Right there with you! Looking forward to seeing you install your rear sway bar setup!
aemravan's build thread - project TacoRunner
- Thread starter aemravan
- Start date
Did another quick test drive this evening and I am almost certain that my passenger side upper link mount on the axle is back to contacting the cross member above it at full compression.
I pretty much expected it since I pushed the axle back so much, and I had this interference issue happening with the axle while it was still almost an inch forward, but was clocked back a ton giving me too steep of a pinion angle. Now figure out what an acceptable pinion angle is..
I'll have to do some investigating while installing the sway bar and bump stops and see how bad it is. More than likely what i'll have to do is just notch the upper member and make some clearance for it. I believe its the cross member that dips down to support the panhard bracket, and my long-term plan is to have it removed altogether anyhow in favour of a 3-link setup ...so.... chop chop!
I pretty much expected it since I pushed the axle back so much, and I had this interference issue happening with the axle while it was still almost an inch forward, but was clocked back a ton giving me too steep of a pinion angle. Now figure out what an acceptable pinion angle is..
I'll have to do some investigating while installing the sway bar and bump stops and see how bad it is. More than likely what i'll have to do is just notch the upper member and make some clearance for it. I believe its the cross member that dips down to support the panhard bracket, and my long-term plan is to have it removed altogether anyhow in favour of a 3-link setup ...so.... chop chop!
Not many updates as far as the build goes, but I did get a chance to get out into this winter storm for some snow camping and driving. Pretty cool experience, but took forever to get back home. The road conditions were absolutely terrible. Got some pretty cool pictures though.
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Hey man ! I do , I actually got the order in but looks like I should have specified a longer torsion bar, I got it at the standard 45inches it comes with bc it didn’t give me an option to select, but I actually needed a 48 inch bar. They’re are swapping it out with me though and I should have it next week.
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Oh gotcha, so with the 4th gen 4runner, gotta go with the 48 inch bar?
Hey man ! I do , I actually got the order in but looks like I should have specified a longer torsion bar, I got it at the standard 45inches it comes with bc it didn’t give me an option to select, but I actually needed a 48 inch bar. They’re are swapping it out with me though and I should have it next week.
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Surly Shawn
New member
Looks good. I think I will 'borrow' this idea. Is it possible to get a picture of how you attached the front of the net, to the rear passenger grab bars? Please and thank you.
Also installed an attic cargo storage I pieced together from Amazon. Net, 4 upgraded D rings and 2 36 inch bungee cords for added weight capacity, 10 minute install, mounted right behind the handles and rear storage hooks with factory bolts and all. Should make some good storage space up top for soft thing like blankets, covers, pillows , etc. not bad for 28 bucks and 10 minutes of work.
Thanks! The front attaches the same way the rear one did, I literally just unscrewed the handle and hook and slipped the mounting brackets in between. Took me longer to fish the bungee cord through the net lol.
I guess it is a pretty well established fact that the front different support brackets are prone to failure on these 4runners.., particularly 03-04.. This was news to me.. but I'm glad I found out about it before it got too late.. The fact that I'm running 35's with RCV axles almost guarantees that I shifted the failure point down stream, which apparently is the bracket on the passenger side. Last thing I need to do is have it fail and punch a hole in my oil pan on a trail..
I just ordered the passenger side 06-09 model arm that I am planning on welding some 3/16" plate stock to when it gets here and swapping it over. The drivers side support seems to only fail if the passenger one goes out so I didnt' bother ordering that one, however, I think I'm still going to take a look and see what can be done to gusset it a bit more. Can't wait to tackle all my fab projects I was already hoping to have done..
-cab mount relocation
-panhard bar correction bracket
-relocated bump stops
-cam tab gussets
-rear bumper end plates
and probably some other stuff I put on the back burner
I just ordered the passenger side 06-09 model arm that I am planning on welding some 3/16" plate stock to when it gets here and swapping it over. The drivers side support seems to only fail if the passenger one goes out so I didnt' bother ordering that one, however, I think I'm still going to take a look and see what can be done to gusset it a bit more. Can't wait to tackle all my fab projects I was already hoping to have done..
-cab mount relocation
-panhard bar correction bracket
-relocated bump stops
-cam tab gussets
-rear bumper end plates
and probably some other stuff I put on the back burner
Surly Shawn
New member
Hmmm. I found my extra mounting brackets/d-rings. I'll have to get them on the rear handles. But now I am thinking of making my own net. I found a good knot guy on youtube, so I'll just need to grab some 550 cord and get started.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Well, I ordered the rear sway bar kit with the same options as you and mentioned about getting the 48 inch torsion bar. Hope it works!
Hey man ! I do , I actually got the order in but looks like I should have specified a longer torsion bar, I got it at the standard 45inches it comes with bc it didn’t give me an option to select, but I actually needed a 48 inch bar. They’re are swapping it out with me though and I should have it next week.
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Hopefully man! I got my replacement bar in but haven't had time to mock it up yet. Actually haven't even opened it yet.. lol. Hoping to get around to installing it in the next month or so.
gm350reratliff
New member
Over the course of 3 or 4 days, I've binge read your entire build thread. Very impressive! So many great ideas and the snorkle fab is fantastic! I have a Coastal WIY rear bumper I started about 2.5 years ago but was indefinitely put on hold with a forced job change and move. Hopefully, in about 8 months I'll be able to actually finish it. Can't wait to see what else is in store for your 4Runner!
Thank you! It's certainly been a very fun, labor intensive build. I've had some work-related slow-downs myself keeping me from spending more time on the build but I'm hoping to get a few of the small projects I have on the list knocked out in the next month or so just ahead of the wheeling season... the winter time came and went VERY fast lol.
Been kind of slacking on updating the build thread, but not for the lack of trying lol. Not too much going on with relation to the build.. was hoping to have a lot of time this off-season to knock out some projects, but here we are, on the brink of spring and an all new wheeling season.. so I'll be scrambling to get some critical things knocked out before I can go out again..
Along with some of my current to-do's, I went ahead and purchased the cam bolt delete kit that will work with the total chaos cam tab gusset kit and basically fully lock in my alignment without the worry of having to align it, mark it, and check it every time I come down hard on a rock or something.. Won't have as much adjustability for alignment, but I'm willing to live with that.
So as we stand now, here are the projects, in the list of priority, that I am hoping to knock out before end of March:
1) Rear Bump Stop relocation/dobinsons extended travel bump stop upgrade (the factory bumpstop doesn't even come close to hitting the axle with it pushed back as far as I have it.. so in order to keep me from blowing out the shocks this is a number 1 thing on my list)
2) Panhard bar correction bracket (since I'll be going rear suspension work, this will be a great quick project to slap on the correction bracket I have had sitting on the shelf for 10 months)
3) Rear Link bolt correction (so I found out that the hiem joints I used to build my rear links have the high-misalignment spacers that are just slightly larger than my factory hardware.. .which leads to me having to crank down really hard on the bolts to keep them from moving ever-so slightly under load. These loosen up a bit very often, and i'll get a clunk from the spacer moving about the bolt. My plan is to get the properly sized grade 8 hardware and see if I can enlarge the factory opening JUST enough to insert the new bolts, if not, i'm not against welding on a properly sized washer for the bolts to the factory location).
4) Rear TK 1 Racing rock crawling sway bar install.. (got all the parts in, and its long overdue to get some anti-sway action back in my life
)
5) Rear bumper end-cap welding (I still haven't welded the endcaps after shortening the rear bumper for the additional up-travel clearance)
6) May need to install a second driveshaft spacer on the transfer case side ( I might need to push the axle back a bit more, and want to make sure my drive shaft is happy)
7) Rear Wheel well modification/clearance ( My tire still rubs at full stuff pretty good. I'm looking to do a bit more cutting, beating and grinding to make more room, then i'll need to seam-seal everything and give it some paint to keep from rusting.
8) Taco Cab Mount relocation kit (looking to solve the body mount rubbing issues once and for all.. kit has been sitting and waiting for some time)
9) Cam Tab gusset install with the cam bolt delete kit (considering throwing in my A1 Auto lower control arms while I'm at it... don't expect them to last long... but maybe I can work on replacing the bushings and balljoints on my factory arms in my spare time throughout the summer and throw them back in.. they haven't failed yet... but are OEM and the rig has over 140k miles on it now.. last 10k being with some beefy tires and lift.. )
so as you can tell... I have quite a few pretty time-intesnive projects to take under... but I'm hoping to get some knocked out together and same some setup/clean up time.. It doesn't help that I also decided to wrench on my Toyota Supra to get it ready to run E85 with an updated fuel system and try to make 600rwhp again..
Along with some of my current to-do's, I went ahead and purchased the cam bolt delete kit that will work with the total chaos cam tab gusset kit and basically fully lock in my alignment without the worry of having to align it, mark it, and check it every time I come down hard on a rock or something.. Won't have as much adjustability for alignment, but I'm willing to live with that.
So as we stand now, here are the projects, in the list of priority, that I am hoping to knock out before end of March:
1) Rear Bump Stop relocation/dobinsons extended travel bump stop upgrade (the factory bumpstop doesn't even come close to hitting the axle with it pushed back as far as I have it.. so in order to keep me from blowing out the shocks this is a number 1 thing on my list)
2) Panhard bar correction bracket (since I'll be going rear suspension work, this will be a great quick project to slap on the correction bracket I have had sitting on the shelf for 10 months)
3) Rear Link bolt correction (so I found out that the hiem joints I used to build my rear links have the high-misalignment spacers that are just slightly larger than my factory hardware.. .which leads to me having to crank down really hard on the bolts to keep them from moving ever-so slightly under load. These loosen up a bit very often, and i'll get a clunk from the spacer moving about the bolt. My plan is to get the properly sized grade 8 hardware and see if I can enlarge the factory opening JUST enough to insert the new bolts, if not, i'm not against welding on a properly sized washer for the bolts to the factory location).
4) Rear TK 1 Racing rock crawling sway bar install.. (got all the parts in, and its long overdue to get some anti-sway action back in my life
) 5) Rear bumper end-cap welding (I still haven't welded the endcaps after shortening the rear bumper for the additional up-travel clearance)
6) May need to install a second driveshaft spacer on the transfer case side ( I might need to push the axle back a bit more, and want to make sure my drive shaft is happy)
7) Rear Wheel well modification/clearance ( My tire still rubs at full stuff pretty good. I'm looking to do a bit more cutting, beating and grinding to make more room, then i'll need to seam-seal everything and give it some paint to keep from rusting.
8) Taco Cab Mount relocation kit (looking to solve the body mount rubbing issues once and for all.. kit has been sitting and waiting for some time)
9) Cam Tab gusset install with the cam bolt delete kit (considering throwing in my A1 Auto lower control arms while I'm at it... don't expect them to last long... but maybe I can work on replacing the bushings and balljoints on my factory arms in my spare time throughout the summer and throw them back in.. they haven't failed yet... but are OEM and the rig has over 140k miles on it now.. last 10k being with some beefy tires and lift.. )
so as you can tell... I have quite a few pretty time-intesnive projects to take under... but I'm hoping to get some knocked out together and same some setup/clean up time.. It doesn't help that I also decided to wrench on my Toyota Supra to get it ready to run E85 with an updated fuel system and try to make 600rwhp again..
