4landrunner build-up

[yotarunner98]

Well It's time I finally got around to putting my build thread on a bit more accessible site. I've been doing a SAS on my 1998 toyota 4runner. I started the build at the end of August and was able to work on it for a good week before I had to head up to New Brunswick for School. Since then I've been going home on weekends to work on it so it's been painfully slow since September.

Here's what I'm working with:

1998 Toyota 4runner Limited 180k miles, 3.4L stock 4.30 gear ratio.
Goodyear wrangler RT/II's 36x12.5x16.5 bias ply

Axle's going in:
1997 FZJ80 Elocked axles w/ 80k miles on them, picked up for 300 bucks courtesy of cash for clunkers.

Trans and manual tcase:
1996 T100 auto with passenger side drop tcase from same junk yard for 200 bucks.

Other parts i ordered and who i got them from are as follows:

Ballistic Fabrication:
Frame reinforcement plates p# TOY-1308
Adjustable coil buckets p# BRK-1049

Sky Manufacturing:
Tacoma oil pan conversion kit p# Taco-SAOK-001
(has 2wd t100 pan and all other pieces needed)
Weld in treaded tube inserts for fj80 TRE's

PSC:
high and low pressure hoses and field serviceable fittings for stock toyota power steering pump to fj80 steering box

Camel4x4:
1 set fj80 front 4" lift springs
1 set fj80 front HD stock height springs (for rear of 4runner)
1 set fj80 extended break lines
1 set fj80 adjustable caster bushings 0 to 3.5 degrees

Trail-Gear:
pair of fj80 tie rod ends, one left one right for drag link

Stuff i still need:
Shocks, I will be making extensions for the rear shocks for the time being till i can save up some money again and get new ones. Front I'm considering Bilstein 5150's but don't know what length yet
Shock towers, I will most likely be using the mid 80's ford shock tower which mmml4 used in his build, i'll get the part number and post it up when i remember.
lengthened front drive shaft
4.88 gears, will come next spring hopefully once i get funds back up

oh yeah a little disclaimer, this is temporary to get me through the winter here in jersey, next summer i will be doing a 3link on the truck, just right now i dont have the extra funds for the extra material and it needed something since the trans was going bad.


I will post up pictures of the build in a little bit when i get home to my desktop

 

[Mauzer]

Sounds like a great build, can't wait for the pics!

 

[philos1]

Likey.

 

[yotarunner98]

Here is the latest news. Ballistic kinda screwed me over on the fj80 tie rod ends, when all the stuff came in they weren't in the box, looked at the sheet and they were back ordered. waited a few days called them up and they said they'd be in by last Friday. Friday came and went and no tie rod ends . So i called them up today and they said they were on back order and wouldn't be able to get them for 3 or 4 weeks. (a call would have been nice) At least now they've removed them from the website so no one else gets screwed.
So i called around today, sky is on back order waiting for them to get through customs (2 to 3 weeks) and a couple other places are the same... then i found out trail-gear stocks them, called up to make sure they had them in stock and they did so i have my pair on the way! finally will be able to set up my drag link!!!!

i got the frame braces welded on and the engine mount reinforcement plates on. I got one side of the coil buckets widened and welded up and need to weld it to the frame then on to the other side. I've decided that I'm going to mount the fj80 box at an angle like it is on the stock fj80 frame, this will allow me to get it closer to the coil bucket tower and have the drag link a little closer to parallel with the pan hard bar.

It's been going really slow with school and everything else and only being able to work on it Saturday's and Sunday's if I'm lucky!

frame stripped and ready for bracing

all the goodies going onto the frame

new lift coils vs stock front coils

Plate welded on

approximate location of the steering box...yes its still blue from a friend of mine painted it for his build and ended up not using it..I'll get around to stripping it and painting it black...or maybe yellow to match the springs...

top plate for coil bucket widened and braced (a bit of overkill i know but it will let me sleep at night)

top plate recessed a little bit more than designed to get to coil closer to frame for clearance

plenty of penetration

steering modifications
I'm trying something out dunno if it'll work or not but here's what I'm working with,
Stock steering double joint has locator balls in it, i ground those off so they wouldn't interfere when it goes straighter

still working on making this still seal up

 

[mmml4]

Build is moving right along, it took me about 2 1/2 years to get to where you are now. Did you get my PM over on rightcoast, I wasn't too sure it went through when I sent it.

What are you going to do for the panhard? I used the factory panhard but had to make it a couple of inches longer. I think the Land Cruiser frame rails aren't as wide as the 4runner.

Looking good.

 

[yotarunner98]

Here the rest is from the beginning

My new axle! ;p

1998 4runner limited trans and tcase on left, 1996 t100 trans and manual tcase on right

one crossmember out one to go

cut and rotated the ball on the shifter to make it come up through the stock hole, also ground down the sides of the end so it'll push the individual rods, ps i ended up redoing this to get it placed better but didn't get pictures of that one, looked a lot better

my ghetto rigged cross member relocation job, this is temporary till i make up a tubular crossmember and also make a nice dent in the floorboards after i remove the rear heater

another shot, yes i know the welds aren't the best but it's definitely in there and it's not going anywhere for the time being

toys

FJ80 break booster and break MC

me at work grinding...damn i hate grinding

a little bit high for my liking, this is with 4" lift coils in the back and just held level up front, Frame height 26-1/2", My design is for 23-1/2" to 24" so i'm going with stock height lc springs just possibly heavy duty

4" lift lc front coils vs ome890's i think whatever the 3" lift heavy duty old man emu 4runner rear springs are.

axle hard mounted to roll the truck around at target height

target height 23-1/2" to frame

radius arm mounts

not the cleanest again but this is temporary, doing 3link next summer

 

[yotarunner98]

Build is moving right along, it took me about 2 1/2 years to get to where you are now. Did you get my PM over on rightcoast, I wasn't too sure it went through when I sent it.

What are you going to do for the panhard? I used the factory panhard but had to make it a couple of inches longer. I think the Land Cruiser frame rails aren't as wide as the 4runner.

Looking good.

yeah i did get it and i realized i'm a dumbass and had been on your build thread before. i'm planning on using the stock panhard and possibly getting the slee adjuster or just sleeving it to extend it, now that the TRE's will finally be coming in i'll get a better idea of the angle of the drag link and the angle the panhard bar will be at as far as mounting and length. thanks for the p# on the shock towers!

 

[Drunken Ira Hayes]

Looks great, be sure to keep us posted.

 

[Tapage]

don't you think those front 80 series coils are too stiff for ya . ? even ironman 80 series coils are more stiff compared to med OME ..

 

[yotarunner98]

I'm not sure to be honest. According to camel4x4 the front springs are designed for "Additional Weight up to 220lb for 4" Lift" and I'm planning on going with the same spring rate but stock height "Additional Weight up to 242lb". The OME springs are quoted as 110lbs-250lbs for the 850J's that a lot of guys use and get plenty of flex out of. the rears most guys use the 863's which are 440lbs-GVW.

Right now my front bumper and winch weigh in at about 140lbs, and the rear bumper i custom made weighs about 140lbs (its 5/16th's plate, 1/4"x3" square tube, and 5"C channel to keep it strong enough to tow my trailer with). and i'm still planning on adding sliders and everythign else so i think i should be close to those weight specs.

 

[Tapage]

not to worry you but keep in mind the frame, and engine/drive train weight difference between 80 series and runners .. the rears should work like charm ..

 

[ThaComa]

By far, the baddest 4Runner I've ever seen. Nice job dude

 

[yotarunner98]

By far, the baddest 4Runner I've ever seen. Nice job dude

Thanks, I've seen a lot a heck of a lot more modded than mine that I'm severely jealous of!

Made good progress yesterday, kinda. Got the driver side coil bucket mounted and got the passenger side coil bucket welded together to weld to the frame. I had the mount plates welded to the frame on that side but when i went to mount up the bucket to it I realized i made a big measuring mistake. I managed to 1/2 way burn the brackets on 1/2" to narrow on each side! f' me. so i spent a while grinding through my welds enough to break them off and making templates to cut new brackets . the only reason they weren't fully burned on is b/c i ran out of welding wire! so now i have to cut new brackets and find and buy a 33lb spool of alloy .030 wire (not going harbor freight, it's my buddy's miller i'm using and he had the miller wire in there so i can't cheap out on it now). I just ordered my ford shock towers to weld on there. I'm going to see if my buddy's bilstein 5125's will work for my front end, they are 12" travel. he's upgrading to 14" travel and thought i'd help us both out if i could.

 

[mmml4]

I'm using the 12" 5125's on mine and it seems like I have more shock travel than axle travel. I also haven't been able to max out the travel. I can't wait to see how this set-up does on the trail, its going to be long time before mine will even be 4wd.

 

[mmml4]

steering knuckle upgrade

Have you seen this crazy s***?

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...-swivel-housing-intergrated-steering-arm.html

 

[yotarunner98]

jeeze those are awesome! and i've been craving portals!!! i think that'd kinda defeat my low buck build though. supposedly someone is working on 6shooter nuckels for the fj80 balls with high steer...i'm hoping for those!

 

[yotarunner98]

here's some pics of where it's at from this weekend

 

[yotarunner98]

Alrighty....brainstorm time. Heading back down south tomorrow to get back to work on the truck. I think this is all i have left to do...

1) Mount steering box
2) Mount passenger side coil bucket
3) Mount shock brackets (being delivered Saturday hopefully) and steal my buddy's bilstein 12" shocks and see if they'll fit my front!
4) Cut DOM and weld in bungs for drag link
5) Remove old oil pan and put new 2wd pan and all accessories in
6) Make Panhard frame side mount and possibly extend panhard bar(depends on drag link angle at ride height)
7) Plumb steering box
8) Plumb/fill transmission and hook all connections back up
9) Finish steering linkage from wheel to box
10) Check oil level in front diff (a lot poured out when transporting axle)
11) Measure up for front driveshaft
12) Front brake lines
13) Install fj80 master cylinder and brake booster
14) Make permanent crossmember for trans/tcase
15) Wire up button for front locker or use LC80 locker knob for both front and rear
16) Install rear axle (probably will need custom links/mounts for top, also thinking about moving whole axle back about an inch so extending the lower links is in my future)
17) clearance front fenders
18) make or buy shock eye to post adapters

If there is anything you guys think I might be forgetting here let me know!

 

[yotarunner98]

Got a couple things done this weekend. I got the steering box 3/4's of the way mounted... i need to grind off some of the extra material i put on top of the frame rail for the 4th bolt to go. I am going with the steering box on a slight angle...not quite as pronounced as the pictures above though. I felt this way the best way to keep the drag link closer to the panhard bar and maintain a good angle of the drag link, approx 6 degrees. with the steering box flat on the frame rail it brought the drag link up to 8 degrees and with it on the course angle it was about 4 degrees. more on this in a minute

After i got that mounted i cut my DOM and welded my bungs in for the drag link. It's 1.25 x 1/8" wall. the steel place near me didn't have any 1/4 inch wall with a 1" id. i had to buy 10' of it so i figure if nothing else i can make a spare and carry it with me...or i could get another piece of 1/8" wall with a 1.25 id and sleve the whole thing if needed.

I'm still trying to figure out the panhard bar. I want to keep it level with the drag link obviosly to prevent bump steer as this will be a street driven rig. but with the 6 degree angle it puts the panhard eyelet about 6 inches below the frame rail. What do you guys think? that acceptable if i do a cross brace like on the factory FJ80?

i had a brainstorm about how to make a home brew adjustable panhard and also upper links for the rear... could i just get a grade 8 bolt which matches closely the id of the panhard bar and a nut for it, weld the nut into the end, thread the bold a good ways into the bar and roset the threaded piece in the bar, and then weld around the edge of nut to the bolt, then cut the bolt head off and have the threads sticking out the other end go into another nut on the other side? if that makes any sense... ... you guys think this would be strong enough or should i just pay slee $100+ for their DIY adjusters? I do have access to a lathe and mill but the material to make something similar to slee's would be expensive itself, but cutting the treads is a P.I.A. especially on the interior of a sleeve like they do. (i'd have to get a huge tap and tap it but the tap itself would probably be $50+

I thought i took pictures of how i ended up mounting it but i only have the test mount pictures that i didn't end up going with. I'll get some pictures next weekend when i get back down there. i do have a front shot though to show the draglink/panhard angles

Here's a side shot from actionjackson's cruiser 3-link build. that shows the factory panhard mount and pitman arm. i think I'm pretty close but just want some opinions

also i traded one of the sets of 4" lift springs for 2" lift springs, (Thanks Eli!) they fit perfectly for the back and the whole truck sitting on the tires sits great! i have to play with side to side of the springs as right now my driver side is 23-1/2" up front and 23-5/8"in back and my passenger side is 23-5/8" front and almost 24" in the back...the springs are designed for the offset weight distribution of the fj80 which the 4runner is fairly even save the gas tank. I'm thinking just switching the rear springs should lever her out pretty well but we'll see. Stock front fj80 springs in middle, ironman4x4 2" springs designed for +120 lbs on outsides

 

[mmml4]

I think welding on a grade 8 bolt will make it brittle and cause it to fail, I have seen this happen over the years in my field of work. What size bolt do you think will fit? You might be able to use a fine thread grade 5.