JZiggy
Senior Member
Guilty as charged! :nerd:
JZiggy's "Grown Up" 4Runner Build
- Thread starter JZiggy
- Start date
Guilty as charged! :nerd:
JZiggy
Senior Member
Thanks! I didn't look carefully, but didn't see a date stamp. I guess when I replace this next decade I'll have to try again
JZiggy
Senior Member
Here's another fun project. A few months ago a member here posted up about Griot's glass polish... I had never heard of that or considered polishing the glass on my cars, so I got a bottle of it and some Griot's glass sealer as well.
The polish is mainly designed to remove light water spots and defects, not scratches and stuff. It's a very mild polishing compounds. I got a cheap random orbital polisher and a simple terry cloth bonnet and went to work. The rubber stuff around the edges all got masked off with painter's tape since this stuff will scratch anything it touches.
The rear side windows had the most water spots though they weren't that severe. Here's a look before polishing:
Ran the polisher in cross-hatch pattern about 5 times over, wiped it off and took another picture
Pretty good! But still a few stubborn spots. A few more passes
That cleared it up nicely! I proceeded to do all the windows and the windshield. Here's the windshield in process
After I was done I washed the car again to get all the residual compound out of the nooks and crannies and dried it off. Side windows finished:
Definitely a nice improvement with increased clarity through the windows within the cabin. Finally, I put the glass sealer on which is kind of like Rain-X but the fluid is a little thicker and users state that it works better and holds on a lot longer. So far so good!
I'll add that I also did this process to the side windows of my beater Honda which lives most of its life outside. It had much worse water spots which were becoming problematic. When the windows got wet the water streaked and was reluctant to dry off, causing visibility issues. I could definitely feel a coarse texture on the surface and the glass polish totally smoothed it out.
Definitely recommend this product!
The polish is mainly designed to remove light water spots and defects, not scratches and stuff. It's a very mild polishing compounds. I got a cheap random orbital polisher and a simple terry cloth bonnet and went to work. The rubber stuff around the edges all got masked off with painter's tape since this stuff will scratch anything it touches.
The rear side windows had the most water spots though they weren't that severe. Here's a look before polishing:
Ran the polisher in cross-hatch pattern about 5 times over, wiped it off and took another picture
Pretty good! But still a few stubborn spots. A few more passes
That cleared it up nicely! I proceeded to do all the windows and the windshield. Here's the windshield in process
After I was done I washed the car again to get all the residual compound out of the nooks and crannies and dried it off. Side windows finished:
Definitely a nice improvement with increased clarity through the windows within the cabin. Finally, I put the glass sealer on which is kind of like Rain-X but the fluid is a little thicker and users state that it works better and holds on a lot longer. So far so good!
I'll add that I also did this process to the side windows of my beater Honda which lives most of its life outside. It had much worse water spots which were becoming problematic. When the windows got wet the water streaked and was reluctant to dry off, causing visibility issues. I could definitely feel a coarse texture on the surface and the glass polish totally smoothed it out.
Definitely recommend this product!
JZiggy
Senior Member
Outboard shock relocation!!
Santa loves sicmods as we all know, and he was kind enough to bring me a Snowbound OSR (outboard shock relocation kit)!
There are a few reasons why outboarding the rear shocks can be a good idea. Lots of folks report that it improves the handling (more on that later) and, if you're interested in running longer shocks or upgraded style ones with remote reservoirs it can give you some more flexibility on length and mounting. I was mostly interested in the first reason since I'm not really looking for long travel action.
Snowbound states that for a stock configuration you don't need to run wheel spacers, but since I have slightly wider Dobinsons shocks I went ahead and threw some el cheapo 1/4" ones from Amazon on the rear to make sure I had room for experimentation.
Still have 9 full threads of lug nut contact so we're OK. In the future I'll get some better spacers and possibly extend the studs if necessary. I went and saw a guy, MKG Fab, in Suwanee area who does a great job with welding jobs like this. He's a Toyota offroad guy which is a big bonus!
The brackets are nice and beefy and the geometry matches the curvature of the frame nicely. Sure you could make a similar bracket more cheaply but the quality is certainly there. Here's how it sits
Tacking it in place to check fitment
Burned in! My spare crappy Monroe shocks are installed to save the installer the trouble of messing with the inboard mount and to let me ride home with the new brackets bare, letting me paint them later. Couple coats of rustoleum and we're ready to go
Here's the clearance with the 1/4" spacers front and back
Definitely glad for the spacers at this point. Without them the shocks would still not touch with they would with more than a little bit of uptravel.
More about the results and the tech in the next post!
Santa loves sicmods as we all know, and he was kind enough to bring me a Snowbound OSR (outboard shock relocation kit)!
There are a few reasons why outboarding the rear shocks can be a good idea. Lots of folks report that it improves the handling (more on that later) and, if you're interested in running longer shocks or upgraded style ones with remote reservoirs it can give you some more flexibility on length and mounting. I was mostly interested in the first reason since I'm not really looking for long travel action.
Snowbound states that for a stock configuration you don't need to run wheel spacers, but since I have slightly wider Dobinsons shocks I went ahead and threw some el cheapo 1/4" ones from Amazon on the rear to make sure I had room for experimentation.
Still have 9 full threads of lug nut contact so we're OK. In the future I'll get some better spacers and possibly extend the studs if necessary. I went and saw a guy, MKG Fab, in Suwanee area who does a great job with welding jobs like this. He's a Toyota offroad guy which is a big bonus!
The brackets are nice and beefy and the geometry matches the curvature of the frame nicely. Sure you could make a similar bracket more cheaply but the quality is certainly there. Here's how it sits
Tacking it in place to check fitment
Burned in! My spare crappy Monroe shocks are installed to save the installer the trouble of messing with the inboard mount and to let me ride home with the new brackets bare, letting me paint them later. Couple coats of rustoleum and we're ready to go
Here's the clearance with the 1/4" spacers front and back
Definitely glad for the spacers at this point. Without them the shocks would still not touch with they would with more than a little bit of uptravel.
More about the results and the tech in the next post!
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JZiggy
Senior Member
Now for some tech talk. Can't let ya'll get through this without a little math... if I have to do it, so do you 
What is this ridiculous diagram?
The stock inboard rear shock mounts are spaced 12.75" from the center of the body. This is the effective leverage that the shock has to counteract the roll of the body. The outboard shock mounts are 7" further out, giving a torque arm of 19.75", a 82% increase in leverage. What this means is that the up or down force of the shock during roll (when the body leans side to side) is almost twice as effective in applying a counteracting torque to the rotating motion of the body.
Now, the stock inboard shock location has the shock at a 20 degree angle with respect to the side axis of the truck. So in the outboard location where the shock is straight up and down (or 0 degrees to that axis), the shock is going to apply a larger upward force but only about 6% more (I'll spare you the trig).
What this means is that with the outboard shock location the shocks give 6% more damping up & down, so they are slightly stiffer going over a speedbump but they give 82% more damping to counteract body roll. Driving the 4Runner after this mod I immediately noticed this difference. The truck corners a LOT better. When I swing the wheel hard at low speeds the backend follows quickly rather than feeling mushy. But hitting bumps and potholes the ride quality is still good and not any harsher.
How about shock travel? Since the shocks are not angled inward we do expect the shocks to deliver a little less overall travel to the suspension. I'm ignoring the fact that the shocks are also angled 15 degrees or so in the front-to-back axis of the truck, since this geometry is retained between the inboard and outboard mounts. A simple flex test and a few measurements will help answer the question.
At the bottom of the yellow paper I note the Dobinsons shocks are 20-7/8" max and 13-1/2" min length.
Compression:
Shock is at 15" length and the bumpstop is contacting. This is good since we have a bit over 1" extra upward travel in the shock left, so if the wheel gets bumped up harder there's still some room before it bottoms out.
I also see that the tire is just barely touching the shock and the mount itself, so I need to get some slightly thicker spacers.
Extension:
The tire is lifted here. Shock is at full 20-7/8" length. I don't have a measurement with the shocks in the inboard location but I expect that there's an inch or so more downtravel that would be available, but oh well!
Thanks for bearing with me, hope it was interesting. Overall I am super happy with this mod and the improvement in ride quality definitely compensates for a slight decrease in travel.
What is this ridiculous diagram?
The stock inboard rear shock mounts are spaced 12.75" from the center of the body. This is the effective leverage that the shock has to counteract the roll of the body. The outboard shock mounts are 7" further out, giving a torque arm of 19.75", a 82% increase in leverage. What this means is that the up or down force of the shock during roll (when the body leans side to side) is almost twice as effective in applying a counteracting torque to the rotating motion of the body.
Now, the stock inboard shock location has the shock at a 20 degree angle with respect to the side axis of the truck. So in the outboard location where the shock is straight up and down (or 0 degrees to that axis), the shock is going to apply a larger upward force but only about 6% more (I'll spare you the trig).
What this means is that with the outboard shock location the shocks give 6% more damping up & down, so they are slightly stiffer going over a speedbump but they give 82% more damping to counteract body roll. Driving the 4Runner after this mod I immediately noticed this difference. The truck corners a LOT better. When I swing the wheel hard at low speeds the backend follows quickly rather than feeling mushy. But hitting bumps and potholes the ride quality is still good and not any harsher.
How about shock travel? Since the shocks are not angled inward we do expect the shocks to deliver a little less overall travel to the suspension. I'm ignoring the fact that the shocks are also angled 15 degrees or so in the front-to-back axis of the truck, since this geometry is retained between the inboard and outboard mounts. A simple flex test and a few measurements will help answer the question.
At the bottom of the yellow paper I note the Dobinsons shocks are 20-7/8" max and 13-1/2" min length.
Compression:
Shock is at 15" length and the bumpstop is contacting. This is good since we have a bit over 1" extra upward travel in the shock left, so if the wheel gets bumped up harder there's still some room before it bottoms out.
I also see that the tire is just barely touching the shock and the mount itself, so I need to get some slightly thicker spacers.
Extension:
The tire is lifted here. Shock is at full 20-7/8" length. I don't have a measurement with the shocks in the inboard location but I expect that there's an inch or so more downtravel that would be available, but oh well!
Thanks for bearing with me, hope it was interesting. Overall I am super happy with this mod and the improvement in ride quality definitely compensates for a slight decrease in travel.
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JZiggy
Senior Member
I stepped up and got some 3/8" Bora spacers to push the wheel out just a bit further from the outboard shock & mount. I like the fact that these are truly hub-centric and have a feature that extends the centering hub outward. Perfect fit.
Clearance at full compression (or near it) is now where I want it
With these spacers the lug nuts have 8 threads of contact vs 11-12 originally. I've read a safe minimum is 7, but I'd like a bit more margin.
These studs are advertised as being 1/2" longer than stock. Turns out they are 3/4" longer, but that's fine. I failed to get a picture of the head but they are in fact Dormans and 10.9 rated. No issues with that. Here's one compared with a factory rear stud
Install time. There was just enough room to sneak these longer studs in through the back, phew. Thanks [MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] for helping drink the beer while getting these installed! :beer:
Comparison, one new stud on top. (some studs are longer than others :biggrin1: )
Pretty long now!
Now we've got like 20 threads of contact. I think that's plenty. There's still 3/8" or so more room inside the lug nut so no worries about the stud bottoming out in the acorn.
Clearance at full compression (or near it) is now where I want it
With these spacers the lug nuts have 8 threads of contact vs 11-12 originally. I've read a safe minimum is 7, but I'd like a bit more margin.
These studs are advertised as being 1/2" longer than stock. Turns out they are 3/4" longer, but that's fine. I failed to get a picture of the head but they are in fact Dormans and 10.9 rated. No issues with that. Here's one compared with a factory rear stud
Install time. There was just enough room to sneak these longer studs in through the back, phew. Thanks [MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] for helping drink the beer while getting these installed! :beer:
Comparison, one new stud on top. (some studs are longer than others :biggrin1: )
Pretty long now!
Now we've got like 20 threads of contact. I think that's plenty. There's still 3/8" or so more room inside the lug nut so no worries about the stud bottoming out in the acorn.
fourfive
Senior Member
I always assumed outboard shock relocation kits were for running longer shocks & didn't realize there were relocation kits designed for oem length shocks or slightly longer shocks typically used for 3rd gen lifts. Your explanation on the effect of the top mounting position of the outboard shocks being further out from the center line & it's effect on body roll makes sense & was very noticeable driving. I do agree with your observation that it would have been nice if the top mount was a little wider to better accommodate the upper bushing so it wasn't as close to the edge. Thanks for letting me take your 3rd gen for a spin to test it out!
JZiggy
Senior Member
[MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION] had a nice idea to fasten the spacer to the drum. Couple reasons this is a good idea 1) It won't fall off and roll away when taking the wheel off and 2) Less things to keep aligned while mounting the wheel
Nice to have a big XY table for projects like this. I just wish I had a real mill rather than a basic drill press
8mm hole with a bit of clearance and 90* countersink for the flathead bolt
Screw sits just under the surface of the spacer and the screw is shortened so it doesn't hit the mounting flange
Nice to have a big XY table for projects like this. I just wish I had a real mill rather than a basic drill press
8mm hole with a bit of clearance and 90* countersink for the flathead bolt
Screw sits just under the surface of the spacer and the screw is shortened so it doesn't hit the mounting flange
phattyduck
Elite Member
Funny thing, I'm always annoyed at the OEMs that use bolts to hold on brake rotors... But It does get annoying to deal with spacers - my Camry Alltrac has them for the front, and they do like to stay/stick in the wrong places all the time. That wheelset is light enough to carry with a single hand by a spoke, so I aligning things is pretty easy compared to the 4Runner wheels/tires... A little smear of anti-sneeze will make sure all these things will come apart easily later.
-Charlie
JZiggy
Senior Member
Not a mini-mod post, but last month I had the opportunity to wheel Death Valley as a rider along with some great old friends & a few new ones. I will never get tired of the natural beauty of DV a 4Runner is the optimum way to get out there and enjoy it (although, I suspect the dude with the long-travel baja-equipped Bronco had an easier ride of it LOL!) Had an optimum ratio of trail repairs and epic campfires.
JZiggy
Senior Member
Yes, saw lots of folks paddleboarding in the lake at Badwater. "Lake Manly"
thezentree
Senior Member
Death Valley is fking awesome. I'll probably never get my 4Runner out there but I've given a rental Jeep hell out there.
JZiggy
Senior Member
Time to give the manual hubs some attention! After talking with [MENTION=455277]G_Raw[/MENTION] about his hub stud project I got to noodling about various upgrades and optimizations that may be possible with the Tacoma manual hubs. In this (picture heavy) post I'll show some upgrades hub studs and other hardware tinkerings.
The hubs are ready for some paint for sure. Rocking stock studs and acorn nuts from a 1st gen, all 8.8 grade.
A stud puller was necessary for pulling the old studs out. This one from Amazon worked great. It does mar the studs a bit so be prepared for that if you wanted to reuse the hardware.
Front Range Offroad (FROR) sells a custom set of ARP hub studs. A bit pricey, but better than the other ARP options available elsewhere. These studs are class 12+ so they dramatically increase the shear strength of the assembly. The kit comes with class 10 locknuts, which I didn't use because I don't like the idea of locking hardware here.
One swapped to show the difference. The ARP studs just barely fit. The short side uses all the threads in the blind hole in the hub with enough clearance for the taper of the unthreaded portion to seat into the hub. The long threaded side just clears the face of the hub, so we're good and have some extra length to work with.
All 6 on one side swapped out
Washers, cone washers, and hub face bolts soaked in Evaporust and wire brushed clean. It worked great for cleaning it up and left the zinc or cad coating of the bolts intact.
Fresh OEM gasket 43422-60060
Cone washers and washers
I took advantage of the extra thread length and got some tall class 10 "fixture nuts" from Belmetric. These have one flat face and one spherical rounded face made for matching spherical washers. The rounded face is installed outward for a nice finished look. Torqued to 25 ft-lbf which is standard for a class 10 M8 fastener. Stock class 8 uses 18 ft-lbf so we're getting a little more clamp force.
With the hub faces off I repainted the outers with Rustoleum Farm & Implement gloss black which should be pretty durable. The inners just needed a little Sunfire red touchup paint. Sanded the text a bit so make it show up.
Fresh face gasket 43531-60010
7 ft-lbf on the face bolts. Nice and shiny!
And the wheel center plate still fits just fine. Yay
The hubs are ready for some paint for sure. Rocking stock studs and acorn nuts from a 1st gen, all 8.8 grade.
A stud puller was necessary for pulling the old studs out. This one from Amazon worked great. It does mar the studs a bit so be prepared for that if you wanted to reuse the hardware.
Front Range Offroad (FROR) sells a custom set of ARP hub studs. A bit pricey, but better than the other ARP options available elsewhere. These studs are class 12+ so they dramatically increase the shear strength of the assembly. The kit comes with class 10 locknuts, which I didn't use because I don't like the idea of locking hardware here.
One swapped to show the difference. The ARP studs just barely fit. The short side uses all the threads in the blind hole in the hub with enough clearance for the taper of the unthreaded portion to seat into the hub. The long threaded side just clears the face of the hub, so we're good and have some extra length to work with.
All 6 on one side swapped out
Washers, cone washers, and hub face bolts soaked in Evaporust and wire brushed clean. It worked great for cleaning it up and left the zinc or cad coating of the bolts intact.
Fresh OEM gasket 43422-60060
Cone washers and washers
I took advantage of the extra thread length and got some tall class 10 "fixture nuts" from Belmetric. These have one flat face and one spherical rounded face made for matching spherical washers. The rounded face is installed outward for a nice finished look. Torqued to 25 ft-lbf which is standard for a class 10 M8 fastener. Stock class 8 uses 18 ft-lbf so we're getting a little more clamp force.
With the hub faces off I repainted the outers with Rustoleum Farm & Implement gloss black which should be pretty durable. The inners just needed a little Sunfire red touchup paint. Sanded the text a bit so make it show up.
Fresh face gasket 43531-60010
7 ft-lbf on the face bolts. Nice and shiny!
And the wheel center plate still fits just fine. Yay
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
Perfect timing! I'll be referring to this when I swap the aftermarket locking hubs on my 1st Gen to Aisin OEM ones. Thanks!
19963.4lsr5
New member
I did the SnowBound outboard rear shock mounts and noticed everything you noticed/calculated.
Sadly, mine was because the stock mount rusted through.
Yes, they are built well and the way they were shaped made them super easy to locate.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sadly, mine was because the stock mount rusted through.
Yes, they are built well and the way they were shaped made them super easy to locate.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
JZiggy
Senior Member
Bumpstop upgrade time!
I've had DuroBumps on my truck for 5+ years and they have been fine. But I was very intrigued by the new bumpstop products that Perry Parts offers and wanted to try them out.
I got a set of bumps for just a bit over $200 delivered.
What's neat about these bumps is that they are 3D printed from TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) rather than cast polyurethane. Since they are printed there's a lot more flexibility in the design. Undercuts can be printed in as well as varying porosity (or infill) which allow the bumps to compress a lot more and allow for fine-tuning of the load-displacement behavior. Essentially they can be much more progressive than any other bump. Also, the fact that there are air cavities inside the bumps, that can be vented, let the bump actually damp out more of the impact in a viscous manner, kind of like an air bump would do. They come with nice grade 10, JIS hardware too (12 & 14mm heads).
Comparison of fronts and rears. Note I have a 1" spacer above my rear bump to dial in the stop length to accommodate my lift.
You can see the internal bellows in the front bump, and here it is installed. I like the fact that it's a single piece, not needing a base plate so there's more bump material in the limited space.
I had some fun testing out the compression of the rear bump. The face of the bump actually folds under load, making it more progressive, and it's longer so it touches a little sooner.
Here's the rear bump in action at not-quite full compression
Overall the performance is very good and a noticeable improvement over the DuroBumps (though those have done well for me, no complaints).
It's super cool to see inventors like Perry Parts making even higher performance stuff for our 3rd gens!
I've had DuroBumps on my truck for 5+ years and they have been fine. But I was very intrigued by the new bumpstop products that Perry Parts offers and wanted to try them out.
I got a set of bumps for just a bit over $200 delivered.
What's neat about these bumps is that they are 3D printed from TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) rather than cast polyurethane. Since they are printed there's a lot more flexibility in the design. Undercuts can be printed in as well as varying porosity (or infill) which allow the bumps to compress a lot more and allow for fine-tuning of the load-displacement behavior. Essentially they can be much more progressive than any other bump. Also, the fact that there are air cavities inside the bumps, that can be vented, let the bump actually damp out more of the impact in a viscous manner, kind of like an air bump would do. They come with nice grade 10, JIS hardware too (12 & 14mm heads).
Comparison of fronts and rears. Note I have a 1" spacer above my rear bump to dial in the stop length to accommodate my lift.
You can see the internal bellows in the front bump, and here it is installed. I like the fact that it's a single piece, not needing a base plate so there's more bump material in the limited space.
I had some fun testing out the compression of the rear bump. The face of the bump actually folds under load, making it more progressive, and it's longer so it touches a little sooner.
Here's the rear bump in action at not-quite full compression
Overall the performance is very good and a noticeable improvement over the DuroBumps (though those have done well for me, no complaints).
It's super cool to see inventors like Perry Parts making even higher performance stuff for our 3rd gens!
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thezentree
Senior Member
I'm really interested to see how those hold up long term.
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