1995 4Runner 2wd/A340 Auto to 4wd/R-150 Build
- Thread starter NorCalBorn
- Start date
NorCalBorn
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All good.
Nah, these are more interesting IMHO.
Southern Portion of Crystal Springs Reservoir yesterday. Didn't have the good camera, but the iPhone did allright.
Devwon
New member
Still stuck on your picture of Steamer, first place I surfed when I moved out there in '93. John St(think that was the name)was my other spot. I Lived in Felton and would drive down for dawn patrol every chance I got! Took your advice about the FJC coils and will pass it on to others. $67 shipped from RockAuto, can't beat that.
NorCalBorn
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YMMV but yes we've used plenty of them to do this. The 4WP nearby used to just throw them in the steel scrap pile after they were done lifting the FJ-C's for the dealerships.
swimman2867
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What kind of sliders do you have on your rig? Are they welded or bolted?
NorCalBorn
New member
BentUp, welded but need to redo them as I bent them slightly again on the left at the rearmost plates while strapped to keep from kicking off out of a groove. Basically, it happened b/c we never bothered to finish welding the very tops of the mount plates. I want to cut them off at the frame plates and re-do the bracing and mounts to finish tucking them in a little better. (Was strapped b/c I am a ***** and this is our daily driver now. Why kiss a rock if you don't have to, right?
)
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NorCalBorn
New member
"Smoke 'em if ya got em."?
Last night we got packed to take the family on a local get-a-way and this is how my day starts out. My front bumper got a baked finish today! I took the day off of contract work and took the wife and Lil'One to Gilroy Gardens. Was there maybe not even 10 minutes when an employee comes running up to me asking me to "..please move your truck away from the vehicle fire so we can get to it easier and your's doesn't get hit..." :wow:
This was probably the second fastest I've ran as an adult since my back injuries. As I pulled away I could see the other car's sides letting off heat and kind of smoking so I managed to grab some phone pics quickly. I was right next to the S-10, their grille got a little melted and both the Honda Pilot and darker Tahoe got their sides singed. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. My passenger fender got a little heat to it but all good. We got lucky. Drove fine all the way home and when I refuelled we realized we got 18mpg this trip.
*Side note here, is it just me or is it weird that a Fire Dept Official driving this silver E-plated car parks there to help things out like it's OK? I know that things won't go boom like in the movies but he just parks there and gets out and goes to work??
Last night we got packed to take the family on a local get-a-way and this is how my day starts out. My front bumper got a baked finish today! I took the day off of contract work and took the wife and Lil'One to Gilroy Gardens. Was there maybe not even 10 minutes when an employee comes running up to me asking me to "..please move your truck away from the vehicle fire so we can get to it easier and your's doesn't get hit..." :wow:
This was probably the second fastest I've ran as an adult since my back injuries. As I pulled away I could see the other car's sides letting off heat and kind of smoking so I managed to grab some phone pics quickly. I was right next to the S-10, their grille got a little melted and both the Honda Pilot and darker Tahoe got their sides singed. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. My passenger fender got a little heat to it but all good. We got lucky. Drove fine all the way home and when I refuelled we realized we got 18mpg this trip.
*Side note here, is it just me or is it weird that a Fire Dept Official driving this silver E-plated car parks there to help things out like it's OK? I know that things won't go boom like in the movies but he just parks there and gets out and goes to work??
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NorCalBorn
New member
Got started on the LED Conversion project. I still want to do the maps, doors, rear markers/turns/brakes, and front markers/turns :cheers: ~I went the lazy route and sourced through O'Reilly's since I service their stores and they could get me the one's I wanted at a reasonable price with no hassle to me.
Front Corner Markers, I went w/ Amber, really looks sweet.
License, went with the board style led but it's in a diffuser so it isn't such a sharp light.
Front Overhead, also a board style with a diffused surround so to be not so sharp and spreads out better.
*I need to take a better shot with the better camera, but here's both the front overhead as well as the rear cargo**. (The towel's there b/c of the baby seat, those of you with kids and knowing what I put into restoring the interior will smile at this and pray for me. :biggrin2: )
**For the front overhead I couldn't for the life of me find a reasonable style of 31mm bulb so I removed the shell and with a pair of needle-nose pliars bent the tabs to make it possible to run the same bulb as the cargo. Less is more approach as well as they both draw the same amperage so there's nothing to freak out about.
Front Corner Markers, I went w/ Amber, really looks sweet.
License, went with the board style led but it's in a diffuser so it isn't such a sharp light.
Front Overhead, also a board style with a diffused surround so to be not so sharp and spreads out better.
*I need to take a better shot with the better camera, but here's both the front overhead as well as the rear cargo**. (The towel's there b/c of the baby seat, those of you with kids and knowing what I put into restoring the interior will smile at this and pray for me. :biggrin2: )
**For the front overhead I couldn't for the life of me find a reasonable style of 31mm bulb so I removed the shell and with a pair of needle-nose pliars bent the tabs to make it possible to run the same bulb as the cargo. Less is more approach as well as they both draw the same amperage so there's nothing to freak out about.
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NorCalBorn
New member
FYI: Considering putting this build on the chopping block to acquire a CrewCab Tacoma for work/play duties.
Thread's here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-...4runner-4wd-5spd-swap-8500-a.html#post1212815
Thread's here: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/sale-...4runner-4wd-5spd-swap-8500-a.html#post1212815
NorCalBorn
New member
Ignore my temporary stress induced insanity. As said in another post just now, aside from the initial purchase price and maintenance I got a good chunk of money sunk into it. FWIW I pulled the Feeler Thread. My Wife came up to me tonight and asked if she "..let's me do an engine swap and helps w/ the expense can we keep it instead of buying a Tacoma right now?".
Man, I love her. Still would love a DC 4wd Taco though. Money for emergency's and house is a good thing to have on reserve these days.
Finished off the last little nag I had on something and took it out around 11pm for a quick and fun drive. There's no way I'd be able to have a new Tacoma without modding it. Seeing Nathan Hayashi's build results are just a hard thing to swallow.
~The short version, fok-it, be happy with what ya got and run what ya brung. I can do an engine swap, buy a trailer, etc w/ what it would cost for a new Toy-Thang.
Man, I love her. Still would love a DC 4wd Taco though. Money for emergency's and house is a good thing to have on reserve these days.
Finished off the last little nag I had on something and took it out around 11pm for a quick and fun drive. There's no way I'd be able to have a new Tacoma without modding it. Seeing Nathan Hayashi's build results are just a hard thing to swallow.
~The short version, fok-it, be happy with what ya got and run what ya brung. I can do an engine swap, buy a trailer, etc w/ what it would cost for a new Toy-Thang.
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BucknutBob
New member
Sorry, but I'm a bit confused by this "build" thread, NCB--you speak of taking a 2WD and converting it into a 4WD, plus swapping in another transmission, yet there's nothing in this thread about any of that except a confirmation that it went well. Other than that, I've seen a lot of (very nice) landscape pics and few actual mods. I checked this out because of your thread title, wanting to see what struggles you went through in changing from 2WD to 4WD--you've apparently done it, but you don't show any of it. Whazzup, bro?
NorCalBorn
New member
I had little to no issues other than figuring out the wiring which took about a day of reading the ELE-FSM and calling a buddy at Toyota Corp's Engineering Dept to learn the trick to bypass and make the Cruise-ECU Module talk w/ the rest of things. IFS frame horns from donor rig, weld them on, use an early drivers side IFS Diff tube to not need/use ADD, manual hub swap, cut hole in floor, use 5-speed 4wd trim pieces, and drive it.
I edited post #1 with the list of what's been done so far.
That said, I'll go ahead and ask "What specifically would ya like to see?". Which specific mods are in question?
[EDIT] Oh yeah, replacing body mounts was a royal b!tch and here's the first set of knobs I ran, courtesy of Andrew Maurer.
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NorCalBorn
New member
Thanks, even sweeter now with getting ROTM for Nov'12. :lookout:
Sadly, so everyone knows, I did end up selling this build off recently to help put money into a family car. Specifically, a 2013 Forester 2.5X-Premium with a few additional goodies. We just found out the wife's (as of this week) around 7-8weeks late and we're expecting a new addition to the family. With my back neing so screwed up and the wife needing to be able to get in and out of a vehicle, this was a decent choice. I never wanted to come to the day I would seriously sell, but in the end this gives me all the more reason to find the time and money in the future to build another one up.
Sadly, so everyone knows, I did end up selling this build off recently to help put money into a family car. Specifically, a 2013 Forester 2.5X-Premium with a few additional goodies. We just found out the wife's (as of this week) around 7-8weeks late and we're expecting a new addition to the family. With my back neing so screwed up and the wife needing to be able to get in and out of a vehicle, this was a decent choice. I never wanted to come to the day I would seriously sell, but in the end this gives me all the more reason to find the time and money in the future to build another one up.
Chuckles89
New member
Probably deleted them off his photobucket account.
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