MandAtaco (Manda4Runner-?) Build Thread
- Thread starter MandAtaco
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MandAtaco
Member
Its actually not very long, but we only ran it up to the mansion and back as the rain has made the road pretty much impassable up over the pass beyond. There are some pretty nice places along the main trail to play too, if you choose to do those optional lines add some time. Worth the trip up.
Heck ya!! I don't mind the drive down to Kingman from Vegas. Just need to round up some people when it gets cooler out
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MandAtaco
Member
Let me know, I've got some people that will run it. I want to go back, I got denied in the washes when we went. There were to many people to try all the optional lines, I need to go back for revenge now.
MandAtaco
Member
Been super busy with trips but figured I would give you guys some updates on stuff I've been working on. Probably the biggest thing we've add is a CVT Mt. Shasta RTT. In order to make mounting on the truck easier, I went ahead and built another roof rack. I could have modified the original one I built to accept it, but I had wanted to build another one out of 1" anyway, and change a couple things when I did it, it was just easier to start over. The original rack went to a member on T4R.
Here's an overview of the new rack. Super simple, flat, 1" tube, dust light mounted underneath in the rear, and 2 NMO antenna mounts.
These little 1" blocks on the side are for the awning mount. Two pins takes it off or on in about 30 seconds. I'll get a closer picture of the awning mount itself, but you can see the general idea.
I went back and forth on a RTT, but we got a deal and figured we would give it a shot. We've slept in it about 16 nights now and its awesome. Easy to set up and tear down, nice place to store our sleeping bags, comfortable, doesn't matter whats on the ground, etc. My biggest complaint is getting it on and off the truck when we aren't using it, but I knew that would suck. Luckily I've got a good group of friends close by that help each other out with this kind of stuff. Drive wise, I really don't notice it's up there, truck is still slow and this didn't really change that much. If I keep the gauge under 70mph I can still get around 15 to 16mpg on the highway, I only get about 13.5 in town normally. Off road I forget its up there.
When all 5 of us go, the wife and I sleep up top, and the kids sleep in the annex. If its just the wife and I, or me and a kid or 2, we just sleep in the top and leave the annex at home.
Here's an overview of the new rack. Super simple, flat, 1" tube, dust light mounted underneath in the rear, and 2 NMO antenna mounts.
These little 1" blocks on the side are for the awning mount. Two pins takes it off or on in about 30 seconds. I'll get a closer picture of the awning mount itself, but you can see the general idea.
I went back and forth on a RTT, but we got a deal and figured we would give it a shot. We've slept in it about 16 nights now and its awesome. Easy to set up and tear down, nice place to store our sleeping bags, comfortable, doesn't matter whats on the ground, etc. My biggest complaint is getting it on and off the truck when we aren't using it, but I knew that would suck. Luckily I've got a good group of friends close by that help each other out with this kind of stuff. Drive wise, I really don't notice it's up there, truck is still slow and this didn't really change that much. If I keep the gauge under 70mph I can still get around 15 to 16mpg on the highway, I only get about 13.5 in town normally. Off road I forget its up there.
When all 5 of us go, the wife and I sleep up top, and the kids sleep in the annex. If its just the wife and I, or me and a kid or 2, we just sleep in the top and leave the annex at home.
MandAtaco
Member
I haven't been running a front sway bar since I bought the truck. Even with the RTT up top, the Donahoe Coilovers did a good job of keeping sway in check. I had thought about trying to build a set of removable sway bar end links for a while anyway, just to see what I could come up with, and with an upcoming trip to Colorado, I figured it would be a good time to get on it. So here is what I came up with.
This is the original design that ended up being too long.
This is a picture with some sleeves I put over the all thread.
Finally, here they are in the truck at the final length.
My original idea was to just pull the lower pin and flip the end link up out of the way, but when it's flipped up, it sticks straight out and there's really not a good way to tie it up, so I replaced the top bolt with a pin. Pull the top and bottom pins and throw the links in the glove box, Then just push the sway bar up and tie it to the frame with a big twist tie.
On road you can definitely tell a difference. Maybe I'm getting old but I like how much more stable the truck feels. Off road, I forgot how bad a sway bar makes the truck feel. I ran half of Fins N Things in Moab with it on, then pulled it for the second half, HUGE DIFFERENCE! With the sway bar connected, the truck gets jerked back and forth as the tires work up and down on each side, with it off, the transition is so much smoother.
To me, this set up really is the best of both worlds, and it wasn't that hard or expensive to do either. Just some rod ends, all thread, a couple bolts and a little time. Definitely a worthwhile mod!
I went ahead and put new Poly sway bar bushings on the sway bar too, I used these from Amazon and so far they are holding up well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038768RQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the original design that ended up being too long.
This is a picture with some sleeves I put over the all thread.
Finally, here they are in the truck at the final length.
My original idea was to just pull the lower pin and flip the end link up out of the way, but when it's flipped up, it sticks straight out and there's really not a good way to tie it up, so I replaced the top bolt with a pin. Pull the top and bottom pins and throw the links in the glove box, Then just push the sway bar up and tie it to the frame with a big twist tie.
On road you can definitely tell a difference. Maybe I'm getting old but I like how much more stable the truck feels. Off road, I forgot how bad a sway bar makes the truck feel. I ran half of Fins N Things in Moab with it on, then pulled it for the second half, HUGE DIFFERENCE! With the sway bar connected, the truck gets jerked back and forth as the tires work up and down on each side, with it off, the transition is so much smoother.
To me, this set up really is the best of both worlds, and it wasn't that hard or expensive to do either. Just some rod ends, all thread, a couple bolts and a little time. Definitely a worthwhile mod!
I went ahead and put new Poly sway bar bushings on the sway bar too, I used these from Amazon and so far they are holding up well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038768RQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Last edited:
phattyduck
Elite Member
Did you just cut the head off the a bolt for the lower pin? And could you have aligned the upper joint in line with the swaybar so that it could stay a 'single' disconnect? What size is the hardware and rod ends?I haven't been running a front sway bar since I bought the truck. Even with the RTT up top, the Donahoe Coilovers did a good job of keeping sway in check. I had thought about trying to build a set of removable sway bar end links for a while anyway, just to see what I could come up with, and with an upcoming trip to Colorado, I figured it would be a good time to get on it. So here is what I came up with.
This is the original design that ended up being too long.
I'd like to do something very similar...
-Charlie
MandAtaco
Member
Yea, the lower pin is a 3/8" bolt that I cut the head off of, and drilled a cotter pin hole into. There's enough thread that I can adjust the bolt back and forth in the A-arm so that I keep the lower rod end from bouncing back and forth. I just adjusted it until the cotter pin has just a little bit of drag against the rod end.
The hole in the lower a-arm is just shy of 1/2" from the factory, so I cut a very short piece of 1/2"OD 3/8"ID tube to sleeve the hole with before I stuck the bolt in.
You could probably rotate that upper piece and fold the link up against the sway bar, as long as your upper mount has enough room to clear the rod end while rotating. That may be something I try next time I have them off, good idea! It's pretty easy to just pull the whole link though, then I don't have to worry about something falling down and getting caught up in the suspension/brake lines.
Everything is made out of 3/8" rod ends I got off Summit, and a 3/8" fine thread, all-thread rod. A 1/2" bolt holds the upper bracket to the sway bar.
phattyduck
Elite Member
Awesome. Thanks for the info. Sounds like the stock lower stud is M12, which is just under 1/2".
-Charlie
-Charlie
Awesome man!! been meaning to make my own set as well. I replaced my bushings and seen how eaten up the rod was.
MandAtaco
Member
You got it, M-12. Just a hair smaller than 1/2", basically just reemed the hole out so I could use the reducer.
MandAtaco
Member
When I rebuilt the front suspension 2.5 years ago I put everything new in it, except the lower control arm bushings. Well, 3 were original and I had to replace one, you can read back on that mess.
Anyway I noticed lately that the front end was starting to wonder around while braking and figured it was a good time to swap them out. The OEM's are great bushings but expensive, The Daystars are easy to get a hold of, but I didn't like the idea of reusing the old metal sleeves from the factory bushings, so I decided to go with Whiteline.
Old Bushings after 220K miles.
So to remove them I first tried this method I had read someplace. Basically you use the bottle jack to put some tension on the bushing, then heat the outside of the a-arm until the outer sleeve releases. Something like this.
All I managed to do with this method Was catch my bushings on fire and get melted rubber all over the place... and probably knock a couple years off my life with the fumes. So what I ended up doing was to knock the pressed on washer off, heat up the rubber just enough so that it releases from the outer sleeve, then cut a notch in the sleeve and knock it right out. Took about 5 minutes a bushing to remove. I didn't get a ton of pics....
Molten Rubber sucks!
And Finally, new bushings in, LCA painted and looking new.
Feels pretty good now.
Anyway I noticed lately that the front end was starting to wonder around while braking and figured it was a good time to swap them out. The OEM's are great bushings but expensive, The Daystars are easy to get a hold of, but I didn't like the idea of reusing the old metal sleeves from the factory bushings, so I decided to go with Whiteline.
Old Bushings after 220K miles.
So to remove them I first tried this method I had read someplace. Basically you use the bottle jack to put some tension on the bushing, then heat the outside of the a-arm until the outer sleeve releases. Something like this.
All I managed to do with this method Was catch my bushings on fire and get melted rubber all over the place... and probably knock a couple years off my life with the fumes. So what I ended up doing was to knock the pressed on washer off, heat up the rubber just enough so that it releases from the outer sleeve, then cut a notch in the sleeve and knock it right out. Took about 5 minutes a bushing to remove. I didn't get a ton of pics....
Molten Rubber sucks!
And Finally, new bushings in, LCA painted and looking new.
Feels pretty good now.
Sweet!! I need to do these myself. My truck wanders when going over bumps on pavement. At first i thought it could be the sway bars, but the LCA bushings were pretty bad. I was gonna grab LCA completes from Autozone with lifetime warr. and then toyota LBJ and swap em all out.When I rebuilt the front suspension 2.5 years ago I put everything new in it, except the lower control arm bushings. Well, 3 were original and I had to replace one, you can read back on that mess.
Anyway I noticed lately that the front end was starting to wonder around while braking and figured it was a good time to swap them out. The OEM's are great bushings but expensive, The Daystars are easy to get a hold of, but I didn't like the idea of reusing the old metal sleeves from the factory bushings, so I decided to go with Whiteline.
Old Bushings after 220K miles.
So to remove them I first tried this method I had read someplace. Basically you use the bottle jack to put some tension on the bushing, then heat the outside of the a-arm until the outer sleeve releases. Something like this.
All I managed to do with this method Was catch my bushings on fire and get melted rubber all over the place... and probably knock a couple years off my life with the fumes. So what I ended up doing was to knock the pressed on washer off, heat up the rubber just enough so that it releases from the outer sleeve, then cut a notch in the sleeve and knock it right out. Took about 5 minutes a bushing to remove. I didn't get a ton of pics....
Molten Rubber sucks!
And Finally, new bushings in, LCA painted and looking new.
Feels pretty good now.
MandAtaco
Member
Be careful with those aftermarket loaded control arms. I put one on mine and had TONS of problems!
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