Build 1984 Pickup Rebuild

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

those numbers look OK to me. aside from the o2.
did you run the fpr to a real vacuum source to see if it made a difference?
I’ll be trying that once it’s running again. Had the oil feed line get melted by the exhaust manifold due to how I had it routed.

Does anyone know if the red circles port on the 3rz oil filter housing is pre or post oil filter? Currently running the feed line off of the front port (blue circle) and thinking of ways to reroute the feed line so I don’t almost burn the truck down again.

IMG_8010.webp
 
To follow up, the back port is unfiltered is what I’ve found. I plan on running a TurboSmart Oil Pressure regulator so it won’t matter as it’s internally filtered. I believe my P0172 code was due to the fuel injectors. I got one good drive in before I melted the oil feed line and had LTFT and STFT well under the 25%.

However, I made the tough choice to remove the turbo kit for the time being. Even with 5 psi the truck drove so much better but with my current living situation I can’t work on the truck and it is my daily with no back up. Hopefully that’ll change later this year and I can reinstall the turbo and have time to mess with it while having a backup rig off needed. For now I’ll enjoy the dual cases I’ve been dreaming up building since 2013.
 
Had some extra time yesterday so I stopped and weighted the truck, heavier than I thought it was but I don’t mind the 55/45 split. The only thing I really noticed is I’m 45 pounds away from exceeding the front axle GAWR and still have 1060 for the rear axle. Over all I’m still under the GVWR of 4800 pounds.
IMG_8051.webp


One thing I want to figure out is a better way for the middle stick on my triples. It’s way far back in high range. I’m thinking either cut and weld it or maybe try and turn it but then I think it’ll hit my transmission stick on low range. I also need to find some time an energy to straighten the three sticks so they’re even
IMG_8060.webp
 
Sitting at work bored has made me really start looking into redoing the rear suspension on this truck. I’m tired of the vertical shackle angle and it riding like crap. The two options I have in mind are:

1) Chevy 63 kit
2) Custom rear springs from Alcan

The Chevy 63’s are a swap everyone and their mother knows but my only issue is they aren’t “cheap” anymore. About $250 for a set of rear springs and $300 for the swap kit from Sky’s since I’d need a new rear u block flip plate. The other issue is, I’d have to trial and error the leaf packs to make it the height I need. Not that it’s a big deal. I’d probably start with 2500 HD springs with an overload and go from there since I have the heavy flatbed.

The Alcan option would be to get some springs that are 48” eye to eye to replace the current OME ones that are 45” eye to eye. Just eye balling it, it looks like it would give me close to a 45 degree shackle angle. I’d add the 3” to the rear of the leaf springs so it would keep the pin and the front eyelet in the factory location. This would allow me to not have to change the tom woods driveline. The other advantage is they can build the springs to fit the truck in terms of the heavy flatbed and extra gear I’ll have eventually. My rear weight doesn’t include a spare tire or any recovery gear/camping gear. I don’t have a price yet but I do have a quote in with Alcan to see.

I also could move the rear hanger forward and not spend any money but if I’m going through the effort of cutting and welding the work to do 63’s isn’t that much more.

IMG_8265.webp
 
48" springs "might" suck no matter who makes them. Even the slightly longer factory springs my son's 91 pickup had were a noticeably better ride than my 48" OEM 88 springs. I'd go longer than the stock 48's.
 
Last edited:
The later model trucks use a 51” spring but that would still require a shackle hanger change which wouldn’t be bad and might be a good in between of the 63s and stock springs.

Edited to add, there’s almost the F150 springs from a 87-95 2wd I could use. They’re 57” so it wouldn’t affect departure angle as much as 63’s. Not like this truck is much of a rock crawler but something I do like to keep in mind.
 
I've heard and read good things about the 87-95 Ford F-150 2wd springs. If you care about keeping it all Toyota, another possible option could be running a Tacoma leaf pack. Pretty sure 1st gen to 3rd gen tacos all have spring measurements of 55" - 56" ish but they may have some variation in the measurements from the center pin to front/rear eye.

An Australian dude on youtube made a series of videos about converting his comp Hilux from the 51" Toyota springs to the more modern 55" Hilux springs. The spring packs are likely different but seems like Toyota is making similar length spring for Tacoma and Hilux. In the first few minutes of the first video, he discusses the different spring lengths (in mm, of course). In the second video, he's flexing it out. Obviously it sounds like ride quality is your priority over flex but just throwing in another option for you to consider.


 
@The Toad I’ll keep that one in mind! I’ll start researching the spring lengths of the Tacomas. I think Deaver makes leaf springs for a Tacoma and I’ve always heard good things about them
 
Took the truck out for a mountain drive in the Tillamook forest. Didn’t do any wheeling as I just wanted to look around and get a feel for the area. I’ve replaced the old tool box with a nice Weather guard one and having the space is nice. It was able to hold all the recovery stuff, shovels, fire extinguishers and still had plenty of space.

I did have some issues have come up though. First is that the exhaust and front driveline rub on each other. It may be time to just pay an exhaust shop and have it all redone and ran down the passenger side and cross over to the drivers side behind the transfer case.

Second issues is the front locker was hit and miss. Since I was on gravel I wanted to exercise them and the front seems to be clicking on and off so I need to check out the wiring harness. Sometimes the steering would try and go straight and other times it was steering like normal is why I’m guessing this.

Third and probably the most annoying is the rebuilt W56 is popping out of 4th gear on decel. I can’t even go 1/4 mile down a hill without it popping out. So I sent an email to Yota1 about it and will see what they say. If it comes down to it I may just pull it apart myself and replace the synchros on 4th and call it good as I’m guessing shipping for warranty work is gonna cost half of the cost of another rebuilt one.

IMG_8379.webp


IMG_8380.webp
 
Back
Top Bottom