midiwall

Wanna know what I did this past weekend? Sure ya' do!

Dr. Zhivago, RidgeRunner and I attacked my truck with:

• OME/OME rear suspension
• SAWs up front
• TJM-17 bumper
• TRD 160 degree thermostat
• New front O2 sensor
• Hayden 1678 tranny cooler
• Lars quick-disconnects
• Homebrew Diffdrop (just $17 worth of parts from Ace hardware!)
• Panhard drop bracket
• and did Tuning, Tuning, Tuning on the SMT-5

Pics and more words are here:
http://www.midiwall.com/4Runner/portland.html



THANK YOU GUYS! YOU RAWK!

Woodbert

Looks great Mark!

Tacoma Dude

Whoa...

Wanna know what I did to my truck? I put in another 15 gallons of gas.

midiwall

Yeah, I've had some stuff in the queue for a bit.

Wanna know a secret? There's more coming this week. And maybe a tidbit next week as well depending on the mfg getting source parts from Toyota.

Victor

I didn't see any info about your $17 diff drop. I bet a lot of guys are interested in that.

data

Lookin' good!!!

SLC Punk

Mark,
Your rig looks great!

midiwall

Good point, I'll have to put it in there...

The short form is that it's "simply" Grade 8 hardware bought from the local Ace Hardware store. Two new bolts, two nylock nuts and 10 thick washers. I don't have the specific parts written down, and the receipt from Ace only has "class" numbers on it, not specific part ID's.

I'll get the info, or maybe Dr. Z can post it into the thread - he was the one picking out parts faster than I could write class numbers and costs on little bags.



Thanks for the kudos guys!

I'll get some more long-shots this week.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Mark,

Man, I thought I had a busy weekend with putting on some Hellas! I can't imagine doing all that at once! "I am here standing beside myself!" It looks great! No, awesome! I know you are stoked!

What about the SAWs? Did you turn the valves around to the inside? Why did you (Mick) crank up the SAWs before you put them on? I thought you did that after they were installed?

Did you just use a torch and cut off the front of the frame there (the things in the pic that you say the instructions don't tell you that you have to remove) to attach the TJM or is that piece bolted on there?

Again, it looks awesome!

transalper

That's awesome! Great job. Expert help, quality tools, and a heated garage make wrenching fun.

Seeing that Nut from Hell brought back some bad memories I was hoping to suppress.

Why did you replace just the front O2 sensor and not both of them?

midiwall

Oh yeah... and it rides/handles/feels AWESOME now.

Yeup!

We were able to "cheat" (it's a LOT easier to do that off of the truck) because Mick has the same setup on the same truck. So, they measured the amount of exposed threads on Mick's truck and then he cranked mine to the same spot. We did have to make a slight tweak after a driver around the block, but that was it.

Honestly, Mick remembered knocking his off with a hammer, but... There's a 12mm bolt down the middle of the front cap.

Thanks Man!

midiwall

Aye!

I have a blood blister and a very sore knuckle on my thumb from getting that and the Bolt From Hell off. ARGH!

Galen and I knew that we were going to spend some quality time tuning the SMT 5, and the front one is the key to the ECU info for fuel flow.

We did some looking at the output voltage of the old/new sensors, and we both agreed that it REALLY needed to be changed. I can't say for sure that it had ever been changed - and the truck has 115k on it.

transalper

Did you get a OEM sensor or go with an aftermarket? Any tips to getting the old one out, or did it come out pretty easily? My rig has over 100k on it and it's past time for replacing mine. Is there any reason to replace the rear sensor if the front is the main one for controlling fuel flow?

With all the super cool mods you did, all I am pestering you about is the O2 sensor. Sorry.

midiwall

no probs.

I got an "OEM" sensor for $99 shipped from http://www.oxygensensors.com/. Now, since then, I hear two things... The "OEM" sensor that they sell isn't a _real_ Toyota one, but it does have the OEM plug pre-attached, and then these guys: http://www.partznet.com/ are a bit cheaper for a _real_ sensor.


From what I understand (correct me folks if needbe!), replacing the rear one is kindofa' wait & see thing. Its responsibility is to let the ECU judge how well the cat is doing. If it's flakey or failed then you'll trip a CEL, but the ECU doesn't use it to adjust anything about how the engine is running.

So, if the CEL isn't staring you down with a Bank 2 O2 code, then I would leave it alone.


Getting it out was "fun"... You'll really want to have a 12/13mm DEEP socket, but past that, it's really straight-forward to do. My truck spent 4+ years on the salty roads of Chicago, and it shows. The nuts were corroded and trashed, so Dr. Z kinda' finessed them off. In the end, we replaced the nuts with shiny new ones - they're 8mm threads.

KING

NICE, VERY NICE!!

SLC Punk

Mark,
I am wondering why you put in a 160 degree thermostat? I thought it only really helped the S/C engines.

Was it hard to install? I have one sitting on my tool box waiting to be installed this spring.

midiwall

I put it in after Galen had noticed a bit of a power kick in his engine. In simple terms, more heat for economy, less heat for power.

Nope, painfully easy. The hardest part is dealing with the (just about) 2 gallons of coolant that you'll spill out of the engine. There's VERY little chance of being able to catch it - the front skid plat acts as a "splash plate" and it'll spill everywhere.

Pay attention to where the rattler is on the old one as you pull it out - it should be at the bottom of the thermostat. Also be sure to use the new o-ring (it's hiding in the bottom of the box).

Dr. Zhivago

I just wanted to pop in on this and say what a pleasure it was to have Mark visit and hang out. We had a lot of fun getting everything installed and playing around both in and out of the truck. I'm going to have to take a trip out Seattle way before long.

Here's a parts list for the ACE Hardware diff-drop kit:

1) Buy following items:

(2) 1/2"x8" Grade 8 Bolts
(2) 1/2" Grade 8 Nylock Nuts
(4) 1/2" Grade 8 Washers (Regular Diameter, about 3/4")
(12-30) 1/2" Grade 8 Washers (Large Diameter, about 2") The number of these depends on how thick they are. You want a total of 1" thickness or so per side.
(2) 8mmx40mm Bolts
(2) 8mm Washers

2) Remove both skid plates

3) You will see two 19mm bolts that attach the diff to the crossmember. There is a nut above the crossmember. I recommend using an impact gun or a 1/2" drive breaker bar and 19mm socket for the bottom and a 19mm wrench for the top. Remove bolts and nuts. KEEP the 2 large black metal bushings that are on the bottom of the diff bracket. You'll know what I mean.

4) Stack the large diameter 1/2" washers between the crossmember and the lower diff bracket.

5) With a regular 1/2" washer, put the 1/2"X8" bolt through the metal bushing, then bottom of the diff bracket, then through the washers all the way through the crossmember.

6) With a regular 1/2" washer on top and the 1/2" Nylock nut, tighten with hand but do not tighten fully.

7) Repeat 5 & 6 above, then tighten down with tools.

8) Replace front skid plate. Use the same front bolts as that were on previously. Use the 8mmX40mm bolt/washer together in the center location brackets of the front skid.

9) For the rear skid, the front bolts up fine, but you must make the rear mounting hole on the skid itself longer with a file or torch or file of some sort.

10) You're done!

Hope this helps.

Peace!
G

defigh

Truck looks great Mark! What are your thoughts on the suspension now that you've had a chance to drive around with it? Where did you get it from? Thanks



adam
columbus, oh

midiwall

Thanks Galen!


Ride wise, it feels like it should now. Yes, that means that it drives like a truck versus a Family Soccer Wagon.

There is NO body roll in a turn. Hit a speed bump at 30mph and the truck STICKS to the road. Jump on it and the backend doesn't squat.

One thing that we noticed when we were under the truck is that my swaybar bushings are shot - which is contributing to a bit of side-swag. I ordered new Energy Suspension bushings today for front and rear, so that should fix any sideplay.

I also just got from having it aligned, and it's running dead-on-square-down-the-middle-of-the-road!


Our local 4ROC chapter has a run on Sunday, I can hardly wait!


The TJM and front/rear suspension parts came from Mike at Xtreme Off-Road. He's a member here and simply does THE BEST deals and gives THE BEST support of anyone I've dealt with.

Drop him a line through the forum (his alias is XtremeOff-Road, and his profile is here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/memb...info&userid=96).

He's a great guy doing great things.


The discos only come straight from Lars: http://home.earthlink.net/~larsdenne...nner/swaybar/. Great stuff, cool guy.