New Guy, New Project

[Angle]

New Guy, New Project - Need Help!!

Hello Guys! :hello:

I've been lurking for a few weeks now, and have found this site incredibly informative and inspirational; so :thanks:

I'm going to be creating a company vehicle from my Toyota Surf, a vehicle I've owned for almost 8 years. It was imported from Japan into New Zealand with 82,000km's on the clock, and I purchased it directly from the importer. At the time I was looking for a reliable vehicle that could be used off the road (not really off-road, just driving around fields towing trailers and the like, with the occasional muddy spot to traverse).

After a few years I installed an Old Man Emu spring/shock set and really enjoyed the ride - it was a bit of a challenge (for some reason) finding this kit as it is a Surf, with Prado running gear, but it the end it all worked out (the Surf was never sold in NZ, so catalogues, dealers, etc. essentially ignore it and often use it's cousin - the Hilux (pickup).

So without ado - here she is:




Over the next few days I'll post up my thoughts on the best way forward, and ask for some help with product choices, etc. The plan (whether through brilliance or ignorance) is:

1) 3" suspension lift - Icon or Fox (opinions wanted)
2) 1" or 2" body lift
3) 16" Stealth Custom Series rims
4) Diff Drop / Panhard Drop
5) Lotus Chromoly Axles
6) Savage Off Road Rear Bumper
7) Tubular Upper A-arms
8) Limit Straps
9) Vehicle Armor & Sliders
10) Whitson Metalworks Roof Rack
11) Lights ??
12) Interior - Re-upholstered & Converted from blue to black
13) Winch
14) Tundra Brake (thanks guys)

All this will be bolted onto the 3 liter diesel, auto, with auto hubs & multi-mode 4wd. The area off-roading will be in Central Otago from my soon to be home - Queenstown.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Very nice Surf, looking forward to seeing it mocked up.

 

[drabbits]

Welcome to the club mate,
You got a healthy list going on, I would start with a simpler shock/spring upgrade first. You can go taller with the OME coils. Check out Toyteclifts.com under 96-02 4Runner, you'll find everything you need. If you are going to go higher you'll need to go wider also, so don't forget about wheel spacers and wider tires.
The Prado, Tacoma, 4Runner and Surf all share similar interchangeable parts, so you'll be able to find some upgrades closer to home.
If you ever get tired of that diesel engine let me know. . .
laters

 

[JWaldz]

Welcome to T4R! Man, that right hand drive stuff throws me off. Awesome rig though and also looking forward to the build. Why Tacoma brakes? If you're replacing parts, do the Tundra brakes. As far as the front suspension setup. There are plenty of companies who make awesome coilovers like Sway-A-Way, Camburg, Icon, Toytec and others. With the additional weight your planning on adding it would be smart to jump to the 2.5" diameter with 650lb rated coils. Since you're also planning on getting tubular upper control arms that allow for more flex I'd suggest getting the extended travel coilovers as well. Take a look at this site >> Wheeler's OffRoad They have good prices if you buy as a package deal. There's also good group buys on TacomaWorld that a lot of us 3rd gen guys get in on b/c most of the 1st gen tacoma suspension parts are interchangeable.

 

[Skidmarcx]

Welcome! Sweet rig!

 

[TheeMikeB]

Sounds like a great list to me, you mentioned a winch but which front bumper are you thinking of using?

On another note... shipping must SUCK to ship big stuff half way around the planet.

 

[robb1887]

I really wish more RHD's were available state side.

And just a comment, I think you want Tundra brakes, not Tacoma, unless I am reading that wrong.

 

[Angle]

Welcome to the club mate,
If you are going to go higher you'll need to go wider also, so don't forget about wheel spacers and wider tires.

I wondered about the reason folks run spacers. The road rules here require that all the TREAD must be covered by the fenders (so the sidewall only can protrude past the wheel lip) so I originally thought I could address any wheel rub issues through picking the right et for the tires (I was looking at the SCS F5)? What do the spacers do, and why are they required?

The current lift is 2" front 2 1/2" rear - or shall I say the actual difference from stock height is that amount. It's not an aggressive enough lift visually. I'll show the shocks I was looking at for comment.

The diesel motors are valuable here as well - fairly bulletproof as long as you keep the EGT values down. I have almost 200k km's (125k miles) on the motor now, and expect to see 300k without much fuss. I will also be installing a hood scoop hood and top mounted Prado intercooler to keep the reliability going, and potentially upgrading the turbo in conjunction with installing a piggyback ECU (but still more research to do in that area)

 

[Angle]

And just a comment, I think you want Tundra brakes, not Tacoma, unless I am reading that wrong.

Yes, Tundra :doh:

 

[Angle]

Sounds like a great list to me, you mentioned a winch but which front bumper are you thinking of using?

On another note... shipping must SUCK to ship big stuff half way around the planet.

Bumper choice is up in the air at the moment. It needs to be a 'perfect fit', suit a lift and although I like the look of the tubular bumpers, what I want probably needs to be fabricated on the truck, so I imagine I'll end up with a plate bumper with a center hoop.

Shipping is massive, so I'm going to have to pick out what I want, have it all shipped to a depot, and then have it put in a sea container and freighted over. Otherwise shipping will end up being close to $1,500 alone.

 

[Angle]

So I am leaning towards the Fox for the front coil-overs with Icon running second:

Preferred Fox 2.5 Factory Series Extended Travel:
https://www.allprooffroad.com/fjfrontsuspension/fjcshocksfront/294

Icon Extended Travel Option:
1996 - 2004 Tacoma / 1996 - 2002 4Runner Ext. Travel Front Coil-over Shock Kit - ICON Vehicle Dynamics

And for the rears - Icon:
1996 - 2002 4Runner 2.5" Diameter Rear Piggyback Reservoir Shock - ICON Vehicle Dynamics

From my reading it appears they are being used for up to a 3" lift so I'm hoping they will work. As for springs, I'm not certain what to pick, but figured once I'd chosen the coil-over and shock, either Fox or Icon could point me in the right direction?

SCS Rims 16' w/ 4 1/2 backspace (which is what Vin recommended for me) and running 285/75/16 which Icon has in their write-up as being recommended: Recommended tire size 285/75R16, wheel 16X8 with 4.5" back spacing.

Given I'm halfway around the planet, I don't want to get any of my choices 'wrong' so please give me your thoughts. I've built several cars for street and track, but a 4x4 is a whole 'nother ballgame, and even though I can get product spec's it sometimes leaves a gap between the specs and real world ride, weights, etc.

 

[Angle]

Welcome to T4R! There are plenty of companies who make awesome coilovers like Sway-A-Way, Camburg, Icon, Toytec and others. With the additional weight your planning on adding it would be smart to jump to the 2.5" diameter with 650lb rated coils. Since you're also planning on getting tubular upper control arms that allow for more flex I'd suggest getting the extended travel coilovers as well. Take a look at this site >> Wheeler's OffRoad They have good prices if you buy as a package deal. There's also good group buys on TacomaWorld that a lot of us 3rd gen guys get in on b/c most of the 1st gen tacoma suspension parts are interchangeable.

Thanks :thumb:

The black 3rd Gen on Wheeler's page is what inspired me to do up the 4Runner. From there, you guys on this forum (and your truck too ARKRWLR) convinced me to do it.

 

[yota-runner]

What do the spacers do, and why are they required?

The spacers give your rig a wider stance, they space the wheels out further from the car. They give more stability and more room for bigger tires. Although with the road laws there sounds like you're gonna miss out on that one. Then again if they enforce those laws like cops here enforce tint laws...you're good.
With that said expect a ticket every 3-5 years. Pimpin aint easy imp:

 

[Angle]

The spacers give your rig a wider stance, they space the wheels out further from the car. They give more stability and more room for bigger tires. Although with the road laws there sounds like you're gonna miss out on that one. Then again if they enforce those laws like cops here enforce tint laws...you're good.
With that said expect a ticket every 3-5 years. Pimpin aint easy imp:

To clarify my question.

As I'm ordering new rims, and will be running 285/75/16 tires (33x11), I don't understand why I would need spacers as a result of running a 3" suspension lift, unless there is an interference issue?

If it's a backspacing issue for the stock 7" rim, I get it, but I'm not intending to run the stock rim. Can you not get sufficient back-spacing in a new rim to run the intended wider tire? It just seems odd that the aftermarket wouldn't have picked up on that. The only time I've run spacers in the past, was for calliper clearance issues on a set of Volk Racing Subaru rims I was running on my VW.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[yota-runner]

To clarify my question.

As I'm ordering new rims, and will be running 285/75/16 tires (33x11), I don't understand why I would need spacers as a result of running a 3" suspension lift, unless there is an interference issue?

If it's a backspacing issue for the stock 7" rim, I get it, but I'm not intending to run the stock rim. Can you not get sufficient back-spacing in a new rim to run the intended wider tire? It just seems odd that the aftermarket wouldn't have picked up on that. The only time I've run spacers in the past, was for calliper clearance issues on a set of Volk Racing Subaru rims I was running on my VW.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

You don't have to unless there's a clearance issue. You should be fine

 

[shootmymime]

Take a look into king shocks as well. I just installed them on mine. Gave me about 3 inches of lift in the Tacoma coil over replacements where as rockdawg83 I think it was has the tundra kinda and has 4 inches of lift up front.

Kings are right up there with fox. If your going for this kind of quality don't go for Toytec coil overs. Check out kings suspension.

 

[Angle]

Stopped into the shop of my local diff expert to find out what his advice was. He confirmed an ARB rear air locker was a crucial bit of kit, and that I need to run 4:1 gearing in the front and rear diff (apparently my Surf is running 4:3 stock), in order to maintain my current gearing with 33's. He did not recommend doing anything to the front diff, other than re-gearing with Toyota ring and pinion gears. I'm going to look into other options as well.

I haven't gotten any further with choosing shocks or rear springs, other than coming to the conclusion that Icon took over from Donahoe Racing.

This is a good write-up on King vs Fox picked up from these boards: Fox Vs. King

And another one from Tacoma World: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/203714-king-vs-icon-vs-fox-racing-coilovers.html

 

[Angle]

Well, I haven't progressed the project at all, however I have had a birthday and a few parts will be ordered shortly to celebrate! Now that we've moved, I have had a chance to go out several times now, I've joined the local 4x4 club, and the truck has performed brilliantly to date.

I though I'd share some pics with you.

High Country Sheep Station





Macetown




Skippers Canyon

 

[Minnesota Yota]

Very Nice build you have planned! you're so lucky to have scenery like that to play in! and in a diesel runner no less! pretty jealous on several levels. Wish more diesel options were available here in the states!:thumb: I don't want to hijack your thread but i'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious about what kind of MPG's you get with that rig? look forward to seeing your progress. And love the pic's

 

[hrt4me]

nice photos!

and it gave you the opportunity to see what a relatively stock Hilux can do before your intended modifications