Yeah, I see a 60 in your future. I haven't followed your build closely enough. Are you running a crawler?

 

He has a Limited...it's an Automatic

 

???? A crawler is still a possibility...

 

Possible, yes. But another thing he has is the multi-mode transfercase, making it too long with the gas tank in the stock location.

Trust me, SteveO doesn't drive slow...

 

That being the case, I see a 60 coming after the first two runs. First run he will take it easy letting everything settle in and testing everything out. The 2nd will be a real run where he will destroy his rear axle. You heard it here first. LOL.

 

Very nice SteveO,I like it alot, I did my rear last year and have been wantting to do it to the front but wanted to see someone do it first. I know how much is involved and cant wait till i get into mine. when i start pics will be posted. Here are some pics of my rig with the 4link,rear bobbed 16-18in,custom made everything,rubicon express springs,36in Irocs,4.7 single t-case,locked f+r. hope you like. http://photobucket.com/albums/c124/muddinyota/

 

Are you refering to that time when we had the SD250 and towed the 4Runner up to CO? LOL

Yeah, the Multimode transfer case is not an easy item to deal with. One of the bugs I'm working on right now is the ABS computer that is tied into the speed sensor, tied into the transfer case, tied into the ABS sensors, tied into the central ECU....good grief.

I have since ordered the FSM manuals to try and figure out the Speedo thing and the trasnfer case issue. Thank God the transfer case has a stick lever, other wise I wouldn't be able to use it.

 

Well, I have Yukon 4.88s in the rear with the factory locker, and Moser 4340 axles, plus Full Floating hubs. I'll take it easy for a little bit and not get to throttle happy. I still have to re-arrange my rear track bar to get around the battery, so I really need to take it easy.

 

Thanks, seems your rear suspension has some pretty crazy flex.

 

i have to say, this is one of the sweetest yotatech threads ive ever read/viewed...in my opinion, the sweetest rigs around are in this thread....except jason's 92 4runner isnt in here (represent charlotte!)

steveo-what made you want to do the coil instead of the leaf springs? and another question...are you the first? i see how much customization is took, and was just wondering if you had ANY type of "guideline"/"footsteps" to follow in; because thats pretty crazy to just, do.

very very nice work.

 

Thanks man, much appreciated.

The reason I did the coil overs was to retain the excellent ride that should come from a 3rd gen 4Runner. Stock, these rigs have a really nice ride on the highway. Being that I wanted to drive this thing to all the events, I wanted to have a nice plush ride. The Coil-overs also give some pretty insane flex. Another reason for doing the Coil-overs is the mounting position of my custom bumper. My front bumper slides onto the front of the frame rails 7". Had I put leaf springs, I would have to fabricate another mounting position for my bumper. Personally, I really, really like my bumper. It has the best approach angle I have seen on a 3rd gen 4Runner, it has a winch mount, and its beefy! When I took it out to the Tank Trap, Jim was remarking just how cool the approach angle was. With 37" tires, it is pretty cool.
When I climbed Whale Rock in Colorado, the bumper never touched the rock as I was approaching the rock. And that was when I had IFS with 33" tires.

I also have the Centramatic Wheel balancers, which in my opinion is crucial to having the 37" tires ride smooth on the highway. Indeed, I did get the tires balanced at 4Wheel parts, but you should see the amount of lead they stuck to the wheels! So, with the Centramatics, they are smoother than my '02 Ford Escape which definitely has a wheel out of balance.


As you may know, the Taco and the 4Runners pretty much have the same front end styles and components. There are a number of other people on the TTORA board who have done Coil-over SAS conversions. I talked a lot with a guy named Dean who did a really nice job on his Taco. I asked a lot of questions, and then asked more questions. Dean was very helpful. When I get to fixing up my website with the information, I'll have my questions up there with other people's responses.

Of course, the 4Runner is heavier than the Tacos, so I made my links stronger. For example, my lower links are actually two links, one sleeved in the other one. The outer link is 2" .250 wall (1/4"). This leaves a 1.5" center space. So, I took another 1.5" .250 wall and sleeved it into the 2" outer link. I wanted to make sure it would not bend under several thousand pounds of pressure. My Pig (affectionally known as the Beast to some) weighs in at over 5k on the scales, and thats when its empty. Again, I'll have more info on the site, such as the Coil-over strut brace, the crossmember, FROR transfer case mount, etc. I also gleened info from Schaefer. As you know Schaefer did this conversion just before I did. Being that he has the "4Cyl of Fury" and a 5spd, his setup was a tab bit different. For example, in his case he could pull the ABS computer, and his system appears to be working fine. In my case, I can't pull the ABS computer, as this screws up the speed sensor, which is tied to the Multi-mode transfer case, rendering the Speedometer inoperative (another bug). At this point, I'm using my GPS as my speedometer. Fortunately, my transfer case does have a stick handle, so I can manually shift the case into 4-low when necessary, and its a positive action; it goes into 4Low. Being that I have already driving it to Moab, I know all these parts work, its just that the transfer case is kinda stuck in a fail-safe mode (4hi minimum), which explains why I was getting 16mpg going to Moab. Again, another bug. But, this also goes to show that I did the knuckle rotation just right. I cut the knuckles and rotated them a few degrees to get the pinion angle up a bit, and I'm glad i did. Originally, my front drive shaft had one u-joint at the x-case side, and one at the diff side. When I sent it off to High-angle, he was quite surprised at this setup. He hooked me up with a Taco CV joint at the x-case side, and left the bottom u-joint alone. When I drove to Moab, this driveshaft was cranking the entire time, and with no vibrations. At times, i was up to 75mph, according to the GPS. I gotta tell ya, with this kinda of stuff happening, and everything working just right (mechanically), even I'm impressed.

What impressed me the most was that I didn't have any Death-wobble. I read so many stories about people messing with their knuckles, and then upon a test drive, the Death wobble scared the piss out of them. During Jim's last jaunt to Moab he saw it first hand on, I belive Stubbs buggy. Definitely a scarry thing. So, in my case, this baby drives smooth as silk, has a great return to center (even with the 37" tires), still has good torque to get up and move in traffic and can cruise relatively well on the highway. I could use a little more power on the top end, but then again, couldn't we all.

So, in short, I did an extensive amount of research. And as you will see on my website, because I like to do things the hard-way, I went with coils. But, I'm sooooooooo happy I did, the ride and flex and comfort is so worth it.










Here are some of the links I frequented:

http://www.tacodab.com/coiloversas.html
http://www.toy4x4.net/sas/index2.htm
http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme2/AK...pages/SAS.html
http://www.norcalttora.com/~brian/Taco/SAS/index.htm

 

Hey folks, I have a couple more shots to wet your appetite for those who want to do a SAS.







Did I say it rides really nice on the highway.....

 

sweet!

 

lookin good steve. now if you could just paint all that crap on you axle black

 

I can't wait for the full write up on your website.

 

uhhhhhhh

Very nice.

 

Yeah, me too. Now if I could get the guy "SteveO" to stop screwing around and get it done, it would be very cool.

BTW, Jim and I went out last weekend to Socorro and did some pretty cool wheeling. Jim sent me some pics, I'll get em compressed and put up on my site. I was incredibly impressed with the way the tires climbed the rock walls, and how the 4Runner kept the rubber down, despite being over 30* off camber. Pretty amazing.

 

So you are not SteveO?

 

Yes, I am SteveO, I was trying to get my butt in gear to get it done.

 

Ok, so Jim and I went down Gordy's Hill in Socorro to do a day of wheeling. We tagged along with Rich, Mark and Joe from the NM4W group. We attempted to find a good trail in the wind while using a GPS mounted on my laptop, which was way cool, Jim can tell you, and ended up trying an Extreme trail. Very cool deal. Apparently this Extreme has not been run through all the way, at least I couldn't find tracks past a few waterfalls. Nevertheless, we did the 1st waterfall, which was pretty big. Here are a few pics of the Beast flexing out. The Goodyear MT/R tires are absolutely AWESOME! at 12psi. I walked the walls with no trouble, much easier than I thought. A really awesome ride with these guys.












More at:

http://www.hunt4steve.com/or/99_4runner_ltd/action.htm