Looks like it is nearly together. Was really suprised at how much room with the motor in at how much space you still have. I am sure it is tight in a couple of areas but cant be any worse then with a 22re.

Looking like a pro done and not a hackjob. Great job.

 

Looks good!! Wish i could progress like everybody else but having no fab skills im stuck at my pace lol

 

Nice, still looks like you got a lot of room with the 5.0 inside.

 

Thanks guys, yeah there is still alot of room on the sides of the motor, it's in the front where it's lacking. I wish ford made a shorter water pump, lol.


^^^I was hoping to be able to run the toyota V6 radiator that I already had, but as you can see there is not enough space



I got my steering box mounted and the reinforcement plates welded in. I had to trim the one pictured to avoid the core support/body mount. I originaly had it cut straight, but remembering back to Brian's build thread (OneIwilly) I remember him saying it's not good to weld across the frame, that you want to weld length wise. This got me to thinking, that's probably why these frame plates come curved on the ends, not straight cuts, so I went back and rounded it off.



This is how much clearance I have between the flat pitman arm nut and the bottom of the frame (it's hard to see, but it's about an 1/8th of an inch.) Also I got lucky and didn't have to lengthen the steering shaft, actually, I thought I was going to have to shorten it, but I was able to tap the end (that has the Ujoint on it) further down onto the steering box shaft, same with the other end, and was able to make it fit without modifying it.


I had to get the wheels back on and push it out of the carport (try out my new hi-steer)



^^^The front springs didn't settle as much as I hoped with the weight of the engine on them (only settled about 2" so far, I still have 12-1/2" between the top of the tire and the fender. I don't have any $$$ to lift the rear, I was thinking of building some longer shackels, or maybe doing the Zuk Mod (I already have some jeep TJ front coilsprings) but in the end I'll probably pull at least one more leaf out of the RUF pack...glad I didn't run all 9 leaves like I had originaly planned!!! lol.

 

Thanks racerflea, I've had alot of free time on my hands lately, that's the only reason I've been able to make the progress I have. If it wasn't for the parts I have sold off my 85' and some help from faimly my build would not have progressed at all. I have been following your build, hang in there and learn as you go, your build will get there, trust me this is the first front axel I've ever torn down, if it wasn't for some of the build threads on this site, I would have never attempted it!

 

Ed, you can alway remote the rad, oh it's a runner, sorry......Bill

 

I did the Zuk Mod on the runner today. I happened to have a set of front jeep TJ coilsprings that I bought awhile back for $20 for my expedition/offroad/camping trailer that I'm building. I'm planning to do a 3 link setup on the trailer, and was going to use the coils for that, but since the trailer is on the back burner for the moment, I robbed them for the runner, lol.
It went pretty easy, the only thing I did differently was since I don't have a coilspring compressor, I used a ratchet strap. Worked like a charm, (just be very careful if you attempt this when letting the pressure back off the spring!) I only really had to compress one side (aprox 3") to slip it into place. I used the bottle jack between the leafspring and the frame and also had to disconect the shock and the rear shackle in order to lift it high enough. I cut the coils aprox to 14" in length and it lifted the rear exactly 3".



I really like the fact that there is no cutting of the upper bump stop bracket, so if you want to go back to stock, you can real easily.



Here is a before and after shot



The front still sits a little high...I'm contemplating whether to pull some leaves out of the front now, or wait until after I drive it awhile in the hopes that it will settle some more.

While I was under there I removed the spare tire carrier. I'm thinking of swapping a gas tank into that area instead of getting another 4runner gas tank. The spare tire carrier is in pretty good shape, just surface rust and still works fine if anyone is restoring their rig and looking for one, just PM me.

 

I finished painting and putting on the other rear shock, I used Rancho 5000s off the 85' pickup, just got rid of the red boot and painted them silver.



I also got the Smittybuilt bumper mounted on the front. Im going to use it for now, I would like to eventually build my own plate/winch bumper. The PO had extended the brackets on the front bumper about 2" (if you remember he had the radiator on the outside of the grill, so to clear the rad he extened the brackets) this made it not as sturdy, and I didn't like the look. He welded the new brackets to the old ones and completely welded up the old holes, so I pretty much just had to cut them off and start over.



Here it is installed.

 

Hey Ed,Its looking great.You are gonna beat me to the finish.There is a guy on tri cities craigs list, who has a serpentine set for a sb ford.This may pull enough off of the front of your engine for your radiator to fit.....Saw it and thought of you.

 

Thanks Brian, I'll have to go on CL and look for it. I was wondering if a serpentine setup would help save some room upfront. I'm still running the toyota alternator and steering pump, do you know if I would be able to switch those pulleys to a serpentine pulleys?

 

I am sure the pullys wont fit on the Toyota pump or alt.But I beleve switching to the ford alt and pump wouldnt be bad.I think it said it had all of the brackets.It may also be better because I believe higher pressure and more amps could be a benefit because bigger stuffis available for the ford engine.Just ideas,idk.Serpentine was my next thing to do if I needed more room.

 

Thanks for looking out for me man! I'm going to check into that! Hows your build/s coming along?

 

Ehhhh.Stalled by motor mounts,woman, and work.

 

Life's roadblocks, lol, you'll get it done!

 

4runner looks sick! Those leads you got from Brian originally came from a lifted 82 pickup I parted out. There lift springs for sure

 

Thanks man, its a small world! LOL.

 

I think you guys actually live pretty close, if you go through Goldendale.

 

where do you live ed? im in arlington oregon

 

how does your rig ride with those coils around town? and will they or have they ever fallen out when flexing out wheelin? looks like a cool mod i may have to try it myself

 

I'm not sure where Arlington Oregon is, what's the next biggest town to you? I live in the "Palm Springs of Washington" LOL, Yakima WA.

That's a good question llama, I was kinda wondering that myself, LOL, I guess I will find out, or maybe somebody that has done this mod and driven their rig on and off-road can chime in and let us know!

*EDIT* I don't think the coils can fall out since I had to remove the shackle in order to get enough distance between the leafspring and the frame to get them in there, and that was with the spring compressed.