Hey crew...

The pics are terrible as they are close ups the previous owner e-mailed me. My Nikon D60 is giving me a reading that it can't find the memory card so I need to figure out if it is the camera or I need a new card.

Anyway...I just picked up a 1985 SR5 4Runner. It's a very solid, loaded rig with 150,000 miles on it. It had a transmission problem and the tranny was out of it when I bought it.

So far this week:

Bought a new Toyota clutch, slave cylinder, and installed a rebuilt manual tranny.

Changed all fluids

New Battery

All new brakes, burfield service, axle seals, brake lines, etc.

Dropped the tank, it is junk. So I ordered a new tank, fuel pump, and both sending units and will be replacing the fuel lines as well.

Installed new u-joints since both driveshafts where off.

My plans for this is to build a clean driver! I'm not going to run it in the salt, and will be doing mild to moderate trails with it. I'm still thinking what lift to run, etc. over but have been looking over various builds and posts on this forum and Pirate. I've been leaning toward the OME kit with a narrow 33x10:50 BFG Mud Terrain. We'll see once I reach that point. Right now the main thing is focusing on reliabilty, making sure any and all maintenance needed is taken care of. If you guys have any suggestions, please let me know.

 

Looks great man! Congrats!

 

Welcome to Yotatech.

:wabbit2:

 

From what I can see, looks like a nice one!

If all goes as planned, I'll be joining the '85 4runner brotherhood next weekend. I'll be watching your build... sounds like we have the same plans for our rigs.

 

First things first......ditch those running boards.

 

I just picked 88 4run but looks like you are moving much faster in fixing dept than I.

subscribed.

thumbs up

 

yes they need to go lol

 

you took the words right out of my mouth lol.

 

I dunno I'm kinda digging those running board/marker light look. It shouts van conversion!

How about nerf bars with rock spotter lights? Is the top black also? The 87 body I used for my 4Runenr project was black on black... don't see too many of those around. Plenty of silvers around here.

 

It's black on black, don't worry guys, the running boards will be taken off. I was looking forward to the weekend, planned to get a ton done. The owner of the place I work was a strong supporter of our new Governor, Scott Walker. If you've been following any of that, you know their is a ton of protesting going on in Wisconsin. To make a long story short, I finished off the work week at 6pm tonight with about 55 hours. Walked in the door, and the first phone call was work. There are threats against our company and it's owners, so I was asked if I'd staff the building all weekend. So..I just gained about 40 hours of overtime for the weekend playing security guard.

 

The running boards are off...along with a few more updates...


Well for starters, this ended up being more of a project that I thought it would. I knew going into it the tranny was bad and a used replacement was included. I bought it, taking the guys word that it ran but had been parked for a year. My guess is longer than a year, but who knows.

The first thing was the tranny, after looking it over, I decided to buy an overhaul kit for it, better safe than sorry, and a new clutch was also needed. The clutch slave cylinder was also junk, needed replacing.

During this process, we put oil in the cylinders and everyday would give it a little turn as it hasn’t been ran in a year. All U-joints where replaced, tranny/clutch installed, new battery and fluids, we are ready to go…

Wrong…she won’t take fuel. So time to drop the tank only to find, it’s badly rusted! Junk! So I bought and installed a new tank, new fuel pump, and new two new sensors..fuel pump and gauge, most of this was mentioned in my first post regarding my purchase of it.

Great….now we are running…what’s that on the floor, oil? The front main seal is junk, along with a noticeable exhaust leak.

After dropping the oil pan, I noticed the oil pump had some light scoring. So, a new oil pump was installed, along with a timing chain/guides set. Since we are this far apart why not. The exhaust noise was the exhaust manifold. It was badly warped, sent it to a machine shop, had it planed, re-installed. She now runs very well, very quiet!

Woohoo time to go for a drive!!!

Hmmmm what’s that vibration? Turns out the pinion bearing in the rear is junk. From the looks of it, someone had it apart before probably replacing a seal. The flange looks newer, either way, they did It wrong. The rear ring and pinion is junk!

Waiting on gears from Randy’s, picked up a new in box Aussie Locker from board member Yotalogic, since we are waiting on parts, good time for a birfield service. New brakes will also be installed once the gears are here.

Still to come! I plan to run 33x10.50 BFG's and am looking at 2-3" lifts. So far it looks like Davez off-roads custom packs or OME is the way I'm going. It also needs a new windshield. I have a ton of time and money into it already, but all for the good. My main goal above and beyond making a medium duty wheeler out of it, is to be reliable. I want a clean, leak free, smooth running, quiet, running rig!

I also fixed a ton of trinket crap, getting the power windows to work properly, etc. I also paid an arm and a nut for most of my parts as I've owned 2 Land Cruisers, 3 pick ups, and now this. The one thing I personally feel, is the factory parts are better for the most part,so my clutch, timing set, oil filter, etc. came from Toyota.

Here is a picture of the rear 3rd member, I don't know if the damage shows well, you can also see where the flange looks newer, my guess was a seal repair done wrong, either way, it'll be right now. Hopefully by mid week I can start driving it a little, clean it up and get ready for the lift, tires, etc.





New gas tank....

 

awesome 4runner.

 

that is a very nice runner. i am looking at a grey one with a black top. needs alot more work than yours does . last i heard 33/10.5 mud terrains are not available. thats the size i wanted. had to settle for 31's because did not want to buy new rims for the 12.5 wide 33's. good luck with your biuld i will be watching 1st gens are my favorite.

 

Found these.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

I'm running those 33x10.5R15s and they look pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of the KM2, but I couldn't find any of the super swamper TSLs that also come in a 33x10.5R15s. You can click my build thread to see em mounted on a 15x7 Toyota Alloy. I'm running the 3 inch downey springs and they are definitely not the way to go. Don't flex very well, don't ride well, but they can hold 3/4s of a ton, so I guess that's a plus. Looking forward to seeing what you do for a lift because I am looking to get about the same amount as you. I have been considering doing what another member did on here, which is run the OME springs, but get 2 driver's side springs and use a plate on the perch to level em out.

 

Jumping in here. I'm in the same boat sorta. I have a 85 stock runner. I've narrowed the lift search down to OME heavy duty front and rear with OME shackles, shocks etc. I want to run those same 33x10.5 KM2s but do you think I can fit those on the stock Steel 4runner wheels? Can you also explain the drivers side leaf pack system. I understand the driver and passenger sides a slightly different but why go with the same up front?
Thanks,
Carter

 

The drivers side spring has slightly more arch in it to compensate for the spring plate being slightly lower (3/8th inch I think), so you can net 3/8ths of an inch more lift with the OME kit if you use a plate to level the spring perches and use 2 driver's side springs.