Building the Black Pearl...

[Gary Blake]

Gary,

From all the research I did before ordering rear shocks, I finally came to the conclusion that the 4th gen 4Runner or FJCruiser rear shocks have the correct lengths (16" compression and 24.6" extended) for our 3rd gens with the OME 861 coils.

You could go with Icon, King, or ADS rear lift shocks for the 4th gen 4Runner. I went with ADS, and have been very happy.

Good luck.

Thanks for replying.

Those compressed and extended measurements sound like they will be right. I am currently running Rancho RC 999319 with the springs that came with the Toytec Ultimate 3” lift.

These measure 14.050” compressed and 22.430 extended. 8.38” of travel
So your quoted 16” compressed and 24.6” extended, 8.6” of travel should work well with the slightly taller 2861’s.

Only problem is I can’t find compressed and extended lengths for the Icons anywhere on their website or their suppliers. I am looking at the 57810CP model for the 4th gen and all it lists as far as measurement specs is 3” lift and 7/8”shaft diameter. Looks to be identical to the 57800CP they list for the 3rd gens with 2” lift specification.

I am sort of committed to the Icons now as I have the fronts and their upper control arm.

Just wondering where you got the compressed and extended specs?

Gary

 

[Bandit Runner]

Thanks for replying.

Those compressed and extended measurements sound like they will be right. I am currently running Rancho RC 999319 with the springs that came with the Toytec Ultimate 3” lift.

These measure 14.050” compressed and 22.430 extended. 8.38” of travel
So your quoted 16” compressed and 24.6” extended, 8.6” of travel should work well with the slightly taller 2861’s.

Only problem is I can’t find compressed and extended lengths for the Icons anywhere on their website or their suppliers. I am looking at the 57810CP model for the 4th gen and all it lists as far as measurement specs is 3” lift and 7/8”shaft diameter. Looks to be identical to the 57800CP they list for the 3rd gens with 2” lift specification.

I am sort of committed to the Icons now as I have the fronts and their upper control arm.

Just wondering where you got the compressed and extended specs?

Gary

I got the specs from both King and ADS. I couldn't find specs on the Icons either, but guess they would be similar. I would call Icon and confirm though.

 

[Rekkr]

So the Black Pearl's front grill had some fading that had been bothering me so I started making a plan to clean it up. This soon turned into me kicking around the idea of adding some Matte red badging to the rig. After a trip to the store and staying up all night, I have a project I'm decently happy with.


Parts used:

100 grit soft sanding block
soap and water
double sided 3m automotive adhesive tape
1 can Plasti-dip black
1 can Rustoleum rubber coating Matte Red (Rustoleum version of plastidip)
Turtle wax adhesive remover
small scraper

I took my time and lightly sanded each piece so that it was roughed up and ready for coating. After sanding I would wash each piece thoroughly and let them dry for approximately an hour.

5 coats were applied to each piece with anywhere from 10-20 minutes in between the heavier coats.

This didn't turn out perfect, as some of the badges had some imperfections on them just due to old age, but I'm very pleased with how they look so far. I will post some pics of them on the vehicle later this evening once installed.

 

[Rekkr]

So I just got done installing the grill and emblems back onto the truck and I'm really happy with the look. I'm going to apply some clear coat over them now that I know I want to keep the color. I am by no means a professional painter so this was a learning process as I've never used these products before. Part of me already wants to pull everything back apart and fix tiny little details but I'm going to just enjoy the look for a little bit before redoing it to suffice my OCD. I am planning on also doing the license plate area in the same black that I did the grill in. Granted you don't see much of it with my tire carrier but I would like for it to look uniform.

 

[jstim]

I have a question about your rear Icon CDCV remote res rear shocks if you don’t mind.

(Tried to send you a PM but the site says you are not accepting? Figured I would just put the question in your thread as the information may be useful to others scratching their heads over the same thing.

I have already ordered and received the Icon CDCV remote res front coilovers and have the OME 2861’s.

As to the rears – I phoned Icon technical support and spoke with one of their engineers and she confirmed that their stock rears for the 3rd gens are in fact only able to add 2” of lift as opposed to the fronts going to 3”. She advised that the reason was they (Icon) do not like the 1” front to rear rake and designed their stock pairing to level out the suspension.

I personally want the rake as I will have enough weight in the back to bring this down a bit most of the time, particularly on long camping trips.

[MENTION=55891]Bandit Runner[/MENTION] was asking the same question:

“Nice setup! I'm thinking of going with Icons and 861's also. What rear shocks did you get? The Icon 3rd gen 4Runner rear shocks say they are only for 0-2" of lift. You'll have a lot more lift in the rear than that with the 861's. Did you have custom length shocks made?”

[MENTION=113939]JerkyDrewster[/MENTION] replied

“Sorry to barge in, but I can answer this one! I called Icon about that issue and they told me that their website was incorrect, and those shocks are meant for 0-3" of lift.”

So.. there seems to be some confusion out there.

I am just wondering if you have the model # and specs for the 4th gen version you ordered, and what if any research you were able to find out about the compatibility with 3rd gens.

The Icon engineer told me that I would have to remove my rear shocks, install the springs I wish to use (OME 2861) and then measure between the shock mounting points at full droop and full compression.

From those measurements they would make a custom length rear set.

This seems like a lot of work, work that I am hoping to avoid – I am thinking there must be enough 3rd gens running this exact combination to have already figured out the length required, or a way to mathematically calculate this from known suspension specifications.

Sorry for the long post, thanking you in advance

Gary

So I have sold this rig, however I will tell you this. Alex (can’t think of his username right now) had the 4th gens, in order to mount them, you have to move the mounting point for the top of the shock. I intended to do that, but all the fabrication, etc was not able to be resourced. So I sent the 4th gen shocks back and had the 3rd gen shocks sent out. You cannot get the 4th gen shocks even in, mostly because of where the line comes out of the shock to the remote resi. So if you want 4th gen shocks, Alex’s rig was sold to a forum member in the PNW who is still on here as far as I know. You can look at his, it’s gonna take some fabrication, and measurements so you can put another mount on the frame without binding the shock up. Hope this helps you.

 

[Gary Blake]

So I have sold this rig, however I will tell you this. Alex (can’t think of his username right now) had the 4th gens, in order to mount them, you have to move the mounting point for the top of the shock. I intended to do that, but all the fabrication, etc was not able to be resourced. So I sent the 4th gen shocks back and had the 3rd gen shocks sent out. You cannot get the 4th gen shocks even in, mostly because of where the line comes out of the shock to the remote resi. So if you want 4th gen shocks, Alex’s rig was sold to a forum member in the PNW who is still on here as far as I know. You can look at his, it’s gonna take some fabrication, and measurements so you can put another mount on the frame without binding the shock up. Hope this helps you.

Thanks for that information, good to know that the 4th gens are just not a direct bolt in.

So you installed the stock length 3rd gen 57800CP model or did you order a custom length to go with the 2861 springs?

It is beginning to look like I may have to do the work to measure compression and extension and order a custom length. Would probably be a lot easier than doing custom fabrication work.

Gary

 

[jstim]

It worked just fine with the regular 3rd gen shocks. Bolted up, little stuff, but I haven’t wheeled it in that setup. You should ask [MENTION=334312]Rekkr[/MENTION], he’ll be taking it out this weekend I believe.

 

[Rekkr]

I’ll post results of taking her out this weekend!

 

[Gary Blake]

I’ll post results of taking her out this weekend!

Would really appreciate hearing your results.

Also wondering if you can confirm it is the Icon 57800CP shocks you have installed with OME 2861 springs in the rear.

It would also be very interesting to see how your rig sits on level ground, center of wheel hub to fender opening measurements front and rear, and if you have done any checking at full droop and compression to see if there any issues with this combination in the rear.

Gary

 

[Rekkr]

Would really appreciate hearing your results.

Also wondering if you can confirm it is the Icon 57800CP shocks you have installed with OME 2861 springs in the rear.

It would also be very interesting to see how your rig sits on level ground, center of wheel hub to fender opening measurements front and rear, and if you have done any checking at full droop and compression to see if there any issues with this combination in the rear.

Gary

I should be able to run the off road course at the off road expo this weekend so I’ll post how she does.

I’ll try and verify what icon part# they are.

As far as how it sits on level ground, the rear sits slightly higher than the front, so there is a bit of a rake when it’s empty in the back. I dont have measurements currently but I’m sure I could get some.

I haven’t done any droop/compression testing.

 

[Rekkr]

Just got done running the off-road course at the off road expo and I couldn’t be happier with how she did. I was the only Toyota in a sea of jeeps. Had multiple compliments from the jeep guys which was cool since I wasn’t sure how they were going to take a Toyota mingling with them .

I bypassed two obstacles out of 6. 1 because it was a pretty extreme obstacle of rocks for the dedicated crawlers to tackle and 1 because the course was still wet (it’s raining today) and I currently don’t have sliders installed and the chance of crushing a panel was there. Do I think she could have done it? Absolutely with no question. It was more of my skill that I questioned.

Icons were dialed to the softest setting, didn’t deflate tires at all and no sway bars were disco’d. Running general grabber at2’s. She had no problem at all with the course and it soaked up the rocks and drops very comfortably. Again, I couldn’t be happier with the performance. This suspension did everything I asked of it.

I had planned on putting it on the flex dyno (not sure if that’s the proper term) but it started raining again and I’m getting hangry. If I come back tomorrow I’ll throw it on there.

 

[Rekkr]

So after going to the Nashville off-road expo yesterday I was slightly disappointed. It wasn't as big as I had hoped, and everything was catered entirely to the jeep community. So instead of returning for day two, the GF and I decided to take the hour drive outside Nashville to Wooly's off road park. If you haven't been and you live around the area I highly recommend checking it out. The staff is super friendly and the place is a lot of fun. We picked a pretty bad day to go since it's been raining and was still sprinkling when we were there. If you know anything about the off road terrain in these parts, you know how bad the mud can be. Today was definitely a very muddy day and limited a lot of the trails that we could access. Even the trails we could get at, I was fighting the mud the whole time as it made the truck slide pretty much everywhere no matter what I did. All in all it was still an absolute blast getting out of the city and doing some wheeling for a bit.

 

[SeaDug]

How are you liking the shrockworks sliders? I've been eyeing them myself.

 

[Rekkr]

So far I definitely like them. They are super robust and give me a good level of comfort knowing they are there and will take a beating.

 

[Rekkr]

I haven't posted as much since I've been traveling for work quite a bit. However over memorial day weekend the girlfriend and I were able to make a short trip to the Tennessee dirt devil trail. These are super easy backroads with some fun river crossings. Nothing extreme at all but still fun and good sight seeing none the less.

 

[T4R_Fanatic]

I haven't posted as much since I've been traveling for work quite a bit. However over memorial day weekend the girlfriend and I were able to make a short trip to the Tennessee dirt devil trail. These are super easy backroads with some fun river crossings. Nothing extreme at all but still fun and good sight seeing none the less.

love the rig man!

 

[Rekkr]

love the rig man!

Thanks man! She's been great to me so far. The GF and I have lots of adventures planned for her when I can squeeze in the time.

 

[T4R_Fanatic]

Thanks man! She's been great to me so far. The GF and I have lots of adventures planned for her when I can squeeze in the time.

No Problem! Once mine is done me and the family are planning a trip out to moab I'm on the east coast of MD so its going to be a hell of a trip.

 

[Rekkr]

No Problem! Once mine is done me and the family are planning a trip out to moab I'm on the east coast of MD so its going to be a hell of a trip.

I'll be making the drive out to Colorado next year around June with mine. I'm pretty excited

 

[Rekkr]

So after one of my last off road adventures I noticed the exhaust getting louder. This continued for about a week before I could get it into the exhaust shop to check it out. Had a few really big holes in the muffler section and one small one in the tail section. Had the shop install an oem style replacement and wow this thing is quiet lol. At one point I was at a stoplight and I had to double check it hadn’t shut off . I’m honestly super happy with it since I don’t want anything loud on this rig when it comes to exhaust.