cl4Rk
Member
Yeah it’s a little hard balancing “while the body is off the frame, might has well...” and “if it ain’t broke...”
Ol' Ruby build thread
- Thread starter cl4Rk
- Start date
Yeah it’s a little hard balancing “while the body is off the frame, might has well...” and “if it ain’t broke...”
cl4Rk
Member
The price was right, it was down the street, it was bone stock, cosmetically good, runs great, never been wheeled, 11 years of service records in a binder, etc. Even after all this work, I’m still in the ballpark of buying one like you described and then doing the work to get it baselined and protected from rust. Plus I’ll know every inch of this particular truck which is worth something too.
And to be honest, it’s pretty fun!
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alphyn
New member
So, which S/C are you going to put in there :whoo:
I totally understand where you're coming from on that. It's taken me a few weeks to do what a pro mechanic could have done in a few days. But, you know, learning new things. Finding other issues I wouldn't have known about if I wasn't obsessed fixing thing they way I wanted it to. Like, why did I repaint my battery compartment instead of just installing a new battery? Oh, I saw some surface rust...
The journey isn't always the funnest part at times. Feels good when you see the results of your labor.
Really excited to see how your project comes along. At some point I'll do a build thread on my 'runner.
cl4Rk
Member
Oh man!! Don’t tempt me LOL
Thank you!
And I’m looking forward to your build thread [emoji1690]
I crawled underneath and looked at them to confirm this actually works and isn't bro science and those threads and hex sockets are completely pristine after 3 winters!
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my are those nice. great idea and thanks for sharing.
With the prices of clean 3rd gens lately you could probably turn flipping frame swapped ones in to a business if you got it down to a science. Although I imagine the supply of clean frames is a bottleneck. The supply of rust 4runners certainly isnt. Who knows how long the crazy prices will last but they arent making new ones ya know. Or does a frame swap change the title/VIN stuff? I would pay quite a bit extra for a completely Eastwood/Steel-it/whatever protected clean frame, axle, etc if I felt it was swapped competently.
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cl4Rk
Member
Flipping has crossed my mind... I think I’m just gonna drive it though! [emoji1690]
I think you’re right though. In this weird market, there might be a limited-time opportunity for someone who owns a shop to do this. Margins might be pretty thin however.
Interestingly, there are quite a few good frames to be had. I only spent about a week sourcing mine. (Transporting was another story...)
So many of these trucks would be in great shape if it weren’t for frame rust.. and like you, I’d put a premium on one that had been fully treated for rust mitigation and prevention (I guess I DID put a premium on that haha).
My guess would be that any Title/VIN issues would vary state to state. KS is a no-inspections state.
EDIT: I remember reading on this forum that someone had built a business out of finding trucks that were rusted but mechanically OK, repairing or swapping the frames, and exporting them to South American countries or something like that..
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alphyn
New member
I bought my '99 4Runner in 2010 for about $9k if I remember. I felt like I was paying a premium. I had very specific requirements. I wanted under 150k miles, manual transmission, SR5 and grey interior. Took quite a few months to track down one and a guy here had one for sale. Fly and drive situation.
Anyway, I sort of figured owning and driving this thing was only going to be money losing endeavor. I'd dump funds into repair, maintenance, upgrades and enjoy it for the time I had it. The other day I went on Craigslist, Autotrader, Autotempest just to see if I could find another manual transmission 4Runner in decent condition. Nope, maybe only a few in the country. I even saw dealerships trying to sell clean, unmodified manual trans 4Runners for mid-20's with mileage in the 250k mark.
A guy stopped by my house a few weeks ago and asked if he could buy my 4Runner. Not the first time this has happened. I threw out a number I thought would be ridiculous just to get him off my back. I said, "$15k". He scurried away. $15k sounds like a good deal in retrospect. If he comes by again I'm going to say $30k. I always thought it would have been ridic spending $5k on a paint job. But if I could sell mine for $30k? I mean, now I can justify it to the wife, right? It's not just a dilapidated POS sitting in the driveway. It has panache, cultural relevance. Or something like that.
So, yeah. Now I see why people would frame swap rare colors and put money into decent restorations.
Vansnxtweek
New member
Wow man, good on ya! Such a huge project but man she will be brand spankin' new after all that. Keep up the good work!
Crypto-classic is the word I use. If you know you know. Theres so many 60 year olds driving 3rd gens they bought new and still have no idea of the cult status of them, they just know they love this SUV they have drove for 20 years. If people are paying $600k for unopened Super Mario Bros who knows where clean frame 4runners will be in another 10 years.
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sleepydad
Senior Member
put your VIN into this site, they are also a great source for smaller parts.
Catalog Toyota | Genuine Parts Catalogs | PartSouq Auto Parts Around the World
I have frame swapped 2x times now and that site has been a life saver. I have been surprised that in the last couple of years a lot of parts are now out of production on 3rd gens... so get'er done while you can.
alphyn
New member
I heard Mark Cuban was about to invest heavily in 4Runners :car:
For me, big appeal of 3rd Gen 4Runners is that they're one of the few 'classic' SUVs that offer a manual transmission (death before slushboxes), easy to maintain, and serve as a very capable daily driver that has a 'go anywhere' appeal. Aftermarket support is strong, this board is a fantastic community and there's no reason they can last forever as long as you keep replacing wear items.
I also work on my wife's 2007 LR3. There's lots to love about it and even more to hate. I'm not one of these people that despises electronic this and that. However, gremlins in that thing are unimaginable and totally nonsensical. Her alarm kept going off intermittently. No idea why. All the doors were closed and it was a completely random thing. I checked all door connections and latches (I even replaced the passenger door lock actuator twice because it's a terribly designed part which keeps on breaking). Ended up being a faulty hood latch switch (another shitty part horribly designed). Why is the hood latch switch connected to the alarm? Who knows? Because if all your doors are locked, someone is going to crowbar your hood open? And if they're so motivated to crowbar your hood open, they're just going to disconnect the battery and kill the alarm anyway. Yet this bit of English engineering (Or was it Ford, BMW or whatever 17 different companies and parts suppliers who contributed to the FUBAR collection of crap in that thing) causes LR3 owners to lose their minds as alarms keep on going off randomly for no apparent reason. It could be any number of faulty switches and connections. Just one example of so many points of failure that doom these things to the scrap bin sooner than later. When aftermarket support / advice is to bypass probs and simplify systems... at some point you just regress to the simple, beautiful simplicity of 90's cars.
Sorry for the offtopic(?) rant. I can really see the value of having simple car, easy to maintain, without a ton of screens yelling at you all the time as a refreshing place to be in a world dominated by just the opposite. This experience will still be valued 10, 20, 30-years from now, probably even moreso. 90's were the last, greatest era in automotive technology where engineers were more focused on reliability and build quality than spending development budgets on whatever new sensors they could toss into a vehicle. Tech doesn't age well. Screens and buttons from the 2000's look so dated and atrocious compared to today's tech. Analog is timeless and kitsch, too.
brillo_76
Elite Member
You're making pretty good progress! I probably missed it, but what are you painting the underbody with?
cl4Rk
Member
cl4Rk
Member
Ride height measurements before and after.
Measured from center hubs to the bottom edge of my oversized fender flares with a half tank of gas, full size spare, and 30-50 pounds of tools in the back.
Original 21 year old suspension:
FRONT DRIVER: ~ 19 3/4”
FRONT PASSENGER: ~ 20 1/4”
REAR DRIVER: ~ just under 20”
REAR PASSENGER: ~ 20”
After frame swap, new poly body mount bushings, and Bilstein 5100s with OME 880/906:
FRONT DRIVER: ~ 21 1/16”
FRONT PASSENGER: ~ 21 1/4”
REAR DRIVER: ~ 22 1/4”
REAR PASSENGER: ~ 22 1/4”
The stance is so much better. I love it. Looks very balanced with the 265/75s to my eye.
I do however still have a slight taco lean in the front. Just under 1/4”. D’oh! I should’ve added that OME 5mm trim packer on the driver front, it would’ve been perfectly level side-to-side. Maybe I’ll add it later…
EDIT: [MENTION=139000]phattyduck[/MENTION] pointed out in another thread:
Before:
After:
Measured from center hubs to the bottom edge of my oversized fender flares with a half tank of gas, full size spare, and 30-50 pounds of tools in the back.
Original 21 year old suspension:
FRONT DRIVER: ~ 19 3/4”
FRONT PASSENGER: ~ 20 1/4”
REAR DRIVER: ~ just under 20”
REAR PASSENGER: ~ 20”
After frame swap, new poly body mount bushings, and Bilstein 5100s with OME 880/906:
FRONT DRIVER: ~ 21 1/16”
FRONT PASSENGER: ~ 21 1/4”
REAR DRIVER: ~ 22 1/4”
REAR PASSENGER: ~ 22 1/4”
The stance is so much better. I love it. Looks very balanced with the 265/75s to my eye.
I do however still have a slight taco lean in the front. Just under 1/4”. D’oh! I should’ve added that OME 5mm trim packer on the driver front, it would’ve been perfectly level side-to-side. Maybe I’ll add it later…
EDIT: [MENTION=139000]phattyduck[/MENTION] pointed out in another thread:
So I'll leave well enough alone and I won't add that trim packer unless after settling I somehow get a more pronounced lean.
Before:
After:
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