hows the front end holding up/working?

 

Pretty well. I got busy at work for a while at work this winter, and only got to start wheeling again this last weekend. I went for a short trip for a quick overnight bachelor party for a friend of mine. The SAS is cheating. Everyone made it in and out with minimal damage. A stock 4Runner on street tires lost a mudflap and got a very minor dent. There is a video, but I have no idea how to get it from my friend's Facebook to here, so you will have to imagine it. I didn't do anything serious enough to stress the system at all, and kept the truck in 2wd most of the time. There is one photo:

Now that I have a little bit of time again, I finally pulled the trigger on some gears. I got Ron's Machine to ship me 4.88s for both my 4 and 6 cyl diffs, with setup kits for under $400.00. They should ship today. That will result in a fully locked and geared truck with redone axles front and rear. This leaves the engine as an obvious weak spot in the system, but I think it will last at least this year with proper gearing. After seeing and hearing how Malteserunner's rebuild went, I will probably be slowly sourcing parts to build a similar engine.

I'm still considering rebuilding a trailer that I have with a pickup bed and a camper shell for basecamp purposes. That was a deciding factor in moving up to 4.88s from my original (slightly cheaper)4.56 plan.

 

sounds great man, lookin good. I was up at shaver last friday for my sons scout camp, drove over to bald mountain to check it out. still alot of snow before the trail head, If I wasnt by myself and in a time crunch i would have aired down and went for it. I am sure i could have made it to the trail head. There was a jeep there stock trying to get throught the first little patch of snow, kept running at it and backing out and going at it again. I dont think he made it. I turned around and headed for scout camp. We will have to make a run of it when you guys have some time.

 

Rons machine service is solid! I ordered my gears on Monday and got them yesterday. I haven't had a chance to open the box yet. Hopefully I can at least get started with building up my V6 third sometime this weekend.

 

its alot of fun doing the regears. helped a friend with his elocker last weekend. good times

 

This
thread
is
sick!!
Thanks for posting the rebirth. I know I'm late to the show, but I just finished reading all 16 pages. Looks great!

 

Thanks! It's still a work in progress. Welcome aboard, by the way.

 

Well, Datsayota and I went up to Bald Mountain on Sunday. Dbcfr was supposed to get there ahead of us, but had to tie up some loose ends on his new flatbed, exo, OBA, rear seat... so he passed us on the road after we came down the hill. There were about a hundred rigs on the mountain. A lot of people camp up there on the 3rd and watch the fireworks over Shaver Lake. Datsayota and I didn't stick around for that.

On the way up to Bald Mountain, there is a 8-12% grade that climbs 3500 feet in about 6.5 miles. My truck was hating life going about 42 mph. Dbcfr said his was even worse, but he has a lot of extra metal on his that I don't have, and he had three passengers. He and I have been prying some wrench time in after I get home from work, and I got my V6 third member geared to 4.88:1 and installed an Aussie Locker in it over the last two nights. We ended up with about 20 in/lbs of pinion preload and .010" of lash on the gears. The pattern was nice and centered. I ended up going with factory Toyota bearings and using a solid spacer and shims. It is still on the bench, but it is done. As soon as we get another chance to putter around in the shop, we will swap the V6 diff into the rear end of my rig and pull the 4.10 aussied 4 cyl diff for a rebuild and regear to 4.88. It will be reinstalled in the front.

 

By far my favorite 1st gen 4Runner! Amazing job. love the rear cage.. Might have to do that with my pickup!

Keep it up, and please keep posting updates for us!

 

awsome, wish i could have went but had to stay behind and run sound for a church event that evening. your rig is lookin great. I wish i had the funds to work on mine but its gona stay like it is for a bit. hopefully next year i will get that SAS done befoore wheelin season.

 

I Pretty sure that was you i saw while i was going up and you were coming down the trail. Were you with a white 3rd gen 4Runner?
Sounds good on the gears! I felt the same exact way you and DBCFR felt going up the 4 lanes on Sunday..lol . Im running 33's with 4.10's! So i cant wait till my 5.29's are in and iam locked F&R.

 

Yeah, that was me. The white 3rd gen is Datsayota.

 

I just got back home from a quick run over to the east side of the Sierras. Some of you will understand why I was a little concerned with this trip. Highway 120 from Lee Vining to Tioga Pass is a little steep. Last year, I drove the truck over with stock 31's. It was overheating. Since then, I've replaced the radiator and thermostat, and ditched the stock fan for a two speed Taurus variety. I also swapped out the 31" street tires for 33" Mud Terrains. I was in the process of regearing to 4.88s but ran out of time to visit some friends who were camping in Mammoth Lakes. Thus, over the hill we went with 4.10s and 33's. The wheeling over there is more of the high desert trail variety than I am used to. I'd like to go back and explore a few of those trails a bit more later on in the summer. I didn't get much chance to wheel, other than a shortish climb up towards a couple of lakes outside of town. For the most part, this was a road trip with some camping thrown in.

I shouldn't have worried about the truck. I took the time to stop at the Tioga Food Mart right before the grade and wire up the high speed side of the Taurus fan. I normally just run the low side on the fan controller. The Taurus fan is wired such that simply completing the high speed circuit will activate the high speed, regardless of whether the low speed circuit is connected. It worked so well that I think I will be wiring a relay, fuse and switch in just for the high speed so that I can manually flip it on when I'm pushing the truck. We didn't go fast, but at 35 mph, the truck never got hotter than about 185.

Pics:

The view to the east from our little family picnic trip up a "high clearance 4wd vehicle only" trail to an aspen grove. The Firerunner did it in 2wd. My buddy's silver Tacoma is in there somewhere



The scenery of Tioga Grade. Breathtaking doesn't even begin to describe it, and I don't know how many times I've seen it. It's still amazing.












Tioga pass: 9945'


I wonder if an '83 Supra AFM swap would help. The truck seems to want a little more oxygen above about 9000'.

And this might be the start of one of the upcoming projects. I have visions of a camper shell on it, and a spare set of 33's under it, and my daughter in it. We'll call it a high country playpen.

 

nice pics! looks like you had a good time

(oh, btw: '82 supra afm, not '83. sounds like swapping it in should help a bit, but not as much as a turbo or sc )

 

Right you are.

 

I finally had a chance to swap in my Aussie'd 4.88 V6 third member. I have only driven it around my neighborhood so far, but already I like driving my truck more. I actually used 4th gear going uphill! The stock (but Aussie'd) 4.10 third had been leaking from the reused pinion seal. Hopefully sometime this week I will have a chance to regear and rebuild the 4 cylinder third so I can have 4wd back.

Also, I picked up a pickup tailgate, so I am one step closer to swapping that in.

 

Do you still have the glass for the rear window? mines all scratched up. I bet those gears sure helped. When you guys goin wheelin? I went to bald a couple of times already it alot of fun. that trailers gona be sweet.

 

That trailer looks like its gonna be a fun project.

 

well you one step closer

 

Coug- Yeah, I have the glass. It is available, but there is one sticker that you would have to promise you wouldn't take off. It is from the original owner and has been on the truck for 25 years.

I just got home from Dbcfr's house. We got the 4 cyl diff regeared and installed. I also retorqued my front U bolts. I am glad I did! Everyone who reads this should go check your U-bolt torque right now. They were probably down to 65 ft lbs. Everything is back at 100 now. I am officially 'real' 4wd now. Aussies on both ends work great. I want to go climb trees. I have to wake up in 4 hours for work, though, so I won't. I don't have any pics this time. There isn't much to see anyway.

MC