i made some bumper brackets/frame caps today and got them installed

 

Man, I am jealous of your fabrication skills. Keep up the good work

 

many thanks, much appreciated

 

got the frame painted from behind the horsecollar crossmember back with gloss black chassis saver

 

axle painted with black hammered rustoleum

 

definitely going to need some wheel spacers, but getting there. i still need to weld on my bumper and figure out roll bar tie ins.




the front is on jack stands, i have new shock bolts, spring bushings, and a front axle seal kit. the frame is not like the rear and i dont forsee much repair required, but will plate as needed. i will reinforce the front where the hanger is and where my new front bumper will tie in.

 

Looking good! Frame looks great.

How did you apply the chassis saver, is it just a brush on type of thing?

 

yes, comes in a can, and can be brushed or sprayed. i brushed it on. my brother has had some bad luck with por15, so i gave this stuff a shot. i used gloss when i previously would not have, after reading the flatter it is the more porous it is. im super happy with how it came out, very glossy, looks wet.
will do the front half of the frame after it gets cleaned up.

 

i got the front shocks out, springs out, frame cleaned up (mostly), and original bumper and mounts removed. i only need two small patches on the bottom of the frame where the sway bar used to mount. i chopped off the torsion bar mount on the driver side, still need to do the same on the passenger side.

 

i got the other torsion bar mount chopped off, the rest of the frame cleaned up, the 2 small patches welded on, and everything all painted up, completing the frame restoration.

 

slow progress, but progress nonetheless
i got the front suspension parts cleaned up and painted
i made some bump mounts for my u bolt plates

 

got some more done this weekend

i got the axle in the garage, the steering removed, some more misc stuff painted, etc.





going to need new tie rod ends, as the boots were all cracked.

 

Keep up the good work 👏 👍 💪

 

slowly but surely

 

the front axle is fully disassembled. the cone washers on the locking hubs i had used never-seize on, and i literally took the nuts off and pulled the locking hubs off with my hand, cone washers and all.
my hi-steer arm cone washers were another story. no never-seize. only method i have ever gotten to work is the hammering of a small screwdriver/wedge/chisel in the slot, to expand the cone washer to pop it up. they took a lot of hammering and penetrating spray.
bearings look ok, once i get everything cleaned up, i will examine further. i was hoping to reuse all bearings, only resealing everything.

i also hung my painted springs

 

and for a super technical post:
i cleaned up the front axle, and painted it

 

I hung the axle from the springs. Since it was going to snow, I sprayed the knuckle balls with WD40 and covered them in plastic. This past weekend I finished getting all the other front end parts cleaned and ready for new seals, bearings, and paint. The knuckles, steering arms, bottom caps, split rings, half rings, backing plate eliminators, spindles, and hubs are ready to go. I still need wheel bearings. I want to make sure I get Koyo ones. I am going to reuse the steering knuckle bearings, I was able to clean them out real good, and since they are not high speed, I am fine with it.
I dug up my old rotor drilling template rotor to drill out my new LC rotors to mount to my IFS hubs. I also took stock of my toyota parts supply while trying to straighten up my garage a little. (When the 4runner was my daily driver, I was buying whatever I found a deal on to make sure I could keep it running.) I found I have:
2x W56 trans
1x complete RF1A t-case
1.5x RF1A t-case worth of parts
1x steering box
10x flanges
1x denso alternator
1x denso starter
1x factory 4.10 open diff
2x trans shifters
1x t-case shifter
2x sets of mini truck springs
1x set of taco springs
2x CV drive shafts
2x non-cv drive shafts
1x ecu
1x afm
1x throttle body
and more hardware than I will probably ever need....a pretty sweet stock pile!
I also need to get front calipers and a new master. I think I am going to go with the V6 calipers and a 1" bore master. I don't think I will have to worry about grinding the calipers (like I did with the 4cyl ones and the OG factory aluminum rims I had on previously), as I am now running 17" rims and 1.5" spacers, but we will see how it fits.

To do list (short term):
finish re-building front axle
run brake lines
run fuel lines
install wheel spacers
paint rims
build front bumper/receiver
build rear bumper/receiver

To do list (long term):
twin sticks
fix body
rear wheel wells
front fenders
driver front floor
rear cargo floor
spire tire mount

Basically been doing either Saturday or Sunday every week out in the garage, great for my mental health and progress on the truck.

 

so i got some more done.
i disassembled and cleaned my manual hubs. i'm going to paint the dial black and handle red as it should be, before installing.
i still need to buy wheel bearings though with all the snow still on the ground, i'm not inclined to start assembling the axle.
most of the studs that mount the locking hubs to both wheel hubs were pretty worn, stripped, etc., so i pulled some from my solid axle hubs i have on the shelf and swapped them in.
i pulled the steering arm and bottom cap studs, cleaned, applied loctite, and reinstalled.
i also got my rotors drilled. they came out way better than last time. since the mounting holes are through and not blind, i set them on the hubs to transfer punch instead of an ifs rotor. seems like the obvious choice now but live and learn



i also made some sparkplug butterflies for my girls

 

i am hopefully assembling the front axle tomorrow

i got all the pieces super clean and painted, even the locking hub dials and bezels
note to anyone taking apart the locking hubs, don't forget about the detent spring and ball when you pop the red dial out of the black bezel, one of mine went flying and i have no idea how i found it

 

i got wheel bearings, tie rod ends, jam nuts, wheel spacers, a 1" bore brake master cylinder, and front loaded "v6" calipers....... meaning all i need are brake lines, proportioning valve, residual valve, and fuel lines
another note, the "v6" calipers are really 89-95 calipers for either 22re or 3.0, but 86-89 3.0 do not have the larger ones. along with this, the 89-95 4runners should have the bigger bore master we shall see.....