Build Thread: Mothra, the (blown) budget camping rig

[Renegade_Medic]

New-ish axle shaft

After building some railing for my grandparents, I checked the salvage yards website and was shocked to see they put a 99 and a 98 4runner out today. I went home and grabbed my tools, and headed to the yard. It was a cool 96 degrees when I arrived and the nice wind was largely gone. It was HOT!

I found the pair of 4runners, side by side, with the interior already stripped from the 99. I was disappointed to see that neither had a locking diff, which would have made my day. But both had dry axles and brakes. The 99 has unknown mileage and the 98 had 278k. After looking at the axles for a minute, I decided to pull the 99s. The brake hard line was bent, it has been removed at some point, but it still had a somewhat rusty Toyota TEQ marked wheel cylinder. So I deduced the bearing, or at least the seal has been done on this one, I'd start there.

Pulled it without issue. Dry as a bone in the ABS ring area. It had a National axle seal in it and a Nachi bearing, which was tight and sounded good.

I got home and pulled the old one out. When the seals fail, they fail. I cleaned my brakes up 3 days ago and it was full of oil again. I did some more studying of the axle this time and discovered an error by the machine shop, I think.

Here's the original shaft, you can see where the seal has been riding, it's not anywhere near the edge. There is also some damage around the bevel.

"New" shaft has the retainer farther outboard, not really sire which is correct, but I have my suspicions.....

Here's a look inside the axle

The retainer has been hitting the inside of the axle housing. WTF?
For those unfamiliar, here's how the little crosshair thing inside the axle tube should look:

I will contact the machine shop on Monday and see what they say about this.

I decided to try out a National #1960 seal, why not? I compared the 2 seals, the national seal is smooth sealing, while the Toyota seal has little ridges on the sealing surface. I think the idea is to sweep away foreign debris/water. Also, I measured the inside of the seals. The National is almost 2mm smaller than the Toyota seal, so it may work better. It may also wear out faster.

Toyota seal:

National seal:

I put the first national seal in and did a grease test. I got a clean grease removal to the middle on the bottom, but it disappeared up around the top, or was very light. So i ripped that seal out and tried again. Same thing and the seal is flat inside the tube. Any ideas?

Also the vibration is gone!!! finally a vibration free lifted 4Runner! Many said it couldn't be done.....

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Ripcord Fuse box holder and "Big 3" upgrade

Alright so I read through the Big "3" upgrade and decided it would be a good thing to do. I have already replaced the contacts in my alternator after I started having some charging problems.

I read through BFAD's guide and was more confused than ever. I had done this same thing on other vehicles, so I bought all the parts listed and started to work on it. Not to knock the guide, but there are definitely some inaccuracies in it. I ended up using a combination of 4ga terminal lugs with 1/4" holes, not 3/8", which are huge and half of the bolts barely even hold them in place.

Anyway, I ended up with 7 wires, totaling 14 Terminals. I also added in the Fuse box holder which I ordered from Ripcord. I had a minor issue with the fuse box holder and have already discussed it with Ripcord, but I was able to remedy the issue in a couple of minutes, no big deal.

Then I pulled the truck in the garage as far as I could because the sun was killing me.

Negative lead needs a longer post!

Bye bye crap ground:

So far all I have hooked up is my headlight harness.

Then my package arrived...

I can't wait to get this triple row bar up top and wire everything up.

 

[spoonsports86]

roof rack is coming out nice

 

[Kotrin]

Yes and no. When he stopped taking my calls I went by and he said he called to tell me he couldn't do it. He said he tried, but couldn't bend the pipe without kinking it. He said He would have had to fill it with sand and cap it. Yes, that's correct, that's why I took it to a metal fab shop. He said he had a lot of big orders come in and didn't have time to mess with making mine properly.

I can get prebent 90s from Westbrook, up north, and just weld them to the pipe myself, it will only take a couple hours to do it all.

I used to be an Electrician so pipe bending is second nature. I will say if you EVER need to bend anything that isn't designed for the particular size (aka 1" bender bending 1/2"), pack it full of sand and you won't kink it or anything .

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Mounted LED bar to the roof rack.

Had a nice kayak trip in the morning with my wife and parents.

Unusual for us to have a Memorial Day weekend with torrential rainfall and historic flooding. So we took advantage of it and hit the water.

When we got back I started working on making my mounts for my LED Lightbar for the front.

Once it was done I went to work wiring it all up. Finally got all the lights on the rack wired. Or least the wiring on the rack is done. A storm blew in (shocker) before I could finish the wiring. I also finally found some plastic caps that were super tight fitting and should stay put. They really finish off the look and it looks much better with that small detail.

Before:

Now:

I don't know where I like these switches, I guess I could move them around after they are wired in, if I want.

I will finish the wiring tomorrow at work if I get a chance. My list is shrinking. Rear plate bumper build and tire/gas can carrier is my next big item.

 

[Tring]

Awesome work, quite a transformation!

 

[WenatcheeSkier]

sweet camping set up!!:drum:

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Awesome work, quite a transformation!

sweet camping set up!!:drum:

Thanks! I think that it's turning out perfect. I had a vision when I started looking at SUVs a year ago, and this one is almost there.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Roof lighting

I had a chance to wire up everything yesterday afternoon with some help at work. I have each LED on a switch, so each light can be utilized independently. When I'm camping, with the RTT open, I can have just the passenger side on while I'm setting up at night. The front light is super bright, especially for a 32" bar. All the LEDs are AUXBEAM brand. I have used a couple of their other LED bars on other projects and always been happy with the value.

Low:

High:

All lights:

Also finally an inside shot of the interior LEDs in the back. I have some more I could add to the underside of the liftgate and I want to add some under the hood for nighttime tinkering. I was initially worried they weren't going to be bright enough...

Lastly, I changed the background on my Radio.

My dream is finally starting to come to fruition. Just a few more things...

 

[WenatcheeSkier]

Damn those are bright!!
looks good.
You should probably invest in some LED's for the under carriage. Those where the most useful lights I had when building my wheeler.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Rear Bumper part 1

So I have been wanting to put a rear bumper on the 4Runner, mainly to mount a spare tire and gas can holders. Plus, I was tired of looking at the dented bumper. So after pricing aftermarket bumpers, I decided maybe I'll try to build my own for a low cost. I found a good deal on some plate metal, 30 sq ft of 1/4" for $150, here locally that would be closer to $350 from the metal supply. I don't really want/need 1/4" as I found out it is super heavy and kind of hard to cut. I also found a good deal on a section of 5" square tubing, that just needed to be cleaned up.

Extremely DIY bumper "kit":

The Wife got in on the work too

Hitch came off first, the hitch probably weighs about 40 pounds

The bumper was a pain, and probably weighs 40-50 pounds with all the brackets. [MENTION=159759]Spunky1[/MENTION] came by to help as well.

Next we mounted the tubing section and started welding mounts

Then the fun part of cardboard shapes

Using an outstanding(ly cheap) Harbor Freight Angle grinder and some cut off wheels the cutting began. Very slowly... I know this would be a lot faster if I had plasma or a cutting torch or CNC/Water, etc. But, I don't I'm on a budget here, so this is what I got. It works, just takes a while.

I think it's turning out great. I stopped here because I smoked my angle grinder. I specifically bought this cheap one to use and toss because it's cheap. I didn't want to ruin my nicer one with this project. I am using a friends bigger, better welder to finish it out tomorrow. I do want to add a hitch in the middle and some lights on the outside. I estimate that this bumper weighs around 120 pounds, maybe a little less. I could use a plasma cutter after it's done and cut out a lot of the 5" tubing underneath/inside to save weight.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Coastal Fishing Trip and Bumper paint

I wanted to finish welding and paint the bumper before going to the salt water, but it didn't happen. We had a good trip and the rooftop tent performed flawlessly.

After we got home, I wrapped up the bumper, for now. I still need to add a swing out tire carrier/gas can holder and a hitch.

I feel good about building my first bumper. Not as bad as I thought it would be. It's not perfect, but my whole build is A: built, not bought and B: Function over Form, with as much form as reasonably achievable.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Tire carrier part 1

I have been waiting for my Comp 4x4 Hinge to come in and also my De-Sta-Co latch. Everything is in and I got planning. I want to be able to mount 2 5 gallon fuel cans on the back. The Comp 4x4 hinge is beefy and worth the wait.

I initially got the VP racing 5gal "off highway" cans, mainly because of the nozzle. No CARB compliant BS here. CARB can kiss my ass with their stupid fuel spilling nozzles. How are those even considered to be more environmentally friendly if they spill fuel everywhere? Anyway, the footprint on the VP cans is just too big for the back of the runner. They are roughly 10 x10.5". Both of my Milsurp cans are 13x13.5" and the same height, for twice as much fuel.

After collecting the necessary materials for a cool $55 (more metal than needed, as usual), it was the nice warm part of the day.

So I have a hard time planning a lot of this stuff out, because I just visualize it and then make it.

Forgot to take more pictures towards the end, but here's where I called it a night. I will mount the spare on the driver side and gas cans on the passenger side. I am going to make a "wire" frame for the cans out of 1" flat bar. I ordered a 17" steelie that should have enough backspace to allow the 285/70R17 spare I have to fit on the front.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Hoffie]

Looking really good. Is your right rear oil seal leaking? The inside of the tire looks wet with gear oil.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Looking really good. Is your right rear oil seal leaking? The inside of the tire looks wet with gear oil.

No, my front brake line randomly loosened and bled everywhere. Fortunately noticed it and was able to get it remedied. That would have made for an interesting ride when the fluid got all the way out! I then rotated the tires, so it's back there now.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Gas can holder

Been busy with other stuff, specifically not being outside roasting. I did get a gas can holder made. After looking around and pricing them, I decided to make my own.

I also got my spare wheel in and got my tire mounted. It's just a steel wheel that should clear the front suspension in case I need to put it on the front. I should have just ordered a matching FN wheel, because this steel wheel is HEAVY (37 pounds)!

Here is how I'm thinking it will all fit on the back. I will mount the gas cans a little lower, I think. I have a bent axle shaft that I think I'm going to cut off for the tire mount.

Next week hopefully I'll get it done.

 

[Bud4me0007]

Love what you are doing to your rig. The head light looks cool super bright.

 

[A.Wilson013]

If I were you, which I am not, I would re-evaluate the use of the latch you've got, how you've got it.

I've only ever seen them used when there was a little "seat" that the swing arm sat on top of, and then the latch simply held it there. By doing that, the "seat" was supporting the weight of the swingarm, and the latch was just holding it in place. I think once you ad that spare tire and those two fuel cans you're going to be putting a LOT of unnecessary stress on both the spindle, and the latch.

Here's a picture of my CBI for reference... Not the best picture, but i think it makes sense.

5 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

9 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

 

[Renegade_Medic]

If I were you, which I am not, I would re-evaluate the use of the latch you've got, how you've got it.

I've only ever seen them used when there was a little "seat" that the swing arm sat on top of, and then the latch simply held it there. By doing that, the "seat" was supporting the weight of the swingarm, and the latch was just holding it in place. I think once you ad that spare tire and those two fuel cans you're going to be putting a LOT of unnecessary stress on both the spindle, and the latch.

Here's a picture of my CBI for reference... Not the best picture, but i think it makes sense.

5 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

9 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

Thanks, yeah I looked at doing the latch with that style, but for the design I had in mind, I think this will work. I am going to add a little perch that the swing arm will sit on and the latch will just hold it. It's a double shear hinge, so I think it will be fine. Thank you.

 

[Black798]

Excellent work with the rear bumper and swing out, I love the simplicity. Im hoping to start on my swing out this week.