Joelzy's 96 5SPD(daily) & 5VZ block-up rebuild

[Joelzy]

After feeling like i might put the 4R on its side from a small snowbank in my driveway going forward, i decided i want to make a quick disconnect for the front sway. I know a lot of people dont run a front sway but i'd like to if i can make it easier to disconnect.
Depending on if i can find some tube that works well with the existing endlinks or if i need to start from scratch, i might be able to make this happen sooner.
also, because im a wuss and didnt want to be that guy that flopped at his own house, i decided to flex out the backend at work while retaking my parking spot from the snow.

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I'm ready to get rid of these crap rear springs, any preferences for 3" over OMEs?
TIA

 

[Griffin4Runner]

Thanks hoping to get them actually mounted this weekend. Weather has been keeping me from working on the outside of the 4R but i’ve been tinkering on the insidey parts in the meantime.

Currently about halfway through my red LED conversion.
Couldnt find what the tiny bulbs are in some spots but was able to fake the look currently by removing bulb gels and green film on some.

The temp stripe looks a bit weird but I dont mind it so much. photo doesnt really show it well but the red looks pretty good. The clock is a bit dark as needed a few layers of red to actually get the color I wanted but that is with the lights on so its dimmed on top of that.

Hoping to wrap but the dash panel and ignition today and need to see about LEDs for the maps lights

If anyone local to the SLC area wants some, i have most of a roll of red film for changing the clock color. just come get some or all of it

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The red looks really sick. I went with a display for my 3rd gen but this has me reconsidering

 

[Joelzy]

The red looks really sick. I went with a display for my 3rd gen but this has me reconsidering

Thanks, the only weird part is the AC slider but i dont mind it being that everything matches

 

[Griffin4Runner]

Thanks, the only weird part is the AC slider but i dont mind it being that everything matches

I see what you mean. Still looks good tho.
Also re: your 3" lift question^^...
I just bought the Toytec/Eibach 3" lift kit for my 2000 SR5. I'm hoping it'll show up by Friday or Saturday so I can install it this weekend. I'll let you know how I like it and how much of a pain it was to install.

 

[Joelzy]

I see what you mean. Still looks good tho.
Also re: your 3" lift question^^...
I just bought the Toytec/Eibach 3" lift kit for my 2000 SR5. I'm hoping it'll show up by Friday or Saturday so I can install it this weekend. I'll let you know how I like it and how much of a pain it was to install.

preciate it, i've done the fronts and rear shocks which is most of the pain, rear springs are pretty easy i just dont know what to order yet :frusty:

 

[Joelzy]

Joelzy's 96 5SPD(daily) &amp; 5VZ block-up rebuild

Front end feels much better without the sway connected until cornering.

Got to work on the front endlinks while i wait on new bushings. This might not work long term but its kind of looking like it will for now at least.

Best i could find was some chromed plumbing pipe but its a perfect fit. Left the threads on one end for length.

Also extended the other endlink to match.
Just need pins and possibly to open up the holes a tad and we should be in good shape.

Snug as a bug

Also swapped out the old bushings

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[Griffin4Runner]

preciate it, i've done the fronts and rear shocks which is most of the pain, rear springs are pretty easy i just dont know what to order yet :frusty:

Ok so following up.... I got as far as the front struts & the diff drop for the kit I mentioned earlier. Let me tell you, installing the struts on the passenger side was an absolute pain. No clue why, but it took forever on the passenger side. Driver's side was a lot more agreeable. While I was at it, I installed new sway bar links since the old ones were rusted beyond recognition.

I am saving the back end for next week or so when I can put the SR5 on a lift.

 

[Joelzy]

Went out expecting to wheel in the snow but rain had melted almost everything so we went on in the mud instead.

Quick disconnect worked but was a huge pain to get back in and i realized i needed to move my hole up a smidge. Still not perfect but if it were any easier i think it would rattle while driving so a tiny bit of tension is good.
Just have to barely pry on the sway to line it up now and i think thats just about right.

Also, being that i was in the garage and had a little time, i tinted my fog lights amber with some vinyl on the inside of the glass.

Another 3rd genner that liked my fog idea took it a step further and did this and i loved the look so here we are. The tint also calms the lights down enough that i can probably use them as fog lights now and not be “that guy”

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[AnotherDude]

Stumbled across your build when I saw a picture of your bumper fogs in another thread. It's now 3:10am and I've reached the most current post. Thank you for meticulously documenting this journey. So much helpful information here. I've had my 97 Limited for almost 2yrs and it's been my workhorse. But now it's time she gets some love. Will definitely be referencing this build and other threads mentioned here during my refresh

Keep up the amazing work!

 

[Joelzy]

Stumbled across your build when I saw a picture of your bumper fogs in another thread. It's now 3:10am and I've reached the most current post. Thank you for meticulously documenting this journey. So much helpful information here. I've had my 97 Limited for almost 2yrs and it's been my workhorse. But now it's time she gets some love. Will definitely be referencing this build and other threads mentioned here during my refresh

Keep up the amazing work!

:lmao: hahahaha sorry its a novel but if one person finds it useful i'm happy to have helped :shrug:

 

[mesooohoppy]

why dont you buy mstudts swaybar end links? i put them on this weekend and they are great so far. super beefy.

 

[Joelzy]

why dont you buy mstudts swaybar end links? i put them on this weekend and they are great so far. super beefy.

I've seen them, great product but i prefer to tinker and make stuff when i can and my QD cost about 4 bucks :hatsoff:

Not thinking i need the beefiness if im discoing. I dont put the sway through a ton of tension on a daily basis and the times that it would be tweaked, it will now be disconnected.
I'll probably refine it a little more when i get new endlinks again but for now it works pretty dang well for a rig i dont spend a ton on.

 

[mesooohoppy]

understood. it just seems like those pins are subjected to a lot of shearing force for a shank diameter that small. either way, if it works, it works!

i never ordered the actual sway bushings, but im sure mine look like yours. i need to order them.

 

[Joelzy]

Joelzy's 96 5SPD(daily) &amp; 5VZ block-up rebuild

understood. it just seems like those pins are subjected to a lot of shearing force for a shank diameter that small. either way, if it works, it works!



i never ordered the actual sway bushings, but im sure mine look like yours. i need to order them.

Yeah i considered that and tried to go with a pin that was thick enough to not shear while leaving enough on the endlink as well. Also, the tolerance is pretty tight which i hope helps.

I'll have to rethink if i break it under normal driving conditions.



My bushings were such crap and i didnt realize it but i had a popping noise in long left turns that turned out to be the rubber catching. all good now.

 

[Joelzy]

Little update:
Finally got some nicer rear springs installed to go with my LC shocks and WOW what a difference!

OME 891s

Old

The grey 3”(guessing rough country) springs were so soft, it was driving me crazy but the OMEs feel perfect. Its nice to finally be done with suspension for a little while.

Also fixed my rear window wiring gremlin, turns out the dead wiper motor somehow killed the window down function’s ground so i pulled the motor out and grounded the wire to restore my window action.

Went ahead and pulled the center of the rear bumper off to figure out what i want to do back there. Made some quick temporary brackets to hold the bumper sides on while i work through this.

Now i need to decide and get to work on either:

A. Keeping the spare under the rear for now and making a secure recovery point in the back being that the hitch wont fit with the spare.

B. Dive in again and build my swingout for the tire, freeing up the underside for onboard air compressor and tank.


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[phattyduck]

Also fixed my rear window wiring gremlin, turns out the dead wiper motor somehow killed the window down function’s ground so i pulled the motor out and grounded the wire to restore my window action.

The window has to be full up for the wiper to work, and the wiper has to be parked for the window to work - its a safety interlock system so you don't ruin things back there...

-Charlie

 

[Joelzy]

The window has to be full up for the wiper to work, and the wiper has to be parked for the window to work - its a safety interlock system so you don't ruin things back there...

-Charlie

OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH well damn that makes so much more sense, thank you for the info once again that explains my issues, Charlie.

 

[Joelzy]

Welp, its a good thing i like working on this vehicle.
Ended up having a slight seep of oil on one of my halfmoons with less than 10k miles on my rebuild. Now i know thats a minor worry, the oil was barely making it to the base of the head but on a fresh rebuild that drives me nuts.
Not sure if im to blame or my buddy that helped me rebuild but lets say it was me and not putting enough FIPG on my seams. I dont really remember but i feel like i thought the excess that squeezed out from the halfmoons would be enough, i was wrong apparently, so back in we go.

Threw this together out of some wood i decided not to use for a different project and it was a game changer for my short ass.

I should have taken more pics but didnt think about it as i went along. I did a lot more organizing this go round and separated nuts and bolts by section(i.e. upper intake vs lower) which seemed to really make reassembly a breeze and i’ll definitely do that from now on.

Replaced one halfmoon after chipping the edge getting it out(taped the channel locks after that one), the others cleaned up perfectly

Added a thicker bead across the moons plus a bead from inside edge to outside edge on them as well as the 90s on the cam plugs.
New VCGs then hand-tight and used my phone on video to run the edge and make sure it looked even and sealed all the way around.
Eventually torqued and reassembled everything and lets hope this did the trick. :thumb:



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[Joelzy]

Busy weekend but got a little work in yesterday.

I’ve been working towards getting the rear inside of the frame coated after i took off the rear bumper and saw some rust. Started by drilling and retapping one of the needed holes for the hitch then got into prepping the interior.
This was after i scraped and wire-brushed as much as i could.

Then i blew it out with some air, sprayed some acetone in there and used a long screwdriver with a towel taped to it to wipe it down. Taped off the holes up to the axle as well.

The next step was questionable at best but worked as good as it could have. I used an old spray nozzle from an empty degreaser bottle(sprayed a bunch of acetone through it to clean it) and then just held the pickup in my can of POR15 as i sprayed into the frame. Seems clunky, and it was but it did the trick and i was able to coat pretty far into the frame by spraying/squirting paint in.

I had some plywood under the frame rails luckily as this method wasted a lot of paint but i had the spare POR15 lying around so i figured what the hell.
Still need to coat the inside of the rest of the frame but this part was crucial before i start the rear bumper/hitch/swingout build

 

[mesooohoppy]

that application looks good. do they use salt in your area? do you know if provo/springville area does?