chukarhunt

iTrader: (1)

Ya Fan clutch is a good thing to check. And if you still can't get air out of it, you can do what I did, worst case, to my wife's subaru. It wouldn't take water for the life of it, so I took off one of the heater hoses off, and then forced water down the radiators throat with a garden hose until I got a nice steady stream of water going through the block and heater core. I know you are supposed to use distilled, but I had no other choice.

Last thing we want to do is corrode our yotas!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Well, I sold my toyota yesterday....






Not my 4 runner, I sold my 83' Toyota pickup, lol. I will miss it, had lots of potential, but it was turning into more of a project than a dd, so I sold it back to my Uncle, who had sold it to my dad, who sold it to me, lol. So now that I got some money, I figure its time to throw some of it at the 4 runner and order some new parts!!! I called up AllPro Offroad and ordered their 6" rear suspension kit. I'm pretty happy with the flex and ride quality of my front RUF setup, and after talking to Chef and Redeth I think the AllPro kit will be just the ticket, and hopefully level the rear with the front.

I also ordered a new aluminum radiator, aluminum shroud, and 14" electric fan from CFR Performance. And last I ordered a oil pressure, water temp, and volt gauge and universal 3 gauge dash pod from Glow Shift. The gauges have the black face background with the 7 color illumination. I went with the universal gauge pod and will mount it on the dash where the inclinometer would normally go, I think that won't be as distracting to me while driving (especially at night) as the A pillar gauge pods that I was considering. Can't wait to get my parts!!!!

chukarhunt

iTrader: (1)

phew! you had me worried there for a minute wondering why a guy would sell his 5.0 runner! lol. I wish I had the money to do better springs in the back. I have been eyeing all pro as well.


Glad you went with glowshift! You will love them. At least you have a spot to place the pod, I don't have a single flat spot in my truck to hold that bulky thing. I may trim it down though, it was only $15.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Ha, ha, yeah I thought I'd catch someone with that and make them think I sold my 4 runner, lol. Yeah, I've heard good things about AllPro, I can't wait to install the new rear suspension!

Yeah, I like the looks of the glow shift gauges, and like the color change feature. After seeing yours installed I was sold on them!

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

You can only have so many toys to keep up with and can understand why you sold it. I want a first gen truck and it will just be something to have someday, but being tall, a standard cab is crowded for me. I am still going to get one someday. It is still in the family and looks like your uncle took care of it so it is still good. Beside, more parts will be on the way, Wahoo!!!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Hi Terry. Yeah between my 4 runner, the 83' and my trailer project, it was just too much to try to keep up with. This way by selling my 83 I can finally make some upgrades to my 4 runner, and hopefully finish my trailer. I agree with you on the size of the first Gen cabs, they're pretty cramped for taller guys ( I'm 6'-1"). I'd like to eventually get an 84-88' ex cab like you have for a daily driver, but that will be a long way off!

Checked the tracking on my AllPro shipment, should be here on Monday, which just happens to be my dayoff, coincidence?...I think not, lol

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Well I didn't get my AllPro 6" rear suspension kit yesterday like I was hoping, I checked the tracking on my shipment and they changed my estimated arrival date to today. So I did some tinkering on the 4runner. I wire brushed and painted my passenger side replacement exhaust manifold that my uncle gave me. The old one had a hairline crack in it that finally cracked all the way in half. All I had for high temp paint was some silver that I had left over from painting my waterpump and intake manifold back when I first did the engine swap, so now I have one black and one silver exhaust manifold, lol, I'll have to go back and paint the driverside.




So I had all but given up on getting my parts today, when the Fed EX finally pulled up at 8:30pm, better late than never I guess. So of course I started tearing open the boxes to inspect my new, shiny parts, only to find that I was missing my two shackle hangers, and they gave me the wrong spring perches, instead of the 3 hole perches they gave me these tiny little perches that didn't even fit my axel tubing diameter. I'm not mad, just a little disappointed, I'll give them a call tomorrow and hopefully they'll make it right and cover the shipping charges.

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

Glad you got your parts finally, sorry that they had a few things mixed up with them. Hopefully they will make it right with you fairly soon.

The manifold looks great! I think the silver is a good choice for a color.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Gizler, yeah I think the silver turned out pretty good. The last time I used some high temp wood stove paint I had laying around, lol, it looked better than the rust color, we'll see how long the silver holds up.

I called AllPro this morning, what i though were the wrong size axel spring perches ( I mean they were small, looked like little baby trailer axel perches, I talked to the sales rep, and he couldn't figure out what they could be, he wanted me to send him some pics) it turns out they were actually the rear shackle hangers without the DOM tubing for the bushings welded to them. So they're going to try to ship out the 3 hole axel spring perches and the shackle tubes today or tomorrow, I should get them by Fri or Sat, and I'll just have to weld the tubes to the shackle hangers. So since I'm still dd my 4 runner, I probably won't start the rear suspension swap until Monday when I'm off work.

I think my radiator, electric fan and fan shroud is supposed to arrive today, not sure about the Glow shift gauges, ( the shipping was free on that order, s it might take longer).

chukarhunt

iTrader: (1)

If I remember on the gauges, it took less than 5 days for me. I can't remember if I was excited to see them so early or wondering why they hadn't shown up yet lol.


I am jealous about the all pro springs. Going to look good!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

I spoke too soon, just got my GlowShift gauges and gauge pod delivered!

Thanks, can't wait to get the lift installed!

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Waiting for parts is like a kid at Christmas. Then you get the parts and it is a wrong one, it is like that kid got clothes for Christmas. lol I did not like getting clothes. Hope your parts get on the fast moving trucks.

I see some one else has experienced Fords cracked exhaust manifolds as well. Still the small block Fords are some great little motors.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Ha, ha, that made me laugh Terry...yeah it was kinda like a kid expecting to unwrap a BB gun, and instead he got a knitted sweater, lol. Well maybe not that bad. Hopefully I'll get the rest of the parts before Monday so I can get the suspension installed.

Yeah those stock exhaust manifolds fit nice, but this is the second one that's cracked in half on me (already replaced the driverside) hopefully this one will last awhile, also the VHT silver paint I used on the manifold burned off on the way to work yesterday, It's rated at 550* might be because I didn't bake it in the oven at 200* for an hourper the directions, but it also said the the engine operating temp would do the same thing... oh well live and learn.

I got home from work tonight and my aluminum radiator, shroud and electric fan were there waiting for me, I'll post some pics in the morning, I'm pretty happy with it, looks like some nice quality parts.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Here's some pics of the new aluminum rad, shroud, and 14" electric fan. The radiator dimensions are 24"W x 16-1/2"H x 3"D. It's 2 inches wider than stock, I went shorter to keep it above the frame rails. Two things I overlooked. 1.) the radiator didn't come with a readiator cap, so I need to order one, $20... 2.) there are no mounting holes or tabs on the radiator to mount it, so I need to order a universal radiator mounting bracket, $50...I'll have to wait, I'm out of funds, I'll probably put my old rear leaf springs up on CL along with my Toyota V6 radiator and some other odds and ends, hopefully raise the funds I need, anyway here's some pics:

Ceveland

That radiator looks really nice. It should cool that motor down really well. If I remember correctly you said you are gonna cut the core support and rebuild it, right? If so, you may want to just build a mounting bracket for the radiator yourself. It may save you some money and you'll also know it will fit. Just a thought. Whatever you end up doing, it's gonna look good no doubt.

Get 'er done!

-Tim

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Tim, yeah I think this rad/fan setup should work out, at least I really hope it does!!! I've thought about building my own radiator mounting bracket, I'm just not sure if I can make it look descent, and also I don't want to worry about causing damage to the radiator, so I might just go ahead and buy CFR's universal mount. Here"s a pic of their universal mounting bracket, you can click on the image to enlarge it.



Tomorrow I'm going to start installing my ALLPRO 6" rear suspension. I wish they'd sent some sort of instructions with the kit so I would know how far forward to weld my new spring hangers and shackle hangers. From what I gathered, the springs are 9" longer than stock, I guess I can measure the distance from the spring eyes to the center pin on both the new springs and the stock ones and figure it out, just wish they would have gave some general mounting "guidelines" to get me close. I know Richard "Redeth" mounted his 7-7/8" forward from stock, but he didn't mention the shackle hanger mount's, maybe he kept them in the stock location, not sure, also I believe he went with the 4" rear springs, not sure if they're the same length as the 6" springs...anyway now I'm rambling, lol... maybe I'll just give AllPro a call tomorrow.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

OK, so I started working installing the AllPro 6" lift today. Here's what it looked like before, ( just as a recap, I was using 2" blocks that were on the 4 runner when bought it, I added the Zuk mod using jeep TJ front coil springs gained me another 3" of lift, served me well for almost 2 years! Still sat a little low in the rear.







After measuring the difference between the spring eye to the center pin on the front half of both springs, the allpro springs were aprox 7" longer (27-1/2 " compared to stock being 20-1/2") just to double check I called allpro, and they said most people move the spring hanger 6" forward (measuring eye to eye)......
I had one of my old 5-1/2" shackles handy, so I figured a half inch wouldn't make that much difference, so I put some bolts thru the older hanger and one thru the new one and used that as a spacer to move the new hanger 5-1/2" forward and clamped and tacked the new one in place, here's the new spring installed.



Here is the shackle/spacer



I'm taking a diner break, got some more pics to post up shortly!

rustED

iTrader: (2)

So I only got most of the driverside done, looks like I gained about 1-1/2" of lift (I had 7" of clearance between the fender and tire before, after I have 8-1/2") still need to mount my shock tabs to the axel. Also, I haven't received my missing shackle mount bushing tubes or my 3 hole spring perches from AllPro yet :/ so I went ahead bolted the springs to the factory old shackle mount to see how my shackle angle would be, and if I would have to move the mount. I definitely need to cut the old mount off, and relocate the new one back a few inches. I also need to take the receiver hitch off probably have to modify it, you can see where the shackle is up against it in the pic.




SO I meant to mark the frame and use a plumb bob to mark the center of the axel tube so I could keep track of how much the axel moved if any, but I forgot to do that, you can definitely tell the axel moved back, lengthening the overall wheelbase. Not sure if I like it. When my 3 hole axel spring perches arrive, I could use the rear hole and move the axel forward an inch. What do you guys think, should I leave it ,or change it? I'm open to suggestions! Here's a before and after pic:


ΔΔΔBEFORE




ΔΔΔAFTER...the front still looks a little higher in the pic, but is raised up because it's leaning from the passenger rear sitting lower.

Red Wagon

Has All-Pro been alright?

Would you order from them again? I hope you get the rest soon.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Well they shipped my order incomplete, but everything was listed on the invoice/receipt like it was all there. When I called them and told them the parts I was missing, they said they only had one shackle tube and needed to cut another one (which to me seems like that would take all of 5 minutes to do, lol.) Not sure why they didn't send me the 3 hole axel spring perches, maybe they forgot, or didn't have them in stock, not sure. I called them last Wed, and they said I'd get them Fri or Sat... still waiting. As far as the parts I did receive, they look like high quality parts and I'm totally happy with them.


I would order from them again, I understand that things happen, I just tend to get impatient, especially since I need to get this finished so I can get to work tomorrow afternoon (the downfall to daily driving your project).


I have some DOM bushing tubes that I bought from SHOCKER for my trailer project. The bushings are bigger, but the hole is the same size and my greaseable shackle bolts fit, I'm thinking of grinding the shackle perches to fit these bushing tubes so I can go ahead and get the shackle angle setup correctly.



I know as soon as I do this I'll probably receive my missing parts shipment, but I need to get this finished...speaking of which the sun is finally peaking up over the mountain, looks like it's going to be another nice day, I better get to work!