ChaseR9's 1986 T4R DLX "Casper" Build Thread

[ChaseR9]

Hey everyone! It's been a long time coming for me to get myself a T4R. I love the mountains and living in Calgary, Canada we are blessed to have the Rockies just an hour from the city centre. I'm super stoked to get out and use my 4runner for camping and wheeling! My interest in Toyota's has come from being around my older brother, who you guys may know as Rickshay on the forums, and watching him build several immaculate Toyota's. I've learned a lot from being around him but am looking forward to learning even more now that I have my own truck to learn on and becoming more active on the forum. Last year he convinced my dad to buy and build a 2001 Toyota Tacoma. Now I've become the latest victim of the Toyota bug.

So here it is...my 1986 Toyota 4Runner DLX with automatic trans also known as "Casper"....
IMG_6763.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6764.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6765.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

IMG_6766.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

I purchased the truck from the original owner in Santa Monica, California who named the truck "Casper" cause he bought it Halloween day in 1986. I thought it was fitting for me to keep the name. The original owner is the Captain of a US airways airplane and took extremely good care of this 4runner. He gave me every single maintenance record since it was brand new, a log book with dates and milage of when everything was done, a custom care cover made just for this 4runner, owners manual, service manual, and the original window tag from the day the vehicle was bought. The top has never been taken off... The truck has 232k miles on the body (no rust) but the original owner had a new 22RE built by Jasper Engines put in at 189k miles in 2007. I flew down to California myself to pick it up and drove it back to Canada. The only issue with the vehicle is a small vibration at around 60 mph which I found out was the lower ball joints.

The first thing I did was remove the chrome stripping around the fenders and edges of the runner (no rust underneath!). Short term plans include new lower ball joints, possibly tie rod ends, replacing all fluids, new driver side corner (amber plastic was hit by a rock on the drive home), and making sure all basic maintenance is up to date. Spark plugs, timing chain, water pump, hoses, and belts have all been changed within the last 5k miles. Any advice on anything I should have done is much appreciated! I'd say I have very basic mechanical skills but am wanting to learn as much as I can and do as much work as I can myself.

Cheers!

 

[Cali 4runner]

Welcome to the forum!
That thing is really clean!! Don't let it rust to death with all that snow and salty roads..

 

[ChaseR9]

Welcome to the forum!
That thing is really clean!! Don't let it rust to death with all that snow and salty roads..

Thank you! I've washed it 3 times in 3 days haha. I am going to try my hardest to keep it this clean!

 

[wallytoo]

really nice looking 1st gen. and no rear sag. pretty sharp.

 

[mikekfr]

That is beautiful, maybe check the color of antifreeze & swap the green to red if it has green antifreeze in it, i learned that here at T4R.org. Also, maybe check the maintenance records to see when the fuel filter was last changed and maybe throw in a can of seafoam and/or MM oil, pending your gas/oil treatment likes. Congrats, it's stunning. If you're in a position to 'garage' it or, maybe look into one of those $200 vinyl enclosed canopies and have your own portable car garage, that would save the condition of the exterior, tons.

 

[ChaseR9]

That is beautiful, maybe check the color of antifreeze & swap the green to red if it has green antifreeze in it, i learned that here at T4R.org. Also, maybe check the maintenance records to see when the fuel filter was last changed and maybe throw in a can of seafoam and/or MM oil, pending your gas/oil treatment likes. Congrats, it's stunning. If you're in a position to 'garage' it or, maybe look into one of those $200 vinyl enclosed canopies and have your own portable car garage, that would save the condition of the exterior, tons.

I will be swapping the green to the red antifreeze! The fuel filter was done at 217k miles and I may look into using some MM oil with my next oil change. I plan on running 10w-30 synthetic oil for my first oil change and feel that I can get away with it because of only 40k miles on the newer engine. I bought a five qt of Pennzoil Platinum in the US for 23 bucks which would run me 50 bucks in Canada! :canada:

 

[rickashay]

Looks great Chase. Have to get some ideas from [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] and his old rig!

Hey [MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION], your going to have to get some a good stock pile of Halloween candy with Chase now joining the posse. Haha
[MENTION=6721]4running[/MENTION]_Daily my bro just picked this up in your home neck of the woods.

 

[Intruder]

[MENTION=63060]rickashay[/MENTION] I think he's gonna have to start bringing his own candy now if he has a truck.

 

[Intruder]

Short term plans include new lower ball joints, possibly tie rod ends, replacing all fluids, new driver side corner (amber plastic was hit by a rock on the drive home), and making sure all basic maintenance is up to date. Spark plugs, timing chain, water pump, hoses, and belts have all been changed within the last 5k miles. Any advice on anything I should have done is much appreciated! I'd say I have very basic mechanical skills but am wanting to learn as much as I can and do as much work as I can myself.

I don't see 37s in that list. What's wrong with you?

 

[ChaseR9]

Looks great Chase. Have to get some ideas from [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] and his old rig!

Hey [MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION], your going to have to get some a good stock pile of Halloween candy with Chase now joining the posse. Haha
[MENTION=6721]4running[/MENTION]_Daily my bro just picked this up in your home neck of the woods.

Thanks bro! Ya I'll definitely be looking around Dirtcos build. Stoked for Halloween wheeling already! haha

 

[ChaseR9]

I don't see 37s in that list. What's wrong with you?

HAHA maybe one day! ::

 

[farmerjon]

Looking forward to seeing a solid classic build! I've followed [MENTION=63060]rickashay[/MENTION] 's builds for a long time. I've not done much to mine, I just enjoy it!

Looks super clean! Casper is a major city in my home state, so the name is a nice touch.

 

[ChaseR9]

So...I ordered new Sankei 555 lower ball joints on Friday night and they arrived at my door Tuesday morning from an online auto parts supplier here in Canada. Here they are...

IMG_6769.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

I am aware of the issues with ordering non OEM LBJ's but I needed to find the quickest way to get the pats to my door to be able to pass an out of province inspection after bringing the truck up from California. I wanted to order OEM Toyota Parts from the states but they were going to take two to three weeks to have them shipped to Calgary from the US. I did get some OEM parts priced out from Toyota here in Calgary and they were wanting to charge me 150$ a piece. Which is far more than OEM parts from the states and from getting the 555's online. I plan to replace these lowers with OEM ones when the uppers go and am planning to do the tie rod ends at the same time (with all OEM components). For now the 555's will have to work....

I do have a question for you guys about the 555's. In the picture below, directly above the black grease nut the rubber boot has a tiny little hole that allows grease to escape from inside the boot when the ball joint moves. My brother told me that the OEM lowers do not have this hole and are completely sealed. Is that true? Would I be able to seal up the hole so that no grease is able to escape? For obvious reasons like water getting inside the boot and rusting/corroding away the inner side of the boot as well as not having to keep on top of greasing these LBJ's.

IMG_6773.jpg by chaser88, on Flickr

Plans for this weekend...

Install new LBJ's
Install new driver side rear drum brake cylinder and bleed breaks (I do have a slightly squishy brake pedal. I'm hoping changing this leaky cylinder and bleeding the brakes will fix the issue)
Oil change
Paint and touch up front skid plate and wiper arms

 

[89FourRunner]

The new LBJs should solve the vibration issue, I had the same issue when mine were bad.

As far as the hole in the boot, I wouldn't over think it. Fill them with grease, and they will only press out what needs to be pressed out. No water is going to get in past that grease regardless of the little hole. None of the boots are perfectly sealed up at the bolt anyway. Grease them twice and year and forget about it.

THats one super clean 4Runner, and your concern about the boots on the LBJs say you are the right man to own it! Good Luck!

 

[ChaseR9]

The new LBJs should solve the vibration issue, I had the same issue when mine were bad.

As far as the hole in the boot, I wouldn't over think it. Fill them with grease, and they will only press out what needs to be pressed out. No water is going to get in past that grease regardless of the little hole. None of the boots are perfectly sealed up at the bolt anyway. Grease them twice and year and forget about it.

THats one super clean 4Runner, and your concern about the boots on the LBJs say you are the right man to own it! Good Luck!

I'll be keeping my eye on them for sure. Appreciate the compliments on the runner! Love driving it everyday. I see how you all love your classic yotas so much! ::

 

[RAD4Runner]

...
So here it is...my 1986 Toyota 4Runner DLX with automatic trans also known as "Casper".......
I purchased the truck from the original owner in Santa Monica, California who named the truck "Casper" cause he bought it Halloween day in 1986.

Why not "Michael" ? LOL!
She's a beauty! I also had my engine rebuilt around 189k miles because head gasket blew.

I flew down to California myself to pick it up and drove it back to Canada.

Testimony to how good these 4Runners are.
In case you're looking for procedures on BJ replacement, "Alexmanvideos" on youtube covers them. IIRC alexman is 'Arlindsay" on yotatech.

I agree on not worrying about the hole on the rubber seal. It kinda works as a check-valve; grease squeezes out but pressure from outside would push the slit opening close.
Best wishes with Casper.

 

[ChaseR9]

Small update...Got the new lower ball joints in, new rear driver brake cylinder in, bled brakes, and painted front skid plate and wiper arms. Ball joints were pretty straight forward but ended up having to re torque them today due to not having the right toque specs. Brake cylinder was super easy to replace, the FSM said to take off the entire drum but I was lucky to have my brother help me and we each just held a flat head and pried apart the spring loaded drum and swapped the cylinder out. I thought bleeding the brakes was going to help with the small amount of play at the top of the brake pedal but it didn't change. I feel that that's just the way the truck is going to be due to it being older. Also the truck does not need an alignment after changing out the lower ball joints.

Couple of questions...I'm still having a slight vibration going around 110km/hr. I notice it when driving 110 and have just a small amount (literally barely touching) of pressure on the gas pedal. Wondering if it could be a drive shaft issue? I would like to grease the drive shaft. Does anyone know how many grease nipples there are on the drive shaft? The sound to me doesn't sound like a wheel balancing issue. Could it maybe be a wheel bearing?

Second, a slight vibration when the brakes are pressed down when going higher speeds. Only noticeable when the pressure applied to the brakes is quite aggressive. Rear drums were done about 40k miles ago, front brake pads around 50k miles ago, has newer slotted rotors (maybe needs to be turned?) and a newer calliper on the front driver side? Thoughts?

Going to be getting some updated pics and interior pics this week sometimes! Cheers and thanks for any input!

 

[dogojoe96]

Sweet first gen! I like following threads like yours where the rig is built for practicality and some fun.

Anyways about the vibrations, you say brakes seem to be low on miles however it never hurts to pull off the wheel and get a good look at them and how they are doing. I experienced dam near the same issue AFTER doing new u joints on my rear driveshaft, at a certain speed under light throttle or braking I would experience some noticeable vibration. I finally found that one of the yolkes was off by 180° because I forgot to mark it before I tore it apart. Despite my issue, old and worn or just beginning to wear u joints could be the culprit. Another possibility is slightly off balance wheels.

 

[dogojoe96]

Just read through your post again and I missed a few things.
When braking hard and you get the vibrations do you feel the petal surge or pump itself slightly? If so that is a sign of warped rotors. All these cheap Chinese parts never last as long as Japanese OEM or other quality north american parts.

And to answer your question about greasing the driveshaft, there should be one grease zerk per u-joint. So one at the front and rear of the driveshaft. It is probably not a bad time to grease up the front as well, I'm not too sure if first gens have a double cardigian on the front but there are then three u joints on the driveshaft so three zerks for those yet there is a fourth at the double cardigan in between the two u joints.

 

[ChaseR9]

Sweet first gen! I like following threads like yours where the rig is built for practicality and some fun.

Anyways about the vibrations, you say brakes seem to be low on miles however it never hurts to pull off the wheel and get a good look at them and how they are doing. I experienced dam near the same issue AFTER doing new u joints on my rear driveshaft, at a certain speed under light throttle or braking I would experience some noticeable vibration. I finally found that one of the yolkes was off by 180° because I forgot to mark it before I tore it apart. Despite my issue, old and worn or just beginning to wear u joints could be the culprit.

Thanks on the compliment and for the information! Going to be looking at the u joints and yolkes this weekend and i'll let you know if I find the same. Then i'll grease the driveshaft as well.

As for the braking, I am sure it's not warped rotors. I had warped rotors on my old vehicle and comparing that to what I'm experiencing now is very minimal. It's a very tiny feel of vibration when the pedal is pressed all the way down going higher speeds. I'll have a look at the front brakes also this weekend when I get in the garage. Thanks again for the info!