Finally joined the Big Tree gang. (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jul 5, 2018
Threads
6
Messages
159
Location
U42
I grabbed an '06 Limited today with 191k and every option box checked. The previous owner already swapped the air bags for coils, and interestingly enough, said it was a direct swap without any fabrication involved.

The plan is to remove the running boards and sway bars and go shake it down on a mild trail to see what areas need to be addressed. I haven't sold my 80 yet, and how the Tree does off road will be the deciding factor in whether the 80 or the Tree stays.

Should it prove to have potential, the plan is a 3" spacer lift, long travel upper control arms, 33's mounted on FZJ80 wheels or maybe a set of FN Fives if I don't feel like shaving my calipers, and a Harrop locker in the rear. Bumpers, sliders and skid plates may come later if I decide it warrants them.

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@greenmonster07 Here's the difference between sway bars and no sway bars. The black one was one that I test drove from a used car lot but decided not to buy because it was pretty haggard. I drove it about 30' off pavement to get it to flex out, and this was as far as I could get in 4wd with the cdl locked before adjacent wheels spun.

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And here's mine without sway bars. Granted, it's not the same obstacle but it is a much bigger one, and you can see the difference in up and down travel in the front and the massive increase in down travel in the rear.

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Rear up travel didn't increase because it'll sit on the bump stop with the sway bar in place, but there was about an inch of space between the LCA and the front bump stop with the sway bar in place. There's actually still a bit of weight on the left rear wheel in that last pic but the shock was close to topping out, so I'd guess maybe another inch of down travel beyond what you see before it lifts off the ground.

For a pavement princess IFS rig, I'm honestly fairly impressed. The front travel without the sway bar is comparable to the front of a stock 80 series with the sway.

Body roll is not bad at all. It corners very flat compared to my 80, and isn't something I'd worry about at all. However, I don't have the lift yet, so you may experience a little more. Even still, I suspect it'd be far from excessive. Lastly, the ride drastically improved in all conditions. Other than the occasional body on frame shudder it has when it hits an odd bump, it is very, very close to being as comfortable as my girl friends 2016 Jaguar XJ-L Portfolio.

You'll need a 5mm Allen wrench, a 17mm box end wrench, 14mm shallow and deep well sockets, and two 14mm box end wrenches, and will need to drop the rear of the rear drive shafts to get the rear sway bar out. It took me about a half hour and should be done with the truck on its wheels.
 
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Hit the trail today and decided it's worth keeping. Tires, FZJ80 wheels, a lift and a locker will be ordered later this week. I dig it. A lot.

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Thanks! I picked up a set of LX450 wheels today but there's only four, so I'm on the hunt for the spare. I also need to test fit one to see how much clearancing is needed on the caliper and wheel. There was someone else on here that had these wheels on his but he had an '02 and while the rotors are the same, I have different calipers.

The lift is on hold, only so that I can do a bit more reading about this particular IFS and take some measurements. I've seen mention of too much down travel causing the tie rod to bend and since I was planning on a spacer on the top of the strut + long travel UCAs, I need to see just where this thing can get flexed out to without damage. The up side is that I have the rear covered- I have a set of stock 80 series rear coils and 30mm spacers, plus some longish travel 80 series rear shocks to go with them.

Having driven it a few times at night now, I'm thinking a projector retrofit. I don't just want to throw brighter bulbs in the stock housings because there's already a ton of stray light with whatever dim bulbs are in there.

The roof rack is going to go; removal is good for +1-2 mpg and a bit less wind noise in the 80 series and I'll never ever use it.
 
All right, I was able to get a full day of wheeling in on the truck and it did great. Having passed the muster, it's time to fire up the 'ole parts cannon...

I bought a Tuff Country 4.5" Tundra lift for the front and have my left over stock 80 series rear springs w/30mm spacers for the rear and maybe a set of 80 series rear shocks I have laying around. They have another roughly 1.5" of travel in them compared to the Sequoia shocks.

Also on the way: Harrop rear locker, 4.88 gears, and 315/75 Destination MT2s once I source a spare wheel and plastidip the set.

Minor stuff: I already disabled the TPMS, am looking into a way to switch off the VSC when off road, have a Bluetooth adapter to install, and am about to get the projector retrofit underway.

Busy times!
 
So an update...

Gears, locker and 3/4 of a lift are in, along with wheels, tires and spacers.

The 80 series spacers for the rear didn't fit around the coil bump stops so I had to leave those out. Hence, the squat. It's about a 2" difference front to rear, so I have some 80 series TJM 50mm rear springs on order.

I had read that the 315s would hit the upper ball joints with the 80 series wheels, so I got some 1" spacers as a precaution but as it turned out, they'll fit without them. So, I'll have to grind the wheels to fit. There is a bit of firewall to tire interference, but will address that down the road... removing the spacers may resolve that, but introduce frame rub... if that's bad enough, I may tub the firewall and leave the spacers in.

I need to make some bump stop drop brackets for the front as the TC lift didn't have any, and will have to do the same for the rear.

I also have a 12 o'clock labs speedo healer inbound to correct the ~10% error.

Right now, I'm about 150 miles into the gear break in process so no wheeling yet. There are some driveline vibes from the front shaft, so I may have to do the joints; we'll see what some grease does first. And once the rear goes up the rest of the way, I may be looking at adjustable upper links to correct the pinion angle... again, we'll see what happens.

Other minor stuff to do includes a projector retrofit in the fogs and plastidipping the wheels in the spring.

Otherwise, it drives extremely nice and doesn't feel that much different than stock. I'm pretty happy with this platform so far and feel that it may be one of the more overlooked Toyotas.

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TJMs on back order or some crap, so I threw a couple 2" spacers in for s***s and grins and to get the rear up. Looks good, rides great, and the stack is tall enough to stay in place at full droop, so I may just cancel my TJM order and run with this.

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So after much fuss, I was finally able to get it off pavement and see how it does. Coming from 80s, the bar was set pretty high. Long story short, my 40th Anniversary will be going up for sale in the next month.

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That looks so good. Wife has a GX now and I plan on getting her a 1st Gen Sequoia eventually (so I can inherit the GX and have two 4.7s for ease of maintenance). I want hers to look this good.
 
Could you share some more specifics on the 12oclock speedo calibrator. I visited the website and seems to me like they are all for motorcycles. Which model did you get and what is needed to install it? Thanks!
 
dude. your rig looks great. even with them antique lexus rims. =0)
I might see how my 15" 1st gen 4 runner rims look on a tree
 
Thanks! I went with the LX450 wheels over the regular 80 wheels because they're so much fancier. Lol... No, they were just what was available locally. I could have stuck with the OEM 17" wheels seen in the first couple pictures, but I like to have as much sidewall as possible for when I'm aired down, and the 80 wheels are either 0.5" or 1.0" wider.

However, the LC80 wheels are a very tight fit over the calipers, and I don't see a 15" wheel fitting at all. I think the '01-'04 Sequoias had smaller brakes and if that's what you have, then there's a slim chance... But '05+ no way.
 
If I ever go “stage 2” on my truck I want it to look a lot like this.

I say this while only toe deep in stage one 😂
 
Looks great man. I had a 3rd gen 4R before my tundra and this reminds me of it, just on roids.

Thanks. I do get that a lot along with a few, "why'd you put a Tundra front end on your 4Runner." Then again, I've also had people call my 80 a 4Runner. :rolleyes:


If I ever go “stage 2” on my truck I want it to look a lot like this.

I say this while only toe deep in stage one 😂

Unless you plan on running 35's, you don't need what all I did. Between the regear and the lift, you're talking about another roughly $2k to fit 35's vs. 33's. Or about $3000-$3500 if you don't do all the work yourself.
 
I think I would like to go 34's... but I'm gonna walk before I run.

Are you running lockers front and rear?
 
If your goal is 34s, why not just go for it and get it the way you want the first time? Unless I misunderstand you and you're not planning on something smaller in the interim?

I installed a Harrop in the rear when I regeared. One of my previous 80s was triple locked and I was never in a situation where the front locker was the determining factor, and what with the ATRAC doing what it does on the tree, didn't feel the need for a front locker. Truth be told, for an IFS rig it does a remarkable job keeping weight on the tires and with the ATRAC, I barely ever need the rear locker.
 

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