Dirtco's 1999 4Runner Build

[Dirtco]

[MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION]- did you sell the trailer already? for sale link is DOA. I think you have it priced about right

Outstanding trail pics as always:smokin:

edit: meant to ask what GPS your got, is that a Garmin GPSMap 62 or 64? I recently picked up a GPSMap 64st that I am still deciding if i like it or not. It is a bit bigger than my Etrex Vista HCX (old but dependable) and my Etrex 20. I like the big screen of my Nuvi 2797 but having a handheld is nice as a back up (AA's are nice)..yep I have Gadgetitis bad:music:

I deleted the posting, I originally listed it at $9500 but after looking around I felt it should be listed at $8500, with some room to negotiate. You can't edit the title of a thread, without the help of a mod, so I just deleted it with the intentions of making a new posting.

I have the Garmin 62st, and this was one of the first trips that I actually used it. I've had it for a couple years but I never had the software on my computer to download tracks, etc. Once I figured that out it made the unit much more user friendly, and useful for what I do. I see myself using it a lot more in the future.

 

[Dirtco]

Looks like a nice trip. How many days did you guys do? And was that your girls ride there too if so hows she liking it?

My wife had to work, so I went alone. In all honesty I think it's for the better, it was a very ambitious route and we were in the car for a solid ten hours a day, three days and two nights. It would've been rough for my daughter to be stuck in her car seat for that long.

 

[4Running Daily]

My wife had to work, so I went alone. In all honesty I think it's for the better, it was a very ambitious route and we were in the car for a solid ten hours a day, three days and two nights. It would've been rough for my daughter to be stuck in her car seat for that long.

How's your DD Tacoma doing?

 

[Dropzone]

I have the Garmin 62st, and this was one of the first trips that I actually used it. I've had it for a couple years but I never had the software on my computer to download tracks, etc. Once I figured that out it made the unit much more user friendly, and useful for what I do. I see myself using it a lot more in the future.

Are you using the Garmin Basecamp software or another program?

 

[owyheerat]

I just read thru all 1784 posts...all I can say is...AMAZING! I really appreciate your attention to detail, your awesome fab skills and your desire to use your well built rig, and share the experience with all. GREAT JOB! Very inspiring.

How do you like the IROC's? Would you purchase again? How are they wearing?

Thanks again for taking the time to post your build and adventures. Guys like you is what makes this forum so great. I learned a ton from this thread. I would love to see your Runner in person some day.

Durwin

 

[Dirtco]

Awesome pics Dirtco!...... I've been subscribed to your thread for sometime and really love what you've done to your 4R! I pop in from time to time to see updates! It was sad to see that you are considering letting her go.... I totally understand with changing priorities and family (expanding), I know when my Wife and I started a family money was tight and hard decisions had to be made! Now that my kids are all out of school, the challenge is finding money to help with College! I'd do a lot more with my 4r if I just had the money but my Wife and kids find uses for it! There are lots of things I wish I'd hung on to, but alas, the decision seemed right at the time... i'm really impressed that after BFAD started a family he/they were able to incorporate outdoor 4Runner pursuits with the family! He has somehow spawned an interest in his daughter for his truck!! How awesome is that!

Thanks Doug! I don't have to sell the trailer, it's just overkill for myself and my wife hates camping. There hasn't been much interest in it, so I might just hold on to it and use it for trips with my daughter. My daughter loves the 4Runner, she is just a bit young to be stuck in her car seat for most the day. I take her for shorter trips, and she plays in the 4Runner while its in the garage. We also set up the trailer a couple times a year in the yard and camp out.

 

[Dirtco]

How's your DD Tacoma doing?

It's great, just a nice all around vehicle. I've done small things to it but for the most part I just drive it. I would love to build it into a LT Expo rig, but the wife isn't to keen on that idea! lol

Are you using the Garmin Basecamp software or another program?

I'm using the Basecamp software, it works pretty good. Traildamage.com has an extensive listing of Colorado and Utah trails, along with GPS tracks. I can load the tracks into the unit and have them when it comes time to hit the trail, I also used it for tracking our Expo trip through Colorado.

I just read thru all 1784 posts...all I can say is...AMAZING! I really appreciate your attention to detail, your awesome fab skills and your desire to use your well built rig, and share the experience with all. GREAT JOB! Very inspiring.

How do you like the IROC's? Would you purchase again? How are they wearing?

Thanks again for taking the time to post your build and adventures. Guys like you is what makes this forum so great. I learned a ton from this thread. I would love to see your Runner in person some day.

Durwin

Thanks for taking the time to read through the build, and thank you for the kind words! I mainly bought the Irok's for snow wheeling, of which they are amazing! They also work great in the rocks, and are pretty good on the street too. But they are big, heavy and super expensive! So far they are wearing pretty good, but I also don't have a ton of miles on them. We'll see how they hold up through this summer and fall.

 

[poleclimber63]

Thanks Doug! I don't have to sell the trailer, it's just overkill for myself and my wife hates camping. There hasn't been much interest in it, so I might just hold on to it and use it for trips with my daughter. My daughter loves the 4Runner, she is just a bit young to be stuck in her car seat for most the day. I take her for shorter trips, and she plays in the 4Runner while its in the garage. We also set up the trailer a couple times a year in the yard and camp out.

Jeremiah, that's great, but I'm surprised there's little interest! That expedition trailer, especially in Colorado, I would have thought, would have been a great addition to any outdoors enthusiasts' setup. We had a 24' trailer when our kids were young and we had great times with it but as they got older, it was harder to arrange and hearing "awe Dad do we have to?" started getting old! My Wife also isn't crazy about camping, so after a year without any usage we Sold it.
It's great your daughter likes your 4Runner, my 18 yr old has started to see how much fun it can be, as his friend bought a Dodge 4x4 and they have been going off road with it--- so he has been asking to go out with me in the 4Runner!

 

[Dirtco]

Now the back story on the rear axle…

When I trussed the rear axle I was concerned about warping the housing; I took every precaution I could, but without an axle alignment bar it wasn’t as straight as I would like. While the 4Runner was down for other repairs I decided to try and straighten the housing. I cut the truss in multiple places and used a porta-power to get the axle back to being straight, I then welded it back together. This seemed like a good idea in theory, but once I relieved the pressure the axle went back to where it was before, except even worse. I knew it was a long shot but it was my final try before buying a new axle housing. I took the 4Runner for a test drive and as I figured the rear alignment was even worse than before. I was bummed, but it was worth a shot. As the 4Runner sat in my driveway I noticed some gear oil start to leak from inside the truss, now we have a problem! I somehow cracked or cut the housing in the process of straightening it, so I had no choice but to buy a new housing.

I looked at aftermarket housings, I wanted a Diamond but the wait time would kill my whole summer and they aren’t cheap. I ended up buying a Trail Gear Rock Assault housing due to the fact it was in stock and half the price as a Diamond. My only concern was whether my full float set up work with the housing, but there was only one way to find out.

My first thought when I got the axle was how nice the fit and finish was, when these axles first came out they were junk but TG really stepped up their game and it shows!

 

[Dirtco]

I didn’t take many pictures through the process because I needed to focus on getting the housing under the 4Runner, and anyone that’s undertaking this project needs to know what they are doing. Me posting a bunch of pictures isn’t going to make this an easy do it yourself project. But I will give you guys a quick run down of what I did to make it work under my 4Runner.

I decided to stick with “close” to the stock geometry for several reasons; time, money, gas tank location, and the whole “can of worms” aspect of changing things around and running into major issues. On top of that, my rear suspension works really good and I have it dialed in, there’s no reason to change something that works (although I did tweak some stuff around to work even better).

I had an old bent donor axle housing, so I used that to source the coil buckets and shock mounts. I debated whether to reuse the UCA brackets or make new ones, they don’t see the abuse the lower ones do, so I reused the old ones and added extra bracing.





The lower control arm brackets are a different story, they get abused. So I used 3/8” suspension tabs (modified of coarse) for those.



And here is the housing ready to be assembled

 

[Dirtco]

In the process of assembling the rear axle I ran into a pretty major road block, the spindles would not bolt up to the full float adapters due to the seal adapter hitting the inside of the housing. The axle has off set axle tubes for more ground clearance and that throws everything off.





There is a step on the inside of the spindle where the seal adapter sets, so I cut that off, cleaned up the surface, trimmed down the seal adapter and reinstalled the spindle. It gave me just enough room to bolt it together.

 

[Dirtco]

As you can tell, this is the cliff notes version of the story, there are a lot of aspects that I have not covered and just about everything had to be modified or tweaked (especially because of the off set axle tubes). Another thing I had to address was the control arms. I had the Toytec adjustable UCA’s and panhard bar but I had the fixed Sonoran Steel lowers, these were not going to work because I needed to fine tune the suspension. So I broke out my wallet and bought a set of the Toytec HD adjustable lower control arms, these are 3/8” thick, double pass TIG welded, powder coated goodness built by Rokmen.

Here is a comparison next to the Sonoran Steel and a stock arm.

 

[Dirtco]

And now for the pictures everyone wants to see, the axle under the 4Runner! Note that I also built an adjustable panhard bar bracket to better the geometry a little.



Tons of clearance under the axle!

 

[JBurt]

Well sir.... I tip my hat to you. You should definitely be done with rear axle housing problems!

 

[Dirtco]

Well sir.... I tip my hat to you. You should definitely be done with rear axle housing problems!

With these kind of spec's on the housing, and the full float kit, I better not have any more issues!

"The axle tubes are now made from 5/16" thick, high strength DOM tubing and engage 5/8" farther into the center section. On top of that, there is a 360° gusset welded around the tubes on the inside of the housing to ensure unparalleled strength.

Trail-Gear introduces a new concept to the axle housing design. This exclusive design features axle tubes that have been offset above the housing centerline. The inner axles ride near the bottom of the axle tubes rather than in the center. The results are an increase of 3/8" ground clearance under the axle tubing.

The heavy-duty, press formed, 1/4" plate steel center section shell is specially shaped to ensure a minimum of 3/4" additional clearance under the differential. The differential mounting surface is made from ½" plate steel to ensure studs can not pull out, even under heavy loads. The outer offset flanges are made from 4130 Chromoly to prevent distortion or bending. Housings are precision aligned using start-of-the-art, 3D digital imaging equipment."

 

[Flemster]

That is one Beefy setup! Looks awesome and I'm sure it performs even better! Hope all the hard work you put into that pays off!

 

[4-Ripcord]

Wow that is badass! Much improved clearance.

Was the offset shafts a recent design change do you know? I was looking at those a while back (few years) and I don't remember that feature. I am assuming normal toyota hubs will still bolt on just fine though.

 

[EatonKyleH]

Could have totally filled that gap with expanding foam.

Looks great Jeremiah! Stoked to see ya next weekend.

 

[Unner]

You're a 4Runner artist!!!

What are your plans for the Sonoran Steel lower control arms now?

 

[Dirtco]

Wow that is badass! Much improved clearance.

Was the offset shafts a recent design change do you know? I was looking at those a while back (few years) and I don't remember that feature. I am assuming normal toyota hubs will still bolt on just fine though.

Thanks Jim! I'm pretty sure that they have always had the offset tubes, but the first few versions were total junk; crappy welds, not aligned correctly, leaked gear oil, etc. They really stepped up their game, this is one nice housing! Yes, I'm assuming a normal Toyota hub will bolt up, the only issue I could see would be the ABS tone ring.

I was reading through your build thread and saw that your planning on showing up to the Jamboree, guess I'll catch up with you next weekend!

Could have totally filled that gap with expanding foam.

Looks great Jeremiah! Stoked to see ya next weekend.

Yeah buddy, you know it! See you in a couple days!

You're a 4Runner artist!!!

What are your plans for the Sonoran Steel lower control arms now?

Thanks! I'm going to sell them, feel free to make an offer if your interested. I will be listing them when I get some more time.