Managed to fix the wipers last night. Removed the cowl by tapping the heads of the brittle plastic rivets off with a mallet and a sharp flat head screwdriver. I found the wiper linkage disconnected and jammed up, which explains why the motor was getting really hot without moving anything. Re-connected the linkage and replaced the cowl and presto, working wipers!

The design seems pretty weak on those things. It's a little plastic ball and socket deal that just snaps into place. Guess it's designed to pop off before anything breaks?

Need to find the part number for those plastic rivets or better yet, figure out a way to replace them with screws.

This is low priority, but does anyone know where I could get some centercaps for my back wheels? Seems to be options on ebay but I don't know what would or wouldn't fit my steelies.

Suppose I could just plastidip the hub black.

I went with wheelers offroad...

http://wheelersoffroad.com/product-c...g-nuts-282843/

Scroll down.

Joel

Nice Runner....I was eyeing that one as well.

For the rear suspension, I added two cut down leaves to the factory rear pack and a 2" longer shackle...tried to get the best of both worlds. Plenty of room for 31s, and didn't cost much at all and will be dependable.

For the most reliable front end lift, if you want to lift it, is the heavier duty torsion bars.

And I second the search for the vacuum leak first. Often times you hear that the cheapest/most obvious issues are the culprit.

Thanks for the link on the centercaps, may give those a try. I ordered a bunch of nuts and bolts plus a horn contact plate and an A/C faceplate off toyotapartsdeal.com. Great prices but they'll take forever to get here. Also still no sign of any center seat brackets for the rear!!!!! I want 4 seat capability so bad!

Still debating on the ZUK mod. There seems to be a lot of documentation for it but it just doesn't look right to me, spring on the bump stop with nothing really holding it in place except pressure looks like bad news to my untrained eye.

OME kit is super nice but just too much. Has anyone just put new leaf springs in? Skyjacker "soft ride" leafs are supposed to add about 2" of lift and are about $150ea. I haven't looked hard but there have to be some other brands out there too?


Anyone care to sell me on the ZUK mod or some other option? I'd say the rear end needs to go up about 2" or so for good clearance under moderate loads and the front should go up maybe 1" or so.

The paint turned out great! Please get some sort of theft protection for it. I always liked the Club. It will not stop a pro west coast thief but it will stop the joy riders.

I don't understand why you are using Plasti Dip on body parts. It is designed to peel off. I used satin black Rustoleum on wiper arms etc. four years ago and it has held up.

Pretty much just because it's all I had handy in matte black. Also it's really easy to get a consistent finish and its proven quite durable in my experience.

Agree on the anti-theft. Need something to protect it. Add that to the list!

Yes, something holds my springs


If I had the budget, I'd do the OME front and back, but for now Zuk makes sense for what I use the truck for...

Picked up a stock rear bumper and skid last weekend (thanks ajohnson!) Was bolting it on yesterday with some slightly rusty hardware and one of the bolt heads sheared off with very minimal force. I cleaned the threads with a wire brush and was using a small 3/8's ratchet and it just broke off like it was made of cheese!
That'll teach me to buy new hardware.

There are no exposed threads, it's nearly flush with the hole. Anybody have a good bolt extraction technique to share? Preferably one that does not involve a welder.

Attached Images

 

quick google search and there are other videos obviously

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K34RS6M11uw

i imagine any auto store and sears has what you are looking for.

good luck... you should be okay!

joel

Thanks for the link, saw a few and heard of a few different techniques through searching and talking to people around here, just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas I hadn't heard of! I just haven't had a ton of luck with extractors in the past.

Forget fixing the headliner. If you don't mind non-OEM but utilitarian...





Diamond-plate pattern anti-fatigue/shop mat... approx $22 from Sears.
I removed old headliner, left foam in there because it is still in good shape, and used some headliner spray adhesive to stick mat on to old foam. Adhesive not even critical because the mat is pretty rigid. It does not sag.

Now I have extra acoustic insulation on the Fiberglas cap...

[QUOTE=RAD4Runner;1962504]Forget fixing the headliner. If you don't mind non-OEM but utilitarian...

Well done, very innovative. Totally forgot about the headliner honestly, sooo much to do!

[QUOTE=rusty904;1962981] Thanks. Original idea by Chefyota4x4@Yotatech.

WOOHOOO SEAT BRACKETS!

Finally stumbled on a full set of rear seat brackets on ebay. So stoked to have 4 seat capability. I'm just going to have to figure out how to mount the (strikers?) on the DIY interior panel that came on the truck.

I'd also really like to find some headrests to fit my rear seats. Does anyone happen to know if other gen's headrests will fit or if there are universal headrests with 5.5" posts? Don't particularly care about matching things up.

Finally with regards to the rear seats, has anyone come up with a nice way to cover the rear seats up? The velour on mine is pretty gross even though the seats themselves (frames and cushions) seem to be in great shape. Even though it's probably the best solution, I'd rather not pay $300+ to get them re-upholstered.

Any decent quality seat covers out there?