Introduction, and eventualy upgrade thread......

[Stick Figure]

well with the upcoming holiday and some travel plans in the near future the 4runner got a little more love......


OME 890 Springs for the rear:

Why just the rear? well part of the holiday plans include bringing my Supra shell out, as well as quite a few parts. I figured i would upgrade the rear now and then do the front after i'm done abusing the 4runner as a tow rig.

It does sit with about 2" of rake right now but compared to the slightly sagged look that is usually head with any gear in the back it is a welcome change. No i didn't change out to the OME shocks, and so far the Bilsteins ride great with these springs.

Next up for this weekend was to address the small lighting issue. Mainly the HID conversion got rid of my brights and i wanted something to light up the mountains on this trip.

PIAA 520s fit what i was looking for and so far are more than impressive. Of course its almost impossible to find somewhere truly dark in "so cal" with out a bit of driving, so the cool night shots will have to wait. I wired them in to work in place of the brights. I did have to add a second relay to be able to keep the HID's on while these were engaged, but i ended up with what i wanted which was everything still being controlled off of the stock switch.

Last thing for the weekend was some quick brackets to hold my "hi lift" (so its a cheap HF copy for the time being) to the stock roof rack.

i'll have to snap a decent pic of the end result on the truck. I'll have to upgrade to a real hi lift after i have more areas to use it on the 4runner. I did want it for trailer use (they work great if you need to unhook a loaded trailer that doesn't have its own jack like most of the uhaul rental POSs)

I may have a couple other tricks done before the trip as well and i'll post them up as well.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

So those PIAAs make a difference with your HIDs? I figured you wouldn't even be able to see them with the HIDs on.

How long did it take you to wire it up like that?

 

[Stick Figure]

PIAA's are the driving light not the fog light and yes they make a HUGE difference. The HIDs are great for up close low beams, but don't have the distance needed for middle of the night through snowy mountains. You could probably adjust the head lights up to help but then you are blinding everyone coming at you. you'll be amazed when i finally get some night visibility pics up.

As far as wiring its pretty easy. The PIAAs come 99% pre-wired (would be cake for a DIY install), i just ended up cutting off there switch and using the original wire for the brights to trigger the PIAAs and also a relay to power the headlights while the "brights" were on. Honestly i didn't do a super clean job because its all getting changed when i have to move the battery to add the second one.

 

[Clemsonfan15]

Oh, I know how bright driving lights can be. I have a set of Hella 700s retrofitted with a 55 watt HID kit. It's crazy bright. I just didn't think pair of stock driving lights would do much, but apparently I'm wrong.

Any reason you didn't get the Bi-Xenon HID kit?

I'm ready to see some night pictures.

 

[Stick Figure]

yeah i just read through your thread. HID was something i didn't want because of the time it takes for them to warm up. i wanted a true high beam that could be flashed just like a normal high beam if i only needed a quick view or something. Even most factory cars that come with HIDs will still run a halogen bulb for high beam or will re-aim the headlight via motors when the brights are on. Good example is the e46 BMWs, they have the projectors motorize up for the true high beam but they still have the second light in the headlights just for the flash effect (i assume its mainly for the autobahn driving rather than the US roads).

The PIAAs i got are also the yellow which is great for snow and rain etc. exactly what i was looking for.


also forgot to mention that earlier in the week i threw in a Pioneer AVH P4200 for some inside entertainment.

 

[Stick Figure]

Well as i mentioned the 4runner got the rear spring upgrade to help out its holiday towing extravaganza...... first couple trips were just taking some random junk to the landfill so trailer weight plus about 750#s each load. Third load was trailer weight plus 2200#s of scrap metal (read old Toyota parts).... and the 4th trip well ..... 1600 miles with this on the back:

Supra was minus the drivetrain but the trans, driveshaft exhaust, and differential were all in the back of the 4runner along with other luggage and goodies.

Of course the 4runner handled great even in the 55mph wind gusts at over 7000ft elevation coming through Wyoming. I would never recommend a 4Runner as a top pick for a dedicated tow rig, but i can't believe how well this thing does for its size and advertised hp.

 

[SIKHILUXSURF]

Wow Brandon all i can say is wow! so is that the new project?

 

[Stick Figure]

Project yes, new no...... i've owned the Supra for about 10 years, and at one point it had a built 7MGTE motor. Right after i opened my shop back in Nebraska the shop was broken into and the turbo set up for the car was stolen. Then the 7M blew the head gasket (my own fault doing 120+mph in 120° heat for several hundred miles coming back from a HIN show in Chicago) i parted out the 7M stuff and it sat forgotten about in my parents garage for the past 7 years. About a month ago i sold my IS300 to a co-worker who was looking for one, and decided it was time to resurrect my Supra. Now its in CA and hopefully will come together quickly. I'm even thinking of getting rid of my MR2 to concentrate just one one massive project at a time. I am looking for recommendations on who out here sells good JDM clips/swaps/engines depending on exactly what i decide to do. I know its going 1 or 2JZ just not sure which yet.

 

[bulger22]

Nice looking runner. Those disconnects you made look great. How do you like them?! I'd pay You $140 before wabfab's ghetto links anyday. I looked into getting new ones or finding someone locally to make mine. If wabfab is selling theirs with that cheap material they used then im in the wrong business.

Anyways good stuff in this thread. Will use as favorite for future reference thanks man.

 

[Stick Figure]

So far i love the endlinks, but i still haven't had a chance to test them disconnected on a trail. On the road they are working great and make things a lot more stable in higher speed corners. I have offered to make them for others for $150 if you really want a set. I may try and start another set when i do my rears and just have the machined parts ready to go since i have had a lot of interest in them.

 

[twitchee2]

End links look great. do they pop out at full flex? I built some similar and those will probly not work on mine. how much travel do they have? also be careful, at full flex/ full lock they might hit the wheels. thats where my problem came in.

Machine work looks fantastic tho. Great job

 

[Stick Figure]

I saw your thread the other day, but I haven't had a chance to try them with any amount of flex. I did set them up for basically stock height though since I don't have much lift right now. I just picked up a new daily driver so I can do a bit more testing with the 4runner now with out having to drive it every day.

 

[pdx650]

The disconnects are cherry. I'm new to the 4runner scene. I just bought a '97 2.7 liter 4 cyl, automatic, 4wd in pretty good condition with 177,633 miles on the odometer. I am very pleased with it, but it is stock and my first 4wd ever. I do not know the things/options available to me, but I'm glad I can look through these threads/forums to see what others have accomplished with their rigs.

I already have plans to:

1. Bypass the trans cooler out of the radiator like others on this forum do.
2. Change out the transmission fluid/filter/pan gasket at the same time.
3. Check/add gl-4/gl-5 to the gearboxes.
4. Change the engine oil/filter.
5. Change out the thermometer/gasket.
6. Grease the zerk fittings.
7. Get an alignment check after I install the correct size tires.
8. Scan the OBD II for any fault codes.
9. Change out the antifreeze.
10. Add some PIAA's to the front bumper. (this model has no factory driving/fog lights installed) *Any recommendations would be welcome.

11. Are LED brake lights or any LED lights of any kind even worth the trouble? The stock headlights work wonderfully anyway.
12. Keep a replacement set of the three serpentine belts on hand in case I need to replace them on a summer trip to my brother-in-laws' wedding in Montana. (family and dog will be accompanying me there from eastern Virginia.)

Basically, I'm getting the ride ready to go west for the summer and back. Does anybody on this forum have anything in mind I should consider taking care of with this vehicle now before I go? It has 178k miles on it.

 

[Hepar]

Nice! I'm liking both Yota's

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

MKIII supra = <3

I used to have a 90 miss that car.

 

[Victor]

You clearly have good taste in cars. I had an 87 Turbo BPU'd. Now have a 1992 JZS147 aka Aristo with a fire breathing 2J. I think I've seen your posts on SF when I had my MKIII back in the day....

 

[Stick Figure]

Thanks for the compliments, unfortunately the supra and the truck have both been neglected lately, I picked up Scion tC to drive as a daily and have been playing with that making it mine. 4runner has been sitting mainly due to valve cover leak, but I know the rear axle has a leak, and i want to do the wheel bearings as well while I'm in there as well. Too many projects, and never enough time. Hopefully ill update with actual progress soon.

 

[Stick Figure]

Wanted to share my latest "upgrade" .....

While freshening up up the valve cover gaskets (leaking) and vacuum hoses (dried and cracked). I decided to make some new teflon gaskets to help keep some heat out of intake manifold. While this isn't a race car, i'll take any extra HP/MPG i can get!

anyway .... here's a couple pics of the process:

I only had some thick (1/4") material for the intake manifold, so as a consequence i had to machine the bolt hole (into a slot) in the brace that runs from the cylinder head to the upper plenum, other than that it worked great even with the stock hardware.

for the throttle body i used thinner 1/8" material. It was important to keep the throttle body separated from the intake because i didn't want to bypass the coolant from the throttle body. Of course as a "side effect" i got a round gasket for the throttle body as well!

 

[Ron Helmuth]

mad props to ya StickFigure-those are some sweet looking Teflon gaskets.

I'd imagine a few of us would be willing to pony up some dollars for dupes of those if you have made up a template.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

I'm not being a smart ass here, but I've never heard of teflon gaskets... what exactly are the benefits of this "upgrade"?

to help keep some heat out of intake manifold.

I saw that part... but say they reduce intake manifold temps.... 3 degrees?? What's the point in all the trouble for such little gain? Or is there a bigger drop in temps?