Project GG35

[seank]

20160616_172626 by seank13, on Flickr
current as of 16 June 2016

1996 4Runner SR5

Engine:
WIX Air Filter
WIX Oil Filter
Rotella T6
AirRaid ISR delete
giant hole in airbox mod (PO)
Sonoran Steel window washer reservoir relocation

Suspension:
4crawler 1" body lift
polyurethane body mounts
Front-
Bilstein Tunda 5100s
Old Man Emu 883s
Energy Suspension swaybar bushings
[MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION]'s extended swaybar links
Wheelers Off Road Diff Drop
Napa Max-Life CV axles

Rear-
Bilstein extended 5100s
OME 861s
Swaybar removed
Sonoran Steel extended Panhard
Daystar Bumpstops - not installed

Armor/Recovery:
4xInnovations Front Plate Bumper - on order
4xInnovations Rear Plate Bumper w/Swingout, jerry can and hi-lift holder
4xInnovations Sliders - not installed
4xInnovations front skid - not installed
4xInnovations trans skid - not installed
Warn M8000 - not installed
ARB CKMA12 Air Compressor

Wheels/Tires/Brakes/Gears:
Procomp 16" steelies with 4.0" BS
General Grabber AT2 in 315/75-16
1.25" Spidertrax Spacers
231 Tunda Brakes w/ OE Pads/Brembo rotors
Sonoran Steel extended stainless brake line
Toytec stainless front brake lines
ECGS IFS 7.5" open diff w/4.88 gears
Rear 8.0" ARB AirLocked w/4.88 gears

Lighting:
LED Dome Lights

Interior:
Bluetooth stereo
New front component speakers
Paranoid Fabrications 1st Gen Tacoma Din Switch plate (6 switch holes)
WeatherTech DigitalFit FloorLiner f/r in black

Maintenance/Restoration:
Safelite Windscreen
OEM Steering rack
OEM ITRE
OEM OTRE
OEM LBJ
Denso radiator
Denso condenser
Denso evaporator
Denso drier
Denso expansion valve
Pinstripe removal

Original Post:


Ok, time to start my project thread. My name is Sean and I live in Denver. I bought my white 1996 T4R SR5 4x4 almost exactly two years ago in March of 2014 and have been lurking on and off since then, mostly on since the beginning of 2016, and finally created an account the beginning of March 2016.

Obligatory picture of right after I got it:


IMG_20140322_165819 by seank13, on Flickr

That's my 1996 Land Rover Discovery that I was replacing with the T4R because it was a Land Rover.

Which leads to the background: I've been a car guy since before I could drive and my T4R was built. In 2001 I got into motorcycles and in 2005 I got a dog with my future wife. I'd never had anything against trucks or SUVs, I just never got into them. But then I was splitting time between two residences and carting a rottweiler around so I bought a second car, a 2nd gen 1998 Ford Explorer XLT 4x4, mainly because one of my friends had one and I knew they were decent. I'm not going to say much bad about it; for what it was and how I treated it (poorly) it served me well. This was all in Washington DC/Northern VA by the way. At the beginning of 2011 I gave it to the Salvation army with a blow rear diff and no brakes, two days before we moved to Denver.

From January 2011 to December 2011 I was without a truck. I was riding a bicycle, and then a Triumph, to work and only used my car, a 2002 VW GTI I bought new, to go to the grocery. But as the first big snow of winter 2011/2012 hit I'd had enough and hit up CL. Now both my wife and I like eurotrash cars, VWs, Audis, Saabs, so when I saw the Disco with an asking price of $1600 I went and bought it. Should have done some research first. It had around 240k miles and I was the fourth or ninth owner. The original owner, I found out, had actually built up suspension really nice with custom drive shafts, control arms, armor and had rallied it semi-professionally. But he was the last person to take care of it, plus it was a Land Rover. So I spent a lot of fixing little things only to have run and drive and overheat with minimal problems. The awd/4x4 drivetrain was a beast though, as I found out the very first time I ever went wheeling, in the Rockies, with a new friend who had moved to Denver from... VA. I took the Disco wheeling a bunch of times after that but got fed up with the rig.

So in November of 2013 my friend from VA, who drives a SAS'd first gen Taco, convinced me to switch to a Toyota. This time I did my research. I looked at 1st, 2nd and 3rd gen runners, 1st gen Tacos, and 60/62/80 series LCs. I eventually settled on the 3rd gen T4R for the relative newness, cargo capacity, middling size, availability of a manual and probably most importantly the legendary 5vz-fe motor. After four months of research, thinking and searching I found this 1996 SR5 4x4 with a manual and open rear diff with the low mileage of only 276k. I didn't care about the elocker at the time because I was going to SAS it on tons. Well, that never happened, and maybe I'll tell that story another day but not now. Let's just leave it at my build budget went away, then I blew out the rear diff, lost interest and parked it for a year and a half.

Then, in December 2015, I got the itch to build again. I started surfing all the forums again and one night this past February I came upon a used 8" rear diff with 4.88's and an ARB locker, for a paltry $800 shipped. That was when project GG35 started to form and the parts started to roll off the UPS truck.

That brings us up to the present, April 4th 2016. Sitting in my garage/basement I have 5x 315/75-R16 General Grabber AT2s, Bilstein 5100's, OME springs, wheel spacers, a bunch of other misc parts, a 4.88 ARB rear diff installed, and a 4.88 front being delivered in the next week. I will be updating this thread as I go for my own edification, possibly giving some back, so others have a reason to break out the popcorn, and so I have a place where I can ask questions without being told to search.

It's almost bed time right now, but I have a bunch of pics and very little progress to post up tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[seank]

So what is a GG35? It's a lot like a Mall Crawler only 1,000% more awesome because malls suck, that's why Amazon Prime was invented. Since this rig will see a lot of duty getting me to and from elusive hunting and gathering locations such as Safeway, King Soopers, and Whole Paycheck I am calling it GG, short for Grocery Getter. Sure I could have the groceries delivered too, and I've thought about, but I don't trust anyone but me to pick out the choicest pieces of meat I require.

So what is the 35 for? Could it be the max speed in miles per hour it will achieve performing it's normal tasks? Probably, but that's not where the 35 comes from. 35 is the diameter measurement in inches of the tires I will be running. Because I have to absolutely, positively be able to get meat under all possible conditions; light rain, intense sunshine, 5" of snow, zombies, etc. That requires a 35" or larger tire.

Other things GG35 will be doing include trips to the dry cleaner, the vet, occasional visits to the place I work, motorcycle trailer towing, day hiking trips, wheeling and rock crawling. I've never been much of camper and my wife hates road trips :sadpanda: so overlanding isn't one of the one of the intended uses, but I won't rule it out later on if either of those things changes. And as far as daily driving goes, I have two motorcycles that fill that duty.

So with all that in mind, here are the design goals:

* safe, keeping f&r sways, adding quick disconnects
* reliable, no temperamental parts, up to date maintenance
* mild aesthetics, don't want to stand out/draw attention, no extra tint/bling
* excellent driveability, maintenance again
* stock feel from gearing/tire combo, think 31's and 4.10s/4.30s, but with 35's
* stockish turning radius, no or very little rub at full lock on pavement
* stockish passenger and cargo comfort, not removing creature comfort or adding massive amounts of gear/storage compartments
* decent tunes, gotta be able to stream bluetooth from my phone, with bass
* readily available replacement parts, avoiding one-off/custom parts, OEM where possible
* run on regular pump gas (no SC), high octane can be hard to find in remote areas, and Texas
* rock armor, cause derp
* self recovery gear, people make me uncomfortable

Progress so far:

So before I decided to restart this project I was pretty close to selling it. I ride a motorcycle except when the weather is under 30f or the roads are icy, then I had my VW with both winter and summer tires. And of course the VW makes a fine GG. When the wife and go out we take her Audi. So I have no need for the T4R. But then I decided to do a full restomod on my 14 year old GTI because I love it, a lot, I have a VW tattoo on my arm. And so I justified keeping the T4R so I'd have a bad weather/GG ride while the dub was under the knife.

But the yota had a blow diff, and it was stock and stock is sooo boring. So when I found the diff with 4.88 and an ARB it was meant to be. I knew the 4.88s were necessary after my experience with the LR Discovery; it a decent size tire, like 33's iirc, but the stock gearing that was woefully short for them. It absolutely sucked driving it around because it had no power, and it got 12 mpg. So I'm doing it right this time. My friend and I put in the new diff twoish weeks ago and it's working great, just way too tall for the 265/70-16s on there; at 40mph in 4th gear (it's a manual) the engine is at 2250 rpms.

On March 16, just hours before the Discount Tire Direct eBay sale ended, I picked up 5 General Grabber AT2s. I was impressed with the reviews and hadn't read anything bad on any of the forum sites. In retrospect I probably should have got mud terrains, but time will tell for sure.

At this point I had an ARB air locker, but nothing else required to make it actually lock. So after a bunch of research into OBA options I finally settled on a CKMA12 ARB compressor and ordered all the other odds ends to go with it:

ARB Replacement Air Locker Solenoid (180103)
ARB Replacement Air Locker 5MM AIR LINE (170301)
ARB Replacement Double Threaded 1/8" BSP Nipple (170501)
ARB Replacement 5mm Push In Fitting
ARB Air Compressors - CKMA12
ARB Airlocker Bulkhead Kit, NEW Oring Version

Then I dove head first into suspension research. I had originally planned on the Sonoran Steel 1.2 kit, but found that it didn't fit exactly what I wanted and wouldn't clear the 35's. I went over all the options under $1,500 and ultimately didn't like any of them and piecied together individually from Wheelers OffRoad (they are freaking awesome):

Bilstein 5100 Rear Shock Pair LT
Old Man Emu 2891 Rear Coil Set
Old Man Emu 2883 Front Coil Set
Spidertrax 1.25" Wheel Spacer Pair x2
Bilstein 5100 Height Adjustable Front Strut Set for 99-06 Tundra
Wheeler's Front 4x4 Differential Drop Kit with Skid Plate Spacers
Wheeler's In-House Bilstein Strut Assembly Service, 96-02 4Runner

From Sonoran Steel ordered:

extended rear brake line
washer fluid reservoir relocation kit.

From Amazon I ordered:

ARB tire inflation kit
Pioneer DEH-X4700BT radio & wiring harness
Energy Suspension steering rack bushing kit
ARB Products 180211 Rear Switch Actuator

From eBay I ordered:

rear diff fill plug
rear diff fill plug gaskets
ARB switch
96-98 T4R dash center trim piece with almost functional cup holder

And last but not least, from East Coast Gear Supply I ordered a front 7.5" diff with 4.88 gears open.

I have everything but the front diff in my possession, and that will be here Friday. Unfortunately I have a few maintenance parts to order and install before I can start bolting up ANY of the parts I already have. Let's just say that the very first thing I should have done before ordering anything should have been to take off the front tires and do an inspection, but more on that tomorrow.

 

[seank]

So last Monday, April 4th, I pulled off the front wheels to inspect bushings and boots before starting the suspension. I made a video, because why not. Ignore where I call the sway bar end links tie rod ends, it was early.

https://goo.gl/photos/f9DvWWQyA5QiVSS49

Another correction, just hit 270,000 miles, so it's finally broken in. What I thought might be a power steering rack leak turned out to be a very leaky front differential, which is also bad but I am not concerned about because of this:


IMG_20160409_115607 by seank13, on Flickr

Thank you, ECGS.

Another problem I found was on the front passenger side:

Yeah, that's never good. I picked up a new stud and nut at Napa.

 

[seank]

This past Sunday, with a bunch of parts sitting in my garage waiting to be installed I started taking things apart. I thought about doing the suspension first but decided to tackle the hardest, most unfun thing first: the front differential r&r. I'd read a lot a before starting and have a copy of the FSM on my laptop, but I didn't need the manual for removal.

All told it wasn't too hard, but it was a pain. First fun part was I didn't have a 10mm or a 12mm hex or a 35mm socket. One trip to Advance Auto Zone Boys and I had these. Then I found he drain plug hex thing was stripped the 12mm just spun in it, another trip to get a 13mm hoping that'd provide bite turned up nothing, they only had 12mm and 14mm, and I already had a 14mm. Sooo, I just started pulling it anyway and drained from the sides. I spent about 4 hours getting it out and only broke one vacuum line. Pic:

Actually looking at it here, the vacuum line might be the breather tube, it's the one near dead center of the pic.

So, I need to order new fill and drain plugs today, already have a bag of 10 gaskets, and get a new tube. Then spend a while underneath the truck wearing goggles with a scraper, rags and brake clean. It's really grimy under there from the diff leak. I hope to get that all done before the weekend so I install the new lump and move onto the suspension.

 

[seank]

Ok, the front diff is turning out to be more than I was imagining, mostly because I wasn't expecting to have to swap the ADD over.

First off I stripped the head on one of the long stupid torx bolts holding the ADD on. If someone could share the part number for this bolt I'd really appreciate it:


Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 12.10.04 PM by seank13, on Flickr

Then there's matter of the intermediate shaft. The FSM says to use the SST, that looks like a rube goldberg version of a gear puller. I did a bunch of searching and didn't find any DIYs on it or the add in general. Anyone have any advice on what to use to pull this thing?


Screen Shot 2016-04-15 at 12.06.23 PM by seank13, on Flickr


IMG_20160414_073923 by seank13, on Flickr

 

[seank]

For the record, the part number for the long torx bolt that holds the ADD tube to the differential is 90107-12001

90107-12001 - Genuine Toyota BOLT

And for removing the intermediate shaft without the SST tool, I found an FJ thread where someone was disabling the ADD and "pulled" it out with a pry bar. That hardly seems like the correct tool for the job, but I've ordered a pry bar set (something that's been on my list for a while) that will be here tomorrow.

 

[seank]

I got my pry bars yesterday and was able to give them a try tonight. No joy. I have some three jaw pullers in different sizes and can't even get the jaws in there, not that they'd work since there's no shaft to press against. I've been thinking and thinking and figure if I found some thin jaw pullers and made a frame to press against it might work. So very :frusty:

It occurred to me just a little while ago that the folks at ECGS will know how to get it out so I'm going to call them in the morning. If I can't get anywhere after that I'm just going to take it somewhere.

In related news, the bolt I stripped isn't in stock anywhere. I've been emailing with someone at Mountain States Toyota who has been absolutely awesome and has a 2002 runner. Going by there tomorrow and she's going to see if she can find a suitable alternative.

Once I get the damn diff in I'll install the suspension I've had for a month. :frusty:

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

[Rockdawg84]

the "intermediate Shaft" is held in by a snap right much like the end of the cv joints. I just used two sturdy flathead screwdrivers and it popped right out after a couple of tries. Good luck.

 

[A.Wilson013]

I am all about alternative methods... USUALLY they work.

-I'd get some paracord and tie a loop around the shaft, leaving a couple feet extra. It'd probably be a good idea to use two separate loops, one on either side of the shaft so it'll pull evenly from both sides of the shaft.

-Then I'd tie a loop in that extra stuff, and put a 5lb sledge through the loop.

-Then I'd use the sledge as a sort of slide hammer, letting some slack in the paracord then swinging the head of the hammer to take the slack out. I imagine it'd "pop" right out after a few swings.

-If the paracord has too much give you could try some wire perhaps.

I've never done this, but if it's a snap ring like [MENTION=53470]Rockdawg84[/MENTION] says, I think it should work. In my head it does, at least.

It's late... If that doesn't make any sense let me know and I'll go to work in paint, haha...

 

[seank]

Thanks guys. I have to admit, I have a fear of using too much force and it's held me back before. Like removing the rear third. Working on it solo I spent hours and decided it was ceased. Then my friend came over and wailed on it for 15 seconds and it came right out. Or maybe I'm just really weak.

All that was to say I'll put on my big boy pants and try prying again like [MENTION=53470]Rockdawg84[/MENTION] described.

Interesting idea [MENTION=63487]A.Wilson013[/MENTION]. Made me think of maybe putting something through the hoop and twisting to apply leverage. I do have a couple hundred feet of paracord, unfortunately I have no idea where. But I could source more locally. I think I'll give this a try if prying round three doesn't work.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

[MStudt]

Should have kept the Rover. I have a love hate relationship with mine, but often times its more hate than love.

 

[crowdad]

For some reason I remember going in from the other side of the clamshell and using a screw driver or such to tap the gear out from the back side

 

[Justin727]

Good looking build thus far!

You'll enjoy the AT2s. Had them on my last 4R and currently on my GX.

Longevity and decent performance off road!

 

[Bandit Runner]

Well, you could do what I did regarding removing the shaft. When installing the new diff, my buddy and I completely forgot to swap the shaft from the old diff to the new one. Then I sent the old diff (with shaft still in it) to ECGS to get my core refund. Realized our mistake, and contacted ECGS. They pulled the shaft out of my old core and shipped it back to me for free!

Note: This may not be the most efficient way to do it.

 

[seank]

Should have kept the Rover. I have a love hate relationship with mine, but often times its more hate than love.

Don't get me wrong, I loved and my Rover in a way that only another Rover owner can understand. It was a fantastic and capable car I wouldn't wish on anyone. I did keep for about four months after picking up the Runner, but ultimately my wife forced me to choose one.

For some reason I remember going in from the other side of the clamshell and using a screw driver or such to tap the gear out from the back side

Now that's an interesting idea, ultimately unnecessary though...

Good looking build thus far!

You'll enjoy the AT2s. Had them on my last 4R and currently on my GX.

Longevity and decent performance off road!

Thanks! And awesome! Those are exactly the things I'm hoping for with the tires.

Well, you could do what I did regarding removing the shaft. When installing the new diff, my buddy and I completely forgot to swap the shaft from the old diff to the new one. Then I sent the old diff (with shaft still in it) to ECGS to get my core refund. Realized our mistake, and contacted ECGS. They pulled the shaft out of my old core and shipped it back to me for free!

Note: This may not be the most efficient way to do it.

Hahaha! Definitely no the most efficient way, but I like it!

 

[seank]

Updates! This past weekend was a total bust from the metal and oil perspective. It was a beautiful mild weekend and I had no obligations. So the lady and I spent the whole time on the couch. Some times you just need a down weekend I guess, but I was losing my my mind by Sunday afternoon.

Anyway, nothing happened until Monday, but it was a good day. First I got an email from the dealer, the replacement ADD tube bolt finally came in. It's so awesome I couldn't even take a picture for fear of my camera exploding. I picked it up after lunch and went back to work.

Then after dinner I decided to step out to the garage and go Conan on the intermediate shaft. Turns out pry bars may not be the best tool, but they work. I stuck one either side, leaned in with a lot more force than I was comfortable, then pop, the damn thing hit me in the chest and bounced to the ground. It looks fine, and that shouldn't surprise me, but I was afraid it would be mangled to hell and it's not.

So here are the revised rules:
1. use tons of force, bang like you're trying to break a boulder.
2. no really, you're not banging hard enough
3. seriously, man up and hit that thing

I hope to get the whole front diff reassembled tonight, fingers crossed.

 

[Rockdawg84]

Good Job:tea:

 

[seank]

This.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[seank]

We finally got some decent weather in Denver today so of course I was busy with work starting early and running until 4pm. I got home at the same time the better half texted to say she was on the way so I held off on getting dirt. Blah blah stuff and excuses, I got no garage time today. So instead of getting dirty I actually put together a plan, which I actually needed anyway. Plans, also known as checklists, really help me focus. Go figure.

Armed with this list and the knowledge that there is nothing else planned this weekend I hope to make significant progress. The goal is to make it to where everything up to the clearance tasks is done, but someone said that at work I'd laugh at them. So we'll see.

I did it in Google Sheets because I only hate myself a little. Let's see if this works:

Spoiler: Embedding a Google spreadsheet did NOT work.

Here's a PNG or JPG or something maybe:

 

[amalik]

We finally got some decent weather in Denver today so of course I was busy with work starting early and running until 4pm. I got home at the same time the better half texted to say she was on the way so I held off on getting dirt. Blah blah stuff and excuses, I got no garage time today. So instead of getting dirty I actually put together a plan, which I actually needed anyway. Plans, also known as checklists, really help me focus. Go figure.

Armed with this list and the knowledge that there is nothing else planned this weekend I hope to make significant progress. The goal is to make it to where everything up to the clearance tasks is done, but someone said that at work I'd laugh at them. So we'll see.

I did it in Google Sheets because I only hate myself a little. Let's see if this works:

Spoiler: Embedding a Google spreadsheet did NOT work.

Here's a PNG or JPG or something maybe:

Good list man. Will take some time for sure.

If you ever need a helping hand, I'm near i25 and yale; not sure where you're at.