Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build

[Dirtco]

Next on the list was to get my fridge installed, it needed to be on a slide because of the upper cargo basket I have.

Ironman4x4 sells a fridge slide kit, but it's $290. That's way more than I wanted to spend!

Ice Cube Fridge Freezer Slide

So I ordered some 200#, 24" slides off Amazon for around $40.00. Then I found an old shelf in the basement of the shop that fit the fridge okay.



I liked the idea of having the center open for increased air flow to the fridge; especially when the back of the 4Runner is packed, so I followed the design of the Ironman unit and built this. The lack of "excessive" material also cuts down on the weight.

 

[Dirtco]

With the fridge

 

[Dirtco]

When I ordered the slides I also ordered a creeper pad (it opens up to a full size creeper). It should make times like this a little more bearable...





Behind the fridge there is still room for my spare CV; I always wrap it in a towel, with extra rags, gloves and a trash bag inside.

 

[the great him]

I got the parts in for the steering rack guide, and installed them. The steering is noticeably tighter, and it seems like most of the slop/clunk is gone. I still need to take it wheeling to see how much of a difference it makes, but if I can get through this season without replacing the rack I'll be happy.

I used [MENTION=44220]BigFishAllDay[/MENTION] build thread to find the links. All the part numbers are listed below, I also didn't bother taking any pictures since it's been covered so well.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...-steering-rack-guide-pictures.html#post604234

Rack & Pinion issue - 2001 Taco - TTORA Forum

The whole thing took about 30 minutes, and that was with the Budbuilt's in the way. If I didn't have skid plates it would have been a 15 minute job. For anyone still running the old style guide,... Replace the damn thing with the upgraded version!! It's a simple and cheap (under $100) fix, and it makes a big difference. The old guide is a joke, most of the play was from the old roller style guide. I can move it up and down a good +1/16" with just my finger.

so im guessing that the safari ltd racks have this newer solid guide, and not the roller. my safari rack just showed up the yesterday, and now i am gonna be putting all new bushings and ball joints(uppers and lowers) and TREs in. i have some clunks in the front end, and a super leaky PSR and bushings that have 260+k mi on them. basically every moving part in the front end is getting replaced except the sway bar, and for that im pulling out my poly bushings and going back to OE cause i cant stand the squeaks

 

[the great him]

and for those who are wondering the rack is $495

 

[Dirtco]

so im guessing that the safari ltd racks have this newer solid guide, and not the roller. my safari rack just showed up the yesterday, and now i am gonna be putting all new bushings and ball joints(uppers and lowers) and TREs in. i have some clunks in the front end, and a super leaky PSR and bushings that have 260+k mi on them. basically every moving part in the front end is getting replaced except the sway bar, and for that im pulling out my poly bushings and going back to OE cause i cant stand the squeaks

Yeah, I'm sure it does have that newer style guide, along with whatever else they do to make it stronger and more reliable. Your going about it the right way, replace everything and be done with it for a while!

 

[the great him]

Yeah, I'm sure it does have that newer style guide, along with whatever else they do to make it stronger and more reliable. Your going about it the right way, replace everything and be done with it for a while!

i figure the stock stuff has lasted me 260k miles, 220k of that was before lift or any modifications. so i figure if i replace it all with new stock stuff i should be good for at least another 125k right? -well thats the hope anyhow. but the LBJs, idk what happened there, cause i did those like two years ago, and i now have about 1/16-1/8' of play side to side in them now. its kinda sketchy and i know i probably shouldnt drive it, but right now its my only mode of trans, and im waiting on the rest of my parts to come in.

got any ideas on why my LBJs have only lasted roughly 2 years and 30-40k miles?

 

[Dirtco]

i figure the stock stuff has lasted me 260k miles, 220k of that was before lift or any modifications. so i figure if i replace it all with new stock stuff i should be good for at least another 125k right? -well thats the hope anyhow. but the LBJs, idk what happened there, cause i did those like two years ago, and i now have about 1/16-1/8' of play side to side in them now. its kinda sketchy and i know i probably shouldnt drive it, but right now its my only mode of trans, and im waiting on the rest of my parts to come in.

got any ideas on why my LBJs have only lasted roughly 2 years and 30-40k miles?

Wow, that's scary! Are they factory Toyota? I plan on replacing my lower ball joints every season or two; these 4Runners were never designed to take the abuse we throw at them. Think about what a street driven 4Runner deals with on a daily basis; a pot hole, a speed bump, some expansion joints, etc. Now think about off-roading; non-stop up and down movement, more tire/wheel weight, more leverage (wheel spacers and custom backspacing). A few wheeling trips can equal a year or two of "normal" driving conditions.

 

[Dirtco]

I took the 4Runner out this weekend to see if the new rack guide fixed the slop and clunk in the steering. My plan was to run SOB hill, Glacier Ridge and Georgia Pass, or run those same trails but backwards. Well, sadly, there was an insane amount of people up there and I was setting in traffic to just get on the trail. I've never seen the trails so packed! So I hit some side trails and did a little exploring to get away from the crowds.



The steering is much tighter, with a lot less noise coming from the front, but something was still not right. So I grabbed my sweet new creeper and started checking stuff out. It looks like the d/s front caliper bolts were a little loose and it allowed the caliper to shift around on hard impacts. I removed the caliper bolts today, cleaned them up, and reinstalled them with Lock-tite. I guess we’ll see if that helps things.

This was the first time wheeling with the fridge; it was great to have it, but there's also a couple things I need to address. First, I need to hardwire the power cord. There was a couple times I checked on the fridge, and it was off with no power going to it. The power cord would work it’s way loose and lose power, even in the locked position. It also seemed like it was having a hard time keeping cold (I had it set to 32 degrees) but a big part of that could be the power cord issue, and I had a bag that was a little too close to the vent, once I moved it the fridge seemed to run colder. I’m sure with a few little changes it will work great, also ordered my latch and tie downs so that should be taken care of before next weekend.

And, some how I managed to spear my truck! Luckily it only knocked one of the reverse lights loose and put a small dent in the floor of the cargo area, it came really close to taking out the rear brake line. It could have been a lot worse! The tree must have been just hardly in the trail (off to the side, at an angle), and I think the rear link guided it up over the axle. It jammed up into the cargo area, snapped, then got wrapped around the rear axle and uprooted the damn thing. I thought that I had just run over the edge of a tree and it bounced up and hit the skid plate. Nope, I was dragging around a tree…

 

[Dirtco]

Found this cool little trailer out in the middle of the woods, looks like it used to be a Dodge pick up bed. I find all kinds of cool stuff out in the woods, but most of it is all stripped and full of bullet holes. This thing is still pretty straight and not a bullet hole in it. It would sure look cool with some 35’s under it!

 

[the great him]

funny cause i had the same issue with my caliper, passenger side one came lose and was clunking around. i did the same thing, pulled it off, cleaned up the bolts and the bracket and locktighted them -both sides just to be sure.

i also think that replacing the LBJs every year or two is the way to go, they are cheap enough at $160 for a pair -look at the cost if one fails... anyhow yeah i im gonna start a maintenance schedule -monthly, bi monthly, quarterly, semi annually, and annually.

 

[downpour11]

:lmao: ^^^ that tree branch looks right at home

 

[cdrewferd]

Fridge looks good. My driver side caliper bolts did the same thing. Weird. I know they are heavier, but look at the Toyo MTs. I just had mine mounted and the spare took the most weight at 4oz. The other 4 all took less than 3 and 2 were just over 1. Very good for a 34x11.50 r17.

 

[Bandit Runner]

So much for treading lightly! jk

 

[Dirtco]

:lmao: ^^^ that tree branch looks right at home

It would look better in it's real home, the ditch next to the trail!

So much for treading lightly! jk

I was Treading Lightly; the tree, not so much!

I didn't even see the damn thing, and it couldn't be more than a foot into the trail. I was trying to connect several trails together, which I accomplished, but there was a lot of dead ends and spurs that went nowhere. I also got a good amount of Rocky Mountain pin-stripping, but it was worth it. It will buff out and I have a couple new "low-key" wheeling spots that don't have gates. It's steep terrain so it's not ideal for deep snow wheeling, but there are still a couple other roads to check out in the area...

 

[Dirtco]

Fridge looks good. My driver side caliper bolts did the same thing. Weird. I know they are heavier, but look at the Toyo MTs. I just had mine mounted and the spare took the most weight at 4oz. The other 4 all took less than 3 and 2 were just over 1. Very good for a 34x11.50 r17.

Thanks for the info! That's great, I really like the Toyo MT's too, just don't like the weight. I've also heard they work good in the snow. When it comes time to get serious about tires I will be comparing the MTZ, Toyo MT, and whatever else I think of before I pull the trigger. My tires are fine for now, but I need to figure out something before the snow comes.

 

[smallfry]

I took the 4Runner out this weekend to see if the new rack guide fixed the slop and clunk in the steering. My plan was to run SOB hill, Glacier Ridge and Georgia Pass, or run those same trails but backwards. Well, sadly, there was an insane amount of people up there and I was setting in traffic to just get on the trail. I've never seen the trails so packed! So I hit some side trails and did a little exploring to get away from the crowds.

Probable a stuck Jeep. ound:

 

[Dirtco]

Probable a stuck Jeep. ound:

Even worse, a group of stock "Rent a Jeep's"! lol

 

[Dirtco]

I got the latch installed on the fridge slide out, screws would have interfered with the slide so I welded it in place.





Also hard wired it to the fuse block I have in the back cargo area, so the power cord coming loose will be a thing of the past. I have some ARB fridge tie down straps coming, but it's pretty damn solid just the way it is.

The fridge takes up more room than my old cooler, and I was limited on space before the fridge, so I needed to sort through my stuff and try to make some room. With some creative packing, along with using a smaller tool bag and recovery bag, I was able to get the back of the 4Runner down to this. I'll need to carry a winter survival/recovery tote for snow wheeling, but I had planned on that anyway.

 

[jason in tn]

I'm going to have to figure something out for my spare tire. I don't carry as much stuff as you but I don't seem to have room for the stuff I do. I admire how organized your cargo area looks, mine always looks like I just rolled the truck over lol.