A list of questions - For Darla 2001 LT 4runner

[renosauce]

I came here for help i hope you guys can all help me.
First off i came across a 4runner about two weeks ago, and i decided to pick it up.
Its fun truck needs a few things but thats were you guys come in....I hope.
Im not new to Fabrication, nor am i new to modding vehicles. I have modded just about every type of vehicle. My first truck was a 1981 Toyota Trekker, and i have owened everything from jags, to Benz, to Super dutys.

I am currently building a 99 f-150 Long travel Prerunner style truck. It currently is being fully caged front to rear, with a Corvette Ls1 motor.

At any rate, i have been looking for a DD that i could play with and so i came across this runner, always wanted a newer toyota, and so i picked this up.

 

[renosauce]

So i have a list of questions.

1. what should i do for Long travel in the back, does anyone else run a camburg or total choas kit here?

2. For some odd reason, i think it was to run 0ga wire for the battery, took out the duct work for the vents, and i need to get those some where... ( if anyone has them that would be legit)

3. I am curious does anyone eliminate the bottom turns in the bumper and wire them into the corners, after putting an after market bumper on it?
I will be cutting off the crappy ass bumpers that are on it now, and building new ones, but i would like to see if i can find a way to wire the corners as a blinker? has anyone used a dual filament light bulb in it that will work as a running light as well as a blinker?

I have more questions...as i think of them i will post them here.

 

[KidVermicious]

That's a good looking truck, almost enough to make me want a 3rd gen!

 

[Baja Runner]

I don't think there are any kits. You want to run leafs or keep the coils ? Are you wanting to go custom or keep stockish components without cutting into the rear cargo area ? Mid travel stuff like a longer OME coil, Icon shocks will have quite a bit of travel but not sure if its enough. It would probably hold up fine even with the LT in the front.

 

[PhdNPrerunners]

There is a guy on ttora that is running a tc lt kit in the front and 891 springs, fox bypasses, and air bumps in the rear. I'll look for his build thread and post it in here for you

 

[renosauce]

I don't think there are any kits. You want to run leafs or keep the coils ? Are you wanting to go custom or keep stockish components without cutting into the rear cargo area ? Mid travel stuff like a longer OME coil, Icon shocks will have quite a bit of travel but not sure if its enough. It would probably hold up fine even with the LT in the front.

Not sure really. Its stock i think in the rear now..and it rails with the front..but it can always be better.

I dont mind cutting a little bit but i dont wanna take to much room up. Ive thought about leafs, the truck actually came with a set of F67 deavers, and a pair of 2.5 x 12 smooth bodies for a conversion..but not sure if that's the way i really want to go..

 

[Baja Runner]

Yeah I feel the rear suspension geometry is pretty darn good the way it is. Adding some longer coils and longer travel dampeners will give you quite a bit of travel. I'd stick to coils and not deal with the leafs myself. Obviously if u did cut out everything you'd have a lot of room for doing whatever you wanted though ...

I've been happy with my Icons up front with the OME stuff in the rear. Some shocks that were more tuned for high speed desert driving would make it very nice without getting too custom... maybe down the road but for now I enjoy the onroad manners too much

 

[PhdNPrerunners]

Here you go man! Check out this thread about what this guy did to rear of his 4runner and achieved 13" of travel. Hope this helps

REAR Long Travel for 4Runner gen3+ w/o cutting bed - TTORA Forum

Here is a couple pics I found on my photobucket of 4runners with rears built for speed

4runner with 62" SUA springs

4runner built by camburg with coilovers in the rear

 

[1985taylor1925]

Im probably not telling you anything that you dont already know if youve done custom fabrication, but Ill offer my knowledge.

If youre doing long travel in the back to handle any level of higher speeds off road, your biggest issues with the stock rear set up will be 1) the horizontal motion with the panhard bar, and 2) the arc created be the relatively short length of the rear control arms when the axel travels up and down. For a rock crawler those arent going to be issues since youre moving slow. But with the rate at which that rear axel will be articulating in high speed scenerios, I think those two areas will make the handling a bit unstable in the back. If its within your resources and the geometry will work, you could do a watts linkage. You could remove the upper control arms in the rear, and then build or find some custom lower control arms that are a good foot or so longer, and then a set of identical upper control arms to match them. With the control arms being longer you move the brackets that distance closer to the front end. Then you could weld in the brackets for the upper arms on the axel and frame close to where the brackets are for the lower arms.

Or, just remove the control arms all together and just weld in leafs. Would be ten times easier and of course would solve both handling issues.

 

[renosauce]

Im probably not telling you anything that you dont already know if youve done custom fabrication, but Ill offer my knowledge.

If youre doing long travel in the back to handle any level of higher speeds off road, your biggest issues with the stock rear set up will be 1) the horizontal motion with the panhard bar, and 2) the arc created be the relatively short length of the rear control arms when the axel travels up and down. For a rock crawler those arent going to be issues since youre moving slow. But with the rate at which that rear axel will be articulating in high speed scenerios, I think those two areas will make the handling a bit unstable in the back. If its within your resources and the geometry will work, you could do a watts linkage. You could remove the upper control arms in the rear, and then build or find some custom lower control arms that are a good foot or so longer, and then a set of identical upper control arms to match them. With the control arms being longer you move the brackets that distance closer to the front end. Then you could weld in the brackets for the upper arms on the axel and frame close to where the brackets are for the lower arms.

Or, just remove the control arms all together and just weld in leafs. Would be ten times easier and of course would solve both handling issues.

I dont mind cutting but i dont want to cut that much...im ok with keeping this fairly close to stock geometry...
i have this for serious off road..

how ever...has any one run the Totol Choas rear arms setup?

 

[crazydubman]

Are you talking

The trailing arms

or the factory replacement chromoly arms?

The trailing arms you will still have to mount triangulated upper links.

However you would be able to mount the shocks farther forward with the TC trailing arms but the floor would become an issue and probably make more work than you are wanting. (Givin by your initial post)

The factory replacement arms won't change the arc that the wheel travels but it will help to keep the rear from binding like the factory rubber bushings do. The travel will be smoother and allow you to use all of the new shocks you choose. You could run a wider rear axle or just 2" spacers to get the wheels some more clearance. This way you could run some 12"-14" coilovers outboard of the frame or maybe c knotch the frame and recess them back in a little if you needed more clearance. This way you would only have to modify the inner wheelwells a little and not sacrifice too much cargo space.

May want to look into what I will be running when I do my 1 ton swap.
Check out 4wheelunderground and talk to Brian. He is a great guy to deal with and has some great products. He build some rear coilover mounts for the early toy trucks that we will be utilizing on the rear of my 97. Can mount up to a 14" shock under the stock body of a 1st gen
The whole rear mounting kit is only $440.
Rear Coilover Mounting

This may be the easiest option for you.
Good luck.