Intro and a couple of questions(long)

[tommy854runner]

Not new to this website but i picked up my 5th 4runner this weekend and it will be my first 2nd gen. I have just gotten rid of my 80 series cruiser for something a little cheaper and something I don't mind beating on in the woods as much. It is a 1990 4 dr., SR-5 V-6 automatic 4x4 with 234k and counting. It had the head gasket recall done in 1998 but don't know the mileage at that time. A buddy of mine bought it to do the same thing I had in mind but he needed cash and I needed a ride. He has already installed a used rancho front kit of some kind that consisted of a front diff drop, upper control arms and aftermarket ball joint spacers, that looks like it lifted it about 3.5-4 inches. It has my old 80 series rear springs in the back with a track bar bracket drop. It has 5.29 gears with a full detroit in the back and fairly new 33x12.50's BFG AT's. The speedo is way off with these tires and gears but with the auto it pulls the tires nice. Now that my rambling is over one of my questions is has anyone ever run this front rancho kit?? The front driveshaft won't clear the sway bar and I haven't even cranked the torsion bars at all. I'm wandering if there is a front sway bar drop, and it definetley needs the sway bar with stock t-bars. Also when the head gaskets were updated has anyone had them fail again? Thanks for all the input on this one. I plan on this being my daily driver for the next couple of months so I need to keep it up.

 

[Downey]

Here's my 2 cents:
(a) Regarding the Head Gskt problem, we had them replaced 3 times on one vehicle. It seems Toyota did not exactly hit a home run with the 3.0 engine!!!
(b) Regarding 5.29 gears with 33" tires, way too low, and pinion shaft way too weak!!!!!
(c) Regarding using stock Torsion Bars with the weight of 33" tires, your tires and wheels are looking at your torsion bars and laughing their ass off---you need some H.D. T-bars under that truck.
(d) Regarding your Sway Bar, I had mine off one day while working on the vehicle, didn't have time to reinstall it before needing to use the vehicle in the desert on a photo shoot, so went without!! What a surprise, I finally had truely "Independant" front suspension. Vehicle worked sooooo much better when hauling ass without one tire affecting the other. My bar is not going back on. Down side; vehicle leans slightly more when cornering on the highway.

 

[tommy854runner]

Thanks for the input Jim. I was going to run no sway bar but with worn out shocks and stock t-bars it is fairly scary as is. I have had good experience in the past with 5.29 gears on my 1st gen 4runners and 35" tires but I never really wheeled them hard, plus 95% of my driving is in town. Has anyone had any experience with this Rancho kit though??

 

[axed existence]

If the headgasket recall was done then you should be able to find out the mileage. If you know what dealership it was done at the VIN of the car should reveal its history and thus the mileage at the time of the recall job. If you dont know which dealership, try calling any Toyota dealership and have someone in service run a national check on your VIN. I know Toyota and Lexus now have a national database of vehicle service history but I dont know when it started but its worth a shot. Finally, if all else fails you can try contacting Toyota Corprate (phone or email) and ask them what you can do to find out what mileage that was done on. They may even be able to find out for you if you provide the VIN. Hope that helps.

 

[Hypoid]

Link about larger torsion bars

Somewhere there's a thread about the Rancho arms allowing more travel than the other IFS stuff, but I couldn't find it.

I'd suggest replacing your shocks first and see how that feels. If you're on the road mostly, tune it for driving on the road.

 

["N8"]

So Ive been driving with out a sway bar for oh lets see about 4 years now. Started with just the stock t bars and 33" pro comps and it drove fine. Perfectly fine. The only problem I had was that the stock T bars wore faster, and I found myself cranking them once every 6 months or so. Finally my friend gave me a set of his old HD torsion bars and I haven't touched em since. Still driving with no sway bar but 35's now. Still not scared. But all that stuffs gettin cut of soon, got the knuckle rebuild kit for my sas just the other day and ill finally be able to accomplish some of the silly stuff I attempt on trail.