I am in love with your kit and I'm saving up for one for my 95 4Runner. I have been wondering though, Would fj80 coils be about the right hight to match the lift your kit adds?

On another note, would you part ways with this skid plate in this picture?


Thanks in advance! Keep up the awesome work!

 

The skid plate is now on the "Mantruck" You still might be able to buy one from Northwest Offroad?

 

Dang! Ha Ha! I tried to get one but they stopped making them! I will have to keep looking for a used one!

 

Its been a while since I've logged on to Yotatech. Not sure why but my primary computer cannot open the Yotatech website anymore? Well, here I am on my old Pentium III laptop from 2004 and its working, go figure.

Anyway, here is the latest on the 4 Runner. It wasn't running very well the past few months so I parked it and drove one of my other three vehicles. I even non-opt'd the registration since the cat was bad and it didn't pass smog. Here is the good news, its back on the road. It had a bad fuel injector, it was only running on three cylinders. Albert (Mantruck) found the problem and I got it to pass smog with a new cat. CA cats are $300 now. Last week I drove the Runner to Arizona and blew a big hole in the muffler. I put the stock exhaust manifold back on and got a 40 series Flowmaster muffler. It sound great and is running better than ever. Next up, some 5.29's and lockers!

 

glad your back on the road. once i get a hold of a spare set of arms. im gonna really consider getting your LT kit. im still not sure if i need it or not. i know i want it but not sure if its needed yet lol the rear locker gets me almost anywhere. maybe some up coming summer rock wheeling and some more trips to pismo will help decide

 

Since the 4 Runner is back on the road and is now my daily driver for the summer job, I decided to give the rear a little more lift to sit level with the front.

I have been talking with Jeff at Deaver to go with the "f 67" in a spring over configuration; he estimates would be about 6" of lift. I may also try All-Pro or Trail Gear 6" spring packs. Anyway, I will eventually get to doing it the right way but for now I just need something quick, easy, and cheap to level what I got. I figured the easyest and cheapest way to get another 1.5-2.0 inches would be to lengthen the shackles.

I had some old factory shackles and 1.5" DOM scrap so I built some 8" ones. First I cut the factory side plates in half then cut the DOM to four 8" lengths. Then I notched the tube to accept the side plates and welded it all up. I re-used the existing bushings and hardware. The rear now sits level with the front.

I am estimating that with the Deaver Mini-Pack, 3.5" blocks and the 8" shackles I am sitting with around 6-7" of lift. The distance to the bumpstop to the frame bracket at droop is about 11" The bumpstop will compress slightly and the spring will drop a bit more if I stand on the wheel. So at my estimate its showing about 12" of travel?

Check out that rubber brakeline hose, stretched to the max! Also, I need to take some photos of the shocks I threw on there. The shocks I had laying around are only 9-1/4" travel so I'll be needing to shim the bumpstops a bit and make use of those old limit straps I pulled off the 1985 xtracab.

 

Took a few photos this afternoon. Here is the side view showing it sitting level. The rear looks slightly low in the photo but it must be due to the vantage point as from other angles it looks level?

The other photo is showing a close up of the shock mounting bracket. The shock mounting bracket distance is 26" at ride height. The 9" travel shock is completly extended and still doesn't reach the bottom mount (about 1.5" short) I was looking at the Bilstein 5125 Series Specification chart and it looks like I should go with a 14" travel shock. Ext=34 comp=20 That shock would allow about 8" of droop and 6" of compression on the shock stroke but when the shock angle is factored it would translate to more like 15-16" of wheel travel.

The wheels shown in the photos are my D.D. wheels as the 35" MTs are lousy on the road and don't want to wear them out. Anyway the wheels shown are 15x8 w/ 3-3/4" backspace in the front and 3-1/4" in the rear with 2" wheel adaptors. Tires are 33x12.50.

 

nice how are the bilstein holding up. i heard from some that they dont last and leak

 

I went with the 14" travel Bilstein 5125 Series! The valving I chose was 255/70. It ended up being really nice for street driving. I used the Runner to commute Laguna Canyon all summer. I admit it, the 4 Runner has not touched dirt in 6 months but it was super reliable and fun to cruise to the beach every day! My summer job is almost over for the season so I put the MTs back on and hope to start doing some mods and wheeling soon. The thing is when you have three rigs its hard to choose which one to work on. The 1985 P/U passed smog today! I really need to get rid of one of my rides, anyone interested in buying? I am leaning on selling the 85.

Its a good thing I read through the last few post, I completely forgot about the rubber brake hose being too short and I never did put those limit straps on. Good thing I never drooped out the rear, that hose would have ripped apart!

 

Sweet rides...

 

I am heading to the UltimateYota Pismo Dunes Jamboree next weekend, Sept 28th-30th. Going to drive the Fordota. Hope to see some of you guys and gals there!

 

i will be there too. be nice to meet that guy that made my kit. haha

 

Cool, Albert is going as well. He is driving the Mantruck. That means there will be at least three Blazeland rigs. I am getting some stickers made of the Blazeland logo, I hope they will be finished in time to pass out. See you in a few days!

 

i cant wait. i try not to rock stickers on my rig. but if i can find a good place for it. i would love to sport it

 

Gears from JT came in last week. I got5.29s. I ordered an Aussie Locker yesterday.

 

Making some progress!

Got the front third set up and ready for installation into the Runner. We had some problems with the new carrier bearings being the incorrect thickness. Even with a carrier bearing shim pack it is doubtful they would have worked, so I used the old bearings; and why not they were in great shape and because it was from the front almost no actual miles.

As far as the rear, its turning out to be a disaster. The Solid Pinion Spacer sleeve was incorrect. It was way to short. We thought about using the crush sleeve that came with the Master Install kit but then James remembered he had a V6 solid spacer in the drawer from Marlin Crawler. Well this worked and we got the correct pinion depth and ran a decent pattern but the V6 R&P into a 4 cyl housing just does not fit all that well. The pinion nut and drive shaft flange hangs out past the housing. This is where we left off on Monday night. Going to take some photos and talk with JT to figure out if this is right. James has worked on a lot of Toyota diffs and is really frustrated with these incorrect parts.

As a side note, the Aussie Locker looks like a Lock Right. And the casting seam on the carried needs to be finished with a die grinder to fit within the carrier. We tried it on two carriers and both were the same. Maybe this is typical?

Anyway, here is a photo of the Center Mount 7.5" Differential assembly.

 

I've got the same gears you just got. You'll love them!

 

I've put about 200 miles on the rear diff now. I have not installed the front diff as I am still working on the center mount diff brackets. I noticed the hanging method I configured was showing unwanted movement. I am building a sub-frame or sled that can be raised into position with a floor jack. I am pretty much finished with it and am getting ready to paint it. I'll post some photos over the next few days.

As far as the rear, some how the wrong pinion seal got installed and at high speed flung gear oil all over everything. Luckily I noticed it on the first short break in trip so it could have been worse. Still cleaning gear oil off the bottom of the 4 Runner is a pain it the neck. The correct seal for the 29 spline yoke upgrade is from a 2002 or newer Tacoma or 4 Runner. The 27 spine yoke is a smaller diameter so it is too tight on the inner dia of the seal.

The Aussie Locker wasn't what I expected. I have an E-locker in my truck that has rarely been engaged on pavement. The few times it was it acted like a spool and behaved harshly as expected. The Aussie Locker behaves clunky and you can really hear and feel it rachet in corners. I am starting to get used to it but I wish I went with a selectable unit.

I am really liking the 5.29 gear ratio. It is nice to maintain speeds in 5th gear even on hills. The cruise control can maintain speed and no longer shuts off. I was on the freeway tooling along and noticed the speedo said I was doing 85MPH. I doubt it, more like 75. I need to see if my gas mileage is improved.

 

The mechanical lockers do make some noise. People look at it funny when it lets off a loud crack. Great in the dirt though especially considering the price.

Like you though I want a selectable locker in the future. I worry about air lines this far North. That will wait until I take the truck to Australia I think. A driver side swap will be in my red wagons future.

Have you gone to 35's? My spedometre seems accurate after regearing. Mine stock was 4:30 what was yours?

 

love the elockers lol. have one in the rear of the runner and wish toyota made a 7.5 IFS elocker