electroCrunch - 2000 SR5 Build Thread

[electroCrunch]

New wheels! Was too excited to take a pic I didn't wash the bird crap off yet. Got a matching set of 5 wheels for the spare so I don't have to carry a spacer at all times. Boom!

FN Five Star 16x8 3.5" BS -25mm offset

 

[Road Bull]

Man those are sharp! Nice choice.

 

[hodolla]

Good luck with the journey. It's such a great platform to build off of.



If you plan to wheel it, my 2 cents is to address all the worn out suspension and rubber ASAP, after making sure the power/drive train maintenance is up to date. At that mileage, it's in need.

Thanks for the note. Not going to get too rowdy with it, mainly underdeveloped dirt mountain/desert roads. Addressing the suspension currently and will look into the drivetrain as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[electroCrunch]

I'm getting pretty bad driveshaft rub on my gas skid when really flexing the rear. Upon inspection I noticed my rear axle sat about 3/8" over to the drivers side. I loosened the panhard nuts and attempted to adjust. This is where I learned my SS adjustable panhard needed to be partially taken off the vehicle to be adjusted. My previous experience with adjustable linkage like that is the two ends have opposing threads so all you have to do is turn a middle section (in this case, a tube) to lengthen or shorten the piece. After getting the bar to where I wanted it to end up (on drivers side adjustment point) I pulled off passenger side end, screwed to length, but couldn't strong-arm the mount over. So I rigged up a ratchet strap to pull it over. Worked just great.

Am I the only one whose experienced this pain point with the SS bar? I could have just been dense and doing it wrong too :becky:

Adjusted and much closer. Still about 1/16 off towards driver-side from what I can measure.

I was hoping this would solve some tracking issues as well, but it hasn't. Will see if it helps with rub next time I can get out.

 

[electroCrunch]

New shocks for the hatch. No more hitting my head when the rear window is down. Pretty cheap fix if you have worn shocks.

 

[electroCrunch]

I'm getting odd tracking, pull to the right, a weird pop/clunk I can feel in the floor and steering wheel when going over turns/bumps (but also while turning the wheel sometimes), nasty bump steer and generally loose steering. It's time to change that.

Bought some links from MStudt recently, right before he quit selling them . I just put them on front and rear. While I'm still getting continual pull to the right, it's solved all of the clunk/pop sound I was getting. That is completely gone now! Second, the bump steer feels much more appropriate. I think overall the vehicle feels more stable. Should have done this when I lifted it :redbrick:

I have some other parts on the shelf to help solve the other handling issues I'm having.

 

[electroCrunch]

After I got into a bit of an accident and smashed in my front bumper a bit, I knew I wanted a new one. And might as well make it steel too.


New steel front bumper ordered. Oh yeah, new steel rear bumper ordered. Build time is 6-8 weeks out though. Will show which bumpers I went with as they arrive.

I. Cannot. Wait.

 

[electroCrunch]

Got the rear end-links on and adjusted too...

 

[Flemster]

I'm excited to see where this build goes! Super cool stuff, doing the right things!

 

[electroCrunch]

Never really a fan of power antennas. They break... That's how I justify the mod, but really I wanted a different look.

Tacoma whip (stubby) mod: check.

I cut the original antenna and connected it to the new, so all I needed to do after freeing up the original antenna wire from its clips was pull it through with the new antenna attached.

Installed

I know it's a stubby antenna, but reception isn't really a factor for me. I don't listen to the radio, but the GF occasionally will. The reception is good enough in the city I live in.

 

[electroCrunch]

Don't forget to clean your MAF sensor like I clearly have.

**Performed at 209,1xxx miles

 

[electroCrunch]

I'm excited to see where this build goes! Super cool stuff, doing the right things!

Thank you. I'm pretty sold on the idea of keeping the 4Runner forever so I've been putting a lot of myself and my resources towards it lately. It's worth it. I'm excited to see where the 4Runner takes me.

Your 4Runner is inspiring! Keep up the solid work.

SRQ? I just ordered and installed a CB antenna mount from them (you?). Awesome product, but I should have gotten Passenger side so I'll be ordering again soon.

 

[electroCrunch]

The only obvious sign of my 4Runner's age was a cracked center console armrest. I picked up a used OEM unit off of eBay for a good deal.

 

[electroCrunch]

Finally got around to installing the rest of my interior LED lighting kit from PFran LEDs. Their overhead dome and cargo lights have lasted me over 2 years now without any fuss. So I have high hopes for the map and reverse lights as well.

Reverse lights:

 

[Flemster]

Thank you. I'm pretty sold on the idea of keeping the 4Runner forever so I've been putting a lot of myself and my resources towards it lately. It's worth it. I'm excited to see where the 4Runner takes me.

Your 4Runner is inspiring! Keep up the solid work.

SRQ? I just ordered and installed a CB antenna mount from them (you?). Awesome product, but I should have gotten Passenger side so I'll be ordering again soon.

Hell Yea, Great vehicles if you take care of them! I am a "sponsor" for SRG who is owned and ran by Matthew Berman. I think he is @srqrunner or something. Great products! Their Grills and Headlights are top notch!

 

[electroCrunch]

We're having a hot summer so far. Hit 119 F at my house last week. The 4Runner is running a bit hotter this summer compared to last, so tackling that. The hottest I've seen the coolant is around 194 so far, which is hotter than last year.

I should have replaced the fan clutch when I did the radiator. Install wasn't bad with the radiator on, just had to be vigilant to not bend any fins. Will be doing a cooling system flush when I make time for it. Not a real big temperature difference after the new fan clutch was installed.

New part is slightly different, but both are stamped AISIN.

*****Performed at 209,xxx miles

 

[electroCrunch]

Leveling up my wiring game. Getting ready to do some rewiring as well as add an auxiliary fuse panel. I couldn't wait to make a cable, so I made a new grounding cable for battery -> body.

I swear my speakers hit harder/cleaner now, with the amp being ground to the body. I also had to retune the head unit, so I don't really know. Telling myself it sounds better :dancin:

 

[electroCrunch]

B&M Cooler upgrade: Part 2!

The B&M 70264 cooler rated @ 14,400 BTUs I installed a while ago wasn't cutting it out here in the desert heat. Towing or wheeling in the heat would cause temps to reach the 200 degree point. Before going in for a transmission fluid flush, I decided to upgrade to a bigger unit.

After a lot of measuring I figured that the B&M 70274 rated @ 29,200 BTUs would fit with some minor trimming. Other than trimming and making brackets, I had to spend a bit of time sourcing the fittings I wanted for this project. I finally found some aluminum fittings by Edelbrock that were exactly what I needed.

PN pic for reference

Most of the trimming happened here with this bracket so the cooler could fit behind it. My earlier cooler measurements were right on, just enough room plus a few millimeters to spare between the bracket and the AC condenser/cooler thing. Any rigidity lost I think is made up with the cooler mounting brackets.

Now for the fun but tedious part, making mounting brackets. I grabbed some 16 gauge flat bar from my local metal supply store and got to work fitting, trimming, measuring, refitting, measuring, etc, repeat... Bending was done in a vice, nothing special, just some heat applied to make it more pliable. Heat was overkill, I just wanted to play with fire.

Here the brackets are all fabbed up, edges ground clean, de-burred and ready for paint.

Painted and ready for install.

As you can see I just used the already existing fluid lines I installed previously. Here it is all buttoned up after passing an initial leak test.

Drove around for a while in 105 F temps and my initial findings are that the new cooler holds a lower temp, better, and more consistently. I didn't see the spikes in heat I was seeing before. Will see how well the temps do after a coolant and transmission flush.

 

[trailbikerider]

I need to grab a scangauge for my truck. I have the 70268 cooler, and I'm curious to see what the trans temps are up to when it's this hot outside.

 

[electroCrunch]

I need to grab a scangauge for my truck. I have the 70268 cooler, and I'm curious to see what the trans temps are up to when it's this hot outside.

I use a generic OBD2 bluetooth adapter, and an Android app called "Torque" to monitor my 4Runner on my phone. Cheaper than Scangauge, but not as user friendly from what little I've seen with Scangauge. I think I'm into my adapter and app for thirty something dollars. But definitely a few hours worth of figuring the app out, and customizing my gauges, as you can see in my earlier post towards the bottom of post #27.

Dude! You're local. And I see you have a fun "toy" you also drive. Sounds like a fun chassis. I'm into the local amateur road racing club, NASAAZ. If you've never checked it out and want to go flat out on a real road race course with that beast, PM me for details. It's such a blast to be able to open up your car without worrying about pedestrians, other cars, and especially cops. I have a dedicated Miata I've been building the past few years, as my track toy.