Did a little wheelin today... pics.

[brian2sun]

Woke up today and decided to hit the trails. I called up my buddy Michael, picked him up and decided we'd go look at some of the creeks and streams now that we've been getting a lot of snow and rain lately. Everything was roaring really strong with lots of white water! Had a great time, broke a swaybar link and don't care, it's already off.

Here's one of the Runner on the way out to deep creek (sorry for the bad pics, only had the cell)...

Here's one of deep creek (right under Dishpan for those of you who know the area)...

Another of deep creek (and my homie Mike)...

A couple of shots of the muddy Runner at Dishpan...

On the way to Dishpan, we heard a nice thunk, then another, and another so we pulled over and found the passenger swaybar link had bent and then snapped. Made sure the pieces were out of the way of the CV boot and kept rollin until I got it to my buddy's shop and took the swaybar off. My first impressions... wonderful actually. I feel the front end dip a little on tight turns, but not a big deal. Here's what the sway bar/link looked like, it snapped like a twig...

After the fix, we took it back out on the trails and I'm liking the new improved travel. I was going over and slamming down on some 1' deep mud ruts at full (or near full) lock and no rubbing. Removing the swaybar actually made my ride noticeably less stiff too, so for those of you who think your OMEs ride harsh, try taking it off, I'm soaking up the bumps way better now. Ahhh...you gotta love it when you break a part and not only do you not need to spend $$ to replace it, it actually improves the ride and performance!

So anyways, at the end of the day we went out North of the spillway for Lake Arrowhead, hiked about 1/2 mile and when we got down to the stream, it was moving fast! The lake is overflowing right now and this is the product. I told my buddy, "If you fall in, I'll race you to Victorville!". Here's some shots of the overflow...

 

[MillerPKA]

Looks good, left me wanting to see the 4runner in that creek!

 

[haddix]

Looks like fun! I really like your 4runner. Its one of my favorites.

 

[4X4snowRunner]

limiting strap

Be careful on the front suspension do not over do it in deep obstacle without the sway bar. I know someone don't have the front sway bar and he pull the cv axle out of the differential and we have to disable the axle bar in the trail and run on 2WD just to get back to camp site. Lucky one of the guy has spare. You can install a limiting strap.

 

[brian2sun]

Looks like fun! I really like your 4runner. Its one of my favorites.

Thanks dude, yours and Miller's are 2 of my favorites too! Someday I'll step up to 35s like you guys! Maybe even an SAS.. hmmm, the possibilities.

 

[proudrunner]

Glad you had a good time, it was a nice and sunny day to go out offroading.

 

[brian2sun]

Be careful on the front suspension do not over do it in deep obstacle without the sway bar. I know someone don't have the front sway bay and he pull the cv axle out of the differential and we have to disable the axle bar in the trail and run on 2WD just to get back to camp site. Lucky one of the guy has spare. You can install a limiting strap.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[brian2sun]

Glad you had a good time, it was a nice and sunny day to go out offroading.

It was kind of a spontaneous idea, otherwise I would have asked you to come along. We should plan something soon though. I've got too much going on this weekend to go with you and Pikeman, but I think the weekend after that, we are supposed to have our T4R meet, so maybe we can do a little wheelin that day??

 

[proudrunner]

I am down for that, hopefully we can get a good group with us.

 

[Project99]

Glad you had a good time, it was a nice and sunny day to go out offroading.

I see that you have a 1'' body lift from toytec. Any mods needed when installing? I have one on the way, i know i need to adjust the linkage, what about the radiator? Anything else????

 

[proudrunner]

Nothing else, you do not need to mess with the radiator. I think if you go over 2 inch body lift, then you have to adjust some items. Let me know if you have other questions will be happy to help you.

 

[Pure 98]

I am down for that, hopefully we can get a good group with us.

I'm in

 

[Project99]

Nothing else, you do not need to mess with the radiator. I think if you go over 2 inch body lift, then you have to adjust some items. Let me know if you have other questions will be happy to help you.

AWESOME! I didn't really want to mess with anything extra. Trying to do this with the least amount of complication. THANKS!!

 

[brian2sun]

I'm in

Sweet!

Project99,
For my body lift, I had to remove the lower radiator shroud which was 3 clips that were easy to pull off just with your fingers and the lower half of the shroud just falls off. I needed to do this so the fan wouldn't hit the shroud since the radiator moves up with the body and the engine stays put. You'll also have to loosen the linkage on the tranny (1 bolt) and the 1 bolt on the steering clamp, install the lift and tighten everything back up. This write-up helped me out:
3rd Gen 4Runner Body Lift Installation

 

[rdgt4r]

Lookin good man! The off road ride without the sway bar is soo nice takes all the little hits away.


Still waiting for my BL...............damn it.

 

[4X4snowRunner]

Still waiting for my BL...............damn it.

WOW....that long waiting:50cal:

 

[brian2sun]

Lookin good man! The off road ride without the sway bar is soo nice takes all the little hits away.


Still waiting for my BL...............damn it.

Thanks man! I'll have to take a road trip up north sometime and meet up with you and go wheelin! My lord, WTF is going on with your lift???? Have you got a hold of him on the phone?

 

[Project99]

Sweet!

Project99,
For my body lift, I had to remove the lower radiator shroud which was 3 clips that were easy to pull off just with your fingers and the lower half of the shroud just falls off. I needed to do this so the fan wouldn't hit the shroud since the radiator moves up with the body and the engine stays put. You'll also have to loosen the linkage on the tranny (1 bolt) and the 1 bolt on the steering clamp, install the lift and tighten everything back up. This write-up helped me out:
3rd Gen 4Runner Body Lift Installation

Thats a good write up. Thanks alot.

 

[rdgt4r]

WOW....that long waiting:50cal:

Thanks man! I'll have to take a road trip up north sometime and meet up with you and go wheelin! My lord, WTF is going on with your lift???? Have you got a hold of him on the phone?

Yes still waiting! I cant think about it anymore, it gives me heartburn. Im not sure why a 1" BL is taking so long. Ill shoot him another e-mail i suppose.

Yeah for sure I invite whoever to come up here, although you can skip the 30 days over 100 degrees we get in the summer. Im gonna be going to Death Valley with a group of friends from SoCal on the 24 of March for a week long trip so whoever wants in let me know.

 

[brian2sun]

Yes still waiting! I cant think about it anymore, it gives me heartburn.

Haha!:lmao: That sucks, but what you said was funny. Still, :ybrick:

This has nothing to do with me 4wheelin today, but I tonight I found an old picture of my 4Runner bone stock (except the running boards are removed) and I thought it was funny. It was taken during a camping trip at Grant Lake, CA. in 2007, a few months before I put my first lift on. It made me go, WOW! You see, I suffer from "You can't even tell I have a lift" syndrome. I get so used to how mine looks, sometimes it takes an old photo to remind me of how far the 'ol beast has come!

And again for comparison...