My new(to me) Toyota 4Runner that I got a couple of weeks ago.
It has a detroit locker in the rear, 5.29 gears, 33x12.5x15 Dunlop Mud radials on 15x10 aluminum wheels, Chevy 63" rear springs.
22RE w/ 5 speed.

A problem occurred with uploading the pictures. I will get them up ASAP.

 

Finally, some pictures:

 

The first thing I did aside from a tune up was to remove the 2" body lift. Body lifts may have their place, but I don't like them. I didn't really take any pictures of the process, but here is the truck after removal:





I think the truck looks better now, without the frame sticking out below the body.

 

I looks good with the new stance but those slick tires need to go. I would be afraid of a blow out.

 

Nice looking little runner. What are your plans for it? Mine come with a 2 inch lift and not sure if it going to stay as well. Looking forward to your build.

 

Yeah the tires are pretty bad. I have some 33x10.5x15 BF Goodrich All Terrains on their way, and I have some pro comp 51 15x8 wheels to go with them. I know that the pro comp steelies are an overdone look, but they're cheap. I opted for the narrower tire because I don't do much mud driving, and I don't like "balloon tire" look. I know that BFG A/T is not the best off road tire, but I can't afford to replace my tires every few thousand miles.

The alignment was really out of adjustment and caused the premature tire wear for the PO. I also need to diagnose and repair whatever is causing the play in the steering on the right front wheel. There is somewhere around 1.25 inch of play in the toe measurement on that wheel.

As far as plans for the truck go, I just want something fun to take through the wilderness. Down the road I might consider a solid axle swap, and or dual cases. In the meantime, I need to address some wiring issues. I might replace the rod bearings this weekend, as they knock a little bit on start-up.

Thank you for the support.

 

Over the weekend we replaced the rod bearings, mounted the new wheels and tires to the truck, and replaced the idler arm.

Pulling back some steering and suspension components to get at the oil pan:


Looking up into the crankcase:


Crankshaft journal and rod with cap and half of the bearing removed:


New bearing going in:


Old idler arm being removed (it was the source of the play in the toe measurement):


New Idler arm installed:


Here's the truck with the new wheels and tires. (ProComp 51 15x8 with BFG A/T 33x10.5x15)

 

Nice truck. It looks alot like my old 86.

 

very nice. handy it already came with a locker too

 

Truck keeps looking better, Great job!!

 

I agree, and it becomes easier to drive too! I'm pretty stoked on the project.

I'm already loving the traction that the Detroit provides off-road, but it occasionally makes a loud "bang" when I'm taking off in first gear. Is this normal?

 

Recently, I've not done much to the truck. I have however made a skid plate. It's not pretty, but it works. I wasn't expecting it to look very good, I just wanted something functional, so I made this in a hurry. Now that I see it on the truck, I wish I had spent a little more time because it looks pretty good. I cant decide whether to bend it down, to bolt flat against the bottom of the front, or leave it straight. If I leave it straight, then I'm gonna have to come up with a better way of bolting it on. The stack of lock washers is less than impressive.

 

Would a shorter bolt solve the stack of luck washer problem?

 

Yes, somewhat. It would certainly look more presentable, like the other side. The stack of washers was just a quick fix to the problem of trying to recycle spare bolts. The problem is that it is still only forcing on the plate over a very small area on the edge of the bolt head. This is caused by the fact that the bolt is vertical but the plate is at an angle. My idea is to take metal pipe and cut short, angled sections to make washers that would correct for this. I could also just try to bend the plate to bolt on flat, but I don't think it would look as good, and I don't have a metal brake.

 

that looks thin enough you could bend it, maybe find someone local with a break and they will charge you a beer.

 

I really haven't done much to the truck recently. I have however done some wheeling. It is hard to see, but there is a dent on that skid plate, near the driver side wheel. I guess that means its working . Anyway, here are some shots that I posed up to show the flex of the 63" chevy springs. They really do work nice.

I should add that through wheeling and messing around with the truck on a lift, I determined that in addition to the rear axle, the front axle also has a detroit locker.







I guess I never mentioned this in the original post, but the truck came with a spare 22re. I recently pulled the head off, and tore it apart. I bought some oversized stainless valves from engnbldr, along with retainers and springs etc. I will probably put a cam in it and have a minor performance head to throw on.

 

nice pics

 

very nice! Suscribed!

 

Ok, so it has been awhile, and it is update time.
I finally assembled the head that I was talking about, and put it on the engine. I used Engnbldr's oversized valves and RV springs, with the LC Engineering EFI Pro camshaft.
Here are some pictures of the process. I am sorry about the lack of pictures. I thought I took more.


Here is the intake port after the valve seats were cut bigger to accept the bigger valves. I didn't really port it, because I don't know what I'm doing, but I did remove the ridge under the valve seat. I blended it as best I could without removing much material. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the ports after that operation.







After installing the valves, I noticed that the keepers and retainer for one of the valve did not fit right (shown above). I sent engnbldr that photo and he quickly sent me a new retainer and keepers.


LOL at the box for the LC EFI PRO cam.



Just before rocker assembly installation.

I really thought I took more pictures. At any rate, it's running now. I definitely feel more power. The difference is not huge, but very noticeable. I'm very satisfied.

This weekend I might start fiddling with the adjustable cam gear to see if I can get a bit more out of it. I think I'm going to try advancing it 2 degrees.

I plan on building a new exhaust for it soon, as I have heard that a good exhaust really sets off these mods.

 

I almost forgot that I used the High oil volume rocker shafts from 22reperformance. I would also like to add that I was very impressed with the customer service of both engnbldr and 22reperformance. I had no problems with LC Engineering, but I had no need to talk to them so I cannot give an opinion on their customer service.

http://www.engnbldr.com/
http://22reperformance.com/22RE_Perf...t_Engines.html
http://www.lcengineering.com/

I recommend them all.