JonnyBoy

Thanks! It's still a work in progress, as are all our rigs.
As far as the cv joints, no problems except that I did have to shim the droop stops to keep them from binding. Awhile back driving over one of the passes on the way to Vegas I did hear a weird sound every time I crested a rise, though...my hubs were still locked and the droop stop compressing with the sudden lack of weight on the arms(deserted straight stretch of road, nearly jumping it over the rises) allowed the arms to drop more than my aftermarket cv's liked. Probably mostly because I have aftermarket and not OEM, though, which I've heard have more range of motion. Had a boot tear once in about 70,000 mi. The height and extension from the bj spacers has really been hardest on the steering components of all the front end stuff.

The 3.4 does get better mileage than the 3.0, even with the 33's on stock gearing now. As compared to a turbo 22re, not sure I'd be the guy to ask. Id decide by what kind of driving you're expecting...crawling or low end grunt needed? Go 3.4 or bigger. Making something more of a desert rig? I guess it'd depend on what you could make the turbo'd re do for high end power.

The rear springs and bj spacers I got from TRDparts4u.com, however I have no idea if they do or for how much they'd send them to Canada. They are $160 and change before shipping, but that's just the springs. Apparently they don't carry the spacers anymore. It looks like wabfab.org has both for $265. The Old Man Emu springs most definitely did better at controlling sag under weight, even the medium duty ones I have sagged way less with the same weight than the stock, but were not uncomfortably stiff. I'll be using them to match the rear to the front whenever I can get around to sorting it out for good.

Hope that helps you out some, any more questions just go ahead and ask.

JonnyBoy

So today was the only day for a week that isn't forecasted to have rain or wind around here, so seemed the best day to rotate my tires, as they badly needed it. Well, y'all know how it is, once you have the wheels off, you decide to tackle more stuff as long as you've got all the wheels off.

Decided to inspect the brakes and adjust if needed...they look pretty good for brakes with almost 70,000 miles on them


And decided to use some more of that hammered black Rustoleum on the somewhat rusty ends and drums


It also seemed a good idea, since I have a rear bumper again, been hauling my wheeling equipment, more tools, emergency equipment, looking forward to keeping my snowboard gear in there, and a trip to Oregon in Feb, to reinstall the OME springs. Was starting to sag pretty good again with all the weight I've been carrying, and also the front end alignment was last done with the OME springs installed. I noticed when I changed the height with the stock springs and 1 1/4" spacers that the alignment in the front was then off, so hopefully this will slow some of the wear that happened on the tires in the front

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Oooooooh, ..."Blue Betty"?>>> she's looking Sexy, Jonny, she is!

JonnyBoy

HA! Blue Betty...I kinda like that. I hadn't really thought to name it yet, but my girl calls it "That piece of @$#% that's ripped 3 of my pairs of pants!"

She's not exactly tall, definitely curvy enough to never, ever be called skinny, and wears her jeans tight. See?


By the way Chef, since you're here I'll echo everyone elses' concerns for you and yours. Sorry about your loss, sure you'll all be good, and I'm sure you know the key is everyone supports everyone!

JonnyBoy

Well, picked up the Forester last night


What do you guys think, bumpers and sliders first, or Ironman lift springs? It's an S model, so it's already got a limited slip in the rear...

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Hahaha... She looks 'SASSY', Bet she's not the kind to take any crap, right? She's pretty... And gotta love 'HIPpy' women My dad would go nuts over those hips. Anyway, not EVEN trying to come off as inappropriate... Sorry. She's cute... nuff said.

Cool lil SUV! Looks clean, man

StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

Snorkel? Haha I've seen a WRX with a small light bar on the bumper, it was actually very clean looking.

ChefYota4x4

iTrader: (5)

Air Suspension

Locking Console...

Suicide Doors!

KILLER tunes and DVD....

Hmmmmmm.... Full Skid Plate kit with sliders and bumpers and.... maybe a lift?

JonnyBoy

Thanks Chef, yeah she is a lil sassy and pretty stubborn, but so am I!

Stew, I would figure you'd have seen something like a light bar around Tahoe.

Also Chef, they really do have lift springs. Ironman, and I've found part numbers for OME too, though I haven't looked too seriously for a distributor. Maybe Wabbit will get em for me...for some reason when you said suicide doors I thought of DeLorean doors...

There's also a company up in OR that makes 3/16" aluminum skids for the engine and the rear diff, at least. Flat bottoming the rest probably wouldn't be too hard. I think before any such shenanigans go down with the Forester, I'm gonna have to be done with my suspension overhaul on the Runner, though. This'll just be my "economy" car.

JonnyBoy

Massive thanks to Chef and his junkyarding hobby, I've gotten all the door window switches working and now have these sanded, primed, painted, and drying to install tomorrow, hopefully

Then just to get all the crap out of the back of the Runner so I can install the rear window relay Chef also picked up for me. It'll be nice to be able to trust the rear window will go back up whenever I roll it down.
Also be nice to get this out of the back...

StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT right on man! The outside looks built but what are the specs on it? or what do you plan on doing? Dibs on your IFS stuff when you hack it off.

Sent from my iPhone using YotaTech

JonnyBoy

Haha, my ifs is almost already off

The driver side half shaft, which was an Autozone or O'reilly, same difference really, started to develop a tear in the outer boot again. The pass side is an EMPI, though, and it's held up very well. Anyway, nothing special with my IFS stuff but ball joint spacers.

As for the SA, it's an '83 with an open 4.10 4cyl diff for now, Sky truss, high steer, knuckle rebuild, and diff guard, Marlin knuckle gusset/shock mounts, and stock axles.

StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

Well I mean stuff like the pitman arm, idler, TRE, etc. You know, trail spares

Right on with the solid front. What are your lift plans for it? Sorry if you have previously stated that

JonnyBoy

I haven't, right now it's a set of '83 rear springs with Wheeler's Offroad 3 leaf overload pack to help it out, but I'm still hoping the front won't be so high I can't match the rear. I have some 63" Chevy's and some of the hardware to swap to leafs, but I definitely won't have time for that before I have to drive to Portland for DEQ(Oregon's version of smog check) in February.

You got a couch I can crash on so I don't have to make that 15 hr drive in 1 day and you can have your pick of the IFS stuff!

StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

Me? Heck yeah man. Keeping in mind i'm 17 and still live with my mommy If your serious about it, it would be no issue at all.

JonnyBoy

Well that's what I used to do, stayed at my ex girlfriend's best friends place in Kings Beach. Probably can still stay with her, haven't talked to her for awhile, though. Regardless, it'd be an easy way for me to get the parts to you, if you were willing to wait that long.
Makes for a kinda cool winter drive to stop at Mammoth, or maybe go to Homewood again for a few hours of boarding, then make the last 10 hours of driving the next day.

1990-4runner

Yea that drive sucks I'm about to move back to roseburg or from San Diego at the end of the month...

1990-4runner

How do you like the 3.4 is it just a little better or is it as good as everyone says? I think when it comes time I'm just going to drop a ford 302 into it...

StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

If you were to do that, I may just take back every positive thing I have said about your truck! JKJK. . . . . But seriously

JonnyBoy

Even though it doesn't sound like much more power, just 40 hp and 40 ft/lbs of torque, the difference in driveability is pretty big. Going up hwy 58 in OR up from Eugene to Crescent, where I used to work, goes from somewhere around 1,500 ft elev up to the summit of 5,100 ft. Before the 3.4, with nothing but basic stuffed packed for a weekend, I'd have to floor it in 4th to keep 55. After the 3.4, before I got bigger tires or any gear changes, which I still haven't done, I went up that stretch totally loaded down, moving to CA with everything I owned, 4th gear, maybe 2/3 throttle holding 60.

All that said, I came really close to swapping in a v8, but my choice of v8's meant making my own adapters. At least, I never found adapters for the modular 4.6 v8, but I had a line on a sweet block to use: Saleen S281 all aluminum 6 bolt main block! Probably lighter than the 3.0 fully dressed, but also probably more high rpm power than would be sensible for a 4wd.