gerth92

I got the ball rolling on my solid axle swap. I traded my pick up for a 94 4runner with a 3.0 automatic transmission and 4.88 gears. So far I have my donor axle stripped down and I have welded a truss on and painted it. I have all the parts in now to build it up to the spindles. I am going to wait for hubs until I tear into my 4runner. Ill use the IFS hubs and the v6 calipers. I also plan to do the chevy leaf conversion in the rear. As the title says, it's going to be low lift. I have hi steer arms that will go on the axle and I plan on using OME 2" springs. The 4runner also has a 3" body lift that will be coming off as Soon as the SAS is done. Progress will be slow in this project because I am also having to track down an overheating problem in the 4runner. Plus my Land Cruiser is at the frame shop so I'm having to drive my 4runner to work. I hope I can be done before winter gets started.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like a good plan
I need to lower mine
looking forward to seeing the progress

yngbuck19

Subscribed..... I too want a low lift SAS for my 91 pickup

gerth92

I got my 4.88 V6 3rd member installed in the axle. I didn't use a gasket. Instead I spread out ultra grey gasket maker on both sides and torqued it down. I also got my radiator and shroud in today. I went with a triple core all aluminum radiator off of EBay. It was 150 bucks which is kinda high but it sounded like it would cool better. Unfortunately my new fan blade didn't come today. I really wish I could have put it on with the radiator out. I'm sure I will pay for it later. I had to get the new radiator in today though because stopping to let the engine stop boiling over every 10 miles gets old. I tried it out today and even when I run 4500rpm the temp gauge still never makes it to the half way point. The old radiator looked like the tubes were jammed and it had a hole that someone had put some kind of black sealant on. I think the radiator was the main problem even though it was missing a shroud and half the fan blades.

yngbuck19

I'm going through radiator issues myself. I went with brass though. All my research lead me to believe aluminum ones crack and get pin holes after a short period of time. My brass one was $237 on Amazon. I'm also installing silicone hoses and a flex fan as well as a new two stage thermostat.

gerth92

Ill keep a look out for any leaks in it. I had read horror stories about the plastic and aluminum radiators so I went with all aluminum. Hopefully I haven't been lead astray. My autozone thermostat seems to be functioning. I can see the temp gauge hovering between half way and 3/8. I think that is due to the thermostat opening and closing when it is supposed to.

gerth92

I got my knuckles rebuilt. It was fairly easy to follow the instructions that Low Range Off-road made on YouTube. I decided not to mess with breaks or hubs until the axle is on the truck. I cut out my disk brake cover and just used the ring portion. They sell a kit to do that but cutting the stock one does the same for free. I tried to reuse as much hardware as I could to save on cost. I reused the studs on the knuckle and the bolts for the spindle. I also got a kit with the stock style felt and ruber seal as well as the thin style felt guard. Hopefully my cheapness won't come back to bite me. This might be as far as I go for a month or two. I am looking into buying a house and moving out of my rental house. Plus my Land Cruiser should be back from the frame shop this week and I've got some work to do on it.

gerth92

Over the last week I have been attempting to get the 3.0 running better. My idle has been racing and falling, the idle was way too high, and I had a lean burn code. I decided to knock out any chance of vacuum loss first. I removed all the smog equipment a and ran new vacuum lines on the necessities. That made a huge difference plus got rid of the lean code. Next I took off the throttle body and cleaned it. Also the coolant line was clogged and my throttle position sensor was out of adjustment. Now my idle is around 800 which is down from 2000. It is running better and I am satisfied. I'm also starting on the disk brake swap. I'm using the old rotors and calipers and rebuilding them. I pressed out the studs on the rotor and disassembled the calipers. They are soaking in evaporust right now. Hopefully after 24 hours they will be like new. I ordered pads and seals for the brakes plus the brackets to mount them. If all goes as planned ill have a 24$ disk brake swap. I might have 40 more if I need an adjustment valve. Also yes that is a harbor freight 12 ton press. If you get a press from them GET THE 20 TON. the 12 is junk. The frame is bent and the ram is bent. Plus it doesn't have enough juice to press out suspension bushings. It was barely enough to knock out those studs.

gerth92

I got the brakes apart and cleaned up to the point where they can be rebuilt. It was one of the slowest and painful jobs I have done. The pistons were seized so I used grease to break them free. Then I had to soak them in gasoline for 3 or 4 days after that. Then I used 2 cans of brake cleaner to clean them. I steel wooled the cylinders and pistons until they would slide and spin freely. Now all I need is the 2 rebuild kits I ordered from rock auto 2 weeks ago. I also ordered some LED lighting from China. I got some 48 led boards for the back seats and cargo. And I got 24 led boards for the map lights and door lights. I can see anything in there at night now. I'm also going to rewire the cargo lamp in parallel with the back seat lights because I want it to come on with the doors.

gerth92

I got the rear disks on today. It took me almost 12 hours. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I was planning on replacing the seals and repack the bearings with grease, but my junkey press couldn't get the shaft out of the bearing. I did replace the inner seal. A spindle wrench works great for that one. The next problem I ran into was that the rotor would not fit over the hub. The inside diameter or the rotor body was a little over a half inch smaller than the hub. It took me almost 4 hours to grind down the hubs. The center hole was a little bit too small too. The calipers mounted up nicely. I used some 10mm bolts with washers in the middle to space it correctly. The next biggest problem I ran into was that the wheels don't have enough back spacing to clear the calipers. I needed a quarter inch to spin freely. I'm using washers now but I had to order some real spacers. I think I have the wrong rotors because they are from an 81. Most guides say used 83 to 85. But I don't know if there is a difference. I might order some 85s to see if the system works better. Also it is a bear to get them bled. I went through 3 times with a pneumatic vacuum and it still needs a few more times.

gerth92

I came across some goodies on craigslist. A guy was parting out his 3.0 pickup with the 5spd. I got a R150F and a VF1A. I also got the clutch pedal assembly, master and slave cylinder, clutch, and wires. I gave 500 for it which seems way cheaper than rebuilding the junk auto I have. The only problem I have (which is the problem with my whole project) is that I can't get my DD FJ80 back from the frame shop. My project would have been done by now. They've had it since at least September. So until I get it back( god knows when) I can't do a single thing on my 4runner. I guess its not all bad, I've saved a fortune on the parts I'd be buying.

gerth92

I've been meaning to write an update for a little while now. My dad lent me his truck a couple weeks ago so I could get going on this project. The first 2 pictures show where my rudimentary measurements show the center of the wheel well and where the front leaf eye needs to be to hit the center at full compression. I also had to pay a machinist to press out my rear wheel bearings. My press wouldn't touch them. But I did get the bearing out of the cup, the studs out of the cup, and the studs out of the shafts. The next shot is of my axle with about 75% of the links removed. The panhard mount is a massive pain. The others were thin sheet metal.hopefully this weekend I can tack up the hangers and spring perch. If my tape measure and my eye were straight I might get the rear finished this weekend.

gerth92

I got my wheel bearings in. I also got new rotors and pressed those in like they are supposed to be. The lug studs are a little longer than they need to be. The shoulder stick out quite a bit. I also think I got the seal caught in the bearing on one side. The bearing is not wanting to spin freely. I assume it will just tear up the seal and ill have to replace that bearing and seal prematurely. But I already had to pay a machinist to get it apart once. Ill wait to do it again. I also tack welded the leaf spring mount and perch on the passenger side. I'll post some pictures once I confirm the exact placement.

gerth92

I got my 63" chevy springs in today but when I put the weight on the axles I realized I have a problem. The springs gave in and went flat. I don't know if my measurements are bad or if the springs went soft. I never saw the truck they came off of. But it was a 2000 and something 2wd so surely they didn't go bad that soon? My dad had some extra springs laying around that came out of a ram he owned about 15 years ago. Ill try some different combinations with them to see if I can get some arch back in the springs. As of now it is about at stock height, if not sitting a hair lower.

gerth92

Here is a picture with the back on jack stands. It is held up about where the wheels and tires would place it. The front is stock IFS. You could imagine my surprise when I was expecting 3" of lift give or take.

DMiller

I am unsure of your surprise... is it higher than you expected or lower? It is hard to tell by the photos.... Also, It doesn't surprise me about the flat leaf springs. You probably have more weight in the back than a pickup truck would have with just a box and frame, and 2wd pick-ups still do a lot of work! All my father uses his pick up for is towing and heavy loads. That is assuming that your chevy springs were off a pick-up truck.

gerth92

My surprise was from there being no lift at all. I guess I could have done a before and after picture. The springs were from a 2000 model chevy 1500 2wd. I think I needed a 4x4 spring pack. They say that the 4x4 spring pack has an extra leaf.

bump530

I put the 4pack 4wd leafs with a full length add-a-leaf with 7" shackles under the rear of mine just to get close enough lift to match the 4" SAS kit. The back of a 4runner is alot heavier than a truck.

gerth92

That build does look pretty awesome. I'm hoping to get about 3 inches of lift out of it with my low range shackles and maybe 1 of the extra leaves. I haven't done the front yet but I'm going to use 2" springs. I'm sure I will have to play with the height some after it is all said and done. I also may have put my shackles too far forward, on my pickup my shackles were almost straight up and it made the rear end ride rough. I may have made them too flat.

gerth92

I added another leaf in today and put everything back together. It looks like I have about 2 inches of lift. Maybe 3. I am also going to have to get different shocks and move them from the factory location. I welded the stock shock mount posts from the axle to the frame right behind the cross member. I also welded in some generic shock mounts to the back of the axle. The new shocks will be straight up and about 30 degrees back. I tried to use my stock brake line mounts as well. It looks like I have clearance for the brake lines now. I also rigged up the lspv to one of the old control arm mounts. I would have everything back together now except my drive shaft wont extend to meet the differential at its new lower resting place. I'l have to remove it and see why it wont move. And I have to pick out shocks. It looks like I need some that go from 13 to 25 inches and have round eyes at top and bottom. My stock ones would have worked for now but they have a threaded top instead of an eye.