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Project Over-yonder

glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
After a 4 years I decided to sell my 3rd gen 4runner, Oliver. I've owned about 40 cars and this was the only one I instantly regretted selling. 3rd gen 4runners are just awesome rigs. What I didn't like about it was it was old and from another era in car manufacturing. Plus the 3.4 isn't a powerhouse. I decided to upgrade to a newer 4runner or gx470. I looked at a dozen gx's but they all had issues or were not the color/configuration I wanted. Then an 07 4runner sport popped up with reasonable miles, the V8 and the color I wanted. Plus it was purchased in UT and had full service records. I made a deal and brought it home.

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This will be my daily driver, our main family car and will take me all over the thousands of miles of dirt road we have here.

It has 132k miles on it and should be good for another 100k. I'll be baselining it this weekend.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Gravy said:
Your kids play soccer?
Click to expand...
It's pretty lacking in character. That will get resolved.

The only maintenance not performed was the timing belt. These are a 90k item so it was long overdue. I ordered the Aisin TKT-021 kit which has a new aisin water pump, tensioner and pullies along with the mitsuboshi belt.
Belt exposed
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Good thing I got a new water pump, this one was ragged and leaking.
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Also replaced the T Stat, flushed it with new zerex coolant and changed the oil.

Next on the list are spark plugs, then suspension. It's a sport so it has XREAS shocks, this who'll have to be eliminated to go aftermarket. I am slightly torn here. I actulike the handling, but not the sever rake and limited travel.

Right now I'm leaning towards bilstein 6112 front shock and springs, and fj rear coils with bilstein 5160 shocks.
The OME in my third gen just road too harsh.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
SAMI said:
I've loved OME kits in all of my 3rd gens, Cruisers, even Xterra... Did you have your coils/shocks selected for the proper weight of your rig?
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I did 2880/2890 springs with Nitro shocks. It was great for bombing the neighborhood storm drain at 35 but washboard dirt roads were terrible. My boys 1rst gen Tundra with 5100's and stock springs is way more comfortable.
 
SAMI

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
glockman said:
I did 2880/2890 springs with Nitro shocks. It was great for bombing the neighborhood storm drain at 35 but washboard dirt roads were terrible. My boys 1rst gen Tundra with 5100's and stock springs is way more comfortable.
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I run 882/890's on my 3rd gens.. I love the feel for balanced road/dirt (it sees far more road unfortunately). In regards to your boy's 5100's on stock springs - naturally that combo is going to provide a much more plush ride quality since the springs are long since broken in. All he's done there is replaced shocks.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
SAMI said:
I run 882/890's on my 3rd gens.. I love the feel for balanced road/dirt (it sees far more road unfortunately). In regards to your boy's 5100's on stock springs - naturally that combo is going to provide a much more plush ride quality since the springs are long since broken in. All he's done there is replaced shocks.
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I get that stock springs are going to be softer. I had about 30k miles on my OME springs so they should have been broken in. They did handle well, I just felt they were too stiff for slow dirt road exploring, which is what that rig and this one's main purpose is (outside daily duties).
I didn't have any additional weight on the front of the 3rd gen, maybe that would help. This rig is the V8, so that might make the OME springs more compliant too. It's also possible that I have been spoiled by the soft Teraflex springs on my LJ.

There are several things I like about the Bilstiens.

-They are adjustable up front to give the perfect amount of lift without the expense of coilovers.
-the 6112's are a 60mm body and the 5160's to go with them have remote reservoirs. Do I need that? I'm not sure, but miles washboard roads seem to heat up shocks so it makes sense that more oil and larger shock/valve bodies would help that.

They are expensive, and I haven't found a kit that includes both front/rear springs and shocks. It's also hard to beat the customer service you get from Cruiser Outfitters on the OME stuff.
I've run 5100's on my truck for 5 years and 50k miles without a failure and two of my son's have the adjustable 5100's on the front of their trucks without any issues. I feel comfortable with their durability based on that experience

I have a set of 09 FJ springs that I might throw on with some 5100's just because it is cheap and it keeps plush Toyota springs on it.
Since this rig has the XREAS I have to do both ends at the same time and I've spent a boat load on my truck, this is probably the option I will go with.
 
Rock Taco

Rock Taco

Well-Known Member
Location
Sandy
glockman said:
I get that stock springs are going to be softer. I had about 30k miles on my OME springs so they should have been broken in. They did handle well, I just felt they were too stiff for slow dirt road exploring, which is what that rig and this one's main purpose is (outside daily duties).
I didn't have any additional weight on the front of the 3rd gen, maybe that would help. This rig is the V8, so that might make the OME springs more compliant too. It's also possible that I have been spoiled by the soft Teraflex springs on my LJ.

There are several things I like about the Bilstiens.

-They are adjustable up front to give the perfect amount of lift without the expense of coilovers.
-the 6112's are a 60mm body and the 5160's to go with them have remote reservoirs. Do I need that? I'm not sure, but miles washboard roads seem to heat up shocks so it makes sense that more oil and larger shock/valve bodies would help that.

They are expensive, and I haven't found a kit that includes both front/rear springs and shocks. It's also hard to beat the customer service you get from Cruiser Outfitters on the OME stuff.
I've run 5100's on my truck for 5 years and 50k miles without a failure and two of my son's have the adjustable 5100's on the front of their trucks without any issues. I feel comfortable with their durability based on that experience

I have a set of 09 FJ springs that I might throw on with some 5100's just because it is cheap and it keeps plush Toyota springs on it.
Since this rig has the XREAS I have to do both ends at the same time and I've spent a boat load on my truck, this is probably the option I will go with.
Click to expand...

Yes the service you get from Kurt is great. Hes also a Dobinsons dealer as well and they have progressive springs and coilover options you might like.

Metal Tech has a pretty good selection of front and rear packages.

https://www.metaltech4x4.com/search...relevance&Make=Toyota&Model=4Runner&Year=2007
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
The sport model runners come with the rear cargo deck. I was stoked to get it until I used it. It onlly covers 1/2 the cargo area so its kind of worthless. So I decided to build some drawers to keep the junk I carry daily from rolling around.
I used 1/2 ply for everything and cut holes in the bottom to help keep it in plave and reduce drawer friction since I'm not using drawer slides.
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I used pocket screws on the top..

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It fits good.
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Fits all my stuff with room to spare for camping gear.
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I painted the top, sides and drawer fronts.
Insides are poly'd and the outside of the drawers are just waxed. They slide easily with 40 lbs inside.
I ordered slam latches and turn buckles but they haven't arrived yet.
 

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glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Resolved a pretty common issue in the 4th gens. Hatch switch rubber just desolves. Ordered replacement rubber off Amazon for $10. Two screws that where a bitch to get to, peeling/scrubbing the old rubber off and it's good as new.


Old
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New
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Also got the latches for my drawers and an Ocd console organizer.
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Next on the list is lift but I can decide what way to go.
 
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glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
The 4 Runner has been getting some love. For some reason, Toyota decided that the 4th gens should have a body 4 inches wider than the track width which just makes them look like a mushroom. I am too cheap to buy aftermarket wheels and have been running spacers on my LJ for 50K miles with zero issues. So spacers it is.

Everyone on the popular 4 Runner sites swears by Spidertrax. They were pretty, but pretty spendy too and only come in 1.25". I called around and Ultimate High in Orem had some 1.5" Rough Country spacers for a great deal. Nissan said he has installed a bunch of them and not had any problems with studs stripping which was my only concern with a lesser wheel spacer. I got home and installed them. Now the wheel is pretty much flush with the fender, perfect.
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With the spacers I had some terrible rubbing on the front with the 265/75/17 BFG's. I guess I have to lift it now:)

I emailed Matt at Dobinson's Direct and we went back and forth about what my goals were and what springs Dobinson's offered.

I wanted 2-2.5" of lift in the front with 1" in the rear to correct for some of the rake but still have a slightly higher stance in the rear. I also did not want a stiff ride. Lots of people love OME but it is too stiff for what I will use this vehicle for. My understanding and Matt corroborated this, is that Dobinson's springs are similar to OME but their shocks are valved a little softer.

I ordered C59-314 front springs with GS59-221 shocks. For the rear I went with C59-325 springs with the GS59-637 shocks. Both of my front CV shafts were leaking at the inner boot. I contemplated rebooting them but decided to pick up some Maxle shafts from Napa. Here is the package ready to go in.

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I have to say the outboarded rear shocks on a 4th gen are SOOO much easier to remove.

Here is the result


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I am pretty satisfied with the stance and the ride. It is stiffer than stock but more compliant than the OME kit on my 3rd gen. I think this is a good balance. I put a couple hundred miles on it so far and am liking it.
While installing the suspension I found the passenger side lower control arm bushings were shot so those are being replaced with some Moog units at the moment, it should be wrapped up and in to the alignment shop this weekend.
I am still running stock UCA's but with just over 2" of lift I am hoping I can get my camber/caster in spec. If not, I am looking at some JBA uppers.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
I dropped the 4runner off at point s in American Fork Saturday for an alignment. Colton (known as Cocoa here) was working the counter. Always good to put a face with an RME handle. He called me a couple hours later to let me know the driver's side cam bolts were seized so they couldn't do the alignment. So I started replacing those tonight.
Just like the passenger side they fought hard but patience and lots of tools prevailed.
The front bolt came out but the sleeve was seized.

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Rear bolt was sized, this was the same as the passenger side. So out comes the Sawzall.
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Bottle jack trick got the rubber out of the front but left the bushing sleeve. The rear came out in one piece. Both required heat.
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I don't have pictures of cutting then hammering small pieces of the bushing sleeve out because it was so fun I didn't think to stop.
I decided it's stupid not to replace the lbj since the arm is out. These are the tightest pressed joints I've ever replaced. Usually my press makes quick work of this stuff. I was pulling as hard as I could on the jack handle and no go before adding a lot of heat.
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With the arm stripped I wire wheeled and threw some paint on it.
Moog bushings and lbj should show up tomorrow. I'll have to swing by the dealer to get the cam bolt and bushing I had to cut.

OEM parts that were cut out. $42 at the Carl Malone Toyota.
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sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Rig is looking great. I hate replacing lca bushings and LBs, thats a lit of work.

I feel like ome coils are too stiff as well. Km tempted to go with a softer coil on my tundra.

You got the holy grail. the 2007 spots were one of the most saught after models. We sure loved ours.
 
glockman

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
sixstringsteve said:
Rig is looking great. I hate replacing lca bushings and LBs, thats a lit of work.

I feel like ome coils are too stiff as well. Km tempted to go with a softer coil on my tundra.

You got the holy grail. the 2007 spots were one of the most saught after models. We sure loved ours.
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve. I need a little more time to see how much softer the dobinson stuff is but the common opinion seems to be that it's slightly less firm than OME. I think with armor and more weight the OME stuff is great but I don't normally have it loaded that way.
 
Coco

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
It was great to put a face to a name for sure!:D

I am really liking the way it is looking! I was oogling all over it Saturday as my next vehicle will likely be a 4runner of the same year, or a GX. Depending whats available when the buggy sells.
 
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