So technical...I was just going to eyeball it in a flat parking lot, more or less. So far I got the two sides even by measuring garage floor to fender lip. And I also counted the number of turns on each T-bar when preloading them. I saw a video where a guy determined that 12 turns up or down resulted in just about 1".

 

Can't wait to see Melrose's setup when done; I understand that it's on OME's.
I'm also leaning toward lifting my rear a little because right now, although it's supposed to be same height as stock, the truck looks like it's still about to fly to the moon

 

Yea, sagass is a big problem with our trucks as the springs wear in
Previous owner of mine had some adjustable shackles put on, so I'm level now, but i can very easily move a bolt and go up an inch or 2 in the rear. Not that I have any desire to raise suspension on top of the 2" body spacers.

 

I'm not sure what the rear springs are...they look like some I had from Northwest Offroad on my old 4runner with greasable plastic inserts between the leafs.
The front is more closer to OEM than OME now!

 

This is from T4R.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/classi...cs-via-sm.html

 

I have to say my OME rear springs are starting to bug me. They are pretty stiff and the lift was much more than I thought it would be. I have the medium lift and have removed one of the overload springs. That has helped with ride quality, but the stinkbug is still there. I don't want to raise the front, so I'm going to start building a bastard pack using my stock springs I guess. I'd really hoped that they would have settled in a little more.

 

I dont know if you run a soft top or not but removing the hardtop gives an even stiffer ride. The handling characteristics change also, inducing more oversteer.
No harm in experimenting with removing a leaf or two until it meets your requirements.
i am considering removing the overload leafs myself because i dont plan to run with the hardtop on.
​​​​​​​though who knows, maybe i will. Its just taking up a bunch of room in my shed now.

 

Removing the botttom overload leaf does lower the overall spring rate. It does give a smoother ride. I may also play with the OME spring pack. You have to grind off the rivets to do this.

 

Drove the truck to a "cars and coffee" in NH on Saturday. Got to show it off to my regional car buddies. At home, it was town yardsale day and I picked up this power amp and sub for $10 off a nice lady with a 1973 MG in her garage.

yes, there is a puncture in the center of the sub but I will fix it. All I really wanted was the power amp anyhow and that is partially installed under the driver's seat now. My son was helpful with that. I'll try to keep him involved in finalizing the system install.

 

On Sunday, I decided the front brake job had waited long enough and tore into it. I was concerned that there may be rusted pistons in the calipers but everything moved freely.
I decided to leave the rotors alone since it's such a pita to take them off and they were not feeling warped to me while braking so I just installed the new pads with anti-squeal goo
on the backs and cleaned up the pins with a wire wheel.

The brake fluid was a very dark color so I replaced it with new. You can see the color difference in the photos. I used C-clamps to push the pistons back in and old fluid out.


new brake fluid


if you don't have a digital caliper like this one from Harbor Freight, get one. I find many uses for it from measuring guitar strings to hole depths.

 

Here it is with the new OEM Toyota pads installed. Got my son to help bleed the brakes. Not that it really needed it after I had gravity bled them, but just a way to get him involved. It feels much better and doesn't squeal like it did before but still could use help to brake like a modern car.
I'll be looking into brake upgrades in the future. I've seen some V6 brake swaps mentioned... Just need more details on that.

 

Here are the tires I put on last week. Still loving them!!

 

swap the brake master from a v6. bigger bore size. also might be beneficial to remove the LSPV and install a manual prop valve instead so you can fine tune the brakes to your liking. with the top off, the rear brakes arent going to do squat with an LSPV.

 

Thanks for that info... just the brake master then? The calipers are the same?

I am familiar with prop valves, but i guess "LS" must mean load sensitive? If so, it doesn't really sense the load, just the amount the rear is squashed down by the extra weight.

Since it has heavy rear springs on it now, and I don't believe it rose up much/at all after removing the hard top, difficult to tell if it's working optimally or at all. Would have to operate it manually while bleeding the brakes to prove it's working, maybe.

In my experience these trucks get a lot of brake dust built up in the rear drums and that reduces efficiency. I used to pull them and dump them out on my '84 4runner and dad's '86 extra cab now and then with a noticeable braking improvement following. So if there is much dust, it proves the rears are working...

 

yea, lspv is Load Sensing Proportioning Valve. Exactly as you guessed. i believe that the V6 calipers are larger, but i havent looked into it yet. i just know that the MC is larger. i believe that if you wanted to go with a "big brake upgrade" the tundra brakes are what youd wanna swap to along with disc brake in the rear. stop on a dime.

 

Got in some good wrenching this weekend. Still trying to determine why my truck won't fast idle when cold. Now our evenings are getting cooler so the morning is a good time to troubleshoot the problem.
Yesterday, checked out all the resistance measurements on the airflow meter. Everything read within specs per the shop manual.
Then pulled out my idle adjustment screw and found it quite carboned up, so i cleaned it and the vac ports on the throttle body with some carb cleaner.

Today, checked the resistance on the h20 temp sender and that was in spec. Then, got under and relaxed the T-bars 5 turns each and drilled and tapped a broken bolt on the swaybar mount. Then swapped in a new clutch master cylinder that i had bought a while back. I had to take a cutoff wheel to the pushrod because it was contacting the clutch pedal but all turned out fine.

The front suspension is feeling really good now due to the combination of stock sway bars, bj spacers, oem-style shocks and new tires. The rear springs are still quite stiff so i may remove a leaf.

Then i drove it up to the park at the end of my street for a test drive. Some teens in an old Jeep cherokee Pointed and stared as i drove by and when i parked it a kid about 11 years old declared very matter of factly, "that is a great truck".

I swear i either get strange looks, comments or thumbs up every time i drive it. On Friday i was commuting to work and a car was flanking me on the highway. I looked back in the mirror to see a guy driving and his wife taking photos or video of my truck with her phone! People really dont know what it is with the soft top sides rolled up.

 

Coming soon, a brake upgrade. I ordered an AISIN 1" bore master cylinder to try in place of the 13/16" bore original on the truck. It's been working fine but am expecting it to feel more like a modern vehicle braking. Probably won't be able to install it till the weekend, though.

 

i was under the impression that installing a MC with a larger bore, all other things in the brake system unchanged, caused an increase in effort needed to press the pedal? do i have that backwards?

wally

 

No, i've just been reading a bunch and i believe you have it correct. I have seen reports that say without the v6 calipers the pedal effort will be higher, but travel will be less... I may have to reconsider this. But being the doubting thomas i am, i may have to try it for myself anyway. Just a few bolts and some brake fluid, right?

 

I haven't posted to this thread in a long time but have been doing lots of work on the truck and driving it lots also.
Rebuilt the stereo with the yardsale MTX power amp, existing Polk door speakers, and added a second MTX thunder power amp for the 12" sub (200W RMS)
This truck will about levitate with the right choice of music and clear as a bell. Those MTX amps are amazing and short money used. I am in the whole thing about $65.

Also, took apart the Idle air control valve and adjusted it. Now the truck will fast idle when it should.

Also, replaced the leaking clutch master.

Next up, I have a new AiSin fan clutch to swap in but I know the studs on the water pump are in poor shape so this is going to get complicated and I'll probably have to remove or completely swap the water pump. But the clutch howls on the highway(and at whatever rpm that is) so I'd like to retune the audioscape now that I have music to crank. My son says he likes the howl...I kind of do also but tiring on the highway. it's already noisy enough with the soft top.

Then sometime this winter, body work will begin. I am a little reluctant because the truck shows its scars and I like that. Maybe I'll keep the same 80's vibe paint job. we'll see.