1998 sr5 frame swap + possible maintenance/build thread

[sleepydad]

Got all the parts swapped over to the clean frame and hoping to have the body on frame tomorrow

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was reading this last night... nice work. its a boat load of work to swap everything over.

probably to late for this suggestion. after running with the poly body mounts this winter I will not be using them again. I'm going back to toyota OEM rubber mounts when I swap bodies this summer. the difference in ride quality in cold weather is noticeable. I know the Toyota mounts are 2x the cost of the poly mounts but I'm now of the opinion its worth the extra cost.

 

[TonyB66]

was reading this last night... nice work. its a boat load of work to swap everything over.

probably to late for this suggestion. after running with the poly body mounts this winter I will not be using them again. I'm going back to toyota OEM rubber mounts when I swap bodies this summer. the difference in ride quality in cold weather is noticeable. I know the Toyota mounts are 2x the cost of the poly mounts but I'm now of the opinion its worth the extra cost.

Andy, thanks for the feedback. Installing these now actually. Did you happen to grease them? Grease was not supplied in the Energy Suspension kit, which I think you also got. I had planned to use grease and woke-up last night realizing I forgot.

I had found before that a good grease can not just prevent squeaks, but also help with vibration dampening. I have a tub of ES's Formula 5 that I'll be applying. Damn sticky stuff, but it always worked quite well for me...

I was hoping to provide a good article on the topic, but can't find it now.

 

[sleepydad]

Andy, thanks for the feedback. Installing these now actually. Did you happen to grease them? Grease was not supplied in the Energy Suspension kit, which I think you also got. I had planned to use grease and woke-up last night realizing I forgot.

I had found before that a good grease can not just prevent squeaks, but also help with vibration dampening. I have a tub of ES's Formula 5 that I'll be applying. Damn sticky stuff, but it always worked quite well for me...

I was hoping to provide a good article on the topic, but can't find it now.

I coated them all. Used everything I had. they don't squeak, yet.

I just picked up a stock 98 vs re-done 97

when I say cold I mean 15 F or lower

98 stock still has OEM shocks/springs/mounts rides nice even when cold.
97 redo has eibach and all poly, when cold it rides like a board.

a lot of variables could contribute to this... links, bushings... so it's hard to tell I guess really.

all the engineering docs rave up and down about poly, and how it's so much better in every way. The more poly I use the less I like it.

 

[Venka93]

was reading this last night... nice work. its a boat load of work to swap everything over.



probably to late for this suggestion. after running with the poly body mounts this winter I will not be using them again. I'm going back to toyota OEM rubber mounts when I swap bodies this summer. the difference in ride quality in cold weather is noticeable. I know the Toyota mounts are 2x the cost of the poly mounts but I'm now of the opinion its worth the extra cost.

That’s an interesting suggestion. I always heard only the good things about these poly body mounts. I’ll be putting the body on frame on Monday. I’ll have to stop by the Toyota dealer to see if they have the oem mounts in stock. Is it just the rougher ride with poly mounts? Also where did you apply the grease?

And yeah, honestly the whole frame swap would save a ton of time if the new frame has all those little parts like brake/fuel lines, good suspension, etc. Mine came off of a 2wd so I had to deal with a couple extra headaches.


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[sleepydad]

That’s an interesting suggestion. I always heard only the good things about these poly body mounts. I’ll be putting the body on frame on Monday. I’ll have to stop by the Toyota dealer to see if they have the oem mounts in stock. Is it just the rougher ride with poly mounts? Also where did you apply the grease?

And yeah, honestly the whole frame swap would save a ton of time if the new frame has all those little parts like brake/fuel lines, good suspension, etc. Mine came off of a 2wd so I had to deal with a couple extra headaches.


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I think the end game is important. is this a daily or trail rig?

if my 97 was a pure trail rig I would not care at all.

when I did my frame swap on the 97 I went all poly on the entire truck(almost). rack, body, rear all have poly. front uca, lca are brand new OEM .

I coated the entire bushing outside and inside with special bushing lube. the stuff that comes with the other bushing kits. provided by energy suspension. I got a stack of them one time from somebody so I had extra. I don't think the body mounts came with any lube, can't remember specifically.

it's kind of hard to explain but I will try to make a comparison that makes sense? With the steering rack poly it feels nice and tight. OEM rack bushing always felt kind of mushy to me.

the body mounts seem to give more suspension feedback IMO. this is ok but when it gets cold I get way more feedback that I bargained for. it's like you can feel each and every bump/crack. Any suspension gets stiffer in very cold weather.

the OEM body mounts are a lot more money but in this case because I live in a cold place I think it's worth the mushy feeling.

I know I'm kind of nick picking but maybe body mounts should be mushy?

I also know the formulation of the poly is vital to the application. maybe? the poly body mounts should be softer? totally possible the people who originally did the energy kit lived in a nice warm place?

 

[Venka93]

I think the end game is important. is this a daily or trail rig?

if my 97 was a pure trail rig I would not care at all.

when I did my frame swap on the 97 I went all poly on the entire truck(almost). rack, body, rear all have poly. front uca, lca are brand new OEM .

I coated the entire bushing outside and inside with special bushing lube. the stuff that comes with the other bushing kits. provided by energy suspension. I got a stack of them one time from somebody so I had extra. I don't think the body mounts came with any lube, can't remember specifically.

it's kind of hard to explain but I will try to make a comparison that makes sense? With the steering rack poly it feels nice and tight. OEM rack bushing always felt kind of mushy to me.

the body mounts seem to give more suspension feedback IMO. this is ok but when it gets cold I get way more feedback that I bargained for. it's like you can feel each and every bump/crack. Any suspension gets stiffer in very cold weather.

the OEM body mounts are a lot more money but in this case because I live in a cold place I think it's worth the mushy feeling.

I know I'm kind of nick picking but maybe body mounts should be mushy?

I also know the formulation of the poly is vital to the application. maybe? the poly body mounts should be softer? totally possible the people who originally did the energy kit lived in a nice warm place?

Ok that makes sense. I think that as long as mine don’t start squeaking then I won’t really mind the stiffness, or else I wouldn’t have lifted it either. They’re not that hard to change later down the road either so I’ll just stick with these energy suspension mounts.

Anything else I should look at in your opinion before I drop the body on the frame?


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[sleepydad]

Ok that makes sense. I think that as long as mine don’t start squeaking then I won’t really mind the stiffness, or else I wouldn’t have lifted it either. They’re not that hard to change later down the road either so I’ll just stick with these energy suspension mounts.

Anything else I should look at in your opinion before I drop the body on the frame?


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I ended up replacing my tank because my old one was very rusty on top but for sure but I would replace the pump/strainer. you have easy access to the tank right now, the pumps on these trucks are known to go get tired after 20 years.

maybe optional because you have a lift and dropping the tank later will be pretty easy for you but still.

before you drop the body, take the steering rag joint apart. clean up the splines on the upper steering shaft and lube. same thing with the lower splines and lower shaft. you can use some sort of metal wedge to pry the pinch joints apart.

the last photo here in this part
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3354898-post131.html

3rd photo down as well
https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3356856-post139.html

I was thinking I could drop the body and line up the steering shaft and rag joint connection. it worked but I ended up having to take it apart after the fact and get everything back into alignment. sucked.

also super important detail about steering.

you have a spiral cable that connects the horn, air bag, cruise control. do not spin the steering wheel around without removing the air bag and unplugging that cable. your steering wheel can only spin like 2.5 times around with that cable getting possibly tweaked.

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1614120-post9.html

the next time I drop a body down I'm going to take the rag joint apart and slide the upper section onto the upper steering column. then after drop the lower section of the rag joint on the rack. then bolt them together. this part of the frame swap where you have to get the rack/steering wheel/alignment is a pain but worth a little time now... it all has to line up at some point.

 

[kyle_seal]

Wow that lower arm was really rusty. Good work!

 

[Venka93]

I ended up replacing my tank because my old one was very rusty on top but for sure but I would replace the pump/strainer. you have easy access to the tank right now, the pumps on these trucks are known to go get tired after 20 years.



maybe optional because you have a lift and dropping the tank later will be pretty easy for you but still.



before you drop the body, take the steering rag joint apart. clean up the splines on the upper steering shaft and lube. same thing with the lower splines and lower shaft. you can use some sort of metal wedge to pry the pinch joints apart.



the last photo here in this part

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3354898-post131.html



3rd photo down as well

https://www.toyota-4runner.org/3356856-post139.html



I was thinking I could drop the body and line up the steering shaft and rag joint connection. it worked but I ended up having to take it apart after the fact and get everything back into alignment. sucked.



also super important detail about steering.



you have a spiral cable that connects the horn, air bag, cruise control. do not spin the steering wheel around without removing the air bag and unplugging that cable. your steering wheel can only spin like 2.5 times around with that cable getting possibly tweaked.



https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1614120-post9.html



the next time I drop a body down I'm going to take the rag joint apart and slide the upper section onto the upper steering column. then after drop the lower section of the rag joint on the rack. then bolt them together. this part of the frame swap where you have to get the rack/steering wheel/alignment is a pain but worth a little time now... it all has to line up at some point.

I didn’t see your reply earlier so I just went ahead and dropped the body on the frame. I actually did all of why you said except for cleaning the steering splines! Should have checked. My doner frame came with a gas tank that was in excellent shape so that worked out great. My father actually stopped by to help with watching out for things when I was lowering the frame and he told me all about that steering wheel needing to be in certain place. Did you end up using the front sway bar links for the rear and 2nd gen for the front after the lift?


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[Venka93]

Setting the body on the new frame was actually a lot easier than I thought. I thought that lining up the frame with the body mount bolts would be really tough. Honestly the only thing that sort of took a little time was making sure all the tubes and hoses were going in the correct places

I ended up installing my lift with the body off since it was all just there and easy access. I’m really liking the way it turned out so far.

Now all I really have to do is fill all the fluids back up and connect all the hoses and tubes in the correct places. Shouldn’t be too hard. Any recommendations for the sway bar links? I’m thinking the fronts would be too short still for the rear. I gained a lot more lift than I thought I would.


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[sleepydad]

I didn’t see your reply earlier so I just went ahead and dropped the body on the frame. I actually did all of why you said except for cleaning the steering splines! Should have checked. My doner frame came with a gas tank that was in excellent shape so that worked out great. My father actually stopped by to help with watching out for things when I was lowering the frame and he told me all about that steering wheel needing to be in certain place. Did you end up using the front sway bar links for the rear and 2nd gen for the front after the lift?


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I think this is the standard setup for a 3" lift, lazy man links.

a set of moog brand 3rd gen front links on the rear
a set of moog brand 2nd gen rear links on the front

 

[Venka93]

I’ve been driving my truck for almost a week and I’m really starting to like it. Got a few more maintenance things I want to do to it before I do any mods. After I get the maintenance out of the way, first thing I’m going to do it the center console mod. Those little cup holders make me laugh. The only positive thing I see in them is being by the vents. Keeps my coffee hot

Maintenance
-Seafoam
-Wheel bearings
-Change my wore out steering wheel
-Rear brake line(stresses me out with how tight it is after lifting)
-Aftermarket UCA
-I’m sure more will come up

Future mods
-center console
-aftermarket radio(don’t have any cassettes or cds haha)
-lower profile steel bumpers
-hood struts!

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[Dieselchessy]

Looking good. You’ve done a lot of work and with the frame well coated rust shouldn’t be an issue for some time.

 

[Venka93]

Looking good. You’ve done a lot of work and with the frame well coated rust shouldn’t be an issue for some time.

Thank you. It was a ton of work but I honestly wouldn’t mind doing something like this again. Very good learning experience. I coated the undercarriage with WD-40 to prevent these Ohio winter chemicals from destroying the frame. We’ll see how long it’ll stay this clean [emoji1696]


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[Venka93]

Finally got to upgrading my center console. Barely found a grey one to somewhat match my blue mist interior. Not sure if they made most blue in the 99+ models because I couldn’t find any. Also upgraded my radio to the Sony XAV-AX1000. Up next is a new radiator due to a very small leak and a new steering wheel.

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[VernySanders]

So I’ve been lurking on this forum for quite some time but joined early in 2019. I purchased this 1998 Toyota 4Runner sr5 with 123k miles from copart sight unseen. Damage description was “minor dents and scratches”. I figured it was something to do with rust considering that it was in Delaware. Either way went ahead and pulled the trigger on this and got a great deal IMO. Very well maintained by one owner according to CarFax report.

Sure enough the driver side rear lower control arm was rusted off.

Other than that the rest of the frame was in decent shape, considering the truck was in Delaware it’s whole life. I wanted to patch the rust but after some thinking I decided that a frame swap would be a better option for me. I started looking for a clean frame and found one for a great deal in TN with no rust at all.

After some reading on this forum I decided to go the Eastwood rust prevention on the inside of the frame and POR-15 on the exterior.

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I cant even stress the jealousy of the pure beauty of that frame. I'll leave this here and continue to read now, thanks.

EDIT: lol I couldnt stop thinking about this, Craigslist post description "Top of shock mounts mint".

 

[VernySanders]

Finally got to upgrading my center console. Barely found a grey one to somewhat match my blue mist interior. Not sure if they made most blue in the 99+ models because I couldn’t find any. Also upgraded my radio to the Sony XAV-AX1000. Up next is a new radiator due to a very small leak and a new steering wheel.

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Blue is extremely rare from my experience. I always want to pull the trigger on the blue / faded grey interior but they're always thrashed. Blue and wood grain looks horrid, you've got a nice setup with the blue and black

 

[Venka93]

Blue is extremely rare from my experience. I always want to pull the trigger on the blue / faded grey interior but they're always thrashed. Blue and wood grain looks horrid, you've got a nice setup with the blue and black

Thanks. That new frame really stresses me out every time I drive it after it snows.

So they do exist in mist blue?? That’s gonna bother me now[emoji37].
Mine came with that stupid wood grains sticker all over the place. Had a field day taking all that junk off.


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[T4R2014]

Thanks. That new frame really stresses me out every time I drive it after it snows.

So they do exist in mist blue?? That’s gonna bother me now[emoji37].
Mine came with that stupid wood grains sticker all over the place. Had a field day taking all that junk off.


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It is rare because it can only come from a 99-00. You have one from an 01+. Welcome to the blue interior club.

 

[VernySanders]

Thanks. That new frame really stresses me out every time I drive it after it snows.

So they do exist in mist blue?? That’s gonna bother me now[emoji37].
Mine came with that stupid wood grains sticker all over the place. Had a field day taking all that junk off.


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im tellin ya, spray some wd-40 inside the frame, like a lot. and then spray some black woolwax on the undercarriage and youll never deal with any sort of undercarriage rust because you already have the entire thing por-15 and inside treated. those oils will prevent any other exposed areas from rusting.