Kevin B's 1985 4Runner

sixstringsteve · Dec 19, 2012

I'll bet someone here has some 3" TG rear leafs they'd be willing to sell...

The bummer with lift blocks is that you need longer u-bolts.

Kevin B. · Dec 19, 2012

Mmm, blocks. I'm trying not to think about blocks, but that might be the best short-term solution. Aren't the Trailgear rears longer than stock?

What I wanted to do was use the top leaf of these 3" fronts and build a bastard pack to match the rears, but I'm out of time for that now.

Kevin B. · Dec 20, 2012

Stripped an exhaust stud this morning, dangit. If I'd taken Carl up on that helicoil kit the first time he offered, this wouldn't have happened.

I'm going to try and helicoil it on the truck. Somebody remind me, next time I have a 22RE head off, to helicoil the lot of those while it's on my bench?

sixstringsteve · Dec 20, 2012

put a lot of grease on your tap, it'll help prevent shavings from entering your exhaust.

Kevin B. · Dec 25, 2012

Thanks to Carl for the helicoil kit (I'm firmly convinced that everybody needs a Carl living 5 minutes away - dude rocks). Replaced the stripped stud on Saturday (a $20 right-angle attachment for the drill made that very easy, finding a bit in the right size was the hard part), took her to Jiffylube on Sunday and passed emissions by the skin of my teeth, hit the DMV to pick up my plates on Christmas Eve, and she lives! Getting this truck back on the road has been an educational experience for sure, but it's a relief to have it done.

Next time I'm feeling frisky I'll start on the springs, but there's no room in the garage for that so it'll probably have to wait until the snow melts. After that I can swap out the 30s for my KM2s, then the 4.7 transfer case, then I can start thinking about rebuilding the knuckles.

Anybody have a set of 4.88 thirds to trade for my 5.29s?

TRD270 · Dec 25, 2012

What brand are your 5.29s Kevin? I would be interested in a swap. I can't remember if you have a Locker in the rear or not. That being said i'm not motivated to wrench in the driveway in the cold, so it may be a min before i'm motivated to swap, at least the front. Her front end needs a full rebuild so, i'll be in the same boat.

sixstringsteve · Dec 25, 2012

Congrats! What a fiasco. Glad to hear you got it plated and running right.

frieed · Dec 25, 2012

Excellent perseverance Kevin. I think I would have set fire to it long ago.

Kevin B. · Dec 25, 2012

TRD270 said:
What brand are your 5.29s Kevin? I would be interested in a swap. I can't remember if you have a Locker in the rear or not. That being said i'm not motivated to wrench in the driveway in the cold, so it may be a min before i'm motivated to swap, at least the front. Her front end needs a full rebuild so, i'll be in the same boat.

You know, I don't know what brand they are. One has a v6 ring and pinion I scored used and a Spartan locker, freshly set up with a Yukon package by this guy I know

. The other is a welded third I grabbed thinking I'd use the ring and pinion, but I think I'm changing my mind.

Kevin B. · Dec 25, 2012

sixstringsteve said:
Congrats! What a fiasco. Glad to hear you got it plated and running right.

frieed said:
Excellent perseverance Kevin. I think I would have set fire to it long ago.

Thanks, guys. It's my fault really, I should have been doing all this while I waited for the title. But it's good - the last time I had a broken 4Runner, I paid through the nose to have a shop get it back on the road. I couldn't afford that this time, so at least now I know how to replace a head and it'll go quicker if I have to do it again.

I'm anxious to get it in some dirt, but I really do need to address the springs first, and I really don't want to mess with it any more for a couple of days, so here I sit

. My wonderful wife bought me a rolling toolchest for Christmas, so I'm going to spend a couple days getting my garage organized before I jump back into it.

Kevin B. · Jan 29, 2013

I took a time out and haven't done much with it besides drive it for a couple weeks now. I mounted up my 33s just to see, and took 'em right back off again - they rubbed like mad, and the 4.10s in the diffs weren't happy with them AT ALL - 5th gear was useless. So they're back in storage until I get my gears figured out. I'm waiting to hear back from AllJeep about some 4.88s, but since they're in the business of running a business and not subsidizing my build

, I'm fairly certain new ring and pinion aren't going to be in the budget. I have 5.29s but one of them is welded and I don't wanna use that on the street, so I may end up playing musical ring and pinion - unless anybody wants to trade?.

I wasn't going to put my good alternator in until I felt like it, but I had a pulley start yelling at me over the past couple of days, and the screwdriver test says it's the alternator, so I guess I feel like it. I shoved the front of the truck back into the garage so I can just wrench cold instead of cold and wet, and got the old alternator out this morning. Hopefully the new one will go in tomorrow without too much wrestling. It's a good excuse to put new belts on anyway.

140 amps, coming up!

Kevin B. · Feb 3, 2013

Thanks Kurt!

Before:

After:

Sorry for the miserable photos. Cell phone camera plus foggy weather equals crappy pics.

OME says these are good for 2-2.5 inches of lift. They're waaaay more than that out of the box - I had 7" between tire and fender before, I've got 10" now and the springs I took off were already good for about an inch. I'll keep an eye on these and see how they settle.

They sure ride nicer than a bastard rear and saggy broken-leaf front though! Next up - gears and front knuckle refresh, and I guess now would be the time to make up my mind if I'm going to crossover steering or not.

sixstringsteve · Feb 3, 2013

I say do it right and get crossover steering. That way you won't have to worry about the stock steering coming apart on the freeway.

Kevin B. · Mar 20, 2013

Time for an update? Front axle rebuilt, 33's on and 5.29's installed, and I got her out to Five Mile for a day.

The OME's are crazy flexy - I guess I need to recalibrate what looks like enough room, I'm used to IFS. I tore up the fender liners on both sides and got started on the fenders themselves. I'm going to cut out the liners and trim/pound the rear of the fenders back, and I'm collecting parts to go to crossover steering and I'll redrill the spring perches in front to shove the axle forward an inch at the same time. That should give me all the clearance I need. I'm hoping I can get away with a 4Crawler driveline spacer, if not I'll have to stay off the rocks until I do my duals because I'm not going to build a new front shaft twice.

I didn't have time to get the 4.7 transfer case installed, but now that I've wheeled a manual I'm pretty sure I'm going to go to duals eventually anyway. I've got two top shift cases and a Budbuilt crossmember now, so I need to find an adapter and some driveshafts. I'm waiting for Luke to get desperate enough to drop his set another couple hundred, because I don't have the cash to pay him a reasonable price

.

TRD270 · Mar 20, 2013

Awesome, glad you got it rolling!!! You going to be down to Moab for any part of safari?

Marsh99 · Mar 20, 2013

Kevin you need to show off the sweet interior with a uncracked dash

Gravy · Mar 20, 2013

crossover is the ONLY way.
Also if you push that front axle forward you'll definitely have to push the steering box into the core support or your drag link ends up directly on top of the tie rod with high steer.

Call me when you're ready for a good deal on an IFS box and pitman arm.

Kevin B. · Mar 21, 2013

No safari for me, I don't like that many people in my world. I've got an IFS box already Stratton, but lemme know when you've got a duals adapter for cheap.

Kevin B. · Mar 25, 2013

Beating on your truck is kinda therapeutic.

We have clearance, Clarence. I'm going to finish it with some of that black plastic trim you can get at Autozone, and it still won't be the prettiest, but it won't tear up my tires either. It'll do until I get around to ordering the fiberglass fenders I want.

Anybody have any experience with Hanneman Fiberglass? They've got good prices, but I haven't heard much about them or seen them on very many rigs.

TJDukit · Mar 25, 2013

Hey your door is funny looking.

Kevin B's 1985 4Runner

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