Jerry, as always it's great to hear from you. Everyone has there strong and weak points. I am terrible with electrical stuff if it makes you feel any better, and I understand that humbling feeling in that regard. Machining is my life, managing this shop is what I do. Fab work is alittle different than Machining but something I can do.

Thanks for the compliment on my daughter. I must say that she is beautiful in my eyes. Sweet as pie and pure as pure can be. I know I will have to keep a close eye on her as she grows up, I feel sorry (not really) for the first boy that comes to my house. My son is quiet handsome also, but he is a little bit too much like me, he will surely learn all of his life lessons the hard way. Love both kids, they are alot of fun.

The finger is healing, just a little slow. I have been replacing the sterry strips daily along with the bandage. Lots of triple antibiotic aswell. I let one get infected a few years ago and won't ever do that again.

Good luck to you and yours, I've been watching you and Joe work on his motor, good stuff, great to see a true father son project. I look forward to doing the same with my son just like my dad did with me.

I saw that you ordered your kit from 4crawler and that guy knows his body lifts. Roger Brown was my guiding light on the BL, he has a 3" on his 4runner. You cannot tell me that he doesn't know what he is talking about. Did you get the ultimate ( larger diameter) lift blocks? HD hardware kit? I would avoid the stainless hardware since we live in Texas as road salt in not a problem, the stainless bolts are not as strong as the HD kit. You will be fiine, 4crawlers instruction are very good, just follow them and like I said before, inspect your body mount carefully.

 

Thanks MM, I really needed to get that off my chest. I know there will always be different oppinions and I respect peoples right to have there oppinions, but I cannot stand it when people have strong opposition to something they know nothing about.

I agree that slapping a cheap 3" BL on a stock truck to make it look cool is dumb, but slapping any cheap lift on a truck to make it look cool is dumb also.

 

Wow Rob you got quite a bit done with getting your lift. I think it is looking good with the stock tires and will look even better when you put the larger tires on.

The fuel tanks seem to hang way to low on these and you did a great job on getting yours tucked up out of the way. Also helps give a cleaner look. May seem like you will hit a slow spot at times but things like that take a little planning and am sure it will make the trails a little easier.

I hear you on the kids, they make life a lot enjoyable and gettting them involved sure makes things more memorable. They and life really fly by, sure doesnt seem possible at times. Im always telling the wife to enjoy these times. The last 20 years was a blip and I hear it only gets faster after that.

All of us have various skills, but we are fortunate to have this site and the ability of what we do have to work on these trucks. I sometimes wish I had more money, more time and things would get done alot faster then what they are getting done. But when it is all said and done, this is something that most of us enjoy.

 

Wow, GREAT write up on the BL's, Rob! Also, INSANE job on the Tank Lift! Holy CRAP, when I saw the "AFTER" I was really impressed. I'm gonna have to read back to see how you did the whole thing, other than the bracket re-weld, etc. (I.e., the interior end of it, lol)... but wow, very impressed!

and yes, Brandon is right, ...."hey buddy, there's something out of place hangin on the ground under your truck.... looks like a large tree limb got stuck under there, mister!" haha.

YEP, on the "My son will have to learn the hard way, like I did", lol. My youngest daughter is like that. Love them both the same, 100% equal... but one is MUCH EASIER than the other to deal with! haha. Man, watching them hit 21 and 19 this year,......gonna really blow my mind. FLASHBACK TIME! hahaha. Seeing as I'm only 42, it's not a HUGE flashback, in fact, seems like yesterday, ...but my point, short of it, is ENJOY THESE YEARS, as cliche as that is, they DO FLY BY, VERY QUICKLY! lol.

Rock on, Rob! You're KICKING RUMPIJUWAIAH, BTW! lol.

 

Hey Terry, thanks alot for the compliments. I have been working my butt off on the drive train lift, I can finally see it coming together. BTW, those tires are 33's, they just look a tad small because of the added lift. On the gas tank, I have beat the crap out of my tank skid, It is going to take some serious hammer ing to get it strait enough to even put back on. That tank definatly hung too low and it takes some abuse on the trail.

I know my kids are still young, my little girl is 5 and my son is 3, but I know what you mean about the time flying by. Seems like they where just born. They are at great ages right now, fun and spirited.


Thanks Mark, I trying to kick all of the RUMPIJUWAIAH that I can lol! On the tank lift there really is nothing to do on the interior end. Since the tank is mounted to the frame, when I put the body lift on the tank stayed in it's original location, Moving it back up to the body made all of the lines ect go back together just like nothing ever happened. Had I left it in the original location I would have needed a filler neck and fuel line extensions. The tank lift would not have been possible with out doing the body lift first.

Maybe I'll clean up that tree trunk under my truck sooner rather than later. I was planning on yanking it completely and replacing all of the U-joints ect, giving it a good cleaning and a quick coat of paint one of these days, but the U-joints are fine so maybe I'll just clean and paint it so you guys will quiet picking on me, lol.

 

Thanks for the good advise like I told chef a wile back I am used to working on big diesels and my toyotas are my play things I wheeled my 94 ext cab very hard until the ex wife got it in the divorce now I am back to focusing on my 86 truck witch was put on hold and taken apart during my time in the army so now I have to find the parts and put them back and replace what was stolen or lost during all "free help" I got long story short I look at halls bulbs for direction and good ideas as well as tech I can use during this long process of piecing together this truck

 

Y'alls builds darn spell check

 

Hey nvtoyota, sounds like you have a real project putting your 86 back together. You should take a few pics and start a thread, I know that there are several good guys around here who would be glad to help you find parts and piece it back together. I will help anyway I can. Sorry to hear about you losing the 94, but I am sure that with enough time a patience you could have that 86 out on the trail.

 

YEAH, NV! I'm sorry too! Dagnabbit, ...when a woman wants to really snap one off on a man..... TAKE HIS TOY! Grrr, lol. Also, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, SIR! Hooah!

 

The guy I am buying the 5.29 geared 3rd members from sent me some pics from the install. Looks like they where set up by Zuk himself about a year ago! How cool is that?

The seller has been great, he already pulled them out of the truck and shipped them, he just sent me the tracking number and they should be here on Wednesday the 30th. I know what I am going to be doing the following weekend.

 

Before I start a for sale thread, is anybody interested in buying my set of 4.30 3rd members? I have a Spartan locker installed the rear 3rd, I have really enjoyed that locker and even considered swapping the Aussie that is coming with my new 3rd and keeping the Spartan, but I guess I will leave well enough alone. I'll make a special offer to anyone who frequents my thread and sell both 3rds with the locker for what I paid for the locker alone, $225...you pay shipping. These would be great for someone who wants a locker but doesn't want to have to pull their gears out to install it, also great for somebody with 4.10's and 31" tires. Should seem a tad more responsive off the line. If no one speakes for them by next week then I'll start a thread and ask $300 for them.

 

Oh man, .... I was thinking about doing this, including a Spartan,.... this might be perfect for me, man! lol. Would it work in my manual? (sorry, ignorant on the differences with the auto and manual drivetrain stuff's, lol. don't laugh at me? hahaha). PS> I have 4.10's and 31's! hahaha.

 

These would work and be perfect for you Mark. No problem swapping the from an auto to a manual. I really wanted you to have first dibs on them but I know you already have alot on your plate.

 

Come on Chef!!! Do it Do it!!! I'd consider it but I have a set of 4.56's that I want to use instead.

.

 

Hahaha... NO, seriously, I was planning on doing the Spartan, I was, lol. And, I wondered about the gears, but thought.... "4.56's" were optimal for this rig. So, what would it cost me to get them here, buddy? Probably lots, right? lol.

 

Seriously, I am pretty sure I will just do that, Rob... I just need to figure out what it would be with shipping, etc., ya know? Thanks for thinking of me, man...I would really like something to work out like this, lol.

Have a good night man, and DANG, your rig is gonna be even MORE SICK? LOL. Can't wait, love that thing! Although...I kinda like that height now and all... but I know, it's a practical application what you're doing, and yeah....it's your rig, not mine! hahaha. Just love those 33's, that's all, lol.

 

I would like for it to work out also but I know the shipping is going to be high. I'll try to get a quote if you want, What I can tell you is that I am having my new 3rd members shipped from Arizona to Texas and it is costing $115!! I'll see if there are any cheaper ways to ship other than UPS. I think Fastenal does some type of shipping between stores, something to look into.

Thanks, I think the next 2 weeks or so should make a big difference in the 4runner, I am super stoked about the 5.29's. I'm going to throw those in as soon as they get here, hopefully on Wednesday. I'm also really looking forward to getting my new high clerance crossmember and trans skid in and finishing the drive train lift, then welding my rock sliders on. I have had the sliders taking up space in my shop since September! I have been waiting for the BL to be on first so I could set the height just right. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks and I hope to have it all done in time for my next big 3 day wheeling trip on April 15-17th. I can't wait!

 

Holy Crapoli! lol... that's gonna be so sweet, man! Especially with the Sliders, .....and then seeing the video's/pics of the trip with the new gears, ..I'm sure you'll be get'n caaarazyyyy! lol.

I hear ya on the shipping. Hmmm. Wish my brothers company still drove out to Corpus Cristy(SP?) ..... maybe they could've picked em up for me, hahaha. hmmmmmmmmm. I'm in 90274, if that helps? lol. Let me know what I can do to help looking into it, k? That kinda shipping, or even more possibly, would take it into the stratosphere, eh? lol. Hey, maybe that Jason guy, the trucker, who drives out here from back east to the Walmart's in L.A..... hmmmm, I'll see, hahaha.

 

Finally arrived. Pics do not do this thing justice, it is pure beef. The crossmember is 3/8" thick and the skid is 3/16". Skid is huge, it should just about cover the entire tranny. I can finally finish the drive train lift!

 

another one on the forums that I officially hate. lol