Quantum's Manual-Swapped 2000 Build

[AntleredRuin]

Out with the old, in with the new. Replaced LBJ's

Part Number Part Description Quantity Core Price Price Total
4333039585 JOINT ASSY, LWR BALL 1 $0.00 $110.28 $110.28
4334039465 JOINT ASSY, LWR BALL 1 $0.00 $110.28 $110.28
9008010066 BOLT, FLANGE 8 $0.00 $1.18 $9.44
Sub Total $230.00
Shipping method - Free Fed Ex Ground S Shipping $0.00
Handling Fee $3.00
Tax $0.00
Total $233.00


Also, wasn't able to torque up the lower LBJ nut, since I thought it was a 22mm (according to the LBJ "Official Thread"), then went out to buy a 22mm socket right before the shops closed, and found it didn't fit. So I just torqued it down with a big adjustable wrench for now and will get a proper socket in the morning.

And pics:

Also, reckon I need new tie rods. But its kinda expensive, so its gonna have to wait a bit. Afaik tie rods aren't really known to fail catastrophically while driving on the road.

They just flop down when you drop the end, I heard that's a sign its shot. Also, I think there might be some paly, but I will ahve to see how much when I get the wheels back on and jack it up again.
https://i.imgur.com/XpqjykN.mp4

Plan for tomorrow is to finish welding both bumpers, get an alignment, and grab some steel stock for a tire carrier

I'm sure you've done it by now, but it's a 24mm bolt. I've seen the 22mm, too, and some people say it's 23mm.
If all stock, though (no aftermarket parts) it'll be 24mm.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Finished welding the bumpers (no paint yet), just in time to go run the AZBDR with a local group. We only managed about 300 miles before snow on the Mogollon Rim shut us down, but it was a bunch of fun.

I played around with my tire pressures a bit and found that 30-35 is really my sweet spot, with almost no steering play when going over bumps.

Awesome campsite up in the mountains:

At the AZ/MX border:

Gave her a nice mud "bath":

Bombing through a cacti field:

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Ground down frame last night and welded sliders on this morning.
Roast my welds please.

 

[Joelzy]

im more about the strength of a weld over how pretty it is... mostly because my welds are rarely super pretty.

those look solid from the pic :noidea:

 

[Quantumkiwi]

im more about the strength of a weld over how pretty it is... mostly because my welds are rarely super pretty.

those look solid from the pic :noidea:

Thanks, for me a weld looks nice when its strong, i.e. good penetration and the edges are wetted in, even weld profile, no pitting, etc.

It was my first time welding in 4G (overhead) and that was actually the easiest part since it was easy to see and get my hands/torch in there.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Welp, I made the mistake of welding on the inside of my bumper where it slides over the frame. Takes a bit of help to get it off now.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Did my first oil change ever today. Yay! Really not hard, I didn't even find the oil filter was as bad as everyone complains about. Hardly spilled anything with a bunch of paper towels stuffed under it. Also put a Fumoto oil drain valve in to make it easier in the future.

Also replaced my PCV valve with OEM, it was getting a little sludgy. Once I pulled it out I was amazed to find that what I had in there must not have been OEM. It was much more plastiky and weighed about half as much! The grommet was a massive PITA though. Ended up cutting it into a few pieces with a knife to get it out.

Finally, I finished welding on my panhard drop from [MENTION=28464]eimkeith[/MENTION]. Fit on the axle side with the SS panhard I have was a bit tight, but a hammer solves all problems.

Plan for today is to grease u-joints, and hopefully install a trans cooler. Only problem is I'm not sure what fluid my mechanic put in my transmission when I had it flushed late last year. I heard it matters between synthetic and dino, but I don't know if there's a difference between brands I should care about.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

I tried to grease my ujoints, but the cheapo grease gun I bought from autozone couldn't lock on a fitting to save it's life. Ended up returning it and am now waiting on something better from Amazon.

Put a trans cooler in, following this excellent writeup. I haven't seen any temperature on the Ultragauge above 180, and its nice having the insurance against radiator failure.

Also painted front and back bumpers, chucked them on the truck, and bolted my winch on. I was more than a little disappointed in the fitment of my winch (Smittybuilt 9500) with the bumper as I had to trim about 1/2 inch from one side of the top plate in order for it to line up with the mounting holes. Also, I found the mounting holes were a little bit too small for the bolts to slide in without a lot of cursing and some hammering, so I widened them a bit. But, I am pleased with the end result.
Also installed turn signals and put in a new relay for the LED bulbs. The signals are a bit dimmer than I would like, but I'm not really sure what else is out there. I think I can modify my corner lights to use as indicators, but I'll have to do more reading on that.

 

[Fishwerks]

How do you like the Coastal bumpers so far? They look good.

Saw you post on Bandit's thread about getting together to go wheeling. I'll send you a message and see if we can make something happen. I've got a few little maintenance things to do before I get the truck back out.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

How do you like the Coastal bumpers so far? They look good.

Saw you post on Bandit's thread about getting together to go wheeling. I'll send you a message and see if we can make something happen. I've got a few little maintenance things to do before I get the truck back out.

Thanks. TBH, I have some mixed feelings about the bumpers, there's a few problems I had with them. In order that I found them:

1) Not everything arrived initially, but Brandon was pretty quick to get me the rest of my stuff.

2) It would have been great (as a beginning MIG welder) if the bumpers went together with some notches and pieces sliding into others, I had a little bit of fitup I had to BS, and some gaps that were a bit larger than I liked, but with some extra weld and elbow grease with a grinder, you can make it look nice. If it was slotted and tabbed, then I think it would be very easy to weld up.

3) It was a major PITA finding the metric bolts that Brandon suggests for mounting the bumper, perhaps it's easier in Canada, but I had to order from McMaster-Carr, nowhere within 2 hrs of me had anything.

4) The grille tubing would have been REALLY nice to be pre-notched. Its a really hard angle to notch nicely and is impossible to do with a cheapo tubing notcher. As it was my first time working with tube, it took a few hours with a grinder, and it still didn't fit nicely. This is probably half my fault for not having done this before, but I guess I learned something.

5) The cutout in the top of the front bumper was not big enough for a Smittybuilt 9.5k winch, despite my understanding that it would be. It took a bit of work with a cutoff wheel to get it to fit properly, and it's no longer nicely centered in the hole. In addition, the bolt mounting holes for the winch were a few thousandths too small, so I had to enlarge them slightly with a drill.

6) The indicator lights and grommets recommended don't work so well. While they seem good quality, the lights are a bit dimmer than I think would be visible in most conditions. In addition, the holes for the mounting grommets are a bit too big, which means my indicators fall out all the time, I will probably just tape them in.

7) There is a bit to large of a gap between the top of the lower bumper and the bottom of the tailgate, I think I posted some pics earlier in my thread. This is the only problem I have of the actual design of the bumper, and I might fix it later if it really bugs me, but its not that bad.

All my whining aside, I still think this is the best-designed, best-priced bumper kit on the market. Just expect to spend a lot of time grinding if you want your edges to look great.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Went wheeling with my brother on Saturday, and then with some friends on Sunday this weekend.

Found some beautiful mountain roads up near the CO border on Saturday.

Found some crazy muscovite deposits marked as an old prospect on my USFS maps. This stuff looked like it had been poured on the ground!

Of course, I took my bouldering pad and did a few nice problems with my brother, but we also found some really cool undeveloped walls. Hopefully it's not private property, it was close to a few ranches. This wall is probably around 50-60m tall and is about 10m overhanging near the top.

Finally on Sunday, I went out on the mesas behind my house. I finally baptized the 4Runner with some nice air under the tires. I was really surprised at how controlled the landing was, especially when it landed on all 4 corners relatively equally.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hNg5fpUsc3U" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Finally couldn't resist this picture going past a cow pond, the sun was almost perfect.

 

[Road Bull]

I dig the build. Those Pro Comp 7069s are still some of my favorite wheels. And the 4" BS was a good balance for clearing too. Nice work getting those bumpers together too.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

I dig the build. Those Pro Comp 7069s are still some of my favorite wheels. And the 4" BS was a good balance for clearing too. Nice work getting those bumpers together too.

Thanks. As a bonus they are cheap as hell. I think I got mine for something like 60 bucks a wheel.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Damn, haven't updated in a while.
Mostly just been wheeling, but unable to take pictures since my phone's camera is no longer working as a result of some firmware issues (thanks google!).

Recently I had all my coolant boil over in the middle of nowhere while driving back home from school. Filled it up with some tap water and eventually made it home, where I promptly flushed my coolant, replaced my thermostat and radiator cap. The little piston/valve in the middle of my cap was completely missing, which probably contributed to the overheating.
Also, when replacing the thermostat, I put the jiggle valve (whatever it does idk) on the bottom, instead of the top, and was amazed to see a 10-20 degree difference in temps.

Been keeping an eye on my coolant levels now, since I ran the engine for about 30 min at 70 mph with little to no coolant in it. Really hope I didn't mess up my head gasket or damage anything permanently.

Here's one of the last photos I took before my phone ate the dust, wheeling in a local canyon.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Headed up to Colorado this last weekend to help my brother look for an apartment. Hit as much dirt as possible on the way back.
First attempt getting out of Leadville

Nice views.

Ended up not working out...

Was completely bottomed out.
Didn't get a picture of me stuck, but you can see where my rear diff was dragging when I winched.
Lucky there was a rock big enough to winch from, we moved 2 others before we barely made it out with the 3rd.
We ended up turning around since there was snow across the shelf further up.
Was the first time I actually got fully stuck. Been trying my hardest though...

Second pass was really nice but not as challenging (plenty of JOOPS!)

Medano was really nice, really low water crossings though.

Just cruised the rest of the way home after that, with some nice sunsets and rain along the way.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Finally got a new phone with a camera that works.
Guess I'm obligated to update this more often now.

Went wheeling with a local jeep group out to La Ventana Mesa. Was nice, but the large group started to wear on me after a while. On the fence about going with them again, but still had a good time.

Also, here's a little teaser.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

In this episode of poorly done mods to an old truck:

A Negro Modelo Makes the best transfer case shifter:

And shitty Hazard Fraught transmission jacks really suck:

This was from a few weekends ago. Just wrapping stuff up now.
Wiring was pretty simple, I kept all of the auto wiring in place, only 2 things needed to be done (so far.)

1) Jumper the Neutral Safety Plug off the Auto Trans so the ECU thinks its in Neutral and Drive at the same time. Neutral lets you start the car at any time (clutch doesn't need to be down :dancin: .) While the Drive lets you use cruise control.

2) Run the wire for the top clutch switch so the it will interrupt the clutch circuit when the clutch isn't all the way up. This one was a bit of a pain to figure out, but I've since learned that I'm unstoppable with a good wiring diagram and a total disregard for keeping wires uncut.

Issues to resolve:
1) The ECU still thinks its got an auto attached, so there is a check engine for (I believe, haven't pulled the codes yet) the missing trans solenoids. This can be fixed with a resistor, as others have done.

2) I need more beer.

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Got some CEL codes to figure out. Yay...

Here's what I've figured out:
P0773: Shift solenoid error. Not gonna worry about this one, 'cause I don't have shift solenoids anymore, I'll get around to "fixing" it with some resistors sometime.

P1780: Park/neutral safety switch malfunction. Again, not gonna worry me.

P1133, P1135: Ordered new oxygen/AFR sensors. Hope that will do it, seems the most common problem. Engine was surging and not idling well at low rpm but was fine at higher rpm.

P0171: "System too Lean Bank 1." This one is the one that has me worried. I've ordered new vacuum and intake tubes to try to rule out a vacuum leak. I'm still on original, so its probably needed anyway. MAF seemed fine to me, I'll clean it when I do the intake tubes, but wasn't suffering from bad gas mileage or a loss in power. The part about this that worries me is I have a suspicion that my brake booster has a vacuum leak. Brakes have been a bit stiffer than usual over the last few months and I'm having a hard time locking up the wheels even on hard dirt. I just hope its not the booster, but rather the line to it, since the price for a new booster is absurd (~ 1000 buckaroos) and I don't really like putting junkyard parts on my car if its something important.

Any advice on how I should go about throwing parts at this?

 

[Quantumkiwi]

Managed to fix my rear window today.
It was only rolling down about an inch or two, then stopping.
Not the typical symptoms of the ever more common bad hatch wiring.
I took the door panels off and it turns out that the door lock motor has nearly fallen off. Got a good chuckle out of that.
Tightened it up with a bit of locktite, and it works perfectly again.
Project of the rest of the week is to fix some messy wiring and figure out what shims I need for my swaybar links.