Today I got the ball joint spacers installed.
I've read a ton of different opinions on these, including those our friend Alex of the Alex Man Videos, and there seems to be a broad range. For now, I'm going for it.
Much to the disappointment of some of you reading this, I'm sure, this truck will most likely see minimal off-road conditions so I'm comfortable trying these out. Really, the main reason I'm doing it at all is so I can replace the rear springs, which are really shot, and have a level ride. I don't want to crank up the t-bars after the OME springs are on the rear because of the stiffer ride. My ball joints are all relatively new and we'll just see how it goes.
Anyway, I already installed them:

 

Olive and I started on the front bumper, too.
New chrome face and ends. I'll probably pick up new turn signal lenses, too.



Pretty nasty in there:

 

Today I started to really assess the work needed under the rear of the Runner.



I got it up on stands, removed the rear tires, my crooked bumper, shocks, spare tire and started undoing brake lines. There is a significant amount of rust under there, but nothing too deep- and lots of dirt. The rubber boots on the back side of the rear brakes where the lever for the e-brake mechanism goes were completely packed with dirt. No hope of those things working in their current state.
So the plan is to get the rear end pulled, drop the gas tank, remove the rear springs, clean the hell out of everything, treat it with phosphoric acid and apply POR to it all. Then I'll get my OME springs installed with all new hardware and bushings. I also plan to pull apart the rear end and reseal everything, new bearings, clean it up and paint it.
I've considered regearing the rear end, too. I do not plan to put anything larger than 31" tires on it, but I live in the mountains and regular "around town" driving includes lots of hills. Now, maybe my fresh motor will make quick work of those hills, but I wonder if something just a hair taller wouldn't be nice.
I'm totally open to suggestions/opinions.

I'll likely have to replace all my brake lines too. Another biggie will be getting the e-brake working again. This town is far too hilly to not have a working brake.
I have a little vacation time to burn at work so I'm hoping to use that in the next few weeks to get this part of the job knocked out.
Then on to the body work...

 

good luck. be careful with those brake lines, they will be brittle and lead to more issues if you intend to save any section of them. I admire your shop.....concrete.... beats gravel anyday!

 

My grandfather ran 31s and towed a boat for years with stock gearing around the Tennessee mountains.

Now i drive it around with the same 31s without issue. It's a turd up hill but nothing i would consider worth re gearing

 

Thanks, yeah, I've been soaking everything in PB Blaster for a few days now- hopefully it'll help loosen things up. And yes, the garage is great. I'm very lucky to have a mother-in-law that loves me.


Yeah, these hills... Well I appreciate your input once again, thank you. I've found a number of folks who say the same thing. I think I'll just reseal it and call it good. Anything that saves me a few bucks at this point is okay! As I said, too, I'm thinking I will notice a considerable difference with a fresh motor.

 

I did the bj spacers also. the hardware they sent with them was terrible , sheared several bolts off due to over torqueing, if I were you I would go to lowes and by 8 5/16 grade 8 bolts nuts and lock washers and change them out.... better safe than sorry.

 

Dang, that stinks. Did you get them from 4crawler? I feel like he included good quality hardware- nothing broke anyway...
I'm going to look into it, thanks!

 

Just in case you haven't seen this:

 

Made a little bit of progress today:



The backing plates are almost completely rusted through. I had to cut the ubolts as the nuts were not in the least bit interested in coming off. Broke a couple of brake lines, as some of you knew I would. Started feeling lousy and called it an early afternoon.

Still need to finish pulling the rest of the crud out of there- gas tank, springs, etc. Lots of work to do...

 

it's all in learning brother.. keep it up. You'll be proud when your done

 

Thanks man. I appreciate the encouragement. I first started digging into this thing last August- figured a few months, tops. Pretty naive of me. But you're right, I'm learning a lot and overall it's been pretty enjoyable.

 

The gas tank came out:



I can poke holes with my finger in the skid plate under the tank. I'll be replacing that. I also noticed that someone along the line broke two of the three bolts holding up the rear end of the gas tank. I'll be fixing those, too.
Otherwise the tank is in pretty good shape, should clean up pretty nicely.

And, it's uglier than I thought under there:












I'm going to start with a heavy wire wheel on my angle grinder and try to get a better idea of what I'm dealing with.
It's hard to not feel discouraged looking at all that rust.

I'm also having issues getting the front leaf spring pins out, as seems to be a common problem.



I got some ideas from this thread.
Looks like I'm going to be doing some cutting.

 

That rust is pretty heavy. Looks like it's gonna be a job now. ..as if it wasn't already

 

be ready to put some patches in that frame it has probably rusted thin I used 3/16 to do mine..and I've still got along ways to go

 

Work has been really busy this week- no time for fun.

I did do a little shopping:
Factory shackles (part #0448335040 if you're looking)
New set of u-bolts
And looking to order the OME poly bushings.
Also picked up another heavy duty wire wheel at Lowes.

I'm really hoping to find time this coming week to get dirty scraping and grinding rust off this thing!
Feeling renewed optimism.

 

Joe, well you seem like you have the right attitude. I wouldn't even attempt something so ambitious, but you've come a long way and done so much good stuff, I don't think that rust is going to be a big deal for you, maybe something you didn't plan for, but in the end just a tiny fraction of all the work you have poured into this thing. Anyway, I'm enjoying reading along.

 

Man, thank you so much. I was getting frustrated there for a while. My wife teases me about how much I underestimated the amount of time and effort (and money) that would go into this project. The encouragement and advice that I receive from this build thread has a very real effect on the project and I'm so glad that I decided to record the project this way.

This week the kids are out of school for spring break so the Runner will continue to sit while we have some family time.
Road trip today!

 

Finally got back to it today. A couple weeks of family and other projects and I was ready to jump back in. First order of business was getting the leaf springs off. The thin cut wheel on the angle grinder made quick work of the pins and I had the springs off in no time.

Then I got back to the grueling job of grinding and scraping and cleaning all the dirt and rust and gunk out of the rear of this thing. In some ways things are not as bad as I thought; the frame is solid so far, the rust has not eaten all the way through and the frame is cleaning up nicely. It does not really look like much in the pictures below, but I feel good about the progress.






After most of a day of work I got the frame on the passenger side fairly well cleaned. I will have to replace my brake lines- they're very thin and brittle. I don't think I'll mess with the LSPV as it's not leaking and as far as I can tell functioning correctly. I will just clean it up and paint it.

Issues I am running into are little spots where the body is rusted through. Around the inside of the wheel well, a few random spots under the rear seats... I will be taking a page from 92ehatch's book and picking up a small welder and learning how to weld. I cut out a couple of spots already:



I figure a spot under the back seat is a good place to start learning. At least no one will ever see it. I'll weld in some patches and see how it goes!

 

Have fun with that learning to weld stuff. You will blow through but once you get it is much easier.

I overlapped my panels. Started my weld on the top of the over lap so the two layers could absorb the heat, then kissed it onto the thinner metal. I did this in varying places to prevent warping. Very quick don't concentrate on one spot to long.

Also the two panels must be touching tightly or you will blow through the top and nothing will happen with the lower.

You can run a self taping screw to help hold or rivet them in then tack them together.

Using steel rivets will not require removal but If you use aluminum you can't leave them.