aemravan's build thread - project TacoRunner

[aemravan]

Now that I had a bit of time to unwind from all the cutting grinding and welding all day here is a quick recap..

The diff bracket is welded and painted, just need to replace it tomorrow, but the skid plate needs to come off

Cut off the factory bump stop brackets to make it a cleaner look. With the springs off I was able to cycle the suspension and see where it needs to land. To my surprise (maybe it shouldn’t be..) I basically had to reuse my make shift spacer I built for the factory brackets in order to have the bump stop taking up the force when it fully compressed without bottoming out the shock. I welded the rectangular bar to the frame and will bolt the new stops to it tomorrow.

The pan hard bracket is also on and painted. Haven’t messed with centering the axle bc I ran out of time. Hopefully my welds are solid enough…because they certainly aren’t pretty lol

Also welded on the bumper caps again. I was pleased to see that I really didn’t have any rubbing at full stuff anymore. I can definitely see fitting a 37 a real possibility. Need to adjust the pinion angle tomorrow before I put the springs back in.

The front body mounts need to be welded tomorrow as well.

For the tk 1 racing sway bar.. it’s on. I’m certain that it isn’t perfectly configured.. At ride height the arms should be parallel , but with where I located the bar that was impossible to do unless I really cut down the links, which it said should be at least as long as the shock travel, which I believe is 12 inches. I probably should have located the bar a bit higher and more forward, but it should still work.

The tabs that weld to the axle are surprisingly small.. I hope I put enough heat to get good heat penetration to the axle.. a bit worried that these could snap off since this is what is transferring all the force from left to right but I guess we’ll see. Didn’t get a chance to cycle it with the links connected because the paint was still wet but I’ll see how it does tomorrow.

I also took some time to smear some seam sealer all around my trimmed and hammered wheel well to keep water and rust away. Will need to hit it with some paint tomorrow and should be good to go. Getting excited about finishing all this work up.


Oh yea.. I also recycled 2 of the mounting tabs from the factory bump stop brackets I cut off and welders them to the lower links so I can have a proper mounting location for the parking brake cable. It was zip tied before and was rubbing the paint off and rusting.

Can’t wait to get this wrapped up tomorrow !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aemravan]

Let’s see how this all holds up……

First impression is that there is certainly an improvement in body roll. Let’s see if the tabs hold up on the axles and not rip off

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aemravan]

Everything is trimmed and installed, wheel wells are cleaned up and painted. The rig definitely has significantly less body roll. The tabs on the axle housing held up so far and haven’t popped the welds.. so off to a decent start I guess. Lol

I also decided today that there is a major color change coming sometime in the next few months… soooo there’s that lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Definitely one of a kind and very cool truck. Sometimes wish I had a rear bumper and tire carrier, just don't want to add the weight.

 

[aemravan]

Definitely one of a kind and very cool truck. Sometimes wish I had a rear bumper and tire carrier, just don't want to add the weight.

Thanks man ! It’s been a whole lot of work but has been really awesome to work on. Still have some big plans down the road, but I basically ruled out going SAS with this rig. More than likely I will be on a 4 link rear ford axle with a DIY long travel up front on 37s and that is about it ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Thanks man ! It’s been a whole lot of work but has been really awesome to work on. Still have some big plans down the road, but I basically ruled out going SAS with this rig. More than likely I will be on a 4 link rear ford axle with a DIY long travel up front on 37s and that is about it ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like your gonna be getting a DIY kit from Kansas?

Ford Nine is definitely the best way to go.

I'm still wondering if my plans for the 14" bypasses and the stock 4 link geometry will work properly. There is so much fender well clearance w a 1" BL, I feel like there is a couple more inches of up travel to be had, but it may be a futile experiment w a stock 4 link.

 

[aemravan]

Uptravel is one thing, but how much down travel is left to be had with the stock 4 link? I feel like even these dobinson long travel stock length shocks are maxing out my rear links maybe a little bit to go but not much. But realistically I have no idea.. when I do the ford 9 inch I’m going with longer links for sure.. considering doing a 3 link but a reverse triangulated 4 link isn’t out of question.. maybe not the best handling but certainly will get me more than enough travel on a fairly long shock.. I’m hoping to run a 14-16inch shock so that I don’t have to cut into the cab to clearance the shock tower for 18inch shocks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aemravan]

Here is a little additional feedback on the sway bar side of things.. still impressed at how much of a difference it made.. very noticeable for sure. I haven’t tried just the stock rear bar but this TK1 racing bar (even not setup 100% accurately) works awesome for on road driving.

One thing I realized I should have done is probably also have the weld tube longer to match the wider torsion bar. What I ended up with is about a half inch gap from the inside of both arms to where the bushing sits in the tube. This allows for the hole bar to slide left and right an inch or so. Not a huge deal, but when both wheels unload and are even it allows it to move and give a slight clunk.

What I plan to do it get some schedule 40 pvc tube , cut it on one side and slip it over the bar to take up the difference with a simple worm clamp to hold it down. A quick fix , but something I wish I paid attention to before I slid the last arm on. It was a TIGHT fit. I beat the hell out of it with a mallet to get it on so I’m not trying to take them off if I can at all avoid it lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aemravan]

Once again... if you have been running with no sway bars I would highly recommend going to a TK1 racing, or something similar, for an off-road style sway bar at least in the rear... I don't know if its just me, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised by the reduction in body roll under normal driving conditions.. pretty damn impressive.

I can only imagine how much better it would be if I positioned the bar more up and forward to get it to sit level at ride height and have the links completely vertical (mine are at a slight rear facing angle so some of the force translation isn't direct ) but even as it is , pretty amazing.

I am hoping to do a flex test in the next couple of days to see if I it allows full articulation/bump stop compression. My bumpstops seem to limit the complete upward travel JUST a bit, probably have almost .75" of shock travel remaining, but I would much rather be on the safe side and give it some breathing room in the case I really come down hard on a single wheel when already almost fully compressed so that I don't blow a shock out.

This will also greatly help with stuffing a 37 down the road without having to worry about rubbing too much on the inside of the door.


Yesterday on the way to the dog park I made a $80 mistake... I failed to fully bolt on the drivers side quarter molding trim piece... and watched it snap off and go flying down the highway at 70mph... Doh!! I'm going to be working on building out wider flares off of them soon anyway.. but needed a base to start with... so had to source a blue of off of ebay for 80 bucks.. stupid me.


My wife and I are taking a trip down to Carolina beach next week for my brothers birthday and are taking the 4runner. My recent FJ Transfer case swap with the cutout floor really increased the sound level inside the car.. that along with my exhaust modification (cut out the muffler and welded the resonator do dump straight down right under the passenger seat) really make it less than ideal to have a conversation on a 3 hour drive.. so last night I ordered a FlowMaster super 44 muffler that should be here this week. The plan is to remove the resonator and weld the muffler in its place. It will still be a short exhaust since I'm not looking to run it all the way out of the rear of the rig, but I do want to run it a little further back and have it dumping at a 45 degree axle just ahead of the rear axle. We'll see what it sounds like

 

[awhitney1]

Great to hear about the TK1 racing sway bar! I plan to get my installed later this week and appreciate your pictures and thoughts that went into the install, big help!

Once again... if you have been running with no sway bars I would highly recommend going to a TK1 racing, or something similar, for an off-road style sway bar at least in the rear... I don't know if its just me, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised by the reduction in body roll under normal driving conditions.. pretty damn impressive.

I can only imagine how much better it would be if I positioned the bar more up and forward to get it to sit level at ride height and have the links completely vertical (mine are at a slight rear facing angle so some of the force translation isn't direct ) but even as it is , pretty amazing.

I am hoping to do a flex test in the next couple of days to see if I it allows full articulation/bump stop compression. My bumpstops seem to limit the complete upward travel JUST a bit, probably have almost .75" of shock travel remaining, but I would much rather be on the safe side and give it some breathing room in the case I really come down hard on a single wheel when already almost fully compressed so that I don't blow a shock out.

This will also greatly help with stuffing a 37 down the road without having to worry about rubbing too much on the inside of the door.


Yesterday on the way to the dog park I made a $80 mistake... I failed to fully bolt on the drivers side quarter molding trim piece... and watched it snap off and go flying down the highway at 70mph... Doh!! I'm going to be working on building out wider flares off of them soon anyway.. but needed a base to start with... so had to source a blue of off of ebay for 80 bucks.. stupid me.


My wife and I are taking a trip down to Carolina beach next week for my brothers birthday and are taking the 4runner. My recent FJ Transfer case swap with the cutout floor really increased the sound level inside the car.. that along with my exhaust modification (cut out the muffler and welded the resonator do dump straight down right under the passenger seat) really make it less than ideal to have a conversation on a 3 hour drive.. so last night I ordered a FlowMaster super 44 muffler that should be here this week. The plan is to remove the resonator and weld the muffler in its place. It will still be a short exhaust since I'm not looking to run it all the way out of the rear of the rig, but I do want to run it a little further back and have it dumping at a 45 degree axle just ahead of the rear axle. We'll see what it sounds like

 

[aemravan]

Great to hear about the TK1 racing sway bar! I plan to get my installed later this week and appreciate your pictures and thoughts that went into the install, big help!

no problem at all man.. take them for what they're worth lol, I have no idea how close to proper I am, but seems to work for sure. Are you planning on going through the frame as well or going below it?

 

[awhitney1]

Seems like the way to go is to cut through the frame, I feel like it would be more secure that way..

no problem at all man.. take them for what they're worth lol, I have no idea how close to proper I am, but seems to work for sure. Are you planning on going through the frame as well or going below it?

 

[aemravan]

Seems like the way to go is to cut through the frame, I feel like it would be more secure that way..

Yea that was my feeling as well, plus I like the idea of not having a low-hanging things added in the rear. That and along with the trying to get the arms parallel at ride height while having the recommended length of the links being at least as long as the shock travel would make it hard to achieve both of those if you went under the frame.. the fuel filer above the bar would have allowed me to go up another bit for sure, maybe not much, so take a look and see.. you may be able to shoot for middle of the frame to drill it in place vs what I did. Also, unless you have your axle slid back as far as I do (I probably shifted my hole axle back an inch at least from stock) you definitely want to come forward 1-2 inches easily on the placement.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to shoot my pictures over to tony at TK1 racing and see what his thoughts are on my setup.. but I'm also kind of afraid to ask since I'm not moving it from where it is now hahah

 

[aemravan]

Simple problems call for simple solutions. Used a 1 1/4 inch pvc pipe, cut a part of it and slid it around the torsion tube and used a worm gear clamp to secure it in place. No more lateral movement (well, very minimal, about 1/8” ) on the bar. Should do the trick just fine. But this is where I was saying that if I had the weld tube wider to take up all the slack in between it wouldn’t have been an issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[aemravan]

I just ordered 25 pounds of modeling clay from ebay.

After getting the panels back on and getting the bumper welded up and painted I couldn't help but notice how funny the factory rear wheel arches look compared to the wide-fender fronts... I am finally going to fix this.. and since there isn't any off-theshelf options that I currently see available (at least not ones that done also required a tone of fiberglass work anyway) I plan on building out my own wide-body molding pieces.

The plan is to shape it out in modeling clay to where the shoulders more or less match the fronts and then turn to fiberglass to finish them out. I feel like it should be very doable, and hopefully shouldn't take too much time... and will ultimately get me one step closer to my latest, completely unnecessary idea which I think will suit my build oh-so-good.. it will involve a complete color scheme change, isn't paint, and isn't wrap

 

[y=mx+b]

it will involve a complete color scheme change, isn't paint, and isn't wrap

oh no, its not braptor liner is it? lol

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

I just ordered 25 pounds of modeling clay from ebay.


The plan is to shape it out in modeling clay to where the shoulders more or less match the fronts and then turn to fiberglass to finish them out.

Try to save those clay templates.....this project might pay for itself. I'd be down for a set.

No one makes rear glass for these trucks. Just not enough commitment to that kind of mod amongst the 4Runner owners like the Taco guys.

 

[aemravan]

Try to save those clay templates.....this project might pay for itself. I'd be down for a set.

No one makes rear glass for these trucks. Just not enough commitment to that kind of mod amongst the 4Runner owners like the Taco guys.

I thought about building a few.. issue is that I’m already on a coastal rear bumper that has the rear trim piece trimmed and cut.. I would have to build it off of a uncut piece which I don’t know if it’s worth the the trouble of doing.. I guess we’ll see how the first iteration comes out on my rig and maybe I’ll see about building some off of a factory rear bumper setup ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

I thought about building a few.. issue is that I’m already on a coastal rear bumper that has the rear trim piece trimmed and cut.. I would have to build it off of a uncut piece which I don’t know if it’s worth the the trouble of doing.. I guess we’ll see how the first iteration comes out on my rig and maybe I’ll see about building some off of a factory rear bumper setup ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I took the bumper covers off both my trucks years ago. So I could trim your glass fender to fit, or fab something to fit on the bumper.

 

[aemravan]

The articulation test went well. Everything is still intact and the sway bar works awesome.

I think the rear bump stops limit just a bit prior to full bump, but I think I’m willing to live with it to be on the safe side. This is static loading and not dynamic so I’d rather have some give left.

I maxed out the loading ramp.. the front tire still had a bit more to go until the bump stop.

Next step is to verify all this off-road.. but so far amazing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk