Originally Posted by TheShowtime

Hey Charlie, how many miles does she have on her now?

Originally Posted by phattyduck

And the fun part... Suspension time! I have had a set of '14 4Runner springs for at least a year sitting in the garage, along with some Bilstein 5100's for a few months, just sitting there taunting me...

First, I found what I think is the cause of the clunk/pop in the front that I was getting recently:



Disconnect your Addco front bar if you go wheeling...

So, let's get on with it... For the front, my goal is/was to get as much out of the stock front arms as possible. I took some extra time to do this with the front. I figure (and I could be wrong!) that I should go with the softest front springs possible, which ended up being my stock front ('99 2WD springs), maybe. Some measurements:

'97 4WD springs: 16mm wire, 9 wraps
'14 4WD springs: 17mm wire, 9 wraps
'99 2WD springs: 16mm wire, 8 wraps

I didn't get free-length measurements, but probably should have. The 2WD springs barely have to be compressed to fit in the shocks, so I figured they would be more 'progressive' because they aren't pre-loaded as much. I had a couple different top plate spacers (1/4" and 3/8") to mix and match to get the extended length of the shocks to match the max droop of the upper arm (stock, droop is limited by the upper ball joint without the shock in place).

Turns out, with 4Runner 5100's (and the 4600's they replaced) that a 3/8" top plate spacer is all you can fit before the upper ball joint is the limiting factor. The shocks are about 1/4" shorter than full droop, so that pretty much maxes that out. I checked full compression of the shocks and the shock shaft has a little less than 1/2" compression when the truck weight is on the bump stop with no springs:



So, with upper arms, you might be able to get another 1/2" to 3/4" of wheel travel before shock damage occurs with 'stock' length shocks. As it stands, hub center to wheel well measurements after all was said and done:

Full extension: 25.25"
Full compression: 16.75"
At ride height: 21.25"

I only 'lifted' the front a little over an inch from stock. That is a 3/8" top plate spacer and the 5100's on the second perch and using springs meant for a 2WD 4Runner. Out of the 8.5" of travel available, I currently have 4" of droop and 4.5" of compression. I was a bit surprised when I first measured the new ride height (~22"), but I realized I forgot to put my front armor back on for that measurement. Back on, it dropped that much!

Originally Posted by beklemmung

Charlie, I just read through most of this thread (again). After a ridiculously long time trying to educate myself, I'm finally almost ready to start a much-needed refresh of my truck. I think our goals are quite similar: comfortable on-road manners but good bang-for-your-buck off-road capability. There are two specific aspects of your build that I’m trying to wrap my head around:

1. Your choice to use the ’99 2WD front springs. It seems to me that the vast majority of people who put on aftermarket skids and bumpers and 5100s go with taller and firmer springs. Since you had to use a top plate spacer with the ’99 2WD springs, do you still think they were a better choice than the ’97 4WD springs or something like 880s or 881s? I’m planning to get either 5100s or Dobinsons’ GS59-222s up front.

2. Your choice to get the Addco sway bars. It doesn’t seem like too many people use them, and $500 for both front and rear bars isn’t cheap. Were you able to get yours for a good price, or did you just expect the increased on-road stability to be worth it? In hindsight, do you think they were money well-spent?

Really appreciate your time and expertise!

Levi

Originally Posted by phattyduck

Had plenty of adventure/hassle installing a trans cooler over the past week or so. I decided to go a bit of an unusual route with the cooler, and created plenty of challenges along the way. In the end, I think the result is worth it, though I need a lot more testing to know the performance.

I went with a TruCool LPD4921, which is basically the width of the radiator:


As of now, I haven't even driven the 4Runner since the install (just idled while refilling the AC system). I need to drive it, warm it fully and add trans fluid still (and put on the front skid plate). Working from home means not too much driving these days. I'll report how things work after a few drives. Stress testing will come later when I can get off road and/or summer really hits.

-Charlie

Originally Posted by phattyduck

It is just short of 294k miles right now. Nearly fully broken in...

-Charlie

Originally Posted by TN98t4r

Did you ever get the soft brake pedal fixed? I own a 2005 tundra and had some brake issues a few years ago. Turns out I needed to adjust the rear shoes manually. It seems like 3/4 of the pedal travel was used up in applying the rears and once they applied to a certain pressure, the fronts would apply along with the rears for the last 1/4 of pedal travel. Was pretty sketchy for a while until I figured it out.

Originally Posted by Spiker Engineering

Charlie, do you have any photos of drilling/installing the rivnuts for this rack? I'm contemplating the same rack, and I like the idea of extending the OEM rails instead of using the bumpers.

Originally Posted by phattyduck

if you have a sunroof, it gets more complicated.

-Charlie

Originally Posted by phattyduck

I'm sure its a horror show under there...

The widest washer is a 3/8" stainless fender washer, which is what allowed the top of the rivnut to sit flush with the roof sheet metal. From there, it was just a pyramid of washers to spread the load as much as reasonable.

If I had planned ahead and had the material, the right way to do it is with a flat bar drilled and tapped to match the holes in the track on the outside of the roof. On the first installation, silicone it up there and it should stay if you need to remove the rail later. I can't remember if there are ribs in the way though - and if you have a sunroof, it gets more complicated.

-Charlie

Originally Posted by Flipside909

Looking good Charlie!