ok so i got my first 4runner back on 07 it was a 89 v6 5speed had it for a school project after getting it running and learning how to wrench on Toyota i fell in love but a blown t case and 300,000 on a v6 and not to mention the body rot and frame i had to get rid of it


but in 2010 i picked up my 87 dlx from a friend and a fellow forum member riddarunner i had a great frame 22re 5speed with about 200,000 on it i could no pass it up the body was a little rotted but about a week of working on it after work all the cancer was gone.

when i first got it








after getting it on the road i made up a plan for the truck i wanted something i could wheel on the weekends and drive to work on Monday i wanted a rig i could load up and go camping gear and take off for a week i wanted to be able to through my skis on the roof and be able to drive 4 hours chasing fresh snowfall i wanted a truck that i would have a problem going anywhere.

i started with finding good sr5 interior i like to wheel in comfort my friends call it the luxury crawler after about scavenging 4 or 5 truck interiors i go all i needed
the sr5 seats when i put them in




time for my first pieces of armor picked up sliders a rear diff cover and a ubolt flip do mind the exhaust it another thing replaced long ago





and after about 6 months it was time


bye bye



how many yotas can we fit in here?


[IMG]http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh6/ghnas24/DSCN0745.jpg[

riddarunner working hard


end result with my 35 mtrs






first time wheeling with the sfa and my true track in the rear i had 4.10s at the time



after awhile of driving on 4.10s i got sick of basically having to dump the clutch to move and down shifting to 3rd when i hit a hill so i picked up 2 sets of 5.29s one for my diff with the truetrack witch would be in the front and one for the e locker diff i picked up off of a yota tech member didn't really take any pictures of the install well none i could find but im sure you all know what it looks like.

mounted a cb




and yes i know my mtrs are backwards its a long story but they are correct now


meeting of the minds


flexing out a little


i decided i needed a better way to store gear in the back to maximize my space so being in the army i have a bunch of old Mollie gear that i no longer need so i wanted a system to hold these mollie bags

design




build


paint


mounted


and all done

now i can store rain gear and first aid that i can easily access with out digging around in the back

so i used to store my spare tire and my high lift in the back of my truck well a 35 takes up a lot of useful space so i decided to build a rear tire carrier swing out but i needed a new bumper while i was at it so we started to build

removed the old rear bumper and cut exhaust to fit the new mounts
http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...ps311b71e3.jpg

cutting out the new mounts 4 total
http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...ps931e7cb1.jpg

tacked into place for measuring
http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4b148238.jpg

unfortunately some times i get to deep into the fab work and stop taking pictures but the next day i took a few more of the bumper






now on to the swing out the plan was to punch a 1 inch bolt through the bumper to attach the piece to tube i got that was scrap tap it with a grease fitting and start the build i took more pictures this time






mocked up had to add a few more gussets but i ran out of steel















hand knobs to remove the high lift

Toyota license plate holder off of a 90 4runner with a tire swing out


connected buy a 1 inch receiver






and i had to play around on what snow i had left

 

Nice work on the rear tire carrier. Does it bounce around alot off road with the 35 on there? I need to get to building one.

My runner's jealous of your 35's. haha

 

it has about of a 1/4 inch of play up and down that you can hear if you hit a decent size pothole i haven't yet wheeled with it but i plan on putting a small strip of rubber down on the top of the bumper and that should fix my problem

 

that tire swingout/highlift mount is freaking awesome dude. well done.

 

Yeah man. Nice job. Good to hear that it's pretty sturdy. Definitely gets me motivated to build one for my rig. I'm in the middle of building sliders at the moment, but hopefully soon after I'll get started.

 

ya it seems to be fairing pretty well i would still like to find a little bit better of a latch the best way to describe what i am looking for is i want a latch like a ski boot but i cant seam to find out that is rugged enough i like the pin but it just allows for up and down movement i wouldn't mind having both but paint is next i like to make sure every thing is good before i paint i dont like to grind new paint on to add something

 

so adding on to my thread i figured i would put what i plan on doing next i got a price on a new exhaust today plan on doing that soon i cant stand that when i roll my windows down that i can smell exhaust not cool.

i plan on getting a addicted off road front bumper since i still have the stock bumper but i cant really complain about the front bumper i rear ended a car last year and the stock tin foil bumper was easily bent back by hand i plan on putting a super winch 9000lb on the front bumper and tieing in the front and rear bumper with some fender hoops i figure i could then take my flairs off but i want to make all of the tube and bumpers easily removed so i plan on using the tube connecters that trail gear makes

when i order the die for the bender i got i plan on bending up a roof basket the size of my rear roof i then plan on bending up two or three hoops that go from the sliders and rear bumper of and over my truck to connect the roof basket to my truck also i figured it would be cool if i could take the top of and still carry gear in the basket in the roof basket i plan on getting a 4 gallon rotopax for gas and two 2 gallon rotopaxs for water and mixed gas for my chain saw

 

Nice!!

 

THe addicted offroad bumpers are gonna look sweet on your rig.

I think what you are looking for in a Latch for the tire carrier is something that comes in this rear tire carrier kit. It has a red handle and works just like you described.
http://www.emsoffroad.com/store/inde...roducts_id=181

I hear you on the exhaust. When I first got my runner, the PO cut out the rust on the rear fenders so it was wide open into the cab. And it didnt help that the exhaust had a leak just about every foot. So it was like a smoke show inside of the runner until I fixed it.

I have contemplated building a roof rack also, or getting something from the U-Pull it and slapping it on the topper. Im too afraid to drill holes in the fiberglass. haha

 

wow that system is a good deal i wish i found that before if you build yours that kit is totally worth it thanks i was able to find that latch on amazon for 10 bucks thanks to your link