Builds 1984 Pickup Rebuild

[Mudder]

Have you ran this truck and flexed it before? That rear shackle angle looks past vertical, but it may just be the pic.

It’s not the picture. I installed these leaf springs (Old Man Emu heavy duty ones) back in 2015 I believe to support the weight of the flatbed I built and they’ve always rode rough and had a terrible rear shackle angle. It’s another thing I need to deal with that I had forgotten until you mentioned it!

 

[Mudder]

Finally started working on the winch I've stored for way to long for this project. I dug into this winch years ago, has some issues and gave up due to the cost to fix it and being a high school student. Its a Warn 9.5TI, it has no rope, apparently needs a new motor as the end cap is cracked, two of the solenoids are toast (the small terminals are just spinning on the nut are just pinning) and it's missing two bus bars. I know on the 8274s you can upgrade to an Albright connector, I see warn has this option for the Warn 9.5cti 9Upgraded model), does anyone know if this would be a direct plug and play?

My thoughts are I should be able to replicate this kit with an Albright and save a bit of money (Kit is $300 from Warn) and a genuine Albright can be had for $60. The thermal indicator is separate from the winch solenoid wiring which is nice.

I am going to strip the winch down angain and clean is thoroughly as it was sitting outside during a move and is roached. It looks like water made its way into the winch motor at some point too sadly. Plus I need to fix my screw ups of bolts not being tightened or missing in general.

 

[Toast]

You should seriously consider ditching those emu springs and going with some Chevy 63s. They ride so nice compared to the Toyota ones.

 

[Mudder]

You should seriously consider ditching those emu springs and going with some Chevy 63s. They ride so nice compared to the

Some day that may happen. I’ve also debated on getting custom springs made or going with longer leaf springs from an 89 and later truck.

edit: I was able to find just the V rings themselves which is what I needed. They’re Warn 63542. I couldn’t find that number on the parts diagram which made it harder to find

 

[RichardSkinner]

It’s not the picture. I installed these leaf springs (Old Man Emu heavy duty ones) back in 2015 I believe to support the weight of the flatbed I built and they’ve always rode rough and had a terrible rear shackle angle. It’s another thing I need to deal with that I had forgotten until you mentioned it!

hah, understandable. At least you were working on this stuff in high school. Don't be embarrassed of any of that work even if it's not great in hind sight. My parents had no tools and I didn't build anything back then. I was out camping with friends a lot in highschool (2002-2006) and we would take my 2wd drive ranger and camp off fire roads literally 15 minutes from the Rubicon trail and had no idea what a cool scene and era we were missing out on back then... Anyways... lol

Rear leaf hangers can be made or are cheap to buy. Maybe a good project if waiting for funds since the engine rebuild/swap isn't necessarily cheap. A lot of people get hung up on shackle angle when setting their spring hangers, but I think that's an incorrect measure.

Rough rule of thumb:
Flat length of the spring minus shackle length +1" = the spring eye to spring hanger length.

That physically gives the system range of motion to not bind up when the springs flatten. Shackle angle will naturally present itself given the spring stiffness and the load of the truck on the spring.

 

[gnob]

hah, understandable. At least you were working on this stuff in high school. Don't be embarrassed of any of that work even if it's not great in hind sight. My parents had no tools and I didn't build anything back then. I was out camping with friends a lot in highschool (2002-2006) and we would take my 2wd drive ranger and camp off fire roads literally 15 minutes from the Rubicon trail and had no idea what a cool scene and era we were missing out on back then... Anyways... lol

Rear leaf hangers can be made or are cheap to buy. Maybe a good project if waiting for funds since the engine rebuild/swap isn't necessarily cheap. A lot of people get hung up on shackle angle when setting their spring hangers, but I think that's an incorrect measure.

Flat length of the spring minus shackle length = the spring eye to spring hanger length.

That physically gives the system range of motion to not bind up when the springs flatten. Shackle angle will naturally present itself given the spring stiffness and the load of the truck on the spring.

length of shackle varies.
i like full length minus a couple / few inches.
you don't really want the shackle laying down or past 45. it starts screwing up ride and rate.
ideally you want the shackle just past vertical because it helps wrap a bit

 

[gnob]

@Mudder as far as the winch thing. short answr is yes. all these winches are essentially the same. Definitely the same wiring. not sure if the Albright fits in the "integrated" part though.

 

[Toast]

I completely understand how project priorities go and that somethings get benched while others take precedent given your current abilities, funds and confidence. That being said, there are always those upgrades we do that once completed, you say to yourself: "man, I wish I had done this sooner!" Trust me when I say that these trucks are anything but a smooth ride and most of us either deal with it or convince ourselves that they ride "good enough". Just have your wife/girlfriend drive your truck and they will let you know lol. All jokes aside I know what "maybe someday" means and if there's anything I can do to convince you to move your suspension up a priority level I will. If that means posting pictures of perfect shackle angles every day then so be it! ANYWAYS... Just a little food for thought. I'm not saying the Chevy 63s are the absolute best out there as far as leaf spring upgrades go but I would bet that you would be hard pressed to find any negative feed back from them. I just picked up another set from the wrecking yard for $100 and the ruff stuff kit is around $200. Financially they make sense and there are so many good write ups on this. Ok Ok I'll stop bugging you lol.

 

[Mudder]

@Mudder as far as the winch thing. short answr is yes. all these winches are essentially the same. Definitely the same wiring. not sure if the Albright fits in the "integrated" part though.

I was hoping you’d chime in for the winch, your winch rebuilds are always amazing to look at. I have a super winch contractor on my 8274 I’ll mess around with before I order an Albright. Worst case is this one gets for new solenoids and I move on.

@RichardSkinner, I got lucky and the first truck I was gifted was an 89 Toyota pickup for $1500. I live at the base of some mountains so guys were always going up there for snow or mud and for hunting. I’ll investigate the rear spring some more and see what I can do. Worst case it gets pushed onto Phase 2 of this project where I’m planning on doing lockers and a dual T-Case.

You sure aren’t wrong about the cost for the engine swap plus I need to redo the interior of this truck which adds on even more. But it has been fun and I’ll be excited to have this truck back. As much as I love driving my other truck, I want something that can go to the mountains again easily and I don’t have to take up two parking spots when going to the grocery store.

@Toast, I should’ve used a different term than someday. It would be later this year once I get this truck running and driving as that’s my current goal. I’m sitting on piles of parts just waiting for me to install them but I’m trying to get everything together to hit it at once. I’m also not the biggest fan of welding this time of year since the shop is unheated and it gets into the 20-30s at night and I don’t want any welds cracking on me. Worst case is I pull a leaf out and see how it sits.

I definitely appreciate the feedback. This truck sat for a good 6 years while I was taking care of other stuff and I know I’ve forgotten a lot of the issues that it has

 

[Mudder]

I'm wanting to start assembling the engine so I can clean up some garage space. Due to the condition the block was in I wanted to pull apart the crank bearing caps and rod caps to apply some assembly lube since it may be a few months before I start this engine. Looking at the Toyota FSM it states you can reuse the bolts as long as they meet the specs, however 22re performance says the the connecting rod bolts are TTY for the 3rz. Does anyone know the truth if the connecting rod bolts and crankshaft bolts are TTY? I'm not opposed to buying new bolts but I also don't want to if I don't need to.

1998 4Runner FSM

22RE performance Website (Connecting rod bolt and nut set — 22RE Performance - https://22reperformance.com/tacoma-engine-rebuild-parts/3rz-rod-bolt-and-nut-set)

 

[gnob]

I'm wanting to start assembling the engine so I can clean up some garage space. Due to the condition the block was in I wanted to pull apart the crank bearing caps and rod caps to apply some assembly lube since it may be a few months before I start this engine. Looking at the Toyota FSM it states you can reuse the bolts as long as they meet the specs, however 22re performance says the the connecting rod bolts are TTY for the 3rz. Does anyone know the truth if the connecting rod bolts and crankshaft bolts are TTY? I'm not opposed to buying new bolts but I also don't want to if I don't need to.

1998 4Runner FSM
View attachment 3566262
View attachment 3566265

22RE performance Website (Connecting rod bolt and nut set — 22RE Performance - https://22reperformance.com/tacoma-engine-rebuild-parts/3rz-rod-bolt-and-nut-set)
View attachment 3566267

the exploded view is fsm should say. but generally when you're torqued in 90° like that, theyre TTY.

 

[Mudder]

the exploded view is fsm should say. but generally when you're torqued in 90° like that, theyre TTY.

Well Damn. It's either order new bolts for a couple hundred or full send and hope Toyota coated them good enough. The FSM states to apply fresh oil to all sliding and rotating surfaces too.

 

[Mudder]

Does anyone have any insight on how to remove the push button section from this switch? I broke the original one I had and I want to swap the green cover over to the new switch (the old one still had AC wrote on it and the new one doesn’t). I tried putting a bolt in the hole at the bottom and that didn’t get me anywhere.

I figured I’d ask before I try more and break it and have to buy another one.

 

[gnob]

you probably have to uncrimp the metal

 

[Mudder]

Yup, that is what you have to do. I thought I had remembered pulling it apart years ago.

Switch fully disassembled, you can see the plain green plastic cover next to the on with AC wrote on it.

Contact switch and plate installed, don’t forget the big spring as well that pushes the button back out.

Fully assembled with the other green plate in. Took me about 15 minutes to do it all making sure I didn’t break anything.

 

[Mudder]

Ended up getting a bunch of stuff installed today. New brake lines from Marlin, finished the sound deadening, and fixed the bottom door trim.

For the door trim, I ended up cutting off the old plastic and used a dremel to open up the holes in the door seal do that the new nylon nuts fit.

Cut all four of these off

New nylon nut installed

The nylon nuts I used. These are what my local auto parts store had in stock.

This truck better be nice and quiet after all this. I did inside of the doors as well, it took me 54 sq ft of material to do it all and I had none left over from it.

 

[aztoyman]

I like the nylon nut fix. Thanks for posting that.

Is a box of that Kilmat heavy? When I removed the OEM sound deadener from my floor I threw it all in a plastic trash barrel as I chipped it out. I was shocked at how heavy that trash barrel was. I thought I MUST have some steel or something I don't remember throwing in it. Nope, it was just the sound deadener.

I also know how freekin loud it is in the cab without it so I don't know what I want to do. Carpet helps but its not really enough. I put new carpet in my 88 with thick carpet mats and it was still pretty loud inside.

 

[Mudder]

@aztoyman, the box was pretty heavy. They claim it weights .5 lbs a sqft, so what I should weigh about 27 lbs. I’m hoping between this and the new carpet this truck isn’t nearly as loud as it used to be. I had the exhaust dumping right past the rear axle with a steel flatbed and factory vinyl flooring. I haven’t used kilmat before so I’ll be curious how well it does hold up.

 

[Mudder]

Ordered new door seals from 1A Auto. I’ve bought some mirrors from them in the past and was happy with the quality so I hope these don’t disappoint

I also got the new filler neck in. It’s generic 2” hose (stock is 1 7/8 but no one has that around here and shipping was a deal killer for me). I’m hoping it fills better this time. I had a s*** angle last time and ended up having to drive up on a block of wood every time I filled it.

I also ordered some 2” rubber grommets. They don’t fit super well so they may get changed out if they keep falling out once this thing is going down the road.

Speaking of going down the road, I’m gonna need some new tires. These KM2s are about 8 years old, they’re still in great shape with no cracks but I bet that changes. I’m wanting to go to either 35s or 37s, I see that 37s aren’t offered in 15s and seem to be limited to 17s. Is this pretty much the case? I’ve been out of the game of tire shopping for a long time.

 

[gnob]

you can maybe get swampers in a 15. otherwise afaik, all radials are going to be 17s.

but most 17s have pretty heavy bs so be aware.