4runner is looking great!
with the rear quarter trimming, is the inner wheel well still attached?
you say it shakes from a standstill, what's the rear pinion angle look like?

 

Thanks. I believe if you go back to the early pages of my build thread I documented the tubbing of the rear fenders. Rear pinion angle is just shy of pointing right at the transfer case. Been a long time but I believe I have a double cardan back there (if thats even the right term.) 😆

 

i will have to go digging back, i must not have gone far enough.
sounds like you have it nailed. i ended up with mine 2 degrees down from straight at the back of the cv at ride height.
you find a flex test site yet?

edit:
i found your tubbing section, very inspiring. i need to do the same and you have definitely helped me start a plan.

 

Awesome! Good luck.

 

Well, this is how I ended up flexing it. Doesn't get more redneck. But we are proud of it. 61 degrees out today!



I found that I should be able to use my 12 inch shocks just fine. Located a good spot and welded on the passenger mount. I'm thinking these welds will be enough. I could add a gusset on each side down the road if I deem it necessary. Which it may be.. what do you think?





Ran out of daylight and it's cooling back down tomorrow so it may be a while until I can do the other side.

-CBO

 

Weld looks a little cold and a little undersized. I'd also gusset those.

 

The ford mount has rounded edges so a lot of weld is packed in under there. I did 3 or 4 passes each side. Leaning towards gussets as well tho. 👍 Why not over build right?

 

Glamor shot 📷



Welded up drivers side mount. Added some small gussets.



So anyone know how to fix this wire that pulled out of the plug?



-cbo

 

I managed to repair the wire plug. Which was awesome.



Should I drill my shackles at 4 inches to help with this bad angle?



The front diff is leaking oil on one of the long studs coming out of the electric motor. Kind of annoying so I gotta figure out how to stop that. Gotta wire up the locker into the cab, and it's test run time at tuttle creek. Excited.

 

Bit of snow this morning. I've planned a trip to go rock crawling and trail riding for a few weeks out. Gotta finish up some things first.

 

Playing around in the truck. Took out the factory radio getting ready to put in a cd deck.



A while back I bought this switch panel that mounts under the cd player. I popped that in to see what it will look like. I don't even remember where I got it but im sure its back in the build thread somewhere.



I don't even have enough switches to fill them all. I popped off the passenger speaker grill and there isn't even a speaker in there. Or any speaker wires. No biggie I'll just run new wires from the deck I guess.



I do have a question that I'd be surprised if anyone can answer. Why the cord connecting the cig lighter to the ashtray? What does it do??

 

Some trim levels had a small light in the ash tray.

 

Well if its only a light I'm gonna cut the wire its really annoying that they're tied together.

 

I mounted two pioneer speakers up front. Something is messed up in the wiring harness so the rear speakers dont work. Once I get new speakers for the rear probably 6x9 I will use new plug connectors and wire them directly.





How good does that look!? I decided not to use the under radio switch mount. I wanted the extra storage there. So that is for sale btw! $40 shipped in US. I will have to come up with something else for mounting switches.

 

I went through a lot of my spare parts and slapped on this new grill and headlight bezels. Looks good.



I need to quit with this cosmetic crap and seal up the front diff and weld on rock sliders. But it is fun to make it look good.

 

I bought some new fenders. Threw one on quick to see how it looks. I was hoping it would make it appear more level. I think it does.





I didn't put a bolt into every hole but these replacement fenders seem pretty legit. This thing should level out with 4inch fromt shackles, adding the overload leafs to the back, and possibly remove a front leaf... Im excited for paint. Any recommendations on how to coat the underside of the fender?

 

Elocker wires and switch mounting









It was great to get bacl down to kansas for some rock crawling again!









It looks like I still had more rear droop to go, but my dad was getting nervous and stopped me haha.The trip went really good I had a blast. I told my dad we were just gonna putt around, and straight out of the parking lot I hit a pretty big ledge trail and had him on the edge of his seat!

Weak link appears to be tires. I need softer rubber. I ran 15psi and we didnt wanna go lower and lose a bead because we were ridin solo. Still, at 15 the tires should have plenty of grip. I also would like to redo my transfer case mount and sturdy it up. I got a lot of movement there. Need to weld on my sliders and finish the rear bumper. Still lots to do.

 

Decided to randomly work on the rear bumper for a bit today.





Still needs more work but its a start.

 

Did another short trip to tuttle creek. Gas burned a hole in my pocket so much I thought about selling the 4runner and getting something I can drive to the trails.



here's a pic of the water temp gauge I installed. Looks good there I think.



Be a damn shame to sell it now. After all the work I've done. I reckon i should just work on it more and make it hwy worthy right? Ugh..

 

Good god man I just spent over an hour reading through this entire thread, I've read through thousands of hours of fabrication, custom swaps, rust fixing, even the birth of a child. I laughed, I cried, I cheered with joy. Selling this truck for bad fuel economy would be the most tragic ending to the greatest of stories. Beautiful truck!