Builds 1984 Pickup Rebuild

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Thanks for sharing more photos. They don't look like they sit that high, but obviously do.
 
Steering is mostly done. Ifs box is mounted and plates welded in. Just need to finish welding the steering stabilizer mount. I had bought a frame mount kit originally so I modified the brackets to work with mounting on the differential. Threw the spare block in the truck to see how it all fit, I’m very happy overall with how it turned out.

Plan for tomorrow is to get the frame painted and then start assembling the engine.
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Clearance between drags link and oil pan.
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It’s definitely a change getting into this truck compared to the full size truck that I’m used to or the Miss’s Corolla. But boy will it be worth it, I’ve been itching to hit the mountains and take some of the service roads around here again and my diesel is just too dang big and cumbersome.
 
I squirreled today, with it being such a nice day I decided to do some other stuff and didn’t start the engine assembly. I did get the frame painted late last night (should’ve paid better attention to avoid it running but oh well, the bumper will hide it). I also cut off all the old unneeded brackets and threw a coat of black paint on it. Eventually it’ll be pulled for a full clean, paint and a U-bolt flip install.

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I also ordered some toe alignment brackets from ruffstuff. It works for both the Toyota and the F350 I have which also needs a full front end rebuild and inner axle seal replacement which required you to drop the diff out, so for $66 it’ll save me a lot of time.

 
Well I wasn’t happy with how the front axles felt when being moved by band (kind of gritty) so now I have a knuckle service kit coming to completely rebuild it all again. So much for this being a cheap and quick project :lol:.

One issue I’ve had is how to mount the cruise control stalk. Using some extra metal I had I may a mount that’ll bolt it next to the wiper blade switch. It did require a lot of cutting on the surround but I felt like it was the best option. Eventually I’ll make a nicer one but for now this will work for testing.
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I also needed to figure out how I wanted to wire the switch in. My goal was to keep the switch pins the same as what I could find from an auto parts store in case I ever needed to replace the switch while on the road. The original way the switch was wired on the 1998 4Runner was through the clock spring which was a problem since the male connectors for the harness side and the switch side are nonexistent when looking through a Toyota connector list.

The switch connector is a female 6p non-waterproof (90980-11732) which has a 2.3mm terminal. I opted to go with a 3p non-waterproof connector that had both a female and male connector. I hope to have it all wired up this weekend.

I used this site to figure it all out:

Part numbers
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Switch connector (original)
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Body harness connector (original)
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Ended up having some time tonight. Got everything wired up and the steering wheel back on. I’ll have to do some plastic work to cover the giant hole on the right side. The fit between the wiper and the cruise control switch is close, but they don’t touch when the wipers are on high. That was one of my goals.

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No photos due to the amount of grease, but the axle is back together with the brake rotors on and preload set to 12 lbs for the knuckles and 7 for the hub. Went to install the brake calipers and found out one side has two seized pistons.

I was going to get some new ones from O Reilly’s but then I remember I did machine these down to make them work better with the IFS hub swap. Due to this my plan now is to order a caliper rebuild kit for both sides from Toyota. I believe it’s part number 04479-35010 as they came off of my old 1989 22re with an auto but I’m going in person tomorrow to confirm since I don’t have the truck anymore.

With the brakes on hold I switched to assembling the engine, finally got it on the engine stand and my goal is to have to assembled and dropped in this weekend.
 
The engine build has finally started and it feels amazing.

I tie the bottom end apart, cleaned it all and put it back together with engine assembly lube due to my concerns with the rust being present on the deck. I did get the balance shaft delete installed and the front cover put on. The only issue I’m having is the new water pump (from Toyota) is grinding on the front cover when I turn it by hand. Has anyone ran into this issue before? The cover is the old one from the ruined engine.

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Got the engine in, clutch installed and the brake calipers apart. Tomorrow will be installing the transmission and cutting the carpet for it all to fit through. I still need to run a lot of hoses but this allows me to actually see everything. I did figure out the issue with the water pump, I had it sitting too low once the bolts were tightened, I moved it up a bit and tightened the bolts against with no issues.

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I’ll need to order two new pistons as I had to destroy this one and the other to get them out. I used a lot of heat and Kroil and still had to hammer on the caliper body. They were rusted good.
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I also recommend that anyone doing something like this, get your injectors cleaned. I knew mine were bad but the #4 injector would’ve caused some issues in the long run.
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Also, thank you to @RichardSkinner for the advice to install the lower alternator bracket before the motor mount. The way that motor mounts fits is annoying and I have my concerns with potential roadside fixes.
 
Brake caliper rebuild kit came in as well as two new pistons. The install went well, make sure to use lots of lube so they go in smoothly. One thing to note is Toyota doesn’t think you should split the calipers, because of that, there are no o rings included for where the two calipers seal together for the fluid transfer hole.

This was the thread I followed to assemble it all.

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Since I’m using 1/2 grade 8 fine thread bolts I was going to 90 ft-lbs when something didn’t feel right. I disassembled it all and the caliper ear has cracked off. Interesting enough this is already an auto parts store reman based off of the caliper pistons that were installed in it.
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I did get my stuff stuff brackets in for the alignment, they are sweet and worked very well. You’ll have to excuse the poor lighting. Lots of wind and rain today so the garage doors were down.

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I ended up getting a rebuilt one from O’Reillys. My plan is to install the old seals back into the broken caliper and keep the new Toyota ones. They said they’ll take it and give me the core charge back even with a broken caliper ear
 
One thing to note is Toyota doesn’t think you should split the calipers, because of that, there are no o rings included for where the two calipers seal together for the fluid transfer hole.

Never could find those seals when I did mine. Ended up buying some EPDM rubber sheet I think it was from McMaster and made my own.

Measured the depth of the counterbores for the seals and chose a smidge thicker material. Think I had around .030" or so crush.

Also made up a full set of 304 stainless pistons as well for no more rust issues. Dealer wanted some major coin for new ones and just couldn't see putting steel back in only for them to rust again someday. OE's are good up to the point when the chrome wears thru.
 
Finding those seals is impossible it seems. I was looking for them for a while and just ended up reusing them. I’ll have to keep in mind to just buy a sheet of EPDM if I ever pull them apart again.

The engine of officially in! I used the coolant pipe from the 22re to get around the alternator, eventually I’ll need a new fan shroud as this one is cracked but I’m holding off to see if I run into heating issues and need to upgrade to a bigger fan as currently I’m using the 22re fan and a new CSF radiator. I have changed the fan clutch oil to a heavier cst year ago so I’m hoping that helps
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I also got new tires in. 35x12.5r15 Geolander MTs is what I decided to go with, I do have 4.56 gears and eventually I’ll have 5.29s when I add lockers to the truck. They look amazing I think, I was on the fence as I loved the looked of my BFG KM2s, but they were 10 years old and needed to be change out.
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Transmission, F/R diff and T-case oil has all been changed. I forgot how much 75w-90 and those little pumps suck. I had the hose pop off and drench me and my boot with gear oil.

High steer is completely installed, clutch line ran and the fender wells painted. The goal this week is to finish up everything and get it painted as I took some holiday to really focus on getting as much done as I can before summer heat hits.
 
Looks great man! Coming along nicely!

Question about your high steer. Seems like everything I read says that you need a 3"+ lift to install a high steer. But looking at your setup, it looks like the suspension set up is stock and you just have larger tires. Is that right?
 
Looks great man! Coming along nicely!

Question about your high steer. Seems like everything I read says that you need a 3"+ lift to install a high steer. But looking at your setup, it looks like the suspension set up is stock and you just have larger tires. Is that right?
I’m running an old man emu lift (about 2.5”) and long front shackles. I’m probably about 3” of lift total but with using a flat pitman arm and the frame arch of the solid axle trucks, everything fit nicely.
 

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