2TH4IST's, Forrest's adventures and things.

[2TH4IST]

Well, figured I better make one of these threads. But I lost most of my pics I had due to a smashed phone and the what did you do thred is dead.

2000
Sr5
4wd
V6
E-locker

Don't know where to begin, but I'll list what I have done so far:

Eimkeith rear bumper v1
Costal offroad high clerance front bumper
Badlands 12k wench (yes I said wench)
Air raid intake tube
Snorkel (Amazon special that's been awesome)
4x innovations rock sliders
Skid row skids for engine and trans
Opt offroad rear link set (amazing)
Radflow coilovers 600# spring in front
Outboard rear radflows with lc80 springs (ok now, but with more weight they are to soft)
Poly bushing on front arms
Removed front swaybar
Limit straps front and rear
Addco rear thick swaybar
TBU front brakes
Rear disc conversion
Lc80 brake booster and master
Ad244 alternator from mechman
Big 3 or 7 or whatever
Switch pros sp9100
Rigid and Baja Designs led lights all over
Diy hid conversion
1.25" spacers
Baja boss at's in 265/75r16
Race loovers on hood
Eimkeith f150 fuel tank bracket
F150 fuel tank swap
Diy fuel tank skid
Koyo radiator aluminum
Mishimoto dual pass plate trans cooler in medium
An 6 trans lines
Improved racing 145° trans thermostat
Ps cooler
Stereo system
1st gen 4runner roll bar
I'm sure there is more but I forgot them

Upcoming things in no particular order:

Sleep platform/drawer system
Solar and house battery system (almost done)
Water system
Awning
NWF vf2 doubler w/triple shift
Regear w/front locker add on
New steering rack and pump
Rims and tires in 255/80r17 flavor
Go on lots of adventures

Ant questions feel free to ask.

 

[Endlessblockades]

Looks like fun! New pics (of everything) would be cool to see!

 

[2TH4IST]

Sure thing! I've been away a bit as my cat, my best friend passed recently and it's hitting me damn hard. But here are some recent ish pics. As I go I will update the tread with pics. Just ordered all of the wood working tools I don't have so I can get started on this sleep platfor/drawer system. It's the first time building something like this. I did build a chicken coup though and I did stay in a holiday in express......

Here's my boy, you'll be forever missed, heck of a cat, his name is Chuck.

 

[2TH4IST]

4runner pics.

Painted roof with new racks
Hood louvers
Engine bay
Ad244 vs cs144 alternator
Sub mounting
Amp mounting

 

[2TH4IST]

More pics:

Radflo fronts w/limit straps
Radflo outboard rear shocks w/limit straps
Rear disc conversion w/parking brake

 

[2TH4IST]

Finalized electrical board. This will control the charging of the house and 4runners battery. Contains the inverter, switch panel, solar/alternator controller, ground buss and power buss. A mixture of 1/0 awg and 4 awg with a 10awg ground for the inverter (it can connect to shore power).

I made a mistake previously by using a fuse block, which in turn would keep all the stuff powered on 24/7. Not what I need at all lol. Ended up with a auxbeam 8 switch panel. Should work perfectly.

Delivery got snafu'd on sound deadening, as I'm removing the rear cargo area carpet. It's about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. So I wanted some type of sound deadening properties. Also got to work on making the new tire carrier. By using a 3 point tire strap. I realized that oem tire carrier isn't meant to take an impact. If there is an unfortunate collision I don't want an 80lbs flying around the inside of the 4runner.

I'm utilizing every square inch of the interior space. Even compacting the water filter system.

Realized I never mentioned specs so here they are:
One 250w renogy bifacial panel
2 x 100ah lifepo4 litime extra compact self heating batteries wired in parallel
1200w redarc rs3 inverter w/shore power connection
Redarc 50a bcdc solar charge controller
Auxbeam 8 swith, switch panel
Blue sea 3 terminal fuse block with common power
Blue sea 250a ground buss
12v 30a solar circuit breaker
Renogy 500a battery monitoring shunt

 

[brillo_76]

Great job, quite the rig you got there 2TH4IST...

 

[spartacus]

Super sweet setup. Nice work

 

[Endlessblockades]

RIP Chuck. I know how much a cat can mean - I got a rescue kitten during the pandemic. I hadn't had a cat for 15 years and had forgotten what incredible creatures they are. My wife is not super-impressed with our bond, LOL. It was cute at first, but he's my ride or die now. Anyway, I forgot you had done the rear disc upgrade with the Wildwood e-brake. I remember admiring that mod in a thread of yours a few years back. I'll never get to that, but it's great to see! Edit - where does the dual case shifter pop through?

 

[brillo_76]

Sure thing! I've been away a bit as my cat, my best friend passed recently and it's hitting me damn hard. But here are some recent ish pics. As I go I will update the tread with pics. Just ordered all of the wood working tools I don't have so I can get started on this sleep platfor/drawer system. It's the first time building something like this. I did build a chicken coup though and I did stay in a holiday in express......

Here's my boy, you'll be forever missed, heck of a cat, his name is Chuck.

Rest in Peace Chuck... I have some barn cats running around.. Some of them you kinda attached to...:-(

 

[2TH4IST]

Thanks guys! He was the best cat ever.

The triple shift will pop up where the current j shifter lever is. Wondering if it would be a good idea to add another mount for the t-case. Saving up for this as I type. It seems a bit bassakwards doing a doubler for a mild build. But I do a ton of steep climbs and even 4 low with 32's and 4.30 are not enough. Sitting at t/c stall and trying to get up and over something is stressing and heating up stuff that isn't necessary. A complete regear (4.56 or 4.88) w/front locker is like 3.5k to 4k. This doubler is around 2.2k.

As for an update. Been working on the water tank, pump, accumulator and filter plumbing. Using pex-A, as food grade vinyl tubing is very expensive. Hell food grade anything is expensive. But I don't want no more chemicals in my body. I have enough issues already. I'm hoping tomorrow I can fit the electric panel, and fit and drill the water tank stuff. After I confirm fitment, I'll rip out the rear stuff, seats, rear cargo carpet, clean and put down sound deadening. Then build the sleep platform using 3/4" cabinet grade plywood.

My friend 2 weeks ago convinced me to catch and adopt one of his feral shop cats. I was hesitant, as I lost Chuck almost 2 months ago. But i knew he'd want me to get another cat. So for the last 2 weeks we have been trying to catch him. But we did. He is so far a good cat. Still a bit scared by new sounds and smells. But I think he will be fine, and possibly be a offroading/camping cat. His name is Cooper and he's between 1.5-2 years old. A mix of seal point siamese, chocolate point and tabby and some other stuff. But a great cat.

 

[Endlessblockades]

That's a good-lookin kitty.

 

[2TH4IST]

Thanks guys. He's a good boy. Has some skittish issues, but I'm working together to train him to feel safer and not so scared.

The other day, I test fitted both electric panel and the water tank. I ended up having to notch the cutting board a bit. But it fits perfectly, good access to all fittings. Don't mind the un-aligned board mount, didn't notch it when I took pics. Both looks great and fits perfectly. Got the water tank mounted and ordered up some spacers for the straps.

I might start the rear seat removal process and sound deadening this week. Cooper have some upcoming vet visits and needs to be snipped. So money goes to that first. Once that's done I'll get the wood for the sleep stuff. Still have to make a house battery mounting tray. I may start that instead.

 

[2TH4IST]

Got the water tank wrapped in reflectix and left a level view port. Also all but one fitting sorted out. The drain port is TBD if I want to use a 4 inch nipple with a 90 or just use pex. I'll wait and see as soon as it's installed which route I will go. Also it's a true pita to find lead free anything these days. Brass is usually never lead free. Pvc sometimes is lead free but can never verify. That leaves stainless in the 304 flavor.

 

[2TH4IST]

Ok well yall know I swapped to rear disc brakes. And running 2 calipers. Lc80 main brake and a wilwood mechanical parking brake. While it works (kind of) the calipers for the parking brake just don't hold the car. I've adjusted the cables, changed brake pads etc. Still doesn't grab and hold the car. Yeah I know, should have stayed drum. Bit I hate drums, even when working good they still suck.

So now I'm venturing down for V3 of the parking brakes. Since most new cars have a hydro-electric rear caliper or electronic parking brake (epb). I've dived down this for the last few months. And decided to finally switch over to them. I was thinking of the wilwood epb kit, but 1300 bucks is insane IMHO. Spoke with them about it, turns out they will not hold a heavy vehicle or vehicles with large tires. Sure a light sports/race car they would work perfectly.

Here what I have now:
From 231's tundra calipers/rotors and pads
Ss lines all around
Lc80 rear calipers
Wilwood mechanical mc4 parking brake calipers
Midcoma's parking brake force multiplier
Lc80 booster and master (1 inch master)

Tundra calipers will not work as the mounting brackets interferes with the rotor. The outer lower part of the mount hit the hat part of the rotor, it's not arched enough. Found this through research.

So here is what I found. 22-26 (can not confirm on 2022 has epb) tundra has a 48mm rear caliper piston size, same as the lc80 rear caliper. But come at a stupid price. New, all the metal parts, caliper, bracket bolts, pads, under 400 bucks, but the actuator? Over 700! Used ones are 300+. Yeah no thanks.

Most offerings I have found are 38mm pistons, but those are mostly on cars. So I searched gm line of suv/trucks. Usually 50-51mm pistons. A bigger piston will give more pressure, but a softer pedal. Smaller piston, less pressure but firmer pedal.

I didnt end up buying the escalade calipers as they too would not fit as the mount isnt arched enough to clear the rotor hat. But I'll leave the info here anyways.

So after searching and checking specs, I [didn't buy them] settled on a caddy escalade 2023 MY. It has a 51mm piston, so 3mm bigger then what I have, but I have a proportioning valve to adjust. So it shouldn't be to bad.

They come in around 150$ a set, yes 2 of them.

The good thing? The escalades rear rotors are .791" wide while the 4th gen 4runners is .71". It's also 6x5.5 bolt pattern but the hub opening is smaller. It's also a 13"+ diameter rotor, to big for stock 16" rims. Maybe 17" rims would clear and if I ever go that route I might switch to the escalades rear rotors, of course get the hub bores opened up.

For the controller I found Pantera electronics makes a epb controller. Seems to check all the boxes. Their advanced option has adjustable clamping force.

I may or may not have to mod or remake the caliper brackets. It is what it is. I like doing this stuff anyways.

That's my updates as of now. Oh yeah, the epb will be activated by the parking brake lever.

ETA - the 2024 and newer tacoma also has a 48mm rear piston caliper too.

top pic is a 24+ tacoma lower pic is 24+ tundra. The mount arch is what is needed. The tundra mound doesnt have it.

 

[2TH4IST]

So this is my 2nd time typing this up, sigh.

So I didn't go with the gm calipers as the mounting brackets are not arched, they are flat across the front bottom. I ended up buying a good condition left 24+ tacoma caliper. It's 48mm piston, the mount has the front lower arched to clear the rotor.

So I looked at rotors, I could not find anything that had a 106mm centering bore that was 12.2" in diameter w/6 x 5.5 stud pattern. Everything new was 13+ inches and small centering bore. Since I'm currently on 16" rims, I can not go to 13 inch rotors. Either way, if I ran the 13" rotors I would have to get them center bored to 106mm. Thus not being a off the shelf part. Not that big of a issue as how often is there issues with rear rotors?

The Sr 24+ taco does have a 12.2" rotor w/6 x 5.5 stud. But the center bore is 97mm. The 3rd gen is 106mm. And is around .5" shallower (the hat) then the 4th gen rotor. I went overboard on the research, as research is free.

Also this is interesting what I have found. The 24+ taco and tundra uses the same exact brake pad, well not oem toyota part #'s, but aftermarket pads. They are the same part numbers, even the advics pads, which is who makes both calipers for the taco and tundra.

Anyways, got some terminal pins coming to repin the cut connector.

This week I'll make a template for the battery mounting and for the extra water jug and air compressor. And hopefully be able to cut out the battery mount, and cut the battery pockets. I'm getting pumped to finish this. This week on my days off I'm to busy to tear the rear interior apart to lay down the sound deadening and measure for the wood I need.

24+ tacoma caliper.

 

[2TH4IST]

Got the template made for the drivers side battery mounting. Fits perfectly. Cut out the cutting board, it's 1" thick, hdpe plastic. I'll mock up the batteries again and mark out where I need to router out about 1/4 to 1/2 inch so the batteries will be held in place. I'll use straps to secure them to the board. Then the board will be mounted to the 2 rear front seat bolts and the rear seat hinge bolts.

Need to do finish cutting with my router, but need a new bit for it so I need to wait a bit.

I checked the template to the passenger side, it's also nice fit, just some trimming and adding back a corner I needed to trim from the driver's side.

The tacoma caliper came in. So far from a quick check on an old rotor it fits nicely, might need to do some small grinding, but we'll see. Also the epb connectors came in, they fit perfect. And got the part # off the connector......not in production yet for public, not on any site I know for oem connectors, nothing listed for toyota oem, no generic no name connector.

It is made by sumitomo and appears to be a TS 090 series 2 connector, part # 11773. There are female concerts that have orientation keys, while the epb doesn't have any keys. So I'm guessing they would work together.

 

[2TH4IST]

Well needed to get out of the house, so I took Forrest on an adventure. I ran Rattlesnake canyon RC 3331 to burns canyon 2n02 then to smarts ranch 3n03 an nice 29 mile jaunt. Yeah Rattlesnake canyon has degraded, and it's mostly soft sand, which people I guess don't know how to drive in and caused I'd say 90% of the trail to be side to side washboard. Not the usual in line washboards. Could not even get over 15 mph. It sucks, as it was a great trail. Burns canyon, was ok, only one section that was uphill had deeeeeeeeep wallows sigh. Smarts ranch was wild. It's a green trail and I'd say the first 1/3 is not green lol. But that was fun.

Either way, I'd take a bad day on the trail then a good day at home.

I smashed the living crap out of my rear diff drain plug/circle thing. So I'm looking for a diff skid or maybe welding something around it. Either way I have to fix it, yay.

On the way home, there is a wild fire. Fun! But the mountains were nice and green, the Joshua trees were super green too!

 

[2TH4IST]

Finally got the 24+ taco rear calipers today. One came in perfectly, the other the connector for the actuator was smashed. They should send a replacement Tuesday. These puppies are big! But I'll find a way to mount them up. Also got a 20 $ taco rotor, it's hat is smaller then the 4th gen 4runner's and like 1mm smaller in diameter. But it's also 1/2" shallower then the 4th gen.

The tacos mounting brackets bolt holes are the exact same distance apart as the lc80' rear mounts! Sweet! The height from the mount bolts to the slide pins are different though. The tacos being a bit taller.

Also I plan to simulate the pull feel of the parking brake since it won't be connected to anything. So I'm using a "medium" steel stamp spring.

Also waiting for a generic router fence to arrive so I can smooth the cut edges of the battery cutting board mount. Then cut out the holes for the battery straps. Need to pick up some 3/16 steel for the water tank, electronics and battery mounting.

 

[2TH4IST]

Test fit (heavy on the test part) the taco calipers today as I needed to rotate the tires. The drivers side has billions of miles of room to mount the caliper. The passenger side is a different story. The panhard bar mount protrudes slightly outside the frame and the pck just adds to the protrusion.

So for more testing I pulled off the wheel spacer and test fit the tacos rotor. It clears the axle flange, which was my biggest concern. So now I need to get it machined to open the center bore to 106mm. Then the real testing can begin. The hat is about 1/2 inch smaller so it would suck the caliper down more so I'd have better clerance.

Also decided to go with hydro bumps. Which will give me even more clerance. But they will be further down the list as other things take priority.

Also tossed in another bumpstop spacer. When I did the outboard shocks, I gave 3/4 inch of shaft when the bump hits the axle. But I do get hard hits when I bottom out, which I think is when the bump collapses and then hits the bumper on the shock.

It was late in the day and I needed to pull the rear springs to really flex the back end to see what's going on. So I called it a day, put everything back together and cleaned up. Took a cold shower and cracked open a ice cold sweet tea.