And it begins- 98' build up - 5280nrg

[5280nrg]

I picked up a 98' limited on Saturday 09/29/12, Elocker, in pretty good shape, but wicked tired suspension. Pics coming soon... So like anyone else, I said to myself "Self, if your going to spend money on the suspension LIFT!" Good self talk... LOL

I've already removed the side steps, SeaFoam'd, new oil and plugs, will have a diff shop and trans shop flush those components. (too much of a mess for my little garage)

So here is the plan starting this weekend: (edit: this will be a daily driver so I only wanted 2.5" front and around 3" in the back. I have brand new 275x 17's, but plan to go to 285's in the spring with new wheels)

Monroe's Quick-Strut for V8 Tundra up front
LC 7 wrap with LC shocks
Tundra caliper (cardone) and rotor (Bosche) swap
Front swaybar bushings replacement, and new links
Rear swaybar bushings and links

Find the annoying rattle whenever I hit the smallest bumps!!!

If I have time after all this knuckle busting, run it by a muffler shop to install my 18" Magnaflow muffler I ordered last night, with a new cat. 2 1/4 out

Any tips for "the little crap" I will need? Because its always the little crap that screws the pooch on a weekend project. And if there is anyone in Highlands Ranch, CO that wants to lend a hand for kicks; there is really good beer in the fridge LOL.

 

[fish0281]

Those annoying clunks over bumps... check your sway bar links. I had the same thing and it turned out they were totally loose (had to replace one), but I didn't notice until I had the wheels off the ground.

 

[fish0281]

Oh, and welcome! You'll love your new truck, especially here in CO... also, PICS!

 

[PitbullRescuer]

You'll need 4Runner top plates for the Tundra struts. (Kind of defeats the purpose of quick struts, sorry.) Also, did you get Tundra TRD quick struts or Tundra? The non-TRD won't give you as much lift and I'm pretty sure they are not a progressive rate spring like the TRD spring is. (can't swear to that though.)

If you're already going to have it apart, I'd recommend you do LBJ's, OTRE's & ITRE's just for piece of mind if nothing else. Might as well only pay for one alignment.

Good luck.

 

[Fishwerks]

Bummer, I was around Highlands Ranch all summer....up in Fort Collins now since school started up again though, otherwise I would come help!

Plans look good so far, I'm jealous of the e-locker!

Have a breaker bar or pry bar or something to pry the upper control arm down for the front struts. Or you can use the stock bottle jack supposedly. Maybe you already knew that though!

:welcome:

 

[5280nrg]

Just got home and one of my good buddies called out of the blue to ask about the project and says that he can get me wholesale parts pricing for brand new TRD fronts!!! Whooooo Hooooo. Now I just need a VIN number for Tundra TRD. Any ideas on how to "aquire" one?

Thanks pitbull, I forgot to add that to the list. I picked up a set of Taco LBJ and OTRE's (Moog) on Monday.

Thanks for the welcome fish, I am ordering a complete bushing kit for the front and rear tomorrow. I am sure I need more based on what I saw during my lunchtime inspection... and GO RAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Study hard FR4R

 

[5280nrg]

I decided after reading about a million posts here (thanks for all the knowledge sharing!) that I want to use ONLY Toyota parts for the upper/lower ball joints from the Taco, 231mm Calipers, rotors and pads from the Tundra as well as the TRD Tundra front Coilovers. My friend is helping with that.

I also just ordered complete front and rear sway bar bushing kits, T4R inner tie rod ends, Land Cruiser shocks for the rear. If I can get all this stuff by Friday, I have a VERY busy weekend ahead!!!

Also, after reading a boat load of posts, I decided to embark on a custom build for front and rear bumpers, as well as sliders. A friend of mine is a CAD wiz and offered to help me so that I can take all the plate to a guy I know to cut it all out on a water jet. From what I have priced out so far, it's going to cost me ~$450 for the metal and water jet cutting fee. If anyone has any tips, please, feel free to share. Thanks

Now Im on the hunt for the cup holder console, though I may just make one custom. I would really like a better armrest, and be able to use the space under the stereo better. Oh the dreams...

 

[5280nrg]

Here is a link to my build album:

Pictures by 5280nrg - Photobucket

And a picture as she sits day one, after the side steps removed:

 

[5280nrg]

Stage one- starting work on the suspension tomorrow. Here is the plan, which is kind of based on the parts that have come in, and/or will be here today:

Saturday/Sunday
1. Scrape, sand, encapsulate, and paint any surface rust on the underside.
2. Replace Front and Rear swaybar links and bushings
3. Clean and grease all zirks not associated with the lift portion of this project
4. Pull the rusty tow hitch, sand, "de-rust" and paint- will be getting a plate bumper this fall so not going to detail this one too much
5. Do a trans flush, and both transaxles.

Monday afternoon
1. Install new Taco LBJ's and OTRE's
2. Install brand new Tundra TRD coilovers
3. Install New Tundra brakes and rotors
4. Install LCruiser springs and shocks rear

Tuesday
1. Trip to the alignment and to have codes pulled/deleted for the ECU
2. Trip to the muffler shop to install a new Magnaflow muffler and a new exhaust from muffler back with a new tip I picked up. May need a new CAT, but hope not.

 

[5280nrg]

Lift portion of the project is complete. I have to say, I have been working on cars and trucks all my life. This lift project was a fricken bit**!!!! Every stinking bolt was rusted (most sheered off with hand socket force)... it will be a major undertaking to clean up the underside.

Front: New Tundra TRD coils, Bilstein 5100 lift strut.
Rear: LC 7 wrap Springs with Rancho RS5000 LC springs
Spidertrax wheel spacers

I jumped in on the lift before "de-rusting" as I was going to jump up in tire size and basically had the current ones sold. That deal fell thru, I ended up spending more on extra parts that I did not take into account, so in the end, I will be plenty happy about the build with 265's until next year.

I also bought
- Lower Ball joints and Outer Tie Rod Ends (OEM Taco)
- 8" sway bar links
- 2005 Tundra Calipers 231 mm, with Bosch Rotors
- Magnaflow 18" muffler #11255 and one of their Oval Tips
- Limited flare and rocker panel cladding clips and connectors
(the POS previous owner "failed to mention" that he had glued them on
rather than doing it correctly - I hate cheep bas****s)

I also bought some steel to build some sliders/step rails, and "under armor. Thanks to everyone that posted all the awesome info so that new owners can attempt to develop their own custom ride!

 

[hrt4me]

off to a good start so far!

 

[Dubk_trd]

nice i want to do this lift on my 4runner too. I was wondering if your upper ball joint is in extreme angle? Also, are you using a front diff drop ? thanks

 

[5280nrg]

nice i want to do this lift on my 4runner too. I was wondering if your upper ball joint is in extreme angle? Also, are you using a front diff drop ? thanks

The upper is not bad at all. I can take better pictures tomorrow. Just picked up a new camera (Canon T4i) so now I can really show how bad the toy looks. LOL

I am doing a self sourced diff drop. I have a set of billet puck spacers (old project parts) that I plan to use. I have just come to a bit of a stand still this week, as I am working on big project that requires tons of my time. Work on the toy begins Sat evening and all day Sunday finishing all the upgrades, fixes and cleaning/uncovering what else needs to be fixed...

I am also going to do a SeaFoam intake cleaning, change the spark plugs, install a Trans Cooler, flush the Coolant, and try to do a really solid clean of the carpet and interior. My 13 year old son is totally excited to help, and he was a major help with the lift install.

 

[5280nrg]

So I just got back in from the garage... I think I am obsessed. LOL Even though I have been working 12 hours a day, I still woke myself up at 5 am to work on the rig. Found the item that was causing an wicked annoying rattle (it was the completely rusted away Cat holder for the exhaust).

Finally was able to bust loose the pass side sway bar connector and install the Moog unit.

I also fixed the drivers side body molding after spending 65 fricken dollars on little tiny plastic clips. My theory here is just like any smart company, Toyota figured out that those suckers break all the time and jacked the price up. and I mean WAY up. 8 pins, 8 clips, and one yellow thing that holds the rear quarter trim on securely. :bash:

I washed the interior glass, from the previous owner's dog sputz.

Thats it for now. Off to another long day of work. Tomorrow's (Saturday) projects:
LBJ's, OTRE's, front and rear sway bar bushing replacement (another Toyota engineer genious design; upside down bolts WTF), Tundra brake calipers and rotors/pads.

Sunday's: Rust removal and overall chassis clean up, Tune Up (see if I can get better MPG's than the already decent 20MPG I am getting now.

 

[5280nrg]

Friday afternoon rains put an end to work for the day. So what to do, what to do. Decided to bust, cut, scrape and smash some fingers and knuckles. I mean, I decided to install the new LBJ, OTRE, Tundra Calipers and rotors.

I don't believe I have ever seen this much rust, and I just got finished rebuilding a 68 Mustang!!!!

Again, every stinking bolt was either rusted, or frozen solid from the industrial strength lock tite (some kind of white glue?) I believe that all of the parts I "massaged" off were original, just like the front and rear shocks/struts.

I had to use a torch, and WD40 over and over to get the OTRE nuts to free up (the nuts that synch up to the steering knuckle and yes the TRE's were off the vehicle before I torched them).

I measured the heck out of the old tie rod lengths to the ball joint perchs, and I think I did a better alignment job than many "shops" I used in the past.

I will still get analignment, and a professional brake bleed tomorrow...

All in all it took me about 5 hours to complete the work.

The test drive was awesome. Everything feels so solid, and I even managed to straighten out my steering wheel so that straight = straight down the road!!!

Tomorrow I will attack the sway bar bushings. I may have to cut the bolts out out as the rust has basically disolved the nuts. Fun times.

 

[Fishwerks]

Lift looks good! Too bad there is so much rust.....

 

[5280nrg]

Here is a quick pic from the work I did last night. Lots of little things to clean up the underside, but it drives so nice!

 

[5280nrg]

Lift looks good! Too bad there is so much rust.....

How is school treating you? And what is your degree by the way? I got two: Business Management w/ Accounting Minor, and the 2nd was Human Nutrition with Exercise Phys minor

 

[5280nrg]

Got a brake flush done this morning and now with the brake upgrade, it can stop on a dime. Very happy with the results not so happy with the dork that did the work at brakes plus. The only reason I took it to someone is that my hands and body were so tired I just wanted it done. I fricken hate sloppy dirty, messy mechanics. The guy dripped brake fluid all over the place and left a nice puddle of it on top of the intake. Grrrrrrr. I just cleaned the engine bay too :sniper:

Anyway, the next step in getting it to where I want it to be is the tune up portion. So to have some fun with my 13 year old who is totally psyched to get the 4runner when he turns 16, I decided to play around with SeaFoam in the intake before I changed the spark plugs. Let the engine "sip" it in using the line that come from the PCV, then let it "drink" and shut it down for about 30 minutes. Started it up... Holy Crap that is a lot of smoke!! LOL So much so that a neighbor came out to see where the fire was. Ha ha

My kid got a kick out of it. But, all the fun aside... the engine had a rough idle before and felt a little slow to respond to rev's. I am quite amazed at how smooth the engine is now!!! I actually thought it died and had to roll down the window to hear it. The engine responded nicely to rev'ing it too.

I will be cleaning the throttle body and MAF at the same time as the spark plugs.

On another SeaFoam note: I had added it to the crank case (1/2 a bottle). The oil had just been changed the week I bought it. Not my oil and had no idea if the POS did a filter at that time, so to be safe, I was going to change it anyway. Before I added the SeaFoam, you could barely see the oil on the dipstick. When I drained the oil 300 miles later. Wow; it was as black as midnight!!! Talk about a internals cleaning. I am very confident that this stuff is far more than "hype" that some say it is. I will recommend it to all my friends with high milage vehicles!!

 

[5280nrg]

So while I wanted to do the Tundra brake upgrade, I also wanted to make sure I could stop this awesome investment. Fortunately, I did it when I did: