Brend2b

Bought it January 12 2010 with 181,359 Miles. Second Owner, complete service history at a Toyota dealership. Pretty rusty, Evergreen Pearl paint, bad brakes, tired leather seats, 4.10s and some dents on the body.

1/15/10

Swapped the factory E-Locker in my '98 parts T4R for the open diff in my new 4Runner. Every bolt was a battle on both 4Runners no matter how much penetrant used. Bolts were rounding off, welded nuts were snapping, and any amount of heating wasn't helping. Due to this it took me and a good friend literally all night (14-15 hours) to swap the axles. I also figured out a neat trick when trying to remove the brake lines. When turning the bolt to remove the brake lines, the whole hardline would turn with it because it was seized onto the fitting. I ended up heating each brake fitting for a minute or two and then spraying computer air duster upside down on it to rapidly cool it. This is the only thing that worked for me. Did the Intake Silencer Mod as well as adding a TrueFlow foam air filter. Also swapped in my homemade Superflux LED Domes and Map Lights. I wired the locker the next day to use all factory electronics besides the dash light.







1/18/10

Cleaned the carpet from the pedals to the back seats. Cleaned a huge mouse nest out of the blower fan, blower unit, and cooling unit. Cleaned and Armor All'ed everything from the dash to the C pillars. Replaced torn and scraped leather seats with nicer leather ones from my parts 4Runner. Replaced arm rest/center console with newer, nicer one. Replaced scratched panels. Replaced factory radio with a Kenwood KDC-MP438U. Ran wires to and installed a Kenwood KAC-9104D 900W amp powering 2 12' subs. Replaced the radio surround and window switch surrounds with wood grain.

Front Seats out for carpet cleaning and amplifier install


1/22/10

Unsuccessfully tried to pull and swap the front diffs in both 4Runners in order to put higher gears in the '97 4Runner. My old automatic looks easy to drop it but on the manual there wasn't enough room for me to maneuver the differential out from over the crossmember. Installed PIAA 1400s.

Diff ready to drop



3/5/10

Replaced brake calipers, brake master cylinder, removed running boards, 4" deckplate installed on factory airbox. Installed a new master cylinder after blowing the seals out of the old one when bleeding the brakes a few weeks ago. Brake pedal was still spongy and sank to the floow when braking. Turns out 2 pistons on each caliper were frozen. Replaced them with calipers from my parts car.

New Master Cylinder


"New" Calipers


Had to cut most the bolts off the running boards


Deckplated!


3/6/10
Installed an aftermarket hook in the front with metric hardware to match the nuts welded in the frame. Installed factory receiver hitch from my old 4Runner. It fit with some banging on the very bent rear bumper. The welds on most of the nuts inside the snapped so I had to cut and drill six out of the eight bolts off. I installed it on my new 4Runner with the four factory bolts where the tie downs were and I drilled and put a bolt through the frame for each of the other holes.

Hook Installed


Hitch Installed


Mounting of hitch


3/22/10

My coolant lines running to my rear heater rusted out. I had noticed they were wet a few weeks ago but didn't notice how bad they were rust wise. Anyway they ended up snapping and draining my coolant right before I was taking a 3 hour long drive. I ripped the metal section out in between where they snapped and where they connected to the heater core lines. I just bypassed the lines for now and refilled the radiator.

Quick Fix


3/24/10

Finally swapped my 4.30 geared front differential from my parts 4Runner in. Easily the biggest pain in the ass I've ever encountered working on my 4Runners. It took a lot of wrestling to get the front differentials out. Pulled the CVs, front differential, and front drive shaft out of the parts car. I also plugged the vacuum fittings because I move it around frequently. To make the diff. removal easier, I unbolted the steering rack and disconnected the vaccuum and breather lines from higher in the engine bay rather than trying to remove them next to the diff. I Pulled the differential out of my new 4Runner and replaced it with the higher geared one from my parts car. I now have fully functioning 4WD! Also installed Energy Suspension Sway Bar bushings from my parts car. Had to cut the stock bushing mounts off because their bolts were beyond rusted on.

Ready to Swap


Breather and Vaccuum Lines Connected


Cutting the Sway Bar Mounts

Brend2b

5/26/10

Made some tapered diff drop spacers at my school's machine shop today in preparation of a lift. Made with 2 1/4" diameter steel pucks with a 1/2" holes drilled in the centers. It was tapered from 1" tall to 7/8" using a milling machine.

Milling the taper


Completed showing taper


Completed spacers

Brend2b

5/27/10

Seafoamed the hell out of the 4Runner. Put half a can through the brake booster vaccuum line, half a can in the oil, and a whole can in a half tank of gas.

The cloud of smoke lingered for 15 mins

Brend2b

5/28/10

Removed silver fender trim. I think it looks a lot better. Drilled the holes in my diff spacers out to 14mm and painted them. Special ordered some bolts for the diff drop spacers from Fastenal.

Trimless


Painted spacers

Brend2b

5/31/10

Replaced a brake pad that was hitting the wear indicator with one from my totaled 4Runner and making noise at all times. The carpet was soaking wet under my rubber floor mat on the drivers side so I took the front section of carpet out and cleaned everything from the front windshield to the rear seats to get rid of the smell. Carpet is gonna stay out till the leak is found and fixed.

Carpet and trim panels out


Gonna stay carpetless till I find the leak

Brend2b

6/5/10

Went hunting for the horrible smell that didnt go away when I took out my carpet. I took off the panels in the back of the 4Runner and found a ton of dead mice and huge nests. Also swapped the scratched interior panels out for the nicer ones from my old 4Runner. Also wired up a taillight converter and my aux/reverse lights.

One of the nests


Swapping panels


Aux/Reverse lights

Brend2b

6/8/10

Fixed my squeaky clutch pedal. The Toyota bushing that was originally there was completely gone. I used a #70 spring from a hardware store instead of a Toyota brake return spring.

No more squeaks!

habanero

If you haven't found the leak try the upper corner of the windshield rubber thingy. (scientific name, of course)
Look for water coming in at the grommet where the wiring goes through the firewall, by the clutch pedal bracket.

Nice work.

Brend2b

6/22/10

Got my bolts from Fastenal and installed my diff drop spacers in preparation of a lift. Also installed a Hoppkins taillight converter.

Tapered spacers installed