pm sent

 

Dang, sounds like its a little late for a cage! thats too bad. part of me wishes my flop was a little worse so i could just start hacking it up, weld the diff's and make it a dedicated trail-rig. i hope yours wasn't quite that bad tho...

yea i was going crazy. still not entirely sure what was causing it but its gone now

thanks, it turned out a lot better than i coulda hoped

x2!

 

was the cap damage?

 

not too much, its dented above the passenger door

 

UPDATE: i've been wanting to line the bed for a while, and i finally got around to starting the grueling process of stripping and sanding everything. unfortunately i ran into some snags. when i pulled the roll bar, i found this:

 

going to hide your drugs down that hole?

 

Same place on my runner, like the new hole, please post pictures on the completed work, thanks....Bill

 

haha it would make a nice beer cooler

here's how it turned out. i cut a steel plate that fit snug in the hole, welded it and ground it flush. also tacked it from underneath. i didn't like my welds very much so i didn't take pictures prior to painting






took me several weeks to sand everything, then i sprayed it with some rustoleum bedliner and finished it with a clear coat. took it to moab earlier this summer and its already got a few scratches but its easy enough to touch up. also repainted the side panels and the roll bar

you can also see my new inclinometer in the last pic, finished that last night

 

this project is a few months old now but i thought i'd post it as a "lesson learned" for all you fab junkies.
i've been looking at some different options for a cheap front driveshaft. having it extended is the cheapest option but i plan on getting some decent flex out of the front end when i'm done with it, so i need a longer spline. i know square tube is cheap and strong but i'd like to be able to drive mine on the highway in 4wd since we do get the occasional snow storm in denver. I ran across this idea on a bronco forum, thought i'd try it out:
i bought a used ifs front driveshaft and cut 3" out of it before the spline where its smooth. then it got added to mine:









did the same thing on the sleeved end, added some round tube over it for additional strength.





worked great for several wheelin trips but was severely out of balance. then i broke it on day 5 of my moab trip earlier this summer.
In conclusion, i think the idea could work but i think it would be hard to get it to balance. i think i'm gonna just throw down for a long-spline driveshaft kit

 

Update: put an e-locker in the rear and changed to 5.29s. she's a whole different animal now! i used the low-range off-road elocker switch and built my own harness. it was pretty easy, i'd highly recommend it! looks sweet too!

 

That's a nice runner you got! Glad I'm not the only one having a blast with the 7m lol keep up the good work!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by yota864x4

That's a nice runner you got! Glad I'm not the only one having a blast with the 7m lol keep up the good work!

thanks.

here's a few shots from moab this spring... more to come

4 people and camping gear in the 4runner...




MOAB RIM



















Area BFE






STEEL BENDER





METAL MASHER

 

well after 3 years of running hot with a 1 row aluminum/plastic autozone radiator, i've finally upgraded.

BEFORE:
was running 4 fans, 2 pullers and 2 pushers and still getting hot.






pulled everything out and cleaned up some wiring:





as close to round as i could get with an angle grinder...haha




hard to see from the pics, but the new one is much thicker (3 row all aluminum made in usa vs 1 row auto-zone Chinese aluminum)




INSTALLED:



there's about 1/2" clearance with the crank pulley.....doesn't get much closer than that!





Leaving for the western slope tonight, going to be wheeling at 11000 ft. tomorrow. we'll see how she does.

 

got back last night, overall had a great trip. wheeled Poughkeepsie Gulch with my brother. beautiful scenery and was impressed with how challenging the trail was. had to have some good spotting at "the wall".
http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=77 pics pending

edit: here are the ouray pictures:









My brother's suburban showing up the fj's haha








still having cooling issues, got about halfway up the first big hill out of Denver and had to pull over and wait for the engine to cool down. got some rain on the passes so it did ok most of the way after that.

i pulled the thermostat before leaving for the trail on friday and it actually stayed cool most of the day. got a little hot near the top of hurricane pass but my inclinomter was pegged at 12000' so i'm not too upset. still gets warm on the highway though, even with the thermostat out. not sure what my next step will be, gonna take a break for a day or two and then dive back in.

 

well i've been talking to some of the engineers at work about my cooling issues and they suggested that the flow is being restricted due to the corrugated upper radiator hose:



so i ordered a ss braided hose from summit to replace my upper radiator hose. hopefully it has enough flex to do the crazy turns that i need it to. i also trimmed the fan shroud down to allow some air through on the highway.



going to buena vista this weekend so we'll see how it all works

 

Nice runner, I'm looking to get one to build up for the trails

 

Awesome build! Your 4runner has come along way! Where did you get your new radiator from? I'm currently running a 3.0 V6 rad in front of my 302 with two 10" puller fans (that barely fit, lol) so, far its keeping cool, but I haven't had a chance to take it wheeling, that will be the true test, might be looking to upgrade in the future. Thanks, and again, nice work!

 

thanks! yea they're a lot of fun, great for bringing passengers

thanks, the radiator is from Champion up in the NW. its a prototype that i'm trying for them but i think they're planning on selling them as a stock replacement. dimensions are identical to a stock 3.0 v6 radiator but obviously cools a lot better (3 core all aluminum)!
i can't believe you got 2 puller fans in there, i'm jealous! i couldn't bring myself to cut the core support but i think things would have been much easier if i had.

 

Nice, that would be sweet to get to try out a prototype! I think my radiator will work for now, it seems like the puller fans are doing their job, I think if it was going to overheat it would have done so by now, sitting at stoplights in 90°+ weather, lol. I hear you on not wanting to cut the core support! I really was trying to avoid that on my build, but it would have cost me around $570 for a new "short" style waterpump, new pulleys, harmonic balancer, etc just to gain an extra inch of clearance for the radiator, lol, couldnt see paying that much, so I gave in, lol. You got a sweet build going, look forward to seeing more, subscribed!

 

thanks Ed!
well i'm about to leave for the hills again. got the cooling system back in last night and so far its been running nice and cool around town when its 90 deg. i'll hopefully have some good trail pics coming....