Build The DirtStyle Runna (1st gen 4Runner on tons)

That’s a good point, but that interferes with my strategy of smiles per dollars. The more time I spend out there sweating my balls off painting this truck the more that ratio is going to get skewed. I guess one plus is I could just paint the whole truck satin black and then later paint it satin blue on top of the black. Meh. My wife said she liked the blue as is. The other factor is I really want to use those fancy new cans with the multi selector nozzles, but haven’t found that satin midnight blue with those nozzles yet.
 
Thanks there haven’t been any real major changes yet, I’m waiting for my axles and 37s to sell, then I plan to get my Ultra4 Turbo S fixed and sold… then I’ll be able to pay a bunch of stuff off, and fund rear 4link, front 4 link redo, getting some spare driveshafts made, and maybe a turbo kit, idk. Now that I have a tach I’m not sure that I’ll need a turbo, my ear tach was just way off, I’d grown so used to the sound of a v8 or 4.0 crawling (and powerband) but now that I remember that I need some RPM to crawl and make power to turn 40s it’s a lot better.
 
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Figured out my old Academy brand Sportsman trunk is literally a perfect fit between the propane tanks. This will keep all my tools dry, I’ve even got my harbor freight 1.5t aluminum jack in there too. Pretty stoked about that easy solution. Now I just need to figure out how I want to mount the Starlink on top of this. I bought a cheap flat conversion kit on eBay for 40 bucks shipped. It was a pretty straightforward job, eventually I still want a Starlink mini which will be way easier to package and manage but can’t justify the extra expense right now.
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That positioning should get pretty good signal, and much more protected than how I had it before hanging off the JK rack (that didn’t work out well, couldn’t get the propane bottles in and out easily.)
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
How long do 2 full propane tanks last?
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I’m honestly not sure yet. I haven’t been able to do a legit full trip between the day trip with the boys and then the flood ****show. So far it’s seemed like maybe a tank for a typical HF trip. I’m still hoping to get back out to HF before Great American Crawl and wheel for an entire weekend so that I can figure out more accurately what my wheeling range is per tank. What really sucks is I have a spare propane tank from my old EB but it’s not the right shape. It’s fatter and shorter than these in the 4Runner. Would have been super ideal to be able to have a free 3rd tank for backup. I’m gonna have to find another one, if not 2 more for sure before Hammers.
 
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took out the sunroof, which was super cracked and one more good hit would have shattered for sure. I’m planning on taking out the sunroof base and hopefully the Starlink will set down a bit lower. I would LOVE for it to be as close to flush with the roof as possible. My plan is anytime I’m wheeling I want this Starlink on the truck (I’m corporate O&G and can get calls/emails/emergencies at any time) so I’m trying to figure out the best solution to still make the roof “water tight ish” and still have this thing sit down as low as possible. Probably some type of sheet metal enclosure with a hole to fit around the Starlink is what I’m thinking. The cage is too close to the roof, or I would just replace the sunroof with plexiglass or whatever and hang the Starlink under it. The caveat is that I want it to be easily removable (so I can put it on my RV roof, truck roof, etc while we’re traveling to the trails.
 
I also thought about cutting a hole in my hard top since that’s already hacked up already but I’m not always going to run the hard top especially if there’s a super high chance of body damage (like at Great American Crawl)
 
I ended up taking that sunroof base out and realized I could mount the magnets upside down under the Starlink. Between that and the cage right there it ain’t going anywhere. Sweet. Super easy solution. Now I just gotta figure out something to be a surround for the Starlink. I’m thinking either super thin sheet metal or maybe even a plastic sheet, idk.
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mobil1syn said:
is that just a super durable case thing for the actual module?
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Yeah back before Gen 3 Starlink people were selling these as kits for big bucks. Now that gen 3 comes as a flat dish it pretty much obsoleted this case, so I was able to buy it for super cheap. Did have to cut up the Starlink but it was pretty easy. If I didn’t already own a gen 2 I would never do it this way, like I’ve said before I’d buy a gen3 mini 100%.

Yeah that rolled plastic is a great idea, Smileys isn’t too far from the casa. Maybe I’ll run by this week.
 
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Had an awesome day wheeling with my boys. They both did a lot of driving on the ranch roads, Logan even wheeled two easy trails. Towards the end we hooked up with another nice yota with tons and 40s and did one of the harder trails at HF and had no issues. The ONLY issue is that the rear absolutely does not flex more than a couple inches up or down, so that antiwrap bar has to have everything in a serious bind. I was super tempted to pull it off while we were there but i didn’t want to break a driveshaft if it was going to have some insane axle wrap. That’ll be one of the projects for this week: pulling that antiwrap off and see what happens with just messing around the yard.
 
Doesn’t seem to immediately have any antiwrap issues, but what’s weird is the shackles don’t seem to move hardly at all. Is this a positioning issue? It’s definitely flexing way better in the back but I think if I can figure out what’s up with the shackles it’ll be even better.
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And this is shackle angle at ride height..



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Oh and you might have noticed the bikini top. That’s off my 07 2dr JK, and literally fits like it’s meant to work for a 4Runner with a 4xinnovations full cage. Pretty sweet!
 
you will get wrap issues. you will for sure. the gearing and going up a hill and all the weight transfer to the back and the front becomes light. that when the wrap will happen. maybe not much but it will
next time your out see if someone can video the rear while you do different things but its a easy fix. and if planned out correct it could be a drive shaft skid also.
 
shackle movement is directly related to spring eye to eye at free arch (aka no load) and spring eye when flat.

chevy's have no free arch, so you will not get much movement out of the shackle
 
chaplinfj60 said:
you will get wrap issues. you will for sure. the gearing and going up a hill and all the weight transfer to the back and the front becomes light. that when the wrap will happen. maybe not much but it will
next time your out see if someone can video the rear while you do different things but its a easy fix. and if planned out correct it could be a drive shaft skid also.
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It already had an antiwrap bar, but it was preventing the rear from being able to flex basically at all and made the truck feel super tippy on offcamber stuff. It was pretty easy to pull it off so I’ll just keep it in the trailer in case I need it.

Good to know about the shackles not really moving with Chevy springs.
 
I tested out my starlink a little bit and it looks like it shoots through the fiberglass hardtop with no issues, i had it basically just laying on the back seat

what do you use to power your starlink? inverter?
 
Arickvan said:
I tested out my starlink a little bit and it looks like it shoots through the fiberglass hardtop with no issues, i had it basically just laying on the back seat

what do you use to power your starlink? inverter?
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Yep, just a 500w inverter. Pretty simple setup. Yeah, it’ll work through fiberglass but it’ll see the obstruction. I like to give the Starlink as much open sky as I can. The sunroof worked out because it was just a matter of time until we got showered with broken glass with how cracked it was. Also was definitely cooler in the cab with the openings around the Starlink. I may try to figure out some kind of mesh to keep the direct sun off us, but meh.
 
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Added some cut-down UTV door bags to allow for some rear passenger storage/drink holders. Also found a mesh sunroof cover that attaches with magnets. Perfect. Just about ready for another quick wheelin trip this weekend, definitely will be keeping a close eye on the rear suspension without the anti wrap bar. Hoping it works even better with no adverse effect but we’ll see. After this trip I’ll be tearing the truck apart to redo the front link uniballs and do a gear oil change on the diffs. Other than that we should be good to go for Great American Crawl in September. Assuming all goes well there I’ll be lopping off the rear suspension and doing the 4link rear in time to hopefully make Top Gun Challenge at K2 in November (mainly to spectate/wheel).
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Can you post pictures of the ant wrap bar mounted under the truck? There must be something out of place or wrong at the frame side attachment point if its keeping the rear axle from flexing. Could be a really easy fix
 
I’ve already yanked it off, preliminary testing doesn’t appear that I’ll have any issues without it. I could see it being a problem if I had a heavy right foot. It sure looked fine to me, angles were good, had a shackle, etc. it was set up just like my Comanche was which flexed fine. Pretty strange.

Now that I think about it more though, I could hear something hitting and popping against the floor. Sounded like a loose trans mount to me but everything was tight. I bet ya anything that shackle was hitting the floor and that’s why it wouldn’t flex. It’s not far from it at ride height. Id still prefer to not run it if I can.
 
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Also, with it being so temporary (I fully intend to 4link it this fall before KoH 26) I’m not too worried about longevity as long as it doesn’t eat a driveshaft. I’ve got it in the trailer so if it’s FUBAR I’ll just head back to the trailer and put it back in before I hurt something. I need to figure out a waterproof ish solution for my inverter and Starlink modem, ideally to fit between my front seats. A plastic ammo can might be the ticket but not sure if it’ll be the right dimensions to fit everything and still fit between the seats.
 
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Did some cleaning in the garage and got the Runna stuffed in. Main goals are to redo the lower front link heims. Maaaaaybe stretch the front end forward another inch or two which I think would improve uptravel quite a bit, right now the main problem is the triangulated uppers hit the oilpan on the driver side at full stuff. I may also try and just spread the uppers at the axle side mounts apart just enough to clear but need to run the 4 link #s first. Secondly, I really need an engine cage. As you can see in the last picture literally all that holds the front clip together is two pieces of angle iron welded to the front bulkhead/whatever you call that. What im thinking is basically make a square around the radiator, go straight back to the shock towers, and then somehow attach to the firewall with a plate (eventually I want to have it all tie together to interior cage but that’s gonna be a much bigger project). I’ve got both 1 5/8 and 1 3/4 wall DOM, what do y’all think I should use?
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For the weight of the 4runner id run 1-3/4 dom. leave the 1-5/8 for racecars. Could you convert the front to a 3-link to keep the upper out of the oil pan?
 
the_white_shadow said:
For the weight of the 4runner id run 1-3/4 dom. leave the 1-5/8 for racecars. Could you convert the front to a 3-link to keep the upper out of the oil pan?
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I’d have to add a track bar which would be more of a headache to package well. It’s already close. I really think stretching it forward another inch or two plus maybe spreading the axle mounts apart just a little would do the trick.
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Another super annoying thing is that the driver side coilover is canted in 19 degrees while the passenger side is at 12 degrees, it’s super noticeable to me. I might try and redo the driver side mount at the shock hoop to fix that but idk. I might wait until I’m ready to throw the 14” Kings on, I eventually will use those 16” foxes in the rear. I just have to be careful about taking too much on a month before GAC, the reality is that it looks bad but does actually work pretty good. Main thing is just getting some front clip protection. I hear ya on the 1.75”, I’ve got plenty of it so all good there.
 
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