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Bear80

Bear80

Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Threads
262
Messages
3,062
"The White Truck"
My mightly daily driver
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So the story starts in 1996 when my Dad bought what is now my sister's 1986 cherry 4x4 Truck. We did a little 'wheel and I was hooked....oh he created a monster. That started the search for my truck and one little ad in the local paper later........

The previous owner used it as his farm truck and got great service from it. Sadly it spun a bearing not long after we got it so a used engine was installed and later I put a new short block in.

We (more like my Dad) got the truck rolling sound after about 6 months of soild work. It served well as a DD and we took it on a trip to Colorado, Big Bend and then Arizona a year later. I took it in the spring of 2000 to Florida, my first year in college and it served well getting stuck in the mud. Of course nothing to do with a teenage driver :D.

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Since I got the truck it has been constantly in a state of change.

The short of the previous setups:
I put 4.30 gears out of an automatic '87 to help turn the bias ply 32x12.50's. Put 25mm SAW t-bars, upper and lower arm polyurethane bushings, ultra low profile upper arm stops matched with 2" Downey rear springs and 1.5" longer shackels.

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About the only thing I changed until 2005 was the tires, 31x12.50 Xterrains. That is if you leave out all the rebuilding, replaceing and maintaining things.

That fall of 2005 I started work on the new front setup, my so called Hybird setup: '86-'95 1st Generation IFS lift/upgrade Options - IH8MUD.com Forum

I tried the 25mm t-bars, stock bars and finally settled on the OME torsion bars. I also had to grind some clearance into the u-joint axle shafts to clear the extra travel gained when I put in some custom 1-3/8" ball joint spacers. I also came up with my own shock risers, since I didn't like what only Downey offered. I'm kicking around the idea of the bronze idler arm bushings but for now I just run the Downey gusset. All the steering parts are also "555" brand, made in Japan and I'm fully confident in their strength.

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Closeup of the crazy angles the CV achive near full drop:
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My low profile shock risers, peek at the t-bars, brake lines and whatever else:
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Finally this winter '07 I finished up tweaking my rear 63" chevy springs:
My 63" chevy spring swap - IH8MUD.com Forum
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Ok moving on... The previous owner put on the wildlife killing gaurd and headache rack. The headache rack doubed as a great point to mount four Pro Comp 5x7 lights and if I ever get around to it some mounts for a tire carrier, high lift, jerry cans etc.

I also needed somthing in the rear and one day at my favorite junk yard found a hitch off a '98 Tacoma. I figured since it bolted together I could just have some new side brackets made, but low and behold it worked perfect as is:
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However, with my new 63" rear springs the side brackets would not clear the shackels. So I had to have some custom made, ugly since they were not painted at the time of the picture but they worked and tucked the hitch up higher:
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Other tid bits my Dad and I have done is put in a new short block, fresh head, oil pump, steel timming guide, torque cam, etc. As I've said before, the cam is the best bang for the buck on these 22R motors. We also rebuilt a w56 transmission from a '87 4runner, which I might replace with a R150f and VF1A t-case.

While my Dad had another engine on the stand he worked out the issues with mounting a 7mge 90 amp alternator on the 22r. We took it off a MKIII supra automatic. The lower mount had to be filed down to fit into the 22R bracket. Then the pully off the old alternator had to be drilled out to mount on the new 90amp unit. The bracket for the belt adjustment also had to be extended, I used a ground down piece of the bracket as an extender. It's a pain to get down in to place and I had to unbolt the power steering pump. Also the cables are hard to reach being clocked towards the block. However, it keeps up great with my stereo.

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Also under the hood is a brake booster and master cylinder off a Tundra. It works great and the only issue is that the reservoir of the clutch master is pushed over just a bit. I also upgraded to V6 callipers up front.

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Now inside. The truck is an SR5 but lacked the map light option, it was a simple enought install and much better then just the single bright light. Also I added a handle to the drivers side, helps jump in while 'wheeling. I'd like to try and add handles to the A-pillers like the 89-up trucks.

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I also added an alarm, so I needed power door locks. We took a motor set off a 4runner and used the door lock control off a Land Cruiser. This way I can double turn the driver's key lock to pop the passengers side and integrated a passengers side interior button, since the trucks that came with power locks lacked this. I also put the all red courtesy lights out of a celica, vs. the half white/red that came in the trucks.

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Note the tweeters in the door. I have Inifinity Kappa component tweeters in the doors and rear pillers, 6 1/2" woofers and 4" 2ways in the dash. I also made a custom shelf to replace the stock one so I could mount my amps and box on it. For the sub I used a 10" Soney ES. The box also doubed as a great place to mount a power inverter my old roommate gave me. Hey, it'll power a blinder. :D

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Eh and a shot of the defog switch I used to control my headache rack lights, I moved the deck light switch up to the side. Which if you have a sliding window like me you'll need to find the smaller cubby panel for the defog switch.
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Oh yeah some other little tid bits. I put 50watt halogen back up bulbs in place of my gay little super whites. Advanced Auto carries them for a few dollars, Pep Boys carrier a better version but costs around $10. Here's what's in my truck:

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I also took the hubs off a 30 spline and used the rotator on my 27 spline set. They are much easier to turn now.
 
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I could always use more "go fast" but that little 22re is near it's limits....you do know by pushing the a/c button it's really turning on the stock rocket boosters right? I think the only thing I may add is the Budbuilt transfercase crossmember, I've smacked the stock one. Sliders are a maybe but honestly, in all the stuff I've wheeled never really felt a need for them.....my fat 80 series LC is another story.

I suppose I would like a selectable locker up front but for the price I'll do without.
 
Not to rob your suspension modifications of their "customness", but would you mind sharing some specs for the control arms? I've already got the spacers and the torsion bars, and the control arms look to be a custom job. Did you design them and send them off to be machined, or did you fab them yourself? If you fabbed them yourself, would you mind sharing some of the process for those of us that might be interested in doing similar?

I guess what I'm looking for would be rough dimensions that someone could go by if they wanted to do the same thing. Of all the prepackaged kits that come with new control arms, the arms are like 5x the cost of all the other parts else combined, so if I can make them myself, I'd rather save a couple pennies for other parts.
 
My front is not much of a custom job other than a tweaked in "kit". I've only heard of or seen 2 other with a similar combo. Check the link my second post for more info.

The basics of it is that it's pretty much the OLD Downey/Rancho kit:
http://www.downeyoff-road.com/SuspensionComponents/ControlArm.html#

I only added a ball joint spacer and used OME torsion bars. Any larger bars will suck on the trails, unless you're kicking up dust. I found my old stock bars to be too soft, however I would recommend using NEW OEM t-bars from a 92-95 4Runner. This will still ride soft but flex better. In my case, with runs down the beach and desert I needed something a tad stiffer and the OME fit the bill great. 25mm or 26mm t-bars will bring the suck.

The upper arms are from the discontinued Rancho 3" lift, minus the truss to drop the diff. Which means you will need the new center steering link, it is not only larger but has different offsets for the location of the inner and outer TREs.

Then you will need an axle solution. That is where Downey came in with the slip yoke axles. They really aren't that great, the pre-99 axles are only to stock hardness and can break. The latter axles, like I have are much much stronger. However, being a u-joint/slip yoke style they are inherently bad at vibration free rotation, not to mention they are not balanced. I cannot run my truck over 30mph with the front hubs locked.

The Porsche inner joints on a custom axle are a MUCH better solution. Downey now carries a Porsche axle for their long arm kit. I would look into that, and probably will if I ever break an axle.

Downey also calls for a "mega travel" ball joint; I don't know how necessary this is. Since I pulled my kit off a junked truck, it already had them and so I went ahead and used them.

I've found that using the slip yoke style axles I can only get away with a 1 3/8" ball joint spacer. I had to grind/machine in some clearance in the u-joint. However, with the Porsche axles you can get away with up to a 1 5/8" spacer.

An 8" travel shock will also have to be used. Total Chaos makes a cool shock riser but costly. Downey also makes one, not as cool, cheaper but I don't really like it. I came up with my own simple setup for around $80 total, cheaper than Downey's.

The area of debate for this setup (Rancho arms) is the steering and alignment. Guys have bitched about these arms for years, saying that after wheeling the alignment is whacked out. IMO this stems from ignorance and not going in to it with open eyes. The stock rubber lower arm bushings really need to be replaced with polyurethane. The supplied bushings for the new upper arms should also be replaced with the much harder ones Downey carries. The largest contributing factor to alignment woes is the IDLER ARM. A gusset will improve things but the nylon bushings need to replaced with something harder. These arms are VERY sensitive to height and toe! If either is off say due to a bad idler arm, the alignment will be out of whack but also the ride height will be off. And just the opposite, if something causes the ride hight to change, say a worn upper arm bushing then the toe will be off. If you keep and eye on it and know what's causing the issues, it reall isn't bad considering the 13ish" of wheel travel.

I got my basic setup for $250 in the junk yard and have a total of about $500 in it now. Not likely you will come out this cheap but then again about the only way to get this stuff is second hand.

Akarocket ran this kit with a 1 5/8" ball joint spacer, stock t-bars, differnt style shock risers and Porsche inner joints on a custom axle:
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A member here on 'mud also runs a similar setup with ball joint spacers, but I don't know what kind of t-bars.
 
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