DeGOAT!

Hey,
this is my first post on here, but I've been reading YotaTech for quite a while now. There's so much imformation! I first wanted to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences so freely. . . Now I need some advice.

So, I live in Southern California and just picked up 1988 4runner to be my new project. It's not in the best cosmetic shape, but there's no rust (or at least very minimal rust)! I have a couple thousand saved up from my summer internship (I'm an engineering student), and was thinking of doing some light mods to the truck just to start out before I got to the engine. the 22re does have a valve tick when warm, but just passed smog and seems like it will last a couple months before I can get to a rebuild.

First of all, I was planning on getting some new off-road rims and 33" tires because the previous owner put on some late model tacoma rims with retreaded tires ... not the best. At the same time, I want to install a 3" or 4" WabFab lift and do a cheapo rattlecan paint job.

These are just some thoughts that I had.... I would greatly appreciate any and all advice that this community is willing to offer me.

Oh yeah, I'm only planning on doing some light trail 4wheeling and maybe some sand in the future.

Thanks,
Steve-O

jason191918

What kind of engineering are you doing? I'm an ME.

As for the truck, can't go wrong with LOCKERS.

DeGOAT!

sweet.

I'm a Junior general engineering major at Harvey Mudd College with a focus in bio-chemical and mechanical engineering.

I was reading about lockers... How much do they run? and who makes good ones?

gilby4runner

SEARCH.... there are a lot of options and a whole lot more opinions. Decide what you want your rig be capable of then go from there.

T-1000

You're opening up a can of worms right there...

There's auto lockers, which would be like Detroit and Aussie, and then there's manuals lockers, like a Toyota E-locker or an air actuated ARB locker.

There's also full spools, but those aren't really not for on road use.

Oh yeah, spools are maybe $80, Detroid and Aussie are like $200-500, ARB's are about $1800, and an E-locker 3rd member can vary quite a bit. Around $800 I guess.

abecedarian

I'm sure the wabbit will come in here and chime in with his lift kits, which I wholeheartedly recommend- I appreciate being corrected.

my opinion- with sand... if you're going to be doing the dunes at high speed, a long-travel suspension from downey (http://www.downeyoff-road.com/Suspen...s/1986-95.html) or total chaos (http://chaosfab.com/what.html) may be advised.

as for the valve tick- it's a toyota thing. even with the valves properly adjusted it's seemingly normal for high-mileage engines to tick anyways. what I've learned is that the tick is caused by wear to the rocker arms / rocker shafts. it does not mean that the valves are out of adjustment, just that there's a little extra clearance in the shafts the rocker arms pivot on. it doesn't negatively affect engine performance, but is just a bit annoying.

33" tires will need some sort of lift. you should be able to fit 31" tires with little trouble and no lift. if you don't want to spend the money of a suspension system, a 2" body lift should get you into the tires you want. You may have to pound a bit on the lip in the fender-wells to clear the tires at full left or right.

if you decide to go with a suspension lift, find out what backspacing you will need on the rims to clear the kit.

DeGOAT!

I had been looking at that long travel suspension, but I don't think I'll be taking dunes that fast.... plus, that lift is somewhat out of my price range.

Would 33"s fit for a little road driving before I could put in the suspension? I really need some new tires. The retreads are virtually bald. :/

bigt

get a 1 or 2 inch body lift and you can fit 33s.. a lock rite locker is about 250 plus playing someone to set up your diff....

if you in engineering you can get the right tools and work on your own toyota....not that hard..get metric sockets and wrenches