Ok, gizler said this wasn't too redneck to post so here you have it. I went the ez quick route to adjust my bump stops in an effort to eliminate tire contacting the body. Welded 1/4" plates to the A arms.



I figured I'm doing a sas in the future anyways so F it. I just wanna wheel. 😃

 

I got some wire and a buddy gave me a battery box, so I'm moving the battery to the back of the 4runner. It's safe to have the battery in the vehicle right?

 

Getting ready for another attempt at a tuttle creek trip.
I should make it this time. Interior put back in.



Going to be mounting the cb whip out back. Routed the wire theough the driver tail light area. Going to fab a mount.

 

Made the mount today. Needs some red paint.

 

The CB wire was barely too short so I got an extension yesterday. It runs behind the wall panel to the front seat, under the carpet, then to the dash.



I did end up buying some new bumpstops today. Energy suspension poly 2.125" tall. Gonna crank the torsion bars and install these so hopefully the tires clear.

UPDATE: Mount is lookin official.



Put the radio in the same spot I had it in the pickup.

 

I love how probably to most people, when they look at mine or a rig like mine, they think its an old POS. Then theres the few of us, especially on this site, that look at a picture like this and see pure gold.



Still sooooo much work to do, but at least to me... it's lookin good. Haha!

 

Looks great buddy. I really like your CB mod. I need to do the same with mine.

Keep up the good work

 

I cranked the torsion bars, and installed the new bump stops. It basically rides on them but on the test drive it felt fine and i didnt rub a tire. So we'll see how it wheels.



It definitely looks more leveled out. Just gotta finish the front square driveshaft and I'm good to go. Always more little things to do, I wouldn't mind doing the quick disconnect door mod if I find time. But this trip is happening!!

 

I finished my square front driveshaft and am all ready to go. Here's some pics of it on the trailer, the good side and the ugly side. Haha.



So we'll see what breaks! Super excited to see what it can do.

 

Awesome! Are you headed to Tuttle this weekend?? Man I wish I wasn't laid up with this stupid shoulder. I would love to go!!

 

Yup leaving tomorrow hopefully by 4. Wish you could join us!

 

Here's some pics from the trip.
Heading out of town.


The campsite. Beautiful view.



We pulled into the ORV parking lot, and went to bolt in my square front driveshaft. Did all the bolts but the top two on the xfr case end. So i moved it a bit to access them easier. Thats when I heard a terrible loud sound. The DS hit the xfr case skid plate bad. Two spots.



The impact must've damaged the output seal on the xfr case cuz oil was dripping out. It was a slow drip but I wasn't sure of the extent of the damage, and we hadn't even got it off the trailer yet!! I ended up pulling the skid plate and running it like that for the day. So I didnt get too crazy on the rock ledges. But I did a little.







I also snapped my CB whip clean off, and either have a loose body mount or I broke a motor mount. Something clunks when I was hitting bumps towards the end of the day. I was kinda bummed cuz there was a few ledges I couldn't get up. But it was super wet and muddy out there and I'm pretty sure I only had 3wd. My drivers front axle must be broken. Also, I started off at 14psi. Later took more air out but didnt have my guage. So im guessing around 10psi.... I feel like I could've gone to 5 but I'm too scared of blowing a bead. So if anything this was a good test run, I want to go back soon after fixing things and try lower psi. Also we need more rigs to go with so I got a recovery team!!

 

So I'm thinking about another tuttle trip in early October and heres a list of stuff I'd like to do before then.



September is busy for me. Roofing my house and a trip to Mexico. So hopefully I can find time to do all those things. Busy busy.

 

So I did the most exciting task first.



Since I'm doing a sas eventually I didn't want to spend money on a locker or even a spool. So welding the front diff it was. I think I'm going to weld in there even more before I close it back up. Getting weld into the spider gears isn't easy!

 

Nice wheelin pics! Just curious how your rear disc conversion performed on your shake down run?

 

Well they out performed the frozen stuck drum brakes I had before. I definitely need a prop valve tho. It grips the rotor but I want a little more pressure back there.

 

Lots of work, lots of little details and stuff that make a build like this cool and the truck unique and your own.

 

 

Well my garage is tiny. So I bought a new welder cart to save space. It has a smaller footprint and is easier to move around.



Spent $35 on it and I'm happy with it. Now... to organize the rest, lol. The front diff cover and cross member were caked in an eighth inch of a mud/oil mix like the transfer case was if you remember back when I had that out. So I cleaned up the cover a bit and prepped the gasket surface.



I actually took the crossmember to work for sandblasting because of the rust too. Cleaned up nice. I want my own blast cab!!!



Figured while I had things apart I might as well clean em. 😊

 

Found a bit of time to do 4runner work. Torqued the bolts and filled with oil.



I love the pump it works great. I had some trouble getting the crossmember back on and getting the diff mounting point to line up. But a pry bar and a hammer worked in the end.



I really wanna go test it out but its not licensed so my range is limited to my neighborhood. 😑 Glad I blasted and painted the cross brace and cleaned up the diff cover. Someday I want to pull the body off and restore the entire frame. Someday.... 🤔

Bonus pic: 🔥🔥🔥