ED, did you have any driveline shake issues? I see you clocked the rear diff up, does that not mean you need to run the cv in the rear?

 

Thanks Teuf for the compliments, that means a lot! It was definately a learning process! If I had to do it differently, I would have mounted the front leaf spring mount 1 to 1-1/2" more forward than what I did. But overall I'm happy, the 3 hole axel spring perches allowed me to adjust for my miscalculation, lol.

I didn't have any driveline shakes or vibrations. I've seen where some people have used tapered shims to adjust for the driveline/diff angle, and others have done like I did and clocked the diff up. I read somewhere that you want the rear pinion to point directly at the t-case flange, so that's what I did, even though I wasn't getting any vibes, I thought it would be good to prevent excessive wear and tear on the U joints. You could probably run a cv joint, like on the front driveline, to be honest, I didn't do that much research on it, I could probably add one later if its needed.

 

I just noticed the 5.0 on your tailgate and like that. I seen where you mentioned about just thinking of drilling a hole a little further behind. Been there myself and sometimes the answer is right in front of you and you miss it. I know how that goes. Great job.

 

Thanks Terry. Ha, ha yeah, the 5.0 above the 4wheel drive 4 runner emblem was what I had for my old avatar, lol.



Yeah , I think I was in such a rush because I dd the 4 runner, that I missed the easy solution the first time, lol.

 

hey ed... wow i haven't logged on in a while and you've got a TON of progress!
first of all, that center console turned out great! well done and way to be original!
secondly, nice job on the suspension, just curious what made you go with all-pro springs over some of the other brands (trail gear, marlin etc?) how do they ride? have you carried a load with them yet? i'm possibly going to be chopping off my piece-of-junk chevy springs and putting some lift springs on.
as far as the axle placement, thanks for being my guinea pig! i was considering moving my axle back a little when i do the springs, but now i may not...

 

My buddy is in the middle of a complete suspension swap, and we've being researching this stuff. there's a really good info page on pirate here:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billav...ft/index2.html

our conclusion is that if you clock your pinion angle up toward the t-case you need to run a double-cardan style u-joint (like whats on the front driveshaft) where'as if you keep the pinion FLAT you can run a stock style rear shaft, but the pinion MUST be flat, and not somewhere in-between.

 

Thanks man! I still need to finish the center console, lol. I still need to primer it and add padding to the arm rest and cover the whole thing in fabric. But I'm pretty happy with the height of it and the storage capacity. It's nice to be able to shift the trans without moving my arm from the armrest!

On the suspension, I was wanting to get the rear elevated and level with the front. After chatting with Mark and Richard (aka Chefyota4x4 and Redeth) and seeing their wheeling pics and how well they performed I was pretty impressed with AllPro. Mark got me some measurements of his front suspension tire-to-fender clearance and it was really close to the same as mine, so I decided to go with the 6" rear kit like Mark was running. (TG only makes a 5" that's why I didn't consider them, and I never checked into Marlin).

I'm really happy with the flex, I think if I had an 8" wide rim instead of a 10" wide that the rear tire would stuff into the rear fenderwell more without rubbing so much (especially after comparing with flex pics of Marks 4runner). Yeah I like the idea of moving the axel back, but I just couldn't bring myself to start cutting the fenderwell up for more clearance, lol.

The ride quality is greatly improved over what I had before, soaks up the potholes and bumps a lot better, it also handles well on the road and corners better than I expected. I haven't carried any load with them yet, but when I do it will probably be just camping gear, nothing real heavy. The rear sits a little high right now, but I don't have a rear bumper yet, so it will probably level out once I get one built and installed.



Thanks for the link, there's a lot of good info on there. Looks like I'll have to source me a good used front driveline for the cardan joint!

 

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Thanks Teuf for the pics, looks like once again I jumped the gun, should have done my research...maybe I'll canabilize my front driveline for the cardan joint, and find a replacement front driveline later...

 

I did just that, took the cv from the front. I used U joints on both ends of the front DS.
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What's up my bad ass brotha? Hehe

 

What's cracka-lackin homie!

 

The weather has been rainy the last week or so, but the forecast is calling for it to be nice for the next week starting on monday, mid 80's with a couple days in the 90's...so you know what that means...time to go topless!!!
First things first, my back window has been stuck in the up position since last fall. The up/down switch in center console has never worked, I've always had to use the keyed switch in the tailgate. So after reading through 4crawler cheap tricks trouble shooting guide, I tried the easiest tip first, make sure the ground wire is grounded good. So I moved the ground to bare metal and tested it and it works! Good enough for now, I want to eventually get the console switch working, and relocated to the dash since I built a new center console. Anyway the tops coming off tomorrow for sure! Here's a link to 4crawlers cheap tricks writeup for the rear window for anyone who needs to trouble shoot their rear window, lots of good info!
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...arWindow.shtml

 

I finally got some use out of my offroad trailer project, lol. it worked out pretty good, next time I'll empty all the tools and junk out of the bed of the trailer first!




^^^I got my boys approval!


I got it all washed up, need to give it a wax job! Should be a nice drive to work today...

 

I got a little more work done on my center console, I finally got the hole cut on the underside of the lid so the locking latch mechanism finally works correctly. I tell ya, that was the hardest part of the whole build! Every mark that I made to cut, I cut on the wrong side of it ( probably 3 different times) that's part of the reason I took a brake from working on it. I finally just cut the portion out and welded in new metal and started over!

I got it primered today, hopefully get the armrest padded and covered tomorrow. I'll post up some pics of my progress tomorrow. The above pics is how it looked like last time I worked on it.

 

Bad arse, brother !

 

That red and black and the lift just looks great. It is nice having the top off.

 

Are you running the stock transmission?

 

Thanks Mark!

Thanks Terry! Yeah its nice driving with the top off, the kids really enjoy it also! I have already had it off longer this year than last year, lol. Looks like 90° weather the rest of the week, so I'm keeping it off till the forcast calls for rain! I think I'm only going to use 6 or 8 bolts when I put it back on and leave the interior trim off to make it faster to take back off next time. I really want a soft top bad, would like to try doing a DIY one, but have to many projects at the moment!

 

Technically no, I'm running a weaker G52 or G54, ( i believe my 4 runner came with a W56 originally, but when i first bought it 3rd gear wasnt working. At the time I couldnt find another W56, we were in the middle of moving, so i had to settle with the G52/54.
I've been running it for 2 years, but would like to upgrade to either a R151F or a W56. The R151F's are getting harder to find and are more expensive, more than likely I'll probably get another W56, hopefully by next summer!