1999 Limited 2wd ATX Restoration

[ATX3rdGen]

Oh, I gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

The projector works to really direct the light and provide a good cutoff point.

So the rear 5100s finally arrived and went in. I have to say, after a life time or working on performance cars, this thing is actually enjoyable to work on. Maybe 30 minutes taking my time.

Truck seems to sit about the same but the ride has improved incredibly, need to test it with the boat now. LBJ, UPJ and full front and rear poly bushing for the control arms get here this weekend. That should really tighten the truck's ride up.

In regards to my brake saga... They ended up getting tight again, I came home, pulled the drums and adjusted, installed, hammered drum repeat, until I got a nice even gap. Much looser than before and matching the OEM .5mm. Installed everything and got her on the ground. First thing I did was pump the hell out of the brakes... What do you know, I hear a rear wheel cylinder pop and the pedal drops. I think my new wheel cylinder may have been seized. One more quick rear brake bleed, ha.

All that said, truck brakes MUCH better now, no nose dives and the pulsing is all but gone. More updates to follow once I get the rest of the suspension bits.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Parts keep on coming.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Everything has arrived so far except for the UBJ, I may just get to work on the rest until those arrive. Coincidentally, the radiator in my BMW decided it wanted to let go so that's always fun. Nothing like owning two cars being worked on :dizzy:

Brakes are still driving me nuts, went through everything again and was still having problems. I pulled it all apart and just took my time making sure things were working. Went ahead and replaced the wheel cylinders again and checked things out. With everything bolted and torqued up but the brake backed way down I was getting a consistent catch every half of a rotation. Well, that pretty much cements that fact that every single set of these aftermarket drums is out of round.

Figured I would just finish bleeding the system and get them turned the next day... Ohhhhh boy, that sure didn't happen.

After bleeding all four corners I called it a night. Next morning I just wanted to make sure everything still looked good. Pressurized the system and open the rear bleeder. Nothing. Hours later, after going through the whole system I make it back to the ABS module. The fluid for the rear circuit makes it to the module but the check valve is either damaged or stuck, it only allows fluid to return from the rear line to the MC. Even at 100 PSI+ I could not even get air through the passage.

I have never heard of a ABS module that fails closed, pretty weird. New one is on the way but talk about frustrating. :violin:

Next up are the poly front and rear control arm bushings, the front 5100's, some additional poly bushings, full ball joints and I think I will pick up inner and outer tie rods.

Really hope the drum turn and ABS module finally but these brake issues to rest.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

I don't think I have ever been so excited to find out that my brakes drums were warped. :dancin:

Dropped off a set of brand new drums at the machine shop yesterday and picked them up this afternoon. Both sets were way out of spec. Taking the old set back for my warranty refund but I want to see if I can get them to pay for the machining.

This is literally the fifth set of drums I have gotten from them and they have ALL been out of round, I just could not convince myself that they could be that consistently WRONG, ha. Poorly stored drums apparently develop these issues.

The thing is like a new truck now, I can actually enjoy driving it. Going back to before I even bought the truck from my buddy it had some form of this issue. We did new rear brakes and I never thought to have the new drums turned. The leaking axle seals helped hide the problem previously as the brakes didn't catch. Once those were fix it just got worse and worse. Now I am rocking all new OEM bits and freshly turned drums.

If I had to guess... a vast majority of "warped" drums are just the brakes auto tightening as they drive for a while which just makes the always warped drums stand out. Finally I can stop worrying about the brakes and pull my boat.

Popped in the new LBJs. UBJ, front 5100s, and all the polly bushings go in this weekend.

 

[Ruiner]

i hate drum brakes, i wish someone would make and sell a good rear disc kit that keeps or includes a new e-brake.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

i hate drum brakes, i wish someone would make and sell a good rear disc kit that keeps or includes a new e-brake.

You and me both, that said, after this debacle I can do the rear drums on this damn truck in about an hour for the full deal, haha.

The craziest thing is that there is a OEM solution that bolts on from the Prado. Granted, it is the backing plates out and includes a new axle bearing carrier. Still, it uses the modern standard for rear disc brakes with parking/e brake which is a mini drum brake inside the hub of the disc that is independent from the hydraulic disc mechanism.

The pads, rotors and calipers can be purchased in the states so consumables are easy. My problems arose when I tried to find a complete setup, just too many random pieces. I found partial kits of new OEM bits but nothing complete. The easiest route would be finding someone who imports/exports parts and have them pull the whole deal and send it over.

My guess to why there is this weird gap in offering is due to the fact that while annoying and a bit dated, the drums work. After this whole ordeal I am pretty confident that 99% of the rear brake issues can be solved with dry axle seals, OEM brake shoes, freshly turned drums and a proper adjustment and bleed.

That said, I just rattled off anywhere from $500-$2000 in work depending on what you can handle yourself and what tools you own.

I would also recommend some speed bleeders for this truck. My Motive power bleeder has been great for everything, even the fronts on the 3rd gen, BUT, it does not seems to love the rear. There is no external proportioning valve in these trucks and no L/R rear circuit so everything occurs in the ABS module through one circuit.

Off to finish the front 5100's and UBJ right now. 2wd makes this a bit easier, I just pulled the whole hub off the truck and put it in my press.

 

[Ruiner]

You and me both, that said, after this debacle I can do the rear drums on this damn truck in about an hour for the full deal, haha.

The craziest thing is that there is a OEM solution that bolts on from the Prado. Granted, it is the backing plates out and includes a new axle bearing carrier. Still, it uses the modern standard for rear disc brakes with parking/e brake which is a mini drum brake inside the hub of the disc that is independent from the hydraulic disc mechanism.

The pads, rotors and calipers can be purchased in the states so consumables are easy. My problems arose when I tried to find a complete setup, just too many random pieces. I found partial kits of new OEM bits but nothing complete. The easiest route would be finding someone who imports/exports parts and have them pull the whole deal and send it over.

My guess to why there is this weird gap in offering is due to the fact that while annoying and a bit dated, the drums work. After this whole ordeal I am pretty confident that 99% of the rear brake issues can be solved with dry axle seals, OEM brake shoes, freshly turned drums and a proper adjustment and bleed.

That said, I just rattled off anywhere from $500-$2000 in work depending on what you can handle yourself and what tools you own.

I would also recommend some speed bleeders for this truck. My Motive power bleeder has been great for everything, even the fronts on the 3rd gen, BUT, it does not seems to love the rear. There is no external proportioning valve in these trucks and no L/R rear circuit so everything occurs in the ABS module through one circuit.

Off to finish the front 5100's and UBJ right now. 2wd makes this a bit easier, I just pulled the whole hub off the truck and put it in my press.

yeah i replaced my axel seals last year (like 300 bucks in labor to have scottys driveshaft in soutch austin press off the old crap and on the new crap) and did the brakes then. Im betting the motor will let go before i have to mess with them again.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Finished the balls joints and front 5100s, truck feels great. Still need to install new upper strut mounts as the originals were a little wallowed out. Next up I will pull the steering rack and do the poly bushings and a flush, also need to install the rear control arm poly bushings and then it is time for an alignment.

I also installed new front sway bar end links, my bushings were pretty dead, the boot and joint were clean though. I honestly didn't feel like the balljoints were that bad, but, the car does feel a bit more planted.

I did forget to remove the passenger ABS sensor so that bit the dust when I popped the old UBJ out of the control arm. :nod: New one is on the way.

Next up are new motor mounts, trans mounts and shift linkage bushings. I also think I am going to pick up one of the throw back grilles, do a set of headlight retrofits, tinted tails and maybe a TRD blower, truck could really use some ooomph.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Decided to take her on a little road trip so I did a few more things. Flush and fill the transmission fluid and filter, along with power steering, engine oil, coolant and warranty the front brakes out again from AZ now that the rears are fixed.

Everything went well aside from the transmission filter. It was last done at 170k and I am at 223k now so it's not terrible but it was the day before we were leaving and that pan did not want to move. Changed the fluid and installed bolts, a little seeping but some sealant covered that. Need to take the time to finish the job next week. Did not want to risk damaging anything at the time.

Trip was 800ish miles and everything went well. Ended up with air in one caliper but that was the only issue. Did 85-90 (West Texas) most the way without issue aside from the continued shimmy from the front. I had it aligned before we left but it was still there. I picked up poly steering rack bushings but had not installed them... stupid move. The old ones were BEYOND toast, just finished that job and the truck honestly drives like new. Last bit are the sway bar and control arm bushings. The control arms don't look terrible, but, the sway bushings are toast.

I also picked up a set of HID retrofits and new lights, should have those finished up tomorrow. I installed a The Retrofit Source kit into a buddies motorcycle and was super impressed with how complete the kit was. I ordered a BI-XENON: MORIMOTO MINI D2S STAGE III kit and it already arrived. Can't wait to install, everything looks great.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

:50cal::50cal:

The new and freshly turned rear drums warped, not sure what else I expected. Just said to hell with it and picked up a new OEM 231 Tundra upgrade and new OEM rear drums and shoes. Ohhhhh joy.

Retrofits went in easily, they had a warehouse issue and kept sending me the wrong shrouds, but, I finally ended up with a matching set. Very easy installation with their kit. Lights look good, just need to aim them.

Saw my first Supercharged example in the wild... I'm not sure if I am angry or happy that I did not follow him as we were both getting tacos. I think I'm angry, I could probably snag the thing for what the damn blower would cost me...

 

[ATX3rdGen]

More stuff, lol.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Few more parts arrived, sway bar bushing were a long time coming, mine are horribly shot. Also ordered new upper strut hardware from ToyTech, man those guys ship fast!

I also found ended up with a matching set of shrouds from the retrofit source, ha. Apparently they had some incorrectly packaged inventory. These weren't my first choice but they look pretty good, most people couldn't tell they aren't OEM.

Install was silly easy and everything works like a charm and HELLLLL YEAAAA I can finally see while driving at night.

More to come!

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Time to install all new OEM brakes. Tundra fronts and actual Toyota rear drums and another new set of OEM shoes as the shitty AZ drums tore up my new OEM set. I went with the larger front Tundra pads so that should help.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Brake install went well, no problems and it went quickly. I opted for the larger non ceramic OEM pads and so far so good. Put some light miles on them and am getting ready to bleed them again and go do a proper bed.

Really is nice to finally get rid of the pulsing and shudders. Also installing the rest of the poly sway bar bushings and new strut mounts.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Got some things knocked out.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Out of curiosity, did you buy this 4Runner from a lady in Wimberley? I looked at one with my dad that looked exactly like this, late last year?

Looking good!

 

[Renegade_Medic]

:50cal::50cal:

The new and freshly turned rear drums warped, not sure what else I expected. Just said to hell with it and picked up a new OEM 231 Tundra upgrade and new OEM rear drums and shoes. Ohhhhh joy.

Retrofits went in easily, they had a warehouse issue and kept sending me the wrong shrouds, but, I finally ended up with a matching set. Very easy installation with their kit. Lights look good, just need to aim them.

Saw my first Supercharged example in the wild... I'm not sure if I am angry or happy that I did not follow him as we were both getting tacos. I think I'm angry, I could probably snag the thing for what the damn blower would cost me...

Yep, I had the same issue repeatedly with aftermarket rear drums, they were all round, but the surface was not concentric with the lugs/hub. I was going to suggest looking at that. Also, for machine work I have been using Austin machine shop, and have only had one issue, which they paid for and corrected. I had them do my rear axles and front wheel bearings and upper ball joints on a couple different 4Runners. Pretty good prices too.

 

[swelleriffic]

I too purchased a '99 2WD in Texas, not being able to justify the 4WD because I would likely never use it. I've considered a 2WD rear locker, subscribing to follow along. I looked around at the auto-locker options but I think my wife would never want to drive the 4R again. She looks good in it so...

 

[Longhorn425]

you're doing a really good job man.

lots of inspo here.

 

[ATX3rdGen]

Out of curiosity, did you buy this 4Runner from a lady in Wimberley? I looked at one with my dad that looked exactly like this, late last year?

Looking good!

Man, that would be a small world indeed. My buddy bought this last year and I liked it so much I bought it off him. He did buy it outside of town, I will ask him. haha