Hey guys, just wanted to give an update on one of our projects. It's a long read but there's a lot of great info

About a year ago we decided we wanted to start a new project that could take full advantage of some of the coolest new Toyota products on the market. We knew that Mike at ORS had been offering conversion kits to install a late -model 3.4L into the older 3.0L equipped trucks and the the conversion was easiest when starting with a donor truck that already had a 5-speed. We also knew that Total Chaos was developing an awesome new long-travel kit that allowed for mounting coil-overs up front on 1st-gen Toyota IFS sytems. With these two modifications you get all the benefits of a Tacoma/3RD Gen 4Runner front end and drive-train w/o spending a ton of cash just to get the base truck to start with.


After a few weeks of searching, we picked up an '89 4Runner 4x4 (about 8-10 months ago) that was the perfect candidate. This truck had a blown head-gasket but was in otherwise fair-to-middlin' condition. The seller had torn into the motor already and got overwhelmed so he was looking to unload the truck cheap. This was perfect because we weren't paying for anything we didn't need but we were getting everything we did need.


Almost immediately we began work on the engine swap and with Mike's wiring harness the conversion was a snap. We probably spent the better part of about three weekends on it at most. We could have banged it put faster but this wasn't a daily-driver that needed to be rushed so we took our time and made sure everything was perfect. We chose to cut a small hole in the hood as opposed to installing a 2" body-lift since that suited the purpose of this truck better in the end. We want to keep this thing low with lots of travel and we knew the tire size was going to be 33x10.5".

The most complicated part of the swap is the exhaust since the newer 3.4L is designed to exit out and down the pass. side which is opposite of the 3.0L which drops on the drivers side. We took the truck to Muffler Bob here in the Bay Area and he made an awesome cross-over and exhaust that ends in a turn-down just in front of the rear axle. The tone is really nice and there is definitely more power on tap.

*Bling, Bling*
We moved onto the front suspension once we had most of the engine-swap loose ends tied up. The Total Chaos kit is unbelievable, installation is very time consuming and in all honesty it takes about the same amount of work as a basic leaf-sprung SAS. The end result is well worth the time though because the front-end now cycles 12" of vertical wheel travel and all the ball-joints and tie-rod ends have been replaced with heims and uni-balls making for an incredibly precise and bomb-proof front-end. The TC kit results in about 2.5-3" of lift over stock and does require that either the stock fenders be cut-out or that fiberglass fenders be installed. We chose to run Glassworks unlimited fenders because they have a killer shape and they completely cover the tires. For the rear we wanted to keep it simple but effective (kind of like the rest of the truck) so we decided to relocate the stock leaf spring mounts to accommodate Tacoma length leafs. We decided on a set of Deaver 8-leaf springs that are a brand new part that Jason Demello had design input on. They are basically the same pack we've been running in our Donahoe Tacoma but with one extra leaf for the added weight of bumpers and or camper shells etc. Since we plan on running the hard-top most of the time we figured these springs would be perfect. Plus they are designed to give about 1.5" of lift on a Tacoma so that number coupled with the fact that relocating the perches meant we had to move them farther down the frame rail which will also result in a little bit of lift as well as installing some longer shackles to handle the full 14" of travel, should result in about 3" of lift or so in the rear.

We made some shackles out flat-plate and hand radiused the corners. We re-used the stock upper bolt from the Tacoma shackles and pressed them into the new shackles, the lower bolts were replaced with 9/16 grade 8 hardware.

We will be making custom mounts and installing a pair of Sway-A-Way Racerunner 12" stroke shocks soon but for now the Rancho's that came on the truck are damping the rear suspension.

We took the truck out to Hollister for a shakedown run this past Sunday and it did really well. Especially considering it has no lockers and stock 4.10 gears. We will most likely slap in some 4.56's and a pair of truetracs but even as it is now this thing is awesome. It's a great trail rig that can do everything well but isn't so specifically modified that it loses performance in one area to gain in another. It can cruise the freeway at 75 pulling about 20mpg (Which I averaged on a trip to LA this past week). It can fly over the grapevine in 5th gear no problem and it is equally at home in the desert or on the trail. All-in-all it's an incredible truck for about $6K so far.

Testing the suspension in the rocks:


Returning down 5-fingers:


Posing at the beach:

 

hey you stole my truck and put awesome mods on it!...haha well i wish but that looks awesome..good work thats impressive for ifs. I have that IDENTICAL truck. same viynl and everything..is they interior red on that?

 

Nope, gray

Your avatar looks just like ours stock.

 

Sean, You guys have such first class stuff! Keep up the good work. Mike

 

how much is that coilover kit? It is out yet?

 

The "Gen II Caddy Kit" as it's called is available now direct from TC or through Kartek or Off-Road Warehouse, the base kit is about $2K but that doesn't include the T-100 CV axles or the shocks. Plus we decided to upgrade to the heim steering kit and uni-ball lowers which adds a few hundred to the total cost. The kit does allow for mounting secondary shocks though if desired while still keeping 4WD which is really awesome because you can add position-sensitive bypass shocks later for ultimate perfomance.

 

thanks mang!

 

the IFS coilover deal is badass, but for the price wouldnt a SAS swap be way better for the money? What advantages would the IFS coilover setup have over the SAS?

 

SEARCH....

there are pages upon pages upon hundreds of pages about advangtages of both...

 

hey sean, that thinkgs awesome!!! im gunna do the sas on mine as soon as i get the axle and bribe one of my friends to weld the leaf mounts on...are you going to hollister saturday with the yotatech people? i am, maybe ill see you there....later

 

[Cheese] Got any pics of the other long travel rig that was in 4Wheeler the other day?[/Cheese]

 

that's one sweet, unique ride. I especially like the suspension/wheel combo. Old school, BUT NOT

 

Cheese,
I'm not sure which rig you mean but our rig was featured in FourWheeler last month as a counterpoint to an SAS'd Runner they built (see next paragraph), and is now running online here on the front page of FourWheeler.Com.

Robin Stover, one of FourWheeler's feature editor's recently built a 1st gen 4Runner with a custom FROR SAS with Marlin's kit and a bunch of other really nice parts (8" hi-pinion e-locker, crawler box, 35's), the plan is to get back together after about 6mo's and do a long term comparison between the two rigs. Scoring will be based on the fact that both trucks are daily drivers and trail rigs but mostly daily drivers.

Jared,
I'm excited to see your project unfold, you got started at an early age and you have the right attitude so I'm sure the future holds many awesome projects for you! I don't think I'll make it to Hollister but maybe, I am building up a new mountain bike and it should be ready on Saturday and I am dying to ride!!! I have been bike-less since around Xmas so I am pretty anxious! ( my new ride 2005 S-Works Enduro )

Mthreezy, read our article in FourWheeler (link above) to see why we chose to go with a high-performance LT IFS system as opposed to an SAS.

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys

 

nice beach shot

too bad the waves werent a little bigger

it is like head high today here, going to be DOH tomorrow and through the weekend

tim

 

^ in Boston??? Or here in SC?

 

[Cheese] That was the rig I meant. I thought Katz was a partner in crime for you, so I assumed there were more pics to share. If you have or could get some at ride height, flat on the ground, please share.

You know what I think of IFS, but the article, both in the link and in the mag are well done.[/Cheese]

 

Katz is my "partner in crime"... Do you know Jesse?

I do have lots more pics but I think the only one I have at ride height is with the stock rear springs so it's a little ass-low. I will snap some pics later today of the truck as it sits now.

With this new suspension kit the IFS works really, really well, the problem is the strength of the axles and 7.5" diff (fine for trail rides and desert but not enough for true crawling). It is really easy though to swap a CV on the older IFS trucks (15 min. job) and those go before the third. Now the flex and strength of the actual IFS components is more than enough and the on-road ride is so nice that for people with a daily driver that sees moderate trail use and general wheeling it's unbeatable. Anybody that wants to come over to SC for a test ride/drive is welcome to, we will also be down in Baja for the 250 later this month and can give test rides then as well...

We won't be bringing this thing to Moab for the Easter Safari but we'll be there with at least one or two of our other rigs.

 

who made the bumper that you guys put on the long travel tacoma? I love it and i would like to know if whoever made it can make one for my 1st gen 4runner.

 

Sean,
I agree the stub axles directly off the diff are a little weak and I have broken them many times but they are easy to replace (like you said 15 min job) and I think a cheaper and better alternative to breaking gears. If you really want bullet proof axles instead of the T100's Summer Bro's makes chromoly ones that fit directly into a Porsche/BMWm CV andm the toy CV on the wheel. Yes, they are kinda pricey, but *you get what you pay for* I had the guy there custom make them for my setup and you can get the BMW (I think 5 series) CV's cheap. These are the same as Porsche CV's but like a 1/8 inch thinner. Summer Bros also made the adapter plates so the BMW CV bolts right up to the diff/Stub axle. If you need anymore info or want to pursue this let me know and I can get in touch with the guy at Summer bros and hopefully get you setup.

 

I had heard of people modifying the Porsche 934 CV's before. I didn't know that there wa a direct bolt-in adapter available though. that is definitely something we'd be interested in, the stronger the drivetrain the better. What's your setup and how long have you been running it?

Thanks!