Hi everyone, I recently bought a 1988 4Runner Sr5 with a 3.0 v6 and 5 speed for $1100 and I figure I should document the progress on it, as well as ask some questions. Plans are some Fox 2.0 shocks, better rear springs, tube bumpers, and maybe a uniball upper arm and better torsions. Here's pics of the day I brought it home. After replacing the fuel pump and adding some fresh gas, it fired up and ran decent.




I removed the rusty smittybilt bumpers and scrapped them. I also started wet sanding the hood to remove some oxidation:


Now for some questions I have:
Although the motor runs good after giving it a tune up and running some sea-foam through it, the motor has a noticeable tick after it warms up after a minute. I believe it is coming from the fuel pressure regulator or injectors; I can hear/feel them by putting my ear up to a long screwdriver on the fuel rail and the regulator. I didn't hear anything coming from the valve covers or heads. It seems to be louder in the cab and speeds up with rpm. Also, it once went mostly away after letting it run for 20 mins or so (the longest I've ran it at one time) after putting some sea-foam and 91 gas through it. Anyone have any other suggestions what it may be?

Also, what is this? It's attached to the transmission iirc but nothing else.


Sorry for the giant pictures

I think its just a counter weight, but I could be wrong.

If I were closer Id have taken the smittybilt bumpers..... Look less rusted than the ones I have.

I'm told that thingy is a vibration damper, the 3rd gens have them too.

Fox 2.0 and uniballs on the stock torsion bars would be putting lipstick on a pig. If you're going to go that route, I'd suggest looking to Blazeland instead and figuring out a coilover.

My reason to use Fox 2.0's is that I have three pairs laying around my garage, one pair of 6.5" stroke pin-tops for the front and two 10" pairs that might work for the back with some custom mounts. I just need to buy some cheap rebuild kits.
I'm not a fan of the Blazealnd kit, stock extended arms seems kinda hack. If I were to go long travel, I would make a kit similar to a Total Chaos kit, but I don't really need two long travel trucks, lol.

Fair enough. I'm just saying that the torsion beam IFS sucks rancid yak dong when it comes to soaking up bumps, and those Fox shocks aren't going to help much.

Are they really that bad? My long travel 2wd is on aftermarket torsions and does very well over most stuff, but I guess it's a different animal. I'm not too familiar with the 4wd front end obviously, lol.

I'm not a go-fast guy, but I hated the IFS on my '86 when it came to doing anything at speed. It worked ok on the road, and surprisingly well in the rocks, but I didn't dare rally that truck - any kind of whoops or washboards and it felt like the whole front end was one giant brick.

My solid axle with OME floats like a dream in comparison, that's how bad I thought the IFS was in the fast sections. Give it a shot, but I suspect you'll be looking for coilovers in short order.

Can we have some pics of your LT pickup?

Here's a few, I don't take as many as I should though. I'm going to Barstow in a couple weeks so maybe I'll get some videos of it going through some whoops



Some poser flex shots when I had stockish springs:



Front Suspension, +3.5" Duffco uniball kit, 10" 2.5 Sway Away shocks, homemade lift spindles made from 1.25" .250 wall dom and 3/16" plate, heim steering with solid tirerods, strapped around 13.5" of travel


When I got it, bodylift and 30" tires:


Not sure why the pics are small...

Setting up the Deaver f67's and 12" shackles, ended up with 18" of travel


Put crappy Fox's under the bed and took it to Ocotillo Wells




I've been working on a bedcage for it this past weekend, what I've done so far:


Old school bypass shocks built by Terrible Herbst; 15" stroke, 3.0 body, giant reservoirs and 1.125" shaft. Kinda overkill...

I threw together a magnaflow catback for it so I can hopefully get it pretested for smog soon.

Also, I made a video of the tapping sound. You can hear it at idle-2000 rpm and happens mostly when I'm on the gas or it's at idle. Also, it seems to be louder in the interior than looking under the hood. It sounds worse in the video than it actually is for some reason. Any thoughts?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_q...e_gdata_player

Edit: Just watched my video again, it isnt that bad sounding in person. It sounds like death in the video!

kind of sounds like the lifters that all rattle on these motors.
If it is & they are out of spec, all you can do is try to shim them to spec.

I hope that's all it is. I can hear it above 2k-ish and when it's "engine braking"

Got it smogged and registered today, it passed pretty easily and didn't even have to go to a "star" station.
Also started working on a bumper for the front. I still need to make a few more tubes and mount a skid plate, but it's a start. Bad pic but:

Bumper is coming out good! keep it uP!