Dropzone's 1994 4Runner Expedition/Overland Build

[4RunnerSafari]

Just air down the tires everytime you go out and in from the garage, then you will have clearence [emoji1787]

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[Dropzone]

#transmissionteardowntuesday
Finally had some time(aka: got off my ass) with a week left of my sabbatical to take a look at the donor transmission. Took about a billion pictures and took my time to document it.
Someone had been in it once before just looking at the slight dents in the 3 pressure tubes. Nice thing is that the valve body came off the main housing of the transmission with the gasket intact. Having the gasket stick to the original transmission is what screwed up the other valveBody and necessitated having to split the original valveBody to get a new gasket in there, possible the old valveBody didn’t get put back together correctly or was just plain fubar.
Either way I have new solenoids and a filter to go back in.
Plan is to slap this one back in the 94 and hopefully that will cure this thing having no reverse and going forward while it’s in reverse. Stupid duals being the auto debacle started just about 3 years ago. This has been motivated to get the #4runner back in the road.
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Oh and the last pic I found that the tailgate brace for the rear tire mount hit the pintle hitch so tweaked the brace slightly to the left, clears the hitch just fine now and still supports the swing out tire mount as it should

 

[Dropzone]

So I finally dropped the transmission pan today. One of the 3 return/pressure tubes was loose and dropped when I lowered the pan.
not sure if I found the proverbial smoking gun on my transmission issues but I am gonna go ahead and swap the valve bodies since I have a strong distaste for ATF and would rather just do it all at once instead of pulling the pan and waiting for the ATF to stop dripping again.
Such a pain in the butt
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Also found out that Baja Designs now makes Amber light covers for the S1’s I have as mirror mounted ditch lights. Nice use of a Christmas gift card and not a bad deal for $10 per cover to make them dual purpose

 

[Dropzone]

Got a late start to pulling the old valve body out this afternoon.
Things were going great till I got sprayed in the face with a bunch of ATF that was trapped somewhere. Amazing how much fluid gets stuck in these things after letting drain/drip forever.
Needless to say ATF is not my preferred stuff to drink.
Hopefully most of the residual will drip out overnight

 

[Dropzone]

The missus was nice enough to help me to get the donor valve body installed this morning. Was having trouble get it in place, her helping hands kept some springs in place so I could get it mounted.
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So the valve body is in place with new solenoids and filter.
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I have a munched sensor to figure out where it was mounted.
I will get the pan in place tomorrow and fill it with ATF. Hopefully this thing will have reverse finally.
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Will also need to drain the 3 year old gas sense it has been sitting so long, and out in a new fuel filter too

Forgot how munched the 4xinnovation sliders I recycled from my 81 Trekker were, but they have a few years of life left in them

 

[Dropzone]

Transmission pan is mounted- high temp RTV needs to cure for a day before I can add ATF



I am not sure how long I fought to get the bolt in for the transmission fill tube brace. What a pain in the butt
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it took me awhile to find the Marlin Crawler electronic to mechanical speedometer adapter I bought 4 years ago when I started ordered parts for this thing



I thought about using the cable extension but figured it would be smart to have the adapter fixed to the rear transfer case

It’s a tight fit with the adapter & plug and the pivot point on the frame for the parking brake. I ended up extending the wiring harness about 24”

 

[Dropzone]

OK so i may have found something - dunno until tear it apart, again but something didn't look right when i was going back over the Inchworm Gear instructions on Low Range Off Road's website
I noticed the forward of the 3 pistons was inverted compared to the other two


when i pulled the valve body from my transmission all 3 pistons were inserted with springs down


all three pistons had springs down on my donor transmission were this same way so i figured it was accurate.


i forgot i had the Factory transmission manual. on page AT-24 is shows what would be the Bo piston being inserted with the springs up


so i go back to work tomorrow, i will pull this thing apart on sunday and see what happens.
I honestly have no clue why both transmissions would have the Bo piston inserted the wrong way

anyway the saga continues

 

[Dropzone]

So I got burned out on this thing.
Sold it to a local Toyota Guy as a project who’s current truck is too small for a family wheeler so it will get finished up and actually get used.

Next project is gonna be a 7-10 year old Tacoma 4x4 Access Cab that will probably be on 35’s, 5.29’s, sliders and an ARB bumper

 

[4RunnerSafari]

Turning accumulator pistons or leaving the springs out or so is known to firm up shifts or activate manual gearshifts if the valvebody is also moded for it. Do you remember if the tranny shift firm up or down?

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[Dropzone]

Time for a new project

Today was bitter sweet. Had a lot of time and probably too much $$$ but quit keeping track a few years ago.
It was fun but the 4Runner went off to its new home this morning.
It is now sitting in my friends shop next to his 5th Gen 4Runner

Now to try to find a 10 year old Tacoma in today’s market priced halfway decent

 

[octanejunkie]

Life goes on. What's next?

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[Dropzone]

Life goes on. What's next?

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i am looking at this 2009 Sport Edition 4runner with 130K on it a friend of mine has at work. He bought it from the original owner, another coworker. So i know the entire of the history of the truck
it has a mild OME lift, sunroof, nice kenwood and a few other cool toys

 

[4RunnerSafari]

Are you going to keep posting in this thread if you get that new 4R? ill still continue watching.
Do you have any plans for it if you buy it, or keep it as it is?

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[Dropzone]

Are you going to keep posting in this thread if you get that new 4R? ill still continue watching.
Do you have any plans for it if you buy it, or keep it as it is?

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if i end up getting it i will start a new thread in the 4th gen folder, it doesn't quite fit the classic age yet

my wife was out of town for the last couple of weeks so that is something that has slowed down the purchase. Whatever i get she wants to see it before i bring it home/.
Tons of plans:
Sliders with Kick outs
ARB bumper - so i have a place to put my winch
Some form of rear bumper with some built in recovery points
I would love to go with some 35x10.50x17 tires but i don't really want to go through the hassle of regearing again. I have done that on 5 trucks.

Time will tell, whatever I end up doing it will be a slow process as far as ordering stuff and getting it mounted

 

[4Reak Show]

Today was bitter sweet. Had a lot of time and probably too much $$$ but quit keeping track a few years ago.
It was fun but the 4Runner went off to its new home this morning.
It is now sitting in my friends shop next to his 5th Gen 4Runner

Now to try to find a 10 year old Tacoma in today’s market priced halfway decent

Woah woah woah wtf?? I ghosted the forum awhile back and this is what I find? We Lost a 2nd genner? Bummer.

Great build. What the reasoning of the departure? Just over it or what? Got a lot of inspiration from you over the years. Thanks for that.