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Richard's 89 Turbo Runner -The Creep-

66K views 111 replies 17 participants last post by  RiskyRicky 
#1 ·
So been meaning to create my buildup to keep track of how my 4runner has evolved. So this will be an ongoing thread of upgrades/mods I have done over the years.

A little background, had been wheeling my daily driven taco, and decided wanted to do more extreme trails not worry about hurting the DD. So began looking around and ended up buying another vehicle hence my 4runner. I am currently pursuing a Electrical Engineering degree at New Mexico Tech, so time/money has been limited. From my numerous hours browsing forums I have learned quite a lot, and In doing so all mods have been done by me.

So purchased my 89 4runner in November of 2009

Upon purchase several major modifications had been done by the previous owner. There were several minor issues with the truck, such as leaking front crank seal, window regulator broken, gauges not lighting up, rust, minor stuff. List of initial specs to follow:



SPECS as Purchased

ENGINE:
Air Research T3 Turbo
Custom Manifold
Turbo XS Boost Controller
Turbo XS RFL BOV
Supra Intercooler
3 in exhaust
40 series Flowmaster
DOA Racing Cam
ARP Head Studs
Factory Turbo Computer
Factory Turbo AFM
440CC Supra Injectors
K&N Intake
Auto Meter - Pyrometer, Boost Gauge, Oil Pressure and Air/Fuel Meter
GReddy Turbo Timer
Optima Red Top Battery
LUK Pro Gold Series Clutch
Marlin crawler dual cases 2:28|2:28

SUSPENSION:
FRONT:
SAS 85 Pickup axle 5:29 gears
ProComp leaf springs
Trail gear trussets
Knuckle Ball Gussets
Bilstein 5150 front shocks
Trail Gear front diff armor

REAR:
Tacoma E-locker rear axle 5:29 gears
TrailGear 5" Leaf springs
TG Elocker Guard

ARMOR:
Rock Sliders

OTHER:
Hanneman Fiberglass front fenders
Pionner CD Player
Spray-in bed liner




First Trail run:






First run out in Socorro: BHD



 
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#79 ·
Few Updates... Had been having a starter issue for quite some time including different starters. Read some great info on 4x4wire's thread that resembled the issues I was having -> thread here... http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Starter.shtml#EasyTest
Anyways got the starter pulled off the truck and pulled apart the solenoid. Found some pretty good pitting, and that the plunger was only contacting the outer contacts on two high spots. So got everything all cleaned up with some steel wool, file, and wire brush then put all back together.








Also some parts showed up today... New TG V6 5.29 Ring and pinon and a solid pinon spacer. Thanks LowRange, as always great prices and fast shipping.
 
#80 ·
Got the gears finally all set up. My bearings all still looked in good shape, no pitting or discoloration from heat so will be reusing, taking in to account preload with this. Must say thanks to Ken from gearinstalls.com who provided some very meticulous information on performing a regear, and quick reply via email on questions I had during his vacation time. Could not have done it or gained the confidence without your help.

Moving on, purchased a minor install kit from JustDifferentials. They offer two different kits, one for later 27 spline pinion and the newer 29 spline. I have the 27 spline so ordered the Minimum Install Kit 01 & Down Toyota 8" V6 3rd Member & FJ80 High Pinion Model # IK TV6-A.
I was a bit disappointed with the kit, really wanted the kit for the pinion shims and new seal as well as yellow marking paint. Thought it was a nice bundle. There just was not enough range in pinion shims and I will talk about that more in gear setup. Anyways shims provided 3-.020", 3-.030", and 3-.040".


On to the install, could not have done this without a press.
New ring gear installed, discarded locking tabs, ring bolts torques to 75ft/lb with red loctite. I use the longer bolt to help line up things during the pressing, and the ensure that two of the bolts will thread on opposite sides


Markings on the Gears:




Some tools I made to help with the install:
spanner wrenches for the adjustable rings, two different sizes, the larger one works well for the elocker side only on initial setup and testing of gears, on final setup the locking collar gets in the way, so adjusted with a punch and rubber mallet.




On to the install:
Started with the original pinion shim off the old gears, value of .080. Set up pinion without crush sleeve and about 18ppl (pinion pre load), dialed in the backlash to .008 and applied gear paint to get a reading. No pictures on this one but pinion was too shallow, offset markings on gear, pattern on drive side was up by the heel and on coast was down by the toe. Pinion to low.

Disassembled everything, added .020 shim, total shims .100", This got the pattern nice and centered, coast looks nice slightly deep, but drive side was a bit shallow. Looking at the pinion we can see the comet tail is deep in the pinion so more shim is needed.





Disassembled, added .010 shim, total shims .110", Coast side looks nice and deep in the ring now, drive side is slightly deeper but not enough, comet tail on pinon is much smaller not as deep on pinion. At this point probably only need a few thousandths more.




This is where my shim dilemma came in to play, Zuk recommended 3 to 4 thous more, so I tried to get as close to that. One of the .040 shims in the kit actually measured just under at .036, so original .080+.036 total shims .116", Pattern is on the heavy side of "slight deep" which is much better than slightly shallow. Coast side is pretty deep now and drive side does have some depth favoring toe a bit more. Pinon is more shallow for sure.






So pinion is saying no more shims, Zuk suggested taking off .003 would be ideal, but just lack of range in shims does not give me that option. Could order some more shims and wait, but trying to make it to all4fun event at end of the month. Pinion tooth is stronger than the ring so running deeper in the ring tooth increases overall strength. So im going to run it like this.


 
#81 ·
So been prepping the 4runner for Toyota Jamboree hosted by Addicted OffRoad. Have since put 100 miles on the new gears, and running great.

Had two dash lights come on being the brake and charge light. turns out it was the alternator. Measured 18v being output which is way high and then sometimes it would go back down. So looks like voltage regulator is bad. Was going to replace just the regulator but Orileys did not have any in stock so just bought a new alternator. Got it back in and charging right now.

Was re-installing my BAMF diff skid and decided to improve upon it while I had it out. So cut and notched the front lip of it provide a better angle on the pinion. From stock it comes pretty much flat, and I have gotten hung up on it several times on big ledges. Much nicer angle to it now.





Before:


After:


 
#82 ·
Toyota Jamboree 2013, Hosted by Addicted Off Road, Salida, CO

Attended this year and convoyed up with my buddy Cody(white 4runner) on his awesome trailer. Was a great trip with great people. Big thanks to Addicted for hosting the event and donating to Stay the Trail. Ended up running Holy Cross, Carnage BV, and Chinaman.


First time up in the mountains at least at that elevation (11,000ft) with the propane and did notice that my idle changed. Still ran great and had plenty of power but did have to raise the idle a bit. May invest in a Wideband o2 sensor to ease in tuning when I do travel. Overall very happy with propane. The whole day Friday running HolyCross up and back down to the staging area only used 4gal of propane.

CARNAGE lived up to its name, and just shortly after getting through the V-notch section I snapped the passenger side Front leaf spring. 3 of the 4 leafs in the pack broke. Ended up hiking down and borrowed some heavy duty ratchet straps to keep the axle in place. Then turned around and drove DOWN the trail. So yes back down the vnotch which was pretty interesting. Luckily made it out.

Back at camp someone actually had spare front leaf springs and was kind enough to help me out. Big thanks! We got the leafs swapped over and were able to hit the trail on Sunday before the drive back.

Anyways enough talk. and TONS OF PICS



HOLYCROSS












CARNAGE












This is where my leaf broke when it flexed up






ChinaMan the next day with newish leafs.


 
#83 ·
Ended up building a square front driveshaft to accomadate the extra slip in my front end. So picked up some square tube 2 feet each of 2.5x2.5x0.25 and 2x2x0.25. Just making a round peg fit in a square hole. I used seam tube and just ground down a grove in the smaller one. Anyways here it is finished up. Tested it out for the Halloween run.






Almost forgot...
Was pictured in Petersen's 4Wheel & Off-Road Jan14 during our annual Halloween event from last year. HALLOWHEELING SPOOKY LINK


 
#84 ·
So my beadlock rings took some abuse this past weekend, particularly one of them ended up catching a rock just on the outside of the ring bending it in, causing the tire to go flat instantly. Didn't have a hammer with us on the trail but that's what rocks are for... Would like to get some new rings made out of much thicker steel, only problem is these are 16bolt and probably have to get some custom made, would also like to deal with coning.

The ring after being fixed with rocks and making it home






FINALLY FIXED STARTER ISSUE!! =)
Stumbled across this thread: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-truck-4runner/287065-tech-tip-free-starter-fix.html

For over a year now my truck has seemed to intermittently not start, have tried to diagnose this before in some of my previous posts, cleaning contacts and such. Essentially when trying to start truck just hear a click click click, and other times it would start fine. Has left me stranded a few times out in the mountains, but always seems to crank over eventually.

Anyways, so looked through the schematic myself for the starter relay, and along with OP on pirate4x4, and came to the same conclusion, the relay should not be wired the way it is. Essentially the low and high power supply to the relay are tied together.

So located my starter relay, identified the #4 pin or wire that drives the high power side of the starter relay, and spliced in a wire connecting directly to the battery. Truck cranks over every time now!

 
#85 ·
So I knew my driveshaft was on its way out but it sure did take a beating. First waterfall on CoyoteHills claimed it, Climbing up and slid over catching the traction bar and driveshaft on the ledge, exact same spot that claimed Dustin's driveshaft sometime back. Been carrying a spare, so just swapped it over and continued on.



*New Driveshaft ideas:
- Build a square rear, have heard not to go this route, horrible vibrations, but truck is rarely driven on street.
- Retube myself with some sch40 pipe, concerned with getting everything aligned to reduce vibrations (no blancing)
- Local Driveshaft shop will retube and balance
- Tomwoods with warranty

After getting back home and looking at traction bar, the hole mount on the frame shifted up about an inch. I knew it wasn't the strongest when I built it, so time to do it right. Going to plate the horse collar area as well as use a scab plate on the frame, and square tube. Should hold up better to the abuse.
 
#87 ·
Just ordered up 2 13.5in Led Light bars of off Ebay. Going to mount under the cage on top of windshield. These are deffinitely from china, price was just too good to pass up.
I did tons of research on these things, as far as ebay light bars go, from which led type would be better, overall quality and light output. IMHO there is no way to gurantee that the LED style listed on the auction is going to be what you get. They come from china one way or another and most likely the same factory. Light output is deffinitely not as significant as a high quaility bar such as the visionX, or rigid, and there is very little difference between the spot and flood characteristics on these. Several complaints have been that the bars are not truly watersealed, many recorded fogging and condensation inside the lens.

With all of that in consideration, I still opted to purchase. I live in a relatively dry climate and mostly looking for better light output on the trail. If I was racing through the desert and depended on the light output, then sure the cost for quality is justified. But for my needs I believe these will work great, so we will see how they hold up.

Specs on the units:
LED Power: 72W
Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
Waterproof rate: IP 67
24PCS*3W LEDS, 5400LM
Current draw 6A @ 12V, 3A @ 24V
Base Color: Black
Color Temperature: 6000K
Material: Diecast aluminum housing
Lens material: Toughed glass
Mounting Bracket: Alu firm bracket
Beam Type: Flood & Spot Combo Beam
30000 hours above life time
Dimensions: 13.5 inch


 
#88 ·
Light Bars are in and Installed! I made some brackets and welded them on to cage. Used a step bit to make a few speed holes in the brackets for looks. Overall very happy with the lights. They are extremely bright and light up the night. Will get a comparison to my headlights.





 
#89 ·
whats up, Matt from Carlsbad, lot of stuff on our rigs is pretty similar. I made a sch 40 driveshaft for my rear and got it pretty damn balanced by rapping the inserts / stock parts with electrical tape to take up the slack, then tack and check with a run out gauge if you have one, as you weld. No noticeable vibs from mine.

I would also recommend more gusseting on your traction bar axle bracket. I made mine very similar to yours and said bracket ripped the stamped steel housing apart (welds held but took some housing with it when it tore). Anyhow I cold rolled (beat with BFH) some 1/4" plate to tie into the bracket and basically wrap around the back of the housing for additional support. Works good now.

Rigs looking good!
 
#90 ·
Hey Matt, Thanks, its been a work in progress, Hows yea been?

Yea my plan is to go with the retube myself with some sch 40. Good tips there, will keep them in mind when I get around to building it. On the traction bar I had originally wanted to do something of that sort, having the back gusset run down and wrap around the axle, but just ran out of time. Maybe once I get done with school, I can wrap up some of these projects.
 
#93 ·
Defended my Thesis last Friday, and was a success. Met up with a large group and went wheeling on saturday, ended up snapping the driver side axle shaft.

A huge hole formed right before this upward slope rock face such that it is now undercut. The buggy in front of me rolled trying to make it. I ended up dropping my rear tire right in the hole and it bound up instantly and snapped. Winched the rest of my way out. Luckily last two obstacles of the trail. Overall good day of wheeling, fun be out again.





 
#94 ·
Got some work done on the runner this weekend. Had picked up two axle shafts my buddy had as spares for his taco, but they ended up being too long. Guess the 8.4in and 8in e-locker have different axle shafts? So minor set back there.

Anyways got the whole rear end pulled apart, drained the fluid and checked my gears while I was in there. Everything looks solid, was a clean break so no shrapnel in the diff.

Also, finished up the new drive shaft out of 2.5 sch 40 pipe. Should hold up to some abuse.


 
#95 ·
Got some better beadlocks few weeks ago, they were already all welded up and assembled, just needed some new paint. Look to be from DIYbeadlocks, Bullet style and have the anti-coning pieces. These are by far more heavy duty then my old beadlocks. Should hold up to the abuse better.


 
#96 ·
Been wanting to make some roof panels for the back cage that is a bit more permanent. Was thinking aluminum sheet, have to weld tabs on, or maybe custom canvas. Anyone have any suggestions/experience, material type, thickness?
 
#97 ·
Ran Tank Trap this past weekend, and tried out the hard section. My door got pretty cozy with a giant boulder, broke the glass and bashed the door pretty good. Cage held up well, but the bend on my main hoop keeps getting me hung up, this is not the first time. Wish I would have kept it closer to the body there, but the idea was it would allow me to push around obstacles. Would like to find a way to fix this problem.

Came up with a few options: main idea is to add tube at the bend to act as slider up to it.
Option 1: Remove doors, Tube the section completely
Option 2: Make half doors to keep look and then add tube
Option 3: Keep doors, cut the main hoop below harness bar and rework it, may be difficult to weld backside
Option 4: Keep doors, do nothing, and live with it
Option 5: Keep doors, add a straight swing out bar from main hoop bend to fender





 
#98 ·
Video of the carnage...


So looking into option 5, picked up a door from junkyard. Researching how to make a swing out cage section and found some tube clevis mounts used for race cages, Just not sure if will hold up to abuse and is kinda $$$ especially when it is going to get beat up. Would like to find a cheaper solution and maybe something easy to replace if... I mean when the bar gets all bent up.
 
#99 ·
Been away from the thread for a while. Rig has not changed much, pretty much just wheeling it every chance I get.

Future Plans: I will be sure to document them here.
-Going to be making my own tube doors here pretty soon.
-4.7 tcase gears for the rear case
-Possibly different front shocks. Valving is just not right and too soft.
-Roof Paneling for rear cage

Pictures for interest

ToyJambo 15






Socorro


Snow Wheelin in Los Alamos




 
#100 ·
Tube Doors

I have been supporting my friend Kaegan and his local shop Atlas Fabrication. He provides great quality work at an honest price. Be sure to check out his work on facebook: Atlas Fabrication



Began on my tube doors there at his shop. Got the brackets cut out and fitted, and mocked up everything into place. Plan is to tig weld everything. Still playing with ideas of skinning the doors and possibly playing with some dimple dies. Also need to come up with a latch, thinking of a spring loaded pull pin you often see on swing out tire carriers.











 
#101 ·
Tube doors are on hold for some other changes.

4.7 Tcase gears showed up and began working on the truck to get those in. Have had a leak at the back of the motor for some time now and decided to pull the Trans to check it out. My first suspicion was valve cover but I have changed it prior. So my thought was rear main. We will get to the bottom of this oil leak.

Trans and tcase out and all cleaned up. There was some build up of oil in the bell housing too thick to be motor oil. Going to reseal front of trans while it is out. Can see oil all over the EGR plate on the back of the motor. So my guess right now is not rear main.

Still need to pull the clutch and inspect rear main. Will inspect EGR area more.






 
#102 ·
More progress, pulled the crawl box apart and sealed it back up. Installed the 4.7 gears in the rear case. I really wanted the Marlin gears but they have been on backorder for some time and was able to grab the TrailGear ones for 20% off so couldn't pass it up. Install went fairly smooth, instructions provided are very detailed and easy to follow. There are some comparison pictures of the new gears vs the old 2.28s. You can really see the difference between the gears.

Replaced the transmissions input shaft seal and output seal. Pulled the clutch and appears to be a slight leak at the rear main, but most prominent is the leak from above. I read that the EGR block plate has two bolt holes that pass through to an oil passage, so pulled it all off and applied some sealant to the bolt threads. Hopefully solve my leak!





















 
#103 ·
Have been getting a lot done over the weekends. New rear main seal is in. Dropped the oil pan and resealed it as well. Got everything back together and fluids filled. Pulled it out in the driveway and everything appears to be working, 4.7s and 2.28 crawl box is super low now, final crawl ratio of 223:1. So far no leaks.



On to the next project. NEW SHOCKS
Picked up some shocks from a buddy of mine as he upgraded his race truck #488 Degenerates Racing, Blue '85 Toyota pick-up racing EMC. Pretty cool to have some shocks with race history on them.

Anyways, they are Fox remote reservoir shocks. 14" travel, 2" body, 5/8" shaft and Radflo remote reservoir shocks. 12" travel, 2" body, 7/8" shaft. These shocks were also set up and tuned by 4wheelunderground. I know my 4runner is probably slightly heavier with the exo but it may be close, definitely an upgrade regardless.

Had 14in the rear prior so moved the upper mounts in 2.5in to fit the 12in stroke.



 
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