Builds Father & Son 1 Ton 4Runner Build

[LowDown]

How did you land on the frame rail design? Did the chassis shop have the 84-85 dimensions on hand already or did you have to provide them with the design?

We took the stripped down stock frame to Steven's shop which we referenced for the dimensions of the new frame. Once back home, after a few back-and-forths in SolidWorks, we landed on the final design which kicks the front rails up & in similar to the '84 - '85 frame and added a short flat section over the rear axle. The idea was was to keep it simple and leave plenty of room to play with wheel base. I've got an awesome picture of the original and new frames side by side but of course can't find it at the moment.

 

[LowDown]

Steven Barfield - SSChassisWorx (Sschassisworx - https://sschassisworx.com/about-us) finished up the frame July '21 and we brought her home from NC to MD on the way home from wheeling Gore, Va and Uhwarrie, NC. It's all 2" x 4" x 0.125" cold rolled rectangular tube, mandrel bent and hand mitered. The rear cross member is there to stay, the front is temporary and the mid may stay depending on final drivetrain position. Body mounts are 1/4" and will hopefully only need some minor trimming to fit. I'm a happy camper and Noah's super stoked. He managed to crack a smile which is Noah speak for "This is f*ckin' cool!"

 

[LowDown]

The model frame was our stock '89 4Runner chassis - typical IFS '86 - '89 4Runner frame. The stock front frame rails being mostly flat generally suck for solid axle swapping one of these trucks and ending up with a low ride height. Steven and I decided to raise the front frame rails of the new frame 5" over stock which was an educated guess between the two of us comparing to a 2WD frame, an '84 - '85 SA frame, also taking into account ride height, radiator dimensions and positioning, body mount positioning, exhaust manifold clearance, orbital valve clearance, belly clearance, etc.

SSChassisWorx body mounts

 

[LowDown]

Fast forward to burning in the front spring hanger - winch mount.

The start to laying out the slider boxes. String line to maintain center and mock up springs to play with axle housing positioning.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

That's bad ****in ass.

 

[LowDown]

Thank you!! This poor truck has been back burnered to our '87 K20 (son's DD and back up tow rig) but in the meantime, we've got a bit more to share.
The 205 came out of the '92 Dodge W250 donor. Noah and his boss machined input shaft bearing opening for the larger 80mm bearing, we drilled and tapped the plug holes for 1/8" NPT, and had a buddy powder coat it along with a few other parts.

D60 front hubs. from Dodge W250 donor.

Sky's D60 high steer arms.

 

[LowDown]

ORD Magnum and freshened up NP205 from the donor W250 w/ ORD shift rails, 32 spline F&R outputs, 1350/1410 flanges, and JB Custom Fab adjustable detents.

 

[LowDown]

Building the C&C 14 bolt. 63" WMS, Grizzly, 4.56s, WFO truss, LugNut4x4 brake brackets, 3/4 ton calipers and rotors.

 

[LowDown]

 

[LowDown]

Mock up 4unner body- It's an easy 3 person lift, versus the excavator or skid steer. We drilled out a ton of spot welds and separated the inner fenders - core support from the tub. We set the front up with OME CS010R leafs. I might switch to an off shelf Chevy 47" spring to bring the front axle back some. The rear axle spring hangers needs to go back about an inch and we'll spring the rear over.