DIRTCO

Thanks! I have to have it ready for this spring, right.

I have a couple rock lights waiting, I just need to get my rocksliders and install them first. I thought about building some, but with the price of steel and the time required to build them it's a lot smarter to just buy them.

I want to use factory Toyota switches for most the lights (some will have to be aftermarket because of space limitations). I have a small collection and figure that it will keep the interior more factory looking, I just have to figure out how to wire them up to work.

I'll let you know about the springs. After rear springs up front and other custom springs it will be interesting to see how a "out of the box" spring rides. I'm also wondering how much they will settle out. I should be ordering all of my suspension parts next week and I hope to have it completly installed by Thanksgiving!

DIRTCO

I love being able to see what I'm doing without messing around with a flashlight, it becomes very usefull.

They still make the older ones, these are just a newer version. I thought about the X-terrains but these seem like a better all around tire and have a lot more voids/siping. The sidewall seems a bit stiffer than the MTR's but it's hard to say until I get them on the trail. Like you said, I also like the looks of them!

I see what your saying about the batteries, but I think I'll wait and see how the current set-up works. I never run everything at the same time, so it's not that much of a draw on the system. The cargo area light and engine light are usually only used for a short amount of time, and I usually don't use my rock lights and off-road lights at the same time. I've had my battery die twice, once in Moab while setting up camp with all the lights and stereo going; and once on the trail while fixing another rig (lights and stereo ). Both times there were plenty of rigs around and if I'm by myself I keep it running while doing stuff like that.

Good point about the light being towards the front of the hood. I just mounted the light where it was the most out of the way.



I wanted MTR's, but for the price it worth giving these a try. These are a little under a true 35", while a 36' Irok is more like a 37. They look cool but I'm still waiting to see how they work on the trail and street.

Those Chevy lights are cool!

Thanks for the offer, but I think I"ll keep the 4Runner.

bigarms23

looks awesome and i am curious how those tire work on the trail

1stgenrnrdude

lookin great man, a beautiful truck and its turning out great

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

those chevy lights are cool until you actually need them to work...
and they arent very bright at all...

DIRTCO

Thanks, I'm also wondering how well these tires will work. This 4Runner is not going to see any extreme trails, so I think they should work out.

All the good stuff is yet to come!

Very good point, they were a great idea but poorly designed.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

I think the original bulb is an 1156 or something like that. A friend of mine swapped the bulb out in his suburban to something (will have to find out what) that was pretty dang bright. I remember it working great with what he did...

I might have missed it but what are you planning on doing to upgrade the brakes? You are lucky that you already have the dual diaphragm booster. I think I found one. Just wondering, I finally got all the junk to do the Fj Rotors etc...

Can't wait to see this thing done...

Haha, I have seen that statement on many forums...I wonder how long it will remain true for you

DIRTCO

They were a great idea, but poorly designed. After all, I'm sure most people don't even know how they work. I'm sure a brighter bulb helps out a lot though.

The rear brakes will pretty much stay stock, with the addition of a extended rear brake line and making sure everything is in good working order. The front axle is alreay built and pretty much ready to roll under the truck. I will go into detail about that later but it does have the FJ rotors, V6 calipers and Marlin brakes lines.

As for the extreme trail comment, it's all a matter perception. I plan on running my favorite trails, some of which could be called pretty hard. But I've been on these several times before and know what lines to take and what things to stay away from. This truck will never see trails like BV Carnage, or any other that you pretty much have to destroy your body and/or roll to get through certain lines.

And yes, I've heard many people say that before too

Hayes

where can I find info on the FJ upgrade? The next time I do my brakes, it's getting as many upgrades as possible.

86Toyrunna

awesome thread you got goin on here. i wish that i could have found a turbo runner but all of them i looked at around here either had wasted motors or way trashed bodys. and at the time i needed a DD in a bad way and couldnt pass up the one i got. im really interested how that turbo does on the trail. Hows the Lag on it? does it spool up quickly?

toyospearo

GREAT THREAD!!
you do great fabrication/modification.
Makes me want to trade in my PU for a 4 runner!!!

phildelfino

Didn't make turbos in 88. The grille is wrong, too. My 88 has 4 sections to the grille not 6. Anything is possible, though. Maybe it was "left over" and called an 88, but every picture screams 86-87.

By the way, this turbo you are building looks very good. You have given us many ideas for our own 4Runners.

Thanks, Phil

DIRTCO

Here's some info from the Pirate4x4 Faq

Brake Rotor Swap – Vented Front

Some folks like to swap out their solid rotors for vented rotors. This is a simple and somewhat inexpensive modification. I did this swap because my brakes were getting very hot and making some very annoying noises. If you can change your brakes you should not have any problem with this swap.

79-80 toyota mini axles -> Rotor bolts onto hub with 6 bolts and the wheel studs are pressed into the hub only. For Land Cruiser vented brake swap you must use 79-80 LC rotors.
81-85 toyota mini axles -> Rotor bolts onto the hub with 2 bolts and the wheel studs are prasses through the hub and is pressed into the rotor. For the Land Cruiser vented rotor swap you must use 81+ LC rotors. Uses Toyota 90942-02053, Dorman #610-264 or Napa 641-3126 wheel studs.

The Landcruiser rotors are wider because they are vented but otherwise fit right on with no other modification besides the need to run a IFS caliper.
The caliper comes in two flavors... one has two larger pistons and two smaller, and another has four pistons that are the same size. The ones with four large pistons would technically give you more braking force. I used the same pads because mine were still fairly new... so you don't need new pads unless yours are low.

DIRTCO

Thanks! It is pretty hard to find a nice Turbo 4Runner, I feel lucky to have mine. I think it should do fine on the trail, with the correct gearing you don't need a bunch of power or boost. The main advantage of having the turbo will be getting to and from the trail ,work and anywhere else I go.

On the street is does pretty good. It has a bit lag starting from a stop, but I think a lot of that is the auto tranny. Once your moving it seems to boost up quite well for what it is.

Thanks again! I had a single cab 85 PU years ago, after having a 4Runner I don't think I could go back. They are a lot more roomy and comfortable.

DIRTCO

Good eye!

I'm about 99.9% sure that it's an 86 4Runner, not an 88'. The graffics are the same as mine (along with everything else), and I know Toyota changed them around every year or two.

Looking at this website, you can see the differance between the 86 and 88 graffic's.

http://www.jamesdeancreations.com/toyota.htm

1986 SR5 4Runner



1988 SR5 4Runner

DIRTCO

Well, I spent the entire weekend in the shop. I have been trying to stay busy and take care of whatever little stuff I can before I start on the suspension. The turbo gaskets and exhaust manifold gasket had been leaking pretty bad, so I have been collecting parts to fix it right. I finally got everything I needed and talked myself into doing it. Let me say one thing, it is nice having a Turbo 4Runner to drive but working on it is another story. I knew it was going to take a while and be a PITA, guess what... I was right

Here is where I started

DIRTCO

I started by removing enough of the turbo piping to get the valve cover off. I wanted to adjust the valves, re-seal the cover (it was leaking just a little) and install my adjustable cam gear that I had in the last truck.

The valve cover leak



Getting everything out of the way



Valve cover off



Adjustable cam gear

DIRTCO

I was having issue's getting the new cam gear on, I was able to pull it hard enough to relive the pressure of the tensioner, but it didn't want to line up. After a little bit of thought I realized that as long as the gear and chain are lined up, I could turn the crank pully counter clockwise just a little bit to line everything up. It worked, and I got everything back together. I rotated the crack around by hand a couple times (to make sure the chain and gears were in the right location), then I adjusted the valves and put the valve cover back on (after a little paint )

New cam gear on





Painted valve cover with new gasket

DIRTCO

Then it was time to tackle the turbo and exhaust manifold.

It would have been a LOT easier if the truck had been SAS before this. There is just not much room to work with, every item removed required several trys with differant rachets, extensions, wrenches and anything else I could think of. It all worked out, and I'm sure if I had to do it again it would take half the time.

The amount of space to work with



Everything removed



Turbo removed



Some of the other parts

Hayes

do you have an exhaust? What about a better madifold?