Bandit Runner
Senior Member
That looks great. I was thinking about doing the same thing with mine. Let us know how they work out.
Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build
- Thread starter Dirtco
- Start date
Dirtco
New member
Thanks guys! It really does look better, and it rides a lot better too. The spring rate seems to be just about perfect for the amount of weight I have, the balance of the front and rear suspension is much better. The 861's are still soft over small bumps, but once you hit a larger bump or pot hole the springs stiffen up to where they need to be. With my old springs I was constantly bouncing off the bump stops (they are soft, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds) but with the new springs I don't think I've hit them at all yet. It will be interesting to see how they flex once I get them in the rocks, but there are several people running these without a problem (Brian2sun, Gerdo, Steezmcqueen, etc).
Fightman, I think your 100% right, I don't think the weight of the trailer is going to be an issue at all. Bandit, as long as you have the weight to keep the lift within reason (which you should with your rear bumper and spare), I think you would really like them. Once you start getting serious let me know and I can give you an updated report on them.
brian2sun
Elite Member
Looks great man! I'm very happy with how my 861s flex, so I think you'll be happy with them too. I've also towed my 1000 lb trash trailer full (about 2500 lbs total) many times and the coils did great. With the fully loaded trailer and my normal gear in the back, it still didn't get butt sag, it just pretty much sat level.
quicksilvr
New member
Perfect! I would be willing to bet that Steve might start offering the 861's as an option with his SS1.2 kit now that enough people have discovered they work so well with weight in the back.
josh.bunch
New member
Good golly miss molly, I just went through all 27 pages. My hats off to you in all aspects. You have mad skills.
zgensler31
Senior Member
i just finished doing the same. saw your rig in the t4rotm thread for the first time and decide to check it out.
i love it. totaly unique and an awesome setup. i love the interior as well as the outside.
and honestly yours is the first and probably only t4r with tube bumpers that i like. great job on the fabrication :thumb3:
Dirtco
New member
Thanks! I was really concerned about getting too much lift and having too much rake with the 861's; but after reading your build thread, talking with BFAD, and reading several other threads, I felt these would be the best choice. So far I couldn't be happier!
If you have the weight these are the perfect rear springs! I told Steve I was going to have a rear bumper, spare tire, tools, recovery gear, CO2 tank, etc, etc; Steve told me that wouldn't be an issue with his rear spring's, but it's obvious that it is an issue. Like you said, he should really offer the 861's as an option.
Dirtco
New member
Dirtco
New member
Maybe down the road, but it's not at the top of my list. It would be nice for cutting down on the general wear and tear of everyday driving, but with only 2"-2.5" of lift in the front the CV's are still in a good, safe operating range.
They would be nice for when I break a CV, but in all reality chances are that will be in the middle trail and I will need 4 wheel drive to get out. Which means I'll be replacing it anyways.
I've also heard the ADD set-up is stronger, but I can't remember the details or why. I guess it makes sense considering the manual hubs came on base model 4cyl Tacoma's.
Dirtco
New member
I bought my Alpine head unit about three years ago, hoping it would give me years of good service. Well, sadly it quit working right and it would not communicate with my Ipod correctly. It was the special “Ipod model” that had no CD player, I had Sirius but sometimes you want to listen to your own music.
I really liked the controls, and the head unit in general, so I bought pretty much the same unit as a replacement. But when I got it I realized that Alpine has stopped supporting Sirius (at least this model) and it would not work with my gear. I just bought all the Alpine/Sirius gear a year ago and I didn’t want to rebuy the XM gear and have to reinstall it. So I started shopping around for something that would work with my Sirius equipment, and was in the same price range as the Alpine unit I bought.
My search led me to the Pioneer AVH-P3400BH, it was $50 more but it had a ton of features the Alpine didn’t have and it had great ratings. It was really a no brainer once I started looking into it. I also had to buy the Pioneer/Sirius control box but it was easy to swap that out. It has HD radio, Satellite radio, Bluetooth, Pandora, CD, DVD, Ipod controls, the list goes on…
Old
New! You can change the color of the screen, so I went with green to match the factory dash lights.
Movies on the trail, why not!!! :lmao:
I really liked the controls, and the head unit in general, so I bought pretty much the same unit as a replacement. But when I got it I realized that Alpine has stopped supporting Sirius (at least this model) and it would not work with my gear. I just bought all the Alpine/Sirius gear a year ago and I didn’t want to rebuy the XM gear and have to reinstall it. So I started shopping around for something that would work with my Sirius equipment, and was in the same price range as the Alpine unit I bought.
My search led me to the Pioneer AVH-P3400BH, it was $50 more but it had a ton of features the Alpine didn’t have and it had great ratings. It was really a no brainer once I started looking into it. I also had to buy the Pioneer/Sirius control box but it was easy to swap that out. It has HD radio, Satellite radio, Bluetooth, Pandora, CD, DVD, Ipod controls, the list goes on…
Old
New! You can change the color of the screen, so I went with green to match the factory dash lights.
Movies on the trail, why not!!! :lmao:
Last edited:
Dirtco
New member
Thanks, so far I really like it! I just hope it lasts more than three years like the Alpine head unit.
It's definitely taking a little time to get used to, especially going from the large volume dial on the Alpine. Like you said, the new buttons are pretty small and very close to other buttons but it's not too bad.
Dirtco
New member
I’ve been dying to take the 4Runner out on a rocky trail, where I could play around and see what the limits of the IFS are without having a group of rigs behind me. I’ve taken it rock crawling before but always with a group of rigs. I decided to make a solo trip down to Spring Creek on Friday and play around a little. I wouldn’t say it’s a seriously hard trail, but it has a rock garden towards the end of the trail with several different lines to choose from.
TrailDamage.com - Spring Creek
I bypassed the first obstacle because I was alone (it can be dangerous if you screw up) and I worked my way up the trail.
As I made my way up the trail the weather took a turn for the worse.
I got to the first real obstacle; I engaged the front locker and the air compressor ran non-stop, not a good sign. I checked it out, and the solenoid on the compressor was leaking air, not letting the locker engage. By this time the snow was really coming down, so it looked like I was stuck running the trail without a front locker in the mud and snow. Not the end of the world, but it kind of defeated the whole reason why I was there. Oh well, any day of wheeling is a good day and I made it through the trail fine without winching, but I wasn’t able to run some of the lines I wanted.
TrailDamage.com - Spring Creek
I bypassed the first obstacle because I was alone (it can be dangerous if you screw up) and I worked my way up the trail.
As I made my way up the trail the weather took a turn for the worse.
I got to the first real obstacle; I engaged the front locker and the air compressor ran non-stop, not a good sign. I checked it out, and the solenoid on the compressor was leaking air, not letting the locker engage. By this time the snow was really coming down, so it looked like I was stuck running the trail without a front locker in the mud and snow. Not the end of the world, but it kind of defeated the whole reason why I was there. Oh well, any day of wheeling is a good day and I made it through the trail fine without winching, but I wasn’t able to run some of the lines I wanted.
Dirtco
New member
I had my front two windows tinted to 20% when I first bought the 4Runner. This was a very close match to the factory 22.5% that the factory rear windows meter out to, but having the rear windows slightly lighter kind of bothered me and the color was a bit off compared to the factory tint. Also, I didn’t like how visible all my wheeling gear was in the back of the 4Runner. After talking with my tint guy he suggested tinting the rest of the windows with the same 3M 20% tint that was on the front windows. While it was a little darker than I wanted, the color would match better than using something like 30%. For night wheeling I can always roll down the back window if I need to, and for night snow wheeling the rear window is usually covered with snow and I’m stuck using my mirrors anyways.
With the rear windows being darker I wanted to do something about the sun faded, tree branch scratched, flat black section between the two doors. While I was inside the tint shop I noticed a hood that was hanging on the wall, it was wrapped in fake 3M carbon fiber. I figured it would help to clean up the side of the 4Runner, especially with the darker windows. If I remember right BigFishAllDay also did this.
With the rear windows being darker I wanted to do something about the sun faded, tree branch scratched, flat black section between the two doors. While I was inside the tint shop I noticed a hood that was hanging on the wall, it was wrapped in fake 3M carbon fiber. I figured it would help to clean up the side of the 4Runner, especially with the darker windows. If I remember right BigFishAllDay also did this.
Dirtco
New member
While it was there I also had them Clear-Bra the front of the hood, fenders, mirrors and headlights. Where live they dump a ton of gravel on the road during the winter, so I want to keep the paint looking as good as possible. Clear-Bra is lot cheaper than new paint, so it was worth it.
BigFishAllDay
New member
Yes sir, I did...
Nice add ons. Your last wheeling trip looked like alot of fun too.
When I bought the '01 the PO had installed some protective film on the headlights & corner lights (whatever it is, it's thick... about 1.5mm), but they didn't have anything on the leading edge of the hood so it had a lot of rock chips. Touch up paint helped, but there are still some good divots on the hood.
You'll be glad you got the clear bra installed. Did you wrap the b-pillars yourself?
BTW, I have the 861's sitting in the garage finally. I put ~100 miles on the old springs w/the weight of the CBI and they sagged about an inch, so I'm thinking the 861's should work out great.
Nice add ons. Your last wheeling trip looked like alot of fun too.
When I bought the '01 the PO had installed some protective film on the headlights & corner lights (whatever it is, it's thick... about 1.5mm), but they didn't have anything on the leading edge of the hood so it had a lot of rock chips. Touch up paint helped, but there are still some good divots on the hood.
You'll be glad you got the clear bra installed. Did you wrap the b-pillars yourself?
BTW, I have the 861's sitting in the garage finally. I put ~100 miles on the old springs w/the weight of the CBI and they sagged about an inch, so I'm thinking the 861's should work out great.
Dirtco
New member
Yes sir, I did...
Nice add ons. Your last wheeling trip looked like alot of fun too.
When I bought the '01 the PO had installed some protective film on the headlights & corner lights (whatever it is, it's thick... about 1.5mm), but they didn't have anything on the leading edge of the hood so it had a lot of rock chips. Touch up paint helped, but there are still some good divots on the hood.
You'll be glad you got the clear bra installed. Did you wrap the b-pillars yourself?
BTW, I have the 861's sitting in the garage finally. I put ~100 miles on the old springs w/the weight of the CBI and they sagged about an inch, so I'm thinking the 861's should work out great.
Thanks! It was a fun trip but I wish the front locker had worked; it was really slick with the rain/snow and the whole point of the trip was to play around in the rock garden. I called ECGS; they said ARB was going to send me a new solenoid, but that was over a week ago and I still don’t have it. I was hoping to have it for the weekend but sh!t happens, I’m going to call them Tuesday and see what’s going on.
The Clear-Bra was a must! I had my tint guy install the carbon fiber, he only charged me $25 for both sides. It really cleaned up the side of the 4Runner.
I think you will like the 861’s, I'm happy with them!
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