86 4Runner Build

[azdirt3.0]

March 2, 2020

Finally getting around to working on this as I have just been stocking away parts for a couple months now.




Some background. I originally had a 3.0 second gen 4runner, blew up the motor and replaced but ultimately ended up selling that before I ever got around to a real build on it. Ended up in a Silverado and now a Power Wagon on 37s. Been wheeling the wagon for a couple years now and rather than continue to smash up the nice truck ended up picking this 86 4runner up for penny's.














Plan is to build it as a cheap wheeler to start. I already have a geared D44 front to start the sas. Matching it with a rodeo D44 a friend gave me, just need to gear the axle to match (5.38) and weld or find a locker.










Picked up some front TG leafs second hand but new/unused and got some jy chevy 63s as well as found a never used pile of Sky's Offroad full width swap parts for $100. Just need to finish machining the knuckles on my friends mill. Also picked up a W56 2.28/4.7 doubler to go in. The 4runner was originally a manual but someone swapped and a340 in at some point.




Original 22re had the #4 rod bearing destroyed and found that water got left in the #2 and #3 cylinders destroying the walls. Got a new block and did a cheap rebuild.

 

[azdirt3.0]

March 17, 2020

Been a slow process on this truck. I did finally get a chance to go pick it up from a friends about 2 hours away and get it in the new garage. Still need to get the welder and plasma wired in.

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 13, 2020

Been a busy month but I've been trying to get work done when I can, now that I have 220 setup in the garage.

Gutted the whole interior to get the cage as tight to the body as possible.



The rear 63's are almost done. Need to gusset the front mounts and finalize the rear crossmember. Waiting on some u-bolts to mount the axle up and flex it out.







Stretched the wheelbase. Hoping for 114-116" after the front is pushed out 2-3".

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 14, 2020


Was left alone with the sawzall as I moved to the front.





The rust that started the plan for mini boat sides. going to cut the rockers out to just below the bottom hinge on the door. Probably cut and cap the bottom of the door down the road if I feel like I want doors.





Trying to figure out how to stretch the rear sheetmetal. Will need to find some bedsides at the junk yard eventually to fix the wheel wells. found several layers of tar roof paper covered in sealant in both rear lower quarters. Interesting fixes in the trucks 34 years of life

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 15, 2020

Cut the IFS out with the plasma last night.



April 20, 2020


Finally got some parts I ordered so I could hang the rear axle. Need to move the rear crossmember forward and fix the shackle angle

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 20, 2020

Than I got the front cleaned up from the IFS. Also made some more cuts on the side of the truck for the mini boat side. Found 34 years worth of crap in the side of the 4runner.

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 22, 2020

Well the saw came out last night. Passenger frame is mocked up but needs to come down about 2.5-3" still. Then measure and cut out some fish plates.

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 23, 2020

Modified the new frame rails and cut of the passenger side frame off. There is a vertical piece in the frame so, need to either cut that out or add in a filler piece to the 2x3 that goes in the frame.





New frame rails are tacked together and the spring hanger tacked on at 2" forward and about 2.5" up. This is the same as being mounted in front of the factory frame rather than below.



I need to get some springs mounted to see how the front looks. May move the mount back an inch or so.

 

[azdirt3.0]

April 29, 2020

Work has been slow on the truck as it is already over 100 here

Started on the shackle tubes for the front. I still need to fully weld the new frame rails and plate them in. The front crossmember will be moved back to get a proper shackle ange when I have weight on the front end.

 

[azdirt3.0]

May 15, 2020

Getting back to this thing after being gone for a while. Cut up the body some more and started to get the front end welded up. Still need to make some fish plates for the new frame to old frame and mount up the 37s I have.

 

[azdirt3.0]

This brings us to the current work that I have been doing. Cut up the side more for the boatside and mocked the fenders up for a 12" pinch in the front. Picked up some 39s and had to put one up to the truck. Starting to wish I just made a whole new frame for this thing. This frame and body is in pretty rough shape, someone sprayed all kinds of undercoating all over the bottom.







Cut out the trans tunnel. This truck started out as an auto so the whole tunnel will have to go. I will frame out a 1" square frame to replace it. Also cut up a TG dual case skid I got with the trans and cases and flattened it to start my flat belly.

 

[Rubirunner85]

 

[BIG-O]

Great progress!

 

[azdirt3.0]

Well haven't got much done lately. Installed the transmission and duals on the now flat cross-member and installed to see what else I need to trim. Definitely need to trim the firewall up some more, than bolt the motor up and see where that will mount. The bell housing will probably come up an inch which should help the rear driveline. Pretty sure I will just have to continue the trans tunnel all the way to the rear seat bulkhead though.

 

[4runner]

Wow, looks like lots going on.
I hope I never go that far and remain satisfied with how far I've already gone down this 4runner rabbit hole.

 

[YotaAtieToo]

I don't think the pinion angle is going to work out well with the frame raised way up in the front.

Your best bet would be to put the shackle in the front where it should be. Then French the rear mount into the frame.

 

[azdirt3.0]

Wow, looks like lots going on.
I hope I never go that far and remain satisfied with how far I've already gone down this 4runner rabbit hole.

This has been a major rabbit hole But I wanted it to be pretty much a truggy when its done anyways

 

[azdirt3.0]

I don't think the pinion angle is going to work out well with the frame raised way up in the front.

Your best bet would be to put the shackle in the front where it should be. Then French the rear mount into the frame.

That's the reason the front is only tacked together still. I am going to work on mounting the drivetrain before revisiting the front suspension.

I live around desert with some trails and want this to be able to handle some faster dirtroad/wash so I am staying away from front shackles. If I can't fix the front angle than I will start to save for link parts. And tons... It all goes down from there

 

[Alex123456]

This has been a major rabbit hole But I wanted it to be pretty much a truggy when its done anyways

It'll be worth the effort to get exactly what you want out of it

 

[azdirt3.0]

It'll be worth the effort to get exactly what you want out of it

I am trying to get most of the big work done at one time but not go too overboard and have a multi-year project

 

[YotaAtieToo]

That's the reason the front is only tacked together still. I am going to work on mounting the drivetrain before revisiting the front suspension.

I live around desert with some trails and want this to be able to handle some faster dirtroad/wash so I am staying away from front shackles. If I can't fix the front angle than I will start to save for link parts. And tons... It all goes down from there

Front shackles can't go fast? ​​​​​​

Don't listen to all the old jeep and land cruiser guys. A custom front shackle like you'd be doing will handle bumps just as well as the same springs with rear shackle.

 

[Provience]

I agree on the front shackles OR go to a front slider mount.

biggest advantage of the slider is that you then only have 1 bushing to flex instead of 2. biggest disadvantage is potential to damage the mount and keeping an eye on the wear pucks and replacing them before they get too shitty.

liquid iron industries

 

[azdirt3.0]

Front shackles can't go fast? ​​​​​​

Don't listen to all the old jeep and land cruiser guys. A custom front shackle like you'd be doing will handle bumps just as well as the same springs with rear shackle.

Don't want to have people mistaking this for a jeep

It's hard for me to picture the front shackle setup cycling well under speed but I suppose its a similar wheel path to a link setup that pivots behind the axle anyways. But I think if I am going to be continuing to go that custom on the front suspension I would rather focus on a link setup.

I've been talking to a friend about coilovers he's not using anyways.. Guess I need to spend a couple days with a tape measure and the link calculator anyways.

For those that have 3 linked the front, What are some Anti-dive/lift and Roll Axis ranges to shoot for? Guess it is time to continue my research

 

[azdirt3.0]

I agree on the front shackles OR go to a front slider mount.

biggest advantage of the slider is that you then only have 1 bushing to flex instead of 2. biggest disadvantage is potential to damage the mount and keeping an eye on the wear pucks and replacing them before they get too shitty.

liquid iron industries

Front slider might be the only way this would stay low on leafs. These springs are going to be hard to get as low as I had wanted

 

[YotaAtieToo]

Don't want to have people mistaking this for a jeep

It's hard for me to picture the front shackle setup cycling well under speed but I suppose its a similar wheel path to a link setup that pivots behind the axle anyways. But I think if I am going to be continuing to go that custom on the front suspension I would rather focus on a link setup.

I've been talking to a friend about coilovers he's not using anyways.. Guess I need to spend a couple days with a tape measure and the link calculator anyways.

For those that have 3 linked the front, What are some Anti-dive/lift and Roll Axis ranges to shoot for? Guess it is time to continue my research

It's really not moving forward on compression as much as everyone thinks. Mine used 5/8" of driveline slip and most of that was actually slipping out on droop.

Like you said links move the same way. You know like the 2 Miller 4400 cars that were on the koh Podium this year

It's not a ton of effort. Just put some spring hangers on the frame and shackle mounts on the crossmember. The only thing I'll say is make sure you make shackle stops (I do this on any leaf set up) to prevent the shackle from inverting.

There is a lot to getting links set up properly. I'm doing front and rear links on a jeep right now, and even some of the things I "knew" from the last time I did it are considered wrong.

A big one is having too much down travel with coil overs. If running 14's you need at least 6" up travel. If not, you'll have to do weird things with the spring rates and it won't work right.

 

[Provience]

I had originally planned on doing a 3 link on the front of my pile, decided to scrap it an go with a 4 link though just so that i didn't need to have as much strength in the front of the chassis to deal with the panhard always trying to rip off and fully hydro steering, so the steering didn't matter either way, but without it then you are packaging the steering box about where the panhard wants to be anyways.

thousand of 3 link rigs perform very well though so it isn't a deal breaker

 

[azdirt3.0]

Well I wasn't happy with the front end as it sat anyways and had set up the frame to allow for linking it in the future only because I had all the front leaf spring parts. But this has turned into a big project anyways and I think I would be better off to re-think my plans.

I had researched 3-links before and understand most of the kinematics but I have started to dive into the link calculator and measure for links. Now to find the parts I need and sell these leaf parts

 

[azdirt3.0]

Well pulled all the leaf spring parts off and ordered some brackets Just couldn't leave it alone after I got the itch

Did some measuring and plugging numbers into the calculator and comparing to some builds I have found. Still lots of reading to do and measuring when my brackets get here.

 

[azdirt3.0]

Got the engine mounts tacked in and the radiator mount started. Drivetrain is at about a 2-3 degree angle, from what I found online that is ideal. I'll build the front clip off this and integrate the coilover mounts in. Looking for the best way to get the engine cage through the firewall to the rest of the cage.

 

[azdirt3.0]

Got some link brackets in and made up some ultra high strength PVC links to mock up what I think will work. I am going back and forth on which side to put my upper on to get the most up travel. I currently have about 5" I think and will be reworking some frame and possibly move the upper to the passenger side and be able to get the 7" up travel I want.









Trying to get the panhard as long as possible, I added a piece to the side of my frame. Not sure if this is "hack" and I should just make a new mount or modify the frame differently? Panhard is 40" long. I still need to finish my axle also to mock up the steering. I want the panhard the same length as the drag link.