont laugh at these welds- this is harder than it seems before you do it! Heres that track, I decided to cut one of them into 3 I paid attention in art class! Welded them into place- I tried tacking the top in first then working my way down, bending it along the contour of the roof as it curved into the wall but it didnt work too well, I had to cut it and reposition it. This side I started on the bottom and rolled it over on top with a hammer- had to grind a little here and there but it worked out alot better than the other side. Welded up the support structure for the rear area and window Blocked it up with wood. You can see I welded those window track onto a piece of 1.5" angle and welded it to the support square tube. Welded everything together I am working on welding the bottom in, designing how to make it look finished- I have an idea that may look amazing- and welding that weather strip on the bottom. Anyone know what this thingy does? Its some kind of hook that went on my track bar and is mounted to my brakes... Cut these old bump stop mounts off Here you can see my paint on the cab back and the cut out bump stop panels Painted my axle Building new upper arm mounts Built my links Built my suspension mount- thinking im going to either make another arm that goes back for more support, or gusset it.. Put my hybrids together - BOOYA! Trying to imagine how they will move with bump and droop Heres some pics of the truck without all those tarps and welding screens around it ok all updated... Im stuck right now waiting for bolts to come in the mail and Im still trying to find an 18mm drill bit... /rant on To all who decide to do this DO NOT BUY 18MM CREEPER JOINTS!!!!! I called over 50 stores, apparently nobody in the US makes or sells 18mm, they go from 16 straight to 20, machine shops charge 100 bucks per to make them since they have to harden each one and machine each one 2x, fasteners can get them but the shoulder is about an inch too short, and finding an 18mm drill bit is just as rediculous.... Why trail gear would sell me an 18mm creeper joint without mentioning these issues is beyond me... maybe they hate repeat customers? /rant off... Once I get these things the links will go right in, my coilovers are all set and ready to go in, and I will get started on the gas tank. Im debating on letting someone else do the bodywork so it actually looks decent, Im going trade of all the chrome for black, and I think Im going to take it down to the local maaco and get a $300 dark grey paint job before I build my exo. Here I am trying to fab some new link mounts with multiple adjusting points, wewt I got to use my drill press! Using the old mounts I had fabbed for comparison I checked to see if my 45/64 drill bit would work well or if I would have to step it up to a 23/32 bit Heres the new mount, it works!!! It was a better fit than the original one. Got these all drilled ready to go in OMNOMNOMNOMNOM! LUNCH BREAK! After lunch I hired some help- She works for cookies! and apparently shes an expert in the field of tires? Got one link in... had to pull the axle to drill out the holes (they were 9/16 holes) Links in! Just need to weld up the upper frame mounts tomarrow, I decided to wait until I could see to do it. So tomarrow Ill see about making brackets for the coilovers and putting in the gas tank. I went to tighten all my links and I didnt have the right size wrenches- It was Sunday and nobody that was open sold it, so I decided to open my own line of tools! Got my brackets made and jacked it up to put the hybrids on I had to put blocks on the jack and my high stands didnt go high enough to touch it- and i still had to fight the coilovers by fircing the springs in place because theyre so damn long Got em all set, just need to take em down to altons tire to get some nitrogen side view... stance is a little high in the back but it will settle when i build the flatbed tomarrow. Had to trim one side of the gas tank lip to get it to fit but its in! got the gas tank all hooked up, poured gas into it, and she fired right up! cleaned up the wires and lines so they dont get smashed My gas tank's drain plug was leaking like a trailer park mobile home, I struggled with it all day- I ended up getting some heat resistant thread sealant- sets in 4 hours, completly set in 3 days. I am going to leave the gas tank empty until its fully dry while I complete all my welding on the flatbed and bottom of the rear window. I went through the rest of the truck finishing up maintenance stuff, bled the brakes, gave it a good lube order, double checked every bolt I put into the rear end for tightness, put some sealant on my welds, and hooked up my one remaining brake light- it worked! In 3 days I should have my flatbed finished and it will go away to the body shop where it will get some new front fenders, some body work omn the rear chopped up portion, all chrome will be replaced with black body parts (grill trim ect.) and some new paint- dark grey. When I get it back Ill build my front bumper, fill in that gap from the body lift, and start planning my roll cage. Im considering going down to the local car audio store and letting them put a big sticker on my back window in exchange for tunes and installing my cb somewhere on the dash instead of my floorboard. Ill keep you guys updated- after I put 500 miles on the new gears in the rear end Ill post some test run pics for sure. ok sorry for the long wait on updates but college has been keepin me busy. After fixing the leak on my gas tank I moved the lower coilover mounts further out and crossed my fingers that it wouyld still clear on full stuff... It worked! I have like a quarter inch clearance still, just barely made it! Then i framed out the bottom portion of the rear window and put a gasket on tjhe lower portion to make it look finished. next I framed out the flatbed Then I put in some cross members to support the bed and put on the rear of the flatbed Next I cut a hole in the floor to make room for the crossmember i built on my links so that I could take off the 3" body lift- I accidentally cut through my arb air lines and had to get a union from granger to repair it I fabbed up a cover for the hole which I will later fiberglass in (when I tare out the carpet in preperation for lining the tub with bed liner) At this point I decided it was time for a test run! This is where we visited Here is my truck in action! !@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()_!@#$%^&*( )!@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()_!@#$%^&*() Here is a video (keep in mind when I did this my rear lockers were inop and my fronts were working intermittantly, and I was using my lame pro comp street tires instead of my pitbull rockers because I havent put on my new fenders yet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vafRihDFJIk !@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()@#$%^&*()!@#$%^&*()_!@#$%^&@#$ %^&*()@#$%^&*()@#$%^&*()@#$% I have finished most of the flatbed here, I wanted to show how I tied it in to make a wheel well Started the body work yesterday I broke my axle driving on pavement... wth? Almost finished! Ill keep you guys up to date here and there, be patient and stick it out! I finally did it, all finsihed guys. Heres the final pics, hope you guys like it as much as I do!

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yodathespian87

My goodness talk about starting 20 projects at once! Glad to see you are saving it though. It's unfortunate about the association where you live. I live in an apartment complex and my garage faces no less then 50 apartments so I know they hate me. And Welcome to YotaTech!

__________________
86 Pickup 4x2, Manual (Sold)
87 Extra Cab Pickup 4x4, Manual (Sold)
93 4Runner 4x4, Manual, 3.4 Swap In progress
90 4Runner 4x4, Manual, Blown 3.0 (Stripping out for parts then to become a trail rig/camping/fun truck)
94 Lexus SC400, 1UZ, magnaflow exhaust, after market headlights, bought for parts for the swap into the 90 4Runner

ocdropzone

saw your thread on pirate... those little thumbnails blow! especially on a build like this
edit: just notice the rodda paint can jackstands...you must have a lot of faith or good life insurance

__________________
~Robb
'81 Trekker The B4Runner Build
TREKKER Forum
Mini FAQ/Misc Ideas Thread

Hardstripe

lol those are only holding up my crossmember while I get ready to weld it in place, I made the damn thing out of 3/8"x3"x5" rectangular tube, it probably weighed 60lbs!

flashkl

Wow thats a project. Subscribed, and excited to see the finished product.

__________________
KaiYota - '92 Pickup Xtracab 4x4
3vze - Magnaflow Cat - Flowmaster 40 - 4 inch lift - 33x12.5 BFG A/Ts - Hella e-codes - Thule whorin'
http://picasaweb.google.com/flashkl/KaiYota

bigt

this makes me glad i live in a cresent with half old people and half young dudes wrench on stuff after work.. o and i live in canada with none of this home owners unions bull ish

__________________
1991 HILUX SURF SSR-X turbo diesel right hand drive toyota imported in 2005 from japan,
130,000 km 31 bfg a/t auto

current build
1987 LWB suzuki samurai. turning 2 into one.. yota axles welded front to back, yota springs , ifs steering box,, this bad boy will not only eat jeeps but toyotas aswell \m/

Hardstripe

updated, see original post

Hardstripe

updated see original post- lots of work finished today!

toylocost

Haha just saw this on Pirate yesterday. I'm subscribing.

__________________
1982 2wd Pickup - Custom Interior - Pioneer 8" subs
1990 4runner - Blown Head Gasket Mod (fixed!) - Cruiser Coils - BJ Spacers - Bed Lined Fenders - CB/PA - Alpine HU - H4 Headlights - 2 15s and a Rockford amp.
1996 Camry - 400,000 miles on original engine/transmission. HELL YES!!! All it takes is a quart of oil with every tank of gas.
Project: scratch building a modernized Lotus 7 replica using a 22-re Celica drivetrain

Tofer

__________________
94 4runenr: all the good stuff.......
89 4runner: 3.0, Auto, 5.29 lockright f/r. 31x10.5 wildcountry ATs.
81 2wd pickup: 22R | 5-sp | long bed |Civic SI seats | LockRight | Hella 500s

pacific-crawlers.com

For all your Trail-gear and HID lighting Solutions Needs check out yotaworks.com Online store coming soon :)

CRafferty

Sub'd!!!

__________________
Lilly:
1992 4Runner 4x4 SR5
3.0L V6 32" BFGoodrich A-T T/As Pro Comp ES3000s
4Crawler BJ Spacers and Coil Spacers. ISR Mod.
Soon: 4.88's, LC's, Skids.
Her page: http://www.yotatech.com/f78/collin-s.../#post51096834

Ike:
1947 Willy's Jeep
Ford 134L I4
1ton 3" lift springs on 33x6.5 Mud Terrains

Hardstripe

heres my calculation for the 4link... not sure what it means though

4banginRunner

x2

__________________

yoder519

subscribed. nothin like a little chop chopage

__________________
Sold&Missed
95 Yota pu 22RE/33x12.50 Maxxis Buckshot Mudders/TG Sliders/4Crawler 2in BL//TG Diff Breather/Herculined Floorboard/Magnaflow Hi-Flow Cat/2.25" Exhaust/Glasspack/Procomp black steelies/Procomp shocks/Superlift 2" AALs/4 Crawler 1.5" BJers

1998 Dodge Cummins 24V 4x4 5spd/Quad Arenaline/4in Exhaust/6in Tip/AFE Intake

Hardstripe

anyone know enough about links to tell me if those numbers are good to go?

89silverpu

Looking good! What welder you usin??

__________________
'89 Beater Jeep Eater in progress
4.88's, TRD e-locker, Dual Cases, 33's, Armored,

Tread Lightly

Mixchallenge.info

toyospearo

great work!
Subscribed... cant wait to see more

__________________
94 Ext. cab 22re
Aussied, 4.88's, SAS,ed, FLATBED, Old Man Emu rear leafs w/TG 5.5" shackles, TG sliders,
LC Header, Marlin super HD clutch,
32's- Swamper TSL's- RC rims,
Badland Bumper, lifted, lighted, LED'ed,
Warned, alternatored (LC High ouput), Hammed, gusseted, trussed, etc, etc...

My build thread
http://www.yotatech.com/f152/great-w...ck-sas-164531/
My Flatbed build thread
http://www.yotatech.com/f88/toyospea...-build-191787/

881stGenRunner

looking great so far.

If TC gets in here, he will def be able to help you out with the numbers, he designed his own custom 4 link in his 4Runner.

Keep it up!

__________________
-Brandon
1988 4Runner SR5 4x4 V6 5 Speed Swap (R150F)~SDORI 1.5" BJ Spacers~Downey 26MM TBs~Downey 3" Springs~Downey Shackles~PC ES3000s~PC ES2000 SS~Motive Gear 5.29s~Rear Detroit~Front Lock-Rite~Yakima Load Warrior~33x12.5 Pro Comp M/Ts~Cragar 15x8 Streetlocks~Cobra 18 WXSTII~Marlin Crawler Rear~Addicted Offroad Front Bumper~4X Innovations Sliders~WabFab Bikini Kit~Optima Yellow Top~SS IFS Truss.
My 4Runner and Other Stuff

Hardstripe

that is a lincoln 180 hd, got a sweet deal on ebay almost half off

Hardstripe

Ive been measuring this all morning, im so scared of messin this up I dont think Ive ever measured anything this much in my life! Here are some more accurate numbers, and Im pretty sure im going to roll with it- looks like a solid design, and I found a version of this calc that has a geometry program for bump and droop, doesnt look like it will bind, pinion angles look good ect.

Hardstripe

updated

Hardstripe

You know I actually got ahold of the guy who wrote that program, he layed it all out to me pretty well and after fiddling with it- Im going to make adjustable uppers. The axle end will have 2 holes 2" apart, the frame and will have 3 holes 2" apart. Here are the numbers it gives:
These numbers are @ 2" increments of the frame end, the axle end uppers are fixed @ their lower holes.



These numbers are @ 2" increments and the axle uppers are fixed in the upper holes, 2" higher than the previous 3 pics


I liked these numbers best I may start with these first


Here is the bump and droop pics

Squiddy

Great work! And great thread. But Lordy, shorts + angle grinder don't mix! Git some pants on!

yodathespian87

Looking great. So much easier to see the big pics. Keep up the great work.

__________________
86 Pickup 4x2, Manual (Sold)
87 Extra Cab Pickup 4x4, Manual (Sold)
93 4Runner 4x4, Manual, 3.4 Swap In progress
90 4Runner 4x4, Manual, Blown 3.0 (Stripping out for parts then to become a trail rig/camping/fun truck)
94 Lexus SC400, 1UZ, magnaflow exhaust, after market headlights, bought for parts for the swap into the 90 4Runner

Hardstripe

Had the automotive engineer professor at the college look at my link calcs and pics of my fabrication, he says they look great- I asked him if my uppers axle side need to have the same width as my lowers frame side (Which someone gave me as advice)
He said its a good idea but I think with those joints you dont need to worry about binding anyways, go with what you got it looks great on the calculator.
See the red line on the last 3 pics? Its my forward thrust. Compare the end of my forward thrust in these 3 pics to the forward thrust in the rest of them. Basically you want your forward thrust to end on the front half of your vehicle, otherwise your thrust will move up, loading your tires and axle up under your vehicle. This is also where the upper link line and lower link line intersect, which goes back to how you see people recommending the links being horizontal to eachother for the lower end anti-squat. Now look at the top one of the last post. See how they are further from eachother on the frame end than the axle end? This makes the antisquat 20% but look at the instant center numbers and the lines of intersection of upper and lower arms. The arms are intersecting behind the vehicle and the instant center has negative values. The last setup has the thrust ending somewhere waaay off the graph, Has -1 degree understeer, and has a 59% anti-squat, I think it will make my rig the most capable- However I am still making the links adjustable so that when I get in and drive it I can fine tune my decision as I go.
I got the bolts in today, and I got some drill bits from a machine tool supply company- They didnt have an 18mm but I got a 23/32 and a 45/64 bit, they are as close to an 18mm as you can get. I am opting for the 45/64 first because its a little smaller than 18mm vs the 23/32 which is a little larger.
The decimals for each are:
45/64 = .7031
18mm = .7087
23/32 = .7188
Pretty damn close, Think it will work?
Ill take pics