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

I've done before and after testing on other vehicles, but honestly have no idea where the data is from that. Hondata has a decent write up for their own gaskets... Heatshield

Ron as far as making them for others, its not hard to do, so i wouldn't mind doing it. If there are a few people that want them its something i can easily do. I'm just not sure what it would cost though, these were made out of material i had left over from other previous projects.
 
From that link:

Around town, testing has shown an average drop of around 10 degrees C which is good for around 3 percent power increase. Remember though that 3 percent power increase is difficult to feel. You'd feel a greater change in performance getting rid of that passenger. In certain conditions a 30° C drop has been measured.
Click to expand...

Interesting. BUT... the gasket you made is going between the upper and lower sections of the intake manifold, and the gasket that hondata is pushing goes between the intake manifold and the cylinder head. Seems like that article vs what you've done would be apples vs. oranges.
 
gasket i made is going between the lowest portion of the intake and the two upper parts, which is similar to what they did. I would have liked to go straight to the cylinder head, but one i didn't need to remove that for the repair i was doing, and two with the thickness of material i was using it would have never worked on a "V" engine. It would have been nice to keep the heat out of the fuel injectors and rails though.
 
My mistake. I just went back and re-looked at your pics. I thought you were going in between the upper and lower sections of the uppper manifold. (I should have taken a closer look at the pics) I see what you're saying. To get the gasket between that lower section and the heads would be tough.

You're definitely a creative thinker though. Major props for that! :guitar3:

It's always cool to see guys who come from the "fast cars" side of things apply their knowledge to the 4Runner.

Edit... not sure how in the fudge I missed that... that last pic you took clearly shows the gasket dead center in the "V".
 
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its easy to make the mistake because i did show it on the flange that goes between the upper and lower pieces. This motor is a little unique in that is uses close to the same flange (same gaskets) on both sides of the middle part of the manifold (the upper is missing one bolt hole).
 
Great work on the truck. I like the shroud and endlinks. I guess once you go Toyota, you keep it in the family.

I am currently looking for a 3rd gen 4Runner for a daily driver. I currently have an 05 Tacoma and in the past I've had a 91 MR2 Turbo and my 86 Corolla GTS is the old project back home. I also had a 92 Galant VR4 at one time, but for some reason I just keep coming back to Toyotas.

I will make sure to hit you up once I find a truck. I am really interested int he shroud w/electrical fan conversion as well as the endlinks.
 
So i was going to do this the easy way and just order these from one of the few vendors that had them, but after a phone call to 4wheel parts who didn't stock anything the size i want, and two phone calls to Toytec who were too busy to take the order over the phone, and quoted me more for shipping than it ended up costing me to make my own, I figured it would be easier and cheaper to do just that... make my own top out spacer.

Started with boring some holes in a couple pieces of scrap

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Then rounded them out on the mill at work

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I wasn't sure on an exact size at this point since i hadn't pulled the strut out of the 4runner yet. Back at home i pulled the struts and actually measured them. Time to reduce the size .....

First one was done entirely on my benchtop lathe

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After i had the exact size i wanted

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it was easier to to trace the rough size measurements to the second piece and trim it on the band saw

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almost done ....

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little time in the drill press and

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No installed pics yet. I going in to the shop today to use the spring compressor so i can change the upper bolts out to longer versions.
 
Here ya go ... couple shots of the results

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Didn't do a full day on the trail, or at least not with the truck. We had a little bit of daylight left after our hike today so we hit up Gold Mountain for some testing.
 
Awesome fab work man!

Your parts bin for suspension is immense, do you have a list? The only reason I ask is that I too am doing a 180k suspension overhaul. So far I only have:

Springs/Struts
Lower Ball Joints
sway bar bushings

On a side note, how do you like the OME vs the 99 springs?
 
Thanks for the compliments guys.

Yeah i've got a list, but it has a couple extra parts in it.

http://www.mostdesigns.com/Documents/4runner_parts.XLS

That was what i started with and then had them take out the extras based on my VIN number.

As for the OME vs OEM 99 ... the OME felt really stiff when i only had them on the rear. Once i got the front up a bit to even things out, it feels a lot better. I have heard others say though that the Bilstein/ OME springs is a stiffer combination than an all OME set up. I do love the fact that i can stack a decent amount of weight in the back and never have to worry about it sagging like i did with the 99 springs back there.
 
Stick= Always good to see you check in from time to time and the improvements you keep making for the ride.
 
Yeah i wish i could spend more time on the forum still, but i've got my time split between too many project it seems. Your truck seems like its progressed nicely.
 
Well i haven't uploaded any pics of the suspension/ bearing replacement yet, but I figured i would share a few shots from our recent trip to Florence Oregon. You guys from the Pacific Northwest do have some amazing areas up there. Unfortunately we were only there for the weekend, and it wasn't really a pleasure trip, but i couldn't help trying out the new camera (Sony A55 for anyone curious).

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Rest of the pics (mostly non 4runner related) and the full size of the above are here Most Designs Gallery | Florence Oregon
 
Thanks for the kind words guys ... it was fun to get it back out on a trip again even if it wasn't to get it dirty this time.


Another shot from the drive ...

Bridge%20%281%29.JPG_1000.jpg
 
A few random shots from the 180k suspension "tune up". I apologize for the crappy pics, this was after Sprint decided to update the software on my EVO phone, and take it about 20 years back in camera phone quality.

To recap I replaced:

Wheel bearings front and rear
All associated seals front and rear
Upper and lower ball joints front
outer tie rod left and right
inner tie rod left (right was replaced around a year ago)
Steering rack internal guide bushing, springs and lock

I picked up a small 12 ton press from Harbor Freight to do the work. I figured for $100 (sale price) if it meant i didn't have to run the parts to work, or bother my neighbor it would be more than worth it.

I did make my own SST for the rear bearing removal. Using this and a bearing splitter, i also managed to remove the ABS exciter ring with out cutting as per the factory service manual. I still replaced the retaining ring even though it wasn't technically damaged during removal.

The front bearings did take some pressure. This has been a CA vehicle its whole life, and has pretty much zero rust, but it still took every ounce of pressure that little 12 ton could muster. In other words if you have a vehicle from the rust belt, the 12 ton probably won't do it!

Truck drives soo much better now, its unbelievable ... i still have a slight bit of shake, but i'm guessing that is going to be mostly tire related at this point.

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