3rd gen wanderlust build

Hooked up the M101 trailer and took it for a drive to decide how I like the 4runner for towing it. Seemed to tow pretty well empty, but I will definitely be upgrading to a supercharger in the next few months. I am debating whether to build a 6x10 enclosed trailer and leaving the M101 as utility trailer. I am leaning towards the enclosed as I am not sure how I would like a RTT in the rain and snow. I was surprised though with how the OME coils handled the weight, before with the trailer the rear sagged to the bump stops and with the 891 coilsI dropped about half inch with an additonal 200lbs in the rear cargo area.
 
Ordered 3.4 timing belt kit and will be doing that next weekend along with a transmission cooler install. Getting it ready for a possible Moab trip this summer/fall
 
Haven't updated this thread in awhile, but since the last post I finished the timing belt and right after decided I wanted a newer 3rd gen 4runner with the heated mirrors, rear cargo plug, and cup holders not on the dash. So I bought a 1999 limited in the same color so I can swap the stock bumpers over to the old 4runner.

So far on the new 4runner I have swapped in a new toyota radiator (previous owner used stop leak) along with the heater core, heater control valve, hoses, valve covers, spark plugs, wires, timing belt/water pump, and installed tranny cooler. Next up is going to be to swap over the icon suspension and bumpers.

This weekend I started on the rear swingout tire carrier, will have dual jerry can holder and a fold down camp table.
Progress so far
 
Finished the tire carrier, but need to mount the fold down camp table and wire up the license plate light. I swapped the rear bumper from the 96 to the 99 and just need to swap over the sonoran body mounts then I will mount the swing out onto the bumper.
 
Installed the transmission cooler and flushed the transmission and filled with toyota fluid. Will be changing this fluid yearly from now on. Had to mount cooler on the right hand side as the left side will house the winch control box when I swap the front bumper over.


In preperation for swapping the icon stage 5 kit over to the newer 4runner I decided to use the 96 spindles as the uniball adapter was already in so I ordered new wheel bearings and seals. I dropped those off at toyota for a friend to press in the new bearings. I also took this time to weld on total chaos spindle gussets, I don't plan on wheeling the rig hard enough to break the spindle, but figured for the $35 it was worth it to not have to worry about it.
 
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This weekend hopefully I will be able to to swap the suspension over to the 99 and swap the front bumper.

Plans after that:
*Tundra 231 upgrade
*Onboard shower
* Gear oil and transfercase oil
*rear drawer with mount for Arb fridge
*build roof rack
 
Got my spindles back from toyota and only cost me what I paid for the parts. Now I can begin the suspension swap this weekend.

 
Are the front UCA regular UCA. Just that they are uniball ? Or are they special because of stage 5 icon. Curious ?
 
I wasn't able to finish the suspension swap as the backing plate on the drivers side spindle was put on backwards when the bearings were done. Have to wait until a new backing plate is ordered so I can have it put on and the hub pressed back on as the old backing plate got bent up removing the hub. Unfortunately I wont be able to work on it again for two weeks.


I was able to get the tire carrier finished and bolted up though. I still need to setup the license plate light and move the fuel carrier up higher.
 
Just placed my order for a tube bender and notcher:clap2: Couple weeks and I should be able to begin building the roof rack.
 
Played with bendtech program this weekend and managed to design my roof rack. Still waiting on one piece for my bender and then I can start working on the rack.

Here is what I came up with for the roof rack
 
Finally finished swapping the Icon suspension from the 96 to this one. Got it aligned and now back to driving it daily. Also moved the rear dual can carrier up as I didn't like how low it was. I will be moving the license plate below the fuel carrier now. Added a trasharoo also

Really happy with how the tire carrier turned out also as I built it to have the latch assembly sit high with no fuel in the cans since I figured with 88lbs of fuel it would sag and I didn't want to have to lift it every time to latch it. Ended up turning out perfectly aligned when the fuel cans are full and when empty I have to push down slightly to get it to latch closed. Added a bottle opener for trail emergencies
 
Next on the list is to install my ARB 50qt fridge and Ram mounts to mount laptop for navigation. Then I will get started on the roof rack.
Headed this weekend to do some exploring and camping.
 
Friday night I installed the ARB fridge and used ARB stand alone harness. I wanted to mount the plug flush, but there was not enough room behind the panel so I had to use the surface mount instead.
IMG_0316 by Kyle Lent, on Flickr
Have to mount the fridge like this until I get the goose gear modules.
IMG_0323 by Kyle Lent, on Flickr
 
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