92 4runner advice please

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Below is the spring compressed as much as possible.

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With the spacers installed. Had to whack it with a bfh in order to get it past that 2 inch spacer.

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How the rear is sitting. Its up about 1.75" with the added spacers.

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And the rig in its entirety.

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Well I went for an alignment yesterday, and the tech there made me aware that the truck needs a new idler arm and new wheel bearings before it would be stable enough to align. Hope to get these problems out of the way once and for all.
 
FYI, it's probably just worn out bushings on the idler arm, $5 to replace, call around if some parts store says they don't make them, they do!

As for the bearings, make sure that they have the proper pre-load on them. They are really good bearings and don't usually go bad, you can pull them out and grease them too, that would not be a bad idea... Though you will probably have to replace the inner seal if you do that.
 
For now it's a little overkill, but what are the thoughts on the crown jewel, the total chaos idler arm? I've been doing my research and I read up on 4crawlers advice about the az idler arm + his custom bushings. But that tc idler arm is mighty enticing...
 
I went threw a bunch of idle arms. I kept getting them from Napa or whatever because i wouldn't have toyota money. Them i got a toyota arm and never had a problem with it after that. And i drove the truck hard.
 
Moog makes one, it is a different designs then the OEM, rather then a bushing it is a ball joint design. I installed one on my 4Runner a year ago with no problems. Moog seems to make good stuff, all my steering ball joints are Moog and soon the upper and lower ball joints will be too.

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Although I like the idea of an idler arm that will last forever, I feel I won't be doing enough rough stuff to justify the tc arm. Tomorrow I will go to AZ and check out the duralast arm that they offer there. 4Crawler and SDORI both mention that that arm has the largest shaft diameter of arms on the market, I'm sure with exception of the tc arm. Hah does anyone know that measure just for comparison's sake?

Also, my order came in so I need to add the diff drop in and buy some new cv boots then repack them. Are there any others checks to do to make sure the cv joints don't need replacing besides listening/feeling for grinding?
 
As far as installing the manual hubs goes, do I need to be worried about getting rid of the add system and all of those vacuum hoses? How will it drive if I don't?
 
I am not too familiar with how the add system works, but I think with the new hubs, you will still need the ADD system, unless you can lock the shafts together permanently. With that system your hubs are always turning and when you are in 2wd, the t-case is not engaged and it basically disengages the long side shaft to allow for the front wheels to turn more easily, but the internals of the front diff are still turning because they are still connected to the wheels. With the hubs you will basically let the front end free wheel and when in 2wd, nothing in the front driveline will turn. When you engage 4wd and lock your hubs you will still need the actuator to engage to other wheel.

If the kit you mention, or if you can find a way to lock the shafts together, then you could plug off all the vacuum lines and be good. Just make sure you plug them or short them correctly, they may send a signal somewhere that would throw something else out of whack if you just disconnect them.
 
You can do what I did on my '92: put the front manual hubs on and be done. The ADD system will still operate but it really won't matter when you're in 2WD.

Or, you can go thru various stages of removing/disabling the ADD. You can put the truck in 4WD, then disconnect the vacuum lines at the front diff (plug everything), and unplug the VSV solenoids on the pass side inner fender.

Or you could go to the trouble of finding and swapping in a non-ADD front diff. But I think that's waaay overkill.
 
flash02 said:
Moog makes one, it is a different designs then the OEM, rather then a bushing it is a ball joint design.
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Click to expand...

I second the recommendation on the Moog idler arm. They are much tougher than stock.
 
CV axle angles

After much thought, we ended up installing the duralast idler arm from Autozone due to it's large shaft diameter. After the install, everything felt nice and tight.

My dad and I ordered some cv axles from Raxles, which claimed to be just as good or better than stock. He spent the day removing the old, torn-boot axles and installing the new ones, and I helped where I could when I wasn't working. Helpful tips: we had to remove the 1" diff drop spacers and bolt it back up to factory settings in order to remove the axles and get the tulip through the lower a arm; also, we took all the tension off of our heavier than stock ome torsion bars, which helped a great deal in separating the a arms.

The install went great and everything was cleaned up nice and neat, including the ridiculous amount of grease that had coated the underbody from the old axles, all that remained was to take her on a test run. A five minute drive up the road and back we figured was good enough to stretch out the new axles. I parked it in the driveway and my dad checked underneath to make sure everything looked alright. Well it didn't...after only a five minute test drive, the inner boots on both cv's were torn and grease was splattered around.:mad:

What's going on?! We have installed the 1.5" BJ spacers, but after our old boots ripped, we thought the 1" diff drop would help that angle a bit, but no such luck. I haven't read anywhere else that people with this similar setup are having these problems. Any thoughts?

Just a note: the manual hubs are on their way from wabfab, but unless we can solve this issue once and for all, it seems like the boots will rip as soon as we engage 4wd and lock the hubs.

HELP!!
 
Wow, that stinks. Just to get some perspective, how much, if any, have you got the T-bars cranked? Even with the diff drop, if you have the bars cranked tight then the angles may still be too much for the stock boots. Someone used to sell high angle boots but I can't remember now if it was Downey or maybe someone else.

Can you take a picture from the front of it sitting so that we can get an idea of how steep the operating angle is on the cv's?

We will do our best to help you troubleshoot this.
 
Here are some shots of it. The torsion bars aren't cranked all that much. But I suppose lowering them all the way would help.


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Passengers side

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both

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Drivers side

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rear view of passengers side

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That actually looks like a lot of angle on the A arms to me... The inner boots are not designed to take much angle at all. Just the up and down motion as the tires flex some. The outers are designed to deal with the wheels turning side to side a good amount, so they will probably be fine...
 
Yeah, about the only time mine looks like that is when I have a floor jack under the center of it. My arms are actually almost flat with the driveway, and if it were me I would back the T-bars down until you had the CV's level and then crank it up maybe an inch or so above that.

And if they are cranked to the upper arm stops, you are basically running the joint at it's most extreme angle all the time.
 
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