85 4Runner "The Hot Rod" build

[Thefishguy77]

Those seats look comfy.


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[85RedRunner]

They were bought used from an older guy that had them made about 5years ago, for his fj60 project.. Well one problem after another.. He never even got around to actually installing them lol. So they've just been sitting all this time.

Oh well, lucky me.

They are comfy, but need to be broken in. I'm still seeing some corbeau seats down the road though... Head rest are nice, but more of an upper neck rest for me.

 

[85RedRunner]

Got the roll cage back in and tied into factory roll bar..along with the headliner.. Picked up some Realtree camo that I will be recovering it in. The light tan will get way too dirty, too quick.

Then I pulled up the original seat brackets to give me extra head room, and got the seats installed.

 

[stivine6]

Sweet project, just went through your pages and this thing is an inspiration!

 

[85RedRunner]

Got the headliner in and the new carpet is about 95% complete... Hoping to have the carpet, and the panels recovered within the next couple days. Have a trip to Big Bear this weekend.. Crunch time.

Will also have to retouch the paint that got all scratched up while muscling in the cage.

 

[85RedRunner]

What is this piece? Connects to the lever with a gas pump on it.. I thought it would have been the lid release, but I don't see where it would have connected?

 

[t4rghost]

That does look like the fuel door release. I will take a picture of mine tomorrow, I can't find one online

 

[85RedRunner]

Some pics from Big Bear, CA.

Was a good time, great views.. But not as challenging as I hoped.

We did White Mountain trail and John Bull.

 

[22argh]

looks good

 

[85RedRunner]

Thank you.

With a time crunch, I had the carpet finished, door and rear passanger panels recovered, and all of the trim put in... The hardware was challenging once again because of broken clips, missing screws, etc.. So I used the same technique as I did with the grill.

I dont have a finished interior pic yet.. And right now it's dirty as hell from wheeling and flying down dirt roads all weekend, behind other vehicles.

Almost done:

Heres the hardware I used for the trim:

Cut off the tabs:

Now reinstalled nice and tight:

And one of the recovered panels:

 

[85RedRunner]

Vacuumed up most of the dust today.

Next thing on the list is to rebuild front axle... New seals, bearings, cleaning, and lube.

Have a clicking noise in there after wheeling last weekend?

Then hopefully get a new set of shoes, front bumper and winch..and probably get the back seats reupholstered with brown/tan vinyl.

Front locker.

 

[85RedRunner]

I went ahead and just replaced all the inner axles and birfields with the longfield chromoly.. Including the locking hubs.. And Marlin's bearings, gaskets.

Truck drives soooo much better now.

Then I had to cut my trip short the other day, on the trail. The strange grinding noise that I thought was coming from the axle...was actually the fan hitting the shroud. Motor mounts were pretty much nonexistent and the low gearing was just enough to twist it.

So I went with some stock mounts and did the "chain mod".. We'll see how it holds up now.

 

[85RedRunner]

Corral Canyon, CA (sidewinder)

 

[Ruger2011]

Awesome ride

 

[85RedRunner]

On my 4th set of seats... evidently I'm a giant in the suspension seat world (6'2" 225lbs).. one day I'll have some made for me.

Until then, these fit the best, so far

Picked up an extra top and chopped it for some shade.

 

[85RedRunner]

Replacing leaf spring bushings..

This will hopefully save me weeks of headaches in a couple years, when I (or the next owner) look back at it.

Finally narrowed down the front springs to be Marlin Crawler. Kit ordered.

The rear springs are Chevy 63" (year unknown).. ordered energy suspension kit 3.2128R for the spring bushings. Hopefully that'll work out.

For the rear spring hanger, the hole diameter is different from every other bushing on the truck. So Ive taken measurements and found the closest match on ES website. The sleeves that fit those, won't fit my bolts.. sooo @#$%.

Rear spring hole diameter

Rear hanger to frame diameter

Hopefully this bushing will work ^

Energy Suspension
Rear leafs - 3.2128B
Rear shackle to frame - 2.2120B

 

[85RedRunner]

New bushings are in, cross bars for harnesses, axle truss, and a fresh coat of paint.

Still a long ways to go.

 

[85RedRunner]

After my trip this weekend.. as soon as I got some service on my phone, a front locker was ordered lol. I hate being at a disadvantage.

Have some sanding and touch-up painting to do now

 

[85RedRunner]

Went ahead and ordered a Spartan locker for the front, to get me by until I order a detroit...or it breaks, whichever happens first.

Go to install it, turns out I have a V6 carrier. So I had to order a different locker, set me back a week.

Got my grant steering wheel halfway installed... just need some foil tape to make the horn button work.

And I ordered the AllPro front bumper w/o fill plates/stinger. So now I'm shopping/raising funds for a nice winch.


On a side note, new axle seals/bearings have been holding up!

Slowly and painfully getting there.

 

[85RedRunner]

Some new goodies.

And a little different angle

Oops..

Now what? Repair and exo cage, or cut it out and make a buggy...?