Defiance's Build

[Defiance]

This build thread is for my "new" 1987 Toyota 4runner.
My third first gen runner. (3rd time's the charm.. I hope)

Quick background of myself and my old 4runners.

I was 17 when I bought my first vehicle, a 1988 Toyota 4Runner.
For $900, solid body, nearly perfect frame, 5 speed, no motor.

 

[Defiance]

By now my 18th birthday has come around. I had complication, after complication trying to get that old truck on the road.
I bought a 22re to rebuild and put a damn good amount of money into it, replacing just about every part.

In the meantime, I was getting restless.
So, I decided to buy a second 1988 Toyota 4Runner; that ran.
I picked it up for $1700. The body was in okay shape, the interior was perfect, and the frame was pretty rotted.
I drove that one around for a few months. (Until I was ready to use it as my part's truck to get the other one on the road.)
Stock, automatic and a total piece of shit. I loved it.

(I will add an album for those two 88 4runners)

 

[Defiance]

The motor in my parts truck finally started giving me major problems. So I knew it was time to get the other 4runner on the road.
Myself, my father, my father's bestfriend, my bestfriend, and my brother all spent a full week; 7 days, from dawn to dust swapping all the parts we could from my parts truck to my daily driver.
It was one hell of a week.

I replaced everything I could think of; axle bearings, wheel bearings, cv axles, a few ifs parts. Went through hell trying to get my back window to go back up.

 

[Defiance]

Finally after owning my very first 4Runner for almost two years. It was road ready. January of 2015.

I loved it. I loved everything about it.
I loved the way it rode, I loved the way it looked, I loved the way it sounded.
That truck was my everything. My dream truck.

 

[frm_808]

Awesome!!


.

 

[Defiance]

April 4th, 2015.
The most heartbreaking day of my life.

I went to a good friend's shop to check on my wheel bearings and help him prep a pickup to paint.
I was suppose to be dog sitting and I knew I was cutting close to when I had to be there.
So, at 4:30, I left the shop. 30 Seconds of driving, and then someone pulled out in front of me.
They hit my rear tire so hard it broke the block lift I had in the back, causing my rear axle to shift. And I lost control.

My truck went into a ditch, through a fence, took down a telephone pole, flipped, then landed on it's side.

I remember closing my eyes at the site of the fence, knowing I was going to go through. And when I opened my eyes, I was hanging by my seatbelt, staring at my passenger window.

 

[Dropzone]

Sorry you were in an accident, but for some reason this has me a little confused:

someone pulled out in front of me.
They hit my rear tire so hard it broke the block lift I had in the back, causing my rear axle to shift. And I lost control.

They pulled out in front of you, they how did they hit your rear tire?

 

[ajohnson]

Sorry you were in an accident, but for some reason this has me a little confused:


They pulled out in front of you, they how did they hit your rear tire?

I think she swerved to avoid head-on impact and was hit on the side.

Sorry about your runner Tori, especially after all that hard work. Glad you are OK though, it could have been worse.

 

[Defiance]

I think she swerved to avoid head-on impact and was hit on the side.

Sorry about your runner Tori, especially after all that hard work. Glad you are OK though, it could have been worse.

Yeah, as soon as I saw him turning into my lane I instantly swerved to avoid him and he got my back tire. My truck literally drove over the guys car but I guess the impact was too much and broke my block.

 

[PlanetExpress]

That'll buff out. Glad you are ok.

So what's the plan?

 

[Defiance]

After the accident, I thought about turning the 4runner into a beater, but I didn't' have the heart or motivation.
I also thought about getting my parts truck back on the road, but I didn't want to redo everything I had just done.
I figured it was time to save up for another 4runner.

In the meantime, I had plans to part out both 4runners to make some money for a new one, but a friend asked to do a trade.
(1983 Pickup for my parts truck. Plus the body off the rolled 4runner for spare parts for the pickup)

I said yes.
We loaded up both 4runners and bye they went.

 

[Defiance]

I regretted trading the 4runners instantly. I missed them. They had parts I could have used for my next 4runner.
But what's done is done.

Once I had the pickup, I realized it wasn't what I wanted at all, even though I had wanted a truck with a bed for the longest time.
Those first gen trucks just weren't what I expected.

So I sold the pickup.

After months and months of searching, and driving around a 2000 Toyota Celica, I found an old 88 4runner just 4 hours north of me.
The ad said it ran and was driveable.
When I finally gotten a hold of the owner, he pretty much jerked me around for a few days, then the day I went to go pick it up, he told me it needed to be towed.
I didn't have that kind of money so I had to say no.

 

[Defiance]

Frustrated, I made a Wanted post on craiglist, and within 4 hours of it up, I received a text.
A guy just an hour from me had an 87 4runner for $1500.
A few days later, I went to go look at it.

22re, that may or maynot run. He told me it had a bad injector. But the battery is fried so I didn't get to start it.
5-speed
SR5
Red interior
Factory sunroof
Cruise control
ac & heat (Also rear heat)
power windows and vent windows

The body is in good shape, not perfect, but do-able.

I bought it for $1000

My current plan is to get the motor running so I can sell it; then use my rebuilt motor and my tranny (from my rolled 4runner) and put it in.

But, my current issue is I can't get the motor in the 4runner to turn over. I believe the battery is just too dead, even with my car hooked up to it.
All it does it click. I will be attempting to use another battery and possibly jump the starter. Hopefully this weekend.

 

[Defiance]

For those wondering. This is what the new 4runner looks like. I will add more pics, of the interior and all around soon.

 

[Dropzone]

that 4Runner looks like a good score for a grand


just out of curiosity did you pull the rear drive shaft when you towed with the tow dolley?
you are probably fine if not but just a heads up for future reference the output bearings on Toyota transfer cases don't get properly lubed if flat towed (per Marlin of Marlin Crawler)
I found this out too late after flat towing my 84 across country. 300 miles after staring to drive it again I replaced the transfer case.
than 20 years later i brain cramped it again and didn't pull the rear d/s when pulling my 81 trekker, it slipped into gear and destroyed the t/c and transmission.

 

[Defiance]

that 4Runner looks like a good score for a grand


just out of curiosity did you pull the rear drive shaft when you towed with the tow dolley?
you are probably fine if not but just a heads up for future reference the output bearings on Toyota transfer cases don't get properly lubed if flat towed (per Marlin of Marlin Crawler)
I found this out too late after flat towing my 84 across country. 300 miles after staring to drive it again I replaced the transfer case.
than 20 years later i brain cramped it again and didn't pull the rear d/s when pulling my 81 trekker, it slipped into gear and destroyed the t/c and transmission.

No I didn't. I just put it in neutral, both tranny and tcase.
I used to tow my black 4runner like that a lot and never had any issues.
But I also never towed it for more than an hour at a time.

 

[Defiance]

Well, I tried three different batteries in the truck. None of them worked so my dad let me borrow is brand new battery out of his Tacoma and nothing.
I borrowed something from a friend to jump my starter, and when I actually looked at it.. the plug wasn't even on the starter...
It was plugged into the AC....
I fixed that, and tried it again, nothing. Tried jumping the starter, nothing.
Starter's bad.
When I got the tools to replace the starter, the tree above my head started raining ants on me.
What luck.
I finally got the starter off, going to take it to advance to make sure that it's bad. Just to be safe.
In the meantime, I'm going to pull the starter off my other engine and try it, since I know that one is good.
I'll add updates when I try it.

 

[mrsboone]

Your old 4r looked great. Sorry about the wreck, that happens sometimes. Could have been much worse.... New one looks like it has potential.

 

[Defiance]

Your old 4r looked great. Sorry about the wreck, that happens sometimes. Could have been much worse.... New one looks like it has potential.

This new one has been surprising me around every turn so far lol. Can't wait to see what happens once I can actually start driving it around

 

[Defiance]

Update:

I replaced the starter, hooked up a good battery, got the motor to turn over.
Didn't start.
I played around with it, kept trying to get it to start and suddently the battery kept cutting power from the truck.
Every time I went to try cranking it, the truck would shut off completely.

I looked around at the fuses, and found a HUGE mud dauber nest on the fuse box on the driverside.
(Checked the fuses, all are good)
Then went to the battery cables. Replaced the ground cables with some from my old runner.
Checked the cable from the positive terminal to the starter... It was a nightmare.
Replaced that.
It started turning over again but still not starting.
I tried adding a few gallons of gas, checked the spark. That was all good.

Finally ran a compression test, and cylinders 2 and 3 are very low.

Welp. I'm done with this motor.
Going to find a engine hoist and pull it now and sell it to who ever is looking for a project.

Oh, and I crawled into the back to see if I could get the back window down, and found insulation in the rear panel. Oh yay.