No problem man! whenever you have time, I'm in no hurry... have a good weekend!

 

Ed...
unloaded, i measured 9.5" fender gap on the front, and 7.5" on the back. The roof line is pretty much level. thats with the 3 leaf chevy pack + 1 very thin leaf. hope that helps....

 

Thanks that helps a lot. I've been trying to decide what route to (eventually) go with the rear lift. I'm pretty happy with the front, just trying to level out the rear to match. If I went with the chevies I'd probably have to run a 2" lift block to make it level with the front of mine, my front fender gap measures about 11.5"....

Thanks a lot man, sorry for the thread Hi-jacking!

 

might be more worth your while to run some TG rears or something, you'll still get a great ride but won't have to mess with blocks.... just my .002$

 

i think i've unofficially decided on an fj80 front axle, so let the information gathering begin.

http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161422
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...-lockouts.html
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...-wants-41.html

and here's some 3.4 swap info for later too
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f160...-speed-207371/

 

did some campin with my bro up by gunnison over the long weekend:





























And once again, spent all day saturday fixing the suburban haha

 

small update:
the truck is back under the knife. doing some maintenance (replacing belts). also bought a front bumper.....
will post pics soon

 

new belts and harmonic balancer. got rid of a lot of engine vibes




new rear leaf springs, finally found the HD 1/2 ton chevy springs that i've been looking for for over a year. you can see they have 4 leaves + the overload, as opposed to the usual 3





I didn't get to the radiator swap cuz i ran out of time and had to get it running for the 2013 toyota jamboree last weekend in buena vista. 60+ rigs. had a lot of fun and made some friends. i gotta get the rest of the pics from my GF but here's a preview





and got the new bumper installed as you can see.

 

That last pic is a really cool shot. I dig it!

Quick question on your E-Locker wired up to use the Low Range switch. I've seen wiring diagrams that use relays to cut off power to the locker when the limit switch is closed. Do the Low Range switches take the limit switch into account so you don't keep driving the motor when it's already at the limit?

 

thats a good question, and i'm not entirely sure. they advertise that it doesn't require any relays when using this switch. i just wired it how the instructions indicate and its worked flawlessly for 2 years now. it might be worth shooting them an email at low range, i'd be curious to know too

 

here's a few more

Hancock and williams pass:











IRON CHEST

 

I shot them an email and they replied with, "Power is cut off. It's a three position switch." Hmm... I don't think they really understood the question. I think I'll wire up a test with my multimeter to see how the switch behaves and decide whether or not to incorporate relays based on my findings.

 

nice, well let me know what you figure out

 

Had a lot of fun at jambo and my rig did pretty well. one thing that bothered me was airing up every evening. My faithful Quick air 2 compressor has treated me well over the years but when i made the jump from 33s to 35's it has struggled to get the job done. it has been taking me about an hour to air up. And so i began the quest of finding a reasonably priced upgrade. I know the new thing is CO2 but i dont like the idea of carrying that big thing around, plus it costs money to refill whereas an air compressor is free to run.
After searching the forums, i found a lot of guys running the superflow mv50's and mv90's which are very reasonably priced for what they are (both put out more cfm than my tired quick air 2). I decided that i wanted a little more though if was going to upgrade so i started looking at the bigger ones. Vlair and ARB both make some good compressors but they are very pricey.
I came acrross this:

3 gal tank, 3 cfm @90 psi, 12v for 230$
i found a few guys are running one of these on the forums and so far they all seem happy with it.

I also found this, which is relatively new to the market:
Smittybilt Part 2781 - 5.65 CFM Air Compressor-RH1

I'm a little skeptical of smittybilt because i know all their stuff is made in china now, but the limited number of reviews i found on this compressor praised it. and so i decided to go this route since it was almost half the price and i didn't really need an on-board air tank.

I found one NIB on ebay for 130 shipped, and it arrived a couple days later. I am pleasantly surprised at how well it is built. The body is mostly steel and fairly heavy. it is significantly larger than my old quick air 2




And since i couldn't find a good write up on this thing, i decided to do my own time study.
i aired down my mtr to 10 psi, hooked up the compressor and let it go.


the first thing i noticed is that it is very quiet! much quieter than my old one. the guage they provide is only accurate when the pump is off, which made it more difficult to get an accurate time measurement... but it was roughly 3.5 min to 37 psi! I am very impressed. Only time will tell if it is built for the long-haul, but so far i would definitely recommend this compressor to anyone running larger than 33" tires.

 

Loving the pics from camping and the jamboree. Looks like a ton of fun. Makes me want to move to CO. Or at least back to PA.

How does the runner ride with the heavier rear springs?? I have been contemplating doing the 63" chevys to mine but have not bit the bullet yet.

 

yea i imagine the scenery is a little different in iowa, haha.
I love the way the rear suspension rides now. ever since i did the 63" spring swap 3 years ago it has always been too soft in the rear. the 3 leaf packs are great for pickups, but for a 4runner it just wasn't quite enough spring rate, especially since i wheel fully loaded with gear frequently. i use to hit my rear bump stops constantly on the trail. the 4 leaf packs were very hard to locate but i am very happy with them. it added a lot of load capacity without making it ride rough when empty.

 

You have alot of great looking pics and seeing the different trucks is quite enjoyable. Great job!!

 

thanks terry, yea its always fun getting a bunch of yota guys together.

well i've been back and forth lately about getting high-steer, vs saving up for a new front axle. My current setup is working great and i have no complaints, but i just know the stock steering is eventually gonna give me problems. It still seems to make the most sense to me to go with a different housing rather than dump money into the mini axle, so i've been crunching more numbers on front axles. i've narrowed it down to the fj80 vs the trail-gear rock assault. here's an updated list of expenses


both axles will end up costing about the same, and they both have advantages. the 80 axle would have high pinion, stronger internals (stock) and has the cool factor IMHO.
down side is to get the cost down i would have to keep the tie rod in the stock location, which is not ideal and its harder to find parts, would require re-gearing the 3rd (hp), and lots more modification required (spring pad location on passenger side will be interesting)

the rock assault is easier to install, comes with 30 spl. shafts, i can re-use my current diff, and would have true high steer.
down side: will require 30 sp. birfields (cost), uses mini truck knucles which are weaker
so what it comes down to is having chromo mini-truck shafts and low pinion, or a high pinion 80 axle with stock internals. really doesn't seem to be too much difference but i'm leaning toward the rock assault. it will be winter before i start any of this but just getting my homework done for now

 

great pics!! You seein any water from the flooding?? Hope not. I like the bumper and how your park lights sit flush in it. Whys the hood popped on the heap?! haha!!

 

How did you use RUF without moving the front leaf mounting point forward?