4/28/2014
Well it's been a while since my last update and I have a good amount of new items since then. I am still thoroughly enjoying my supercharger, but it's been leaking oil from the nose cone and has gotten a bit louder. I figured this would happen, but a little bummed it happened so soon. Regardless it needs to be rebuilt. I've been doing a lot of reading and will be replacings all of the bearings and seals to start off fresh and know all about my sc. I'm not going to lie, I'd super nervous to perform this, but I can't afford sending it off. I’m probably going to pull the SC soon and go back to stock, so I can take my time and I need to replace the valve cover gaskets. I’ll post more on this endeavor when it comes time.
Suspension wise, I’ve got some new goodies. Prior to this update I was running a set of Donahoe’s that were in need of a rebuild. I had all the parts, but never really got around to rebuilding them. Then came long this deal
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/163635-awesome-tire-deal.html. I wasn’t planning on getting new tires, but this deal was too good to pass up. I debated for a while as to which tire I wanted. I liked my previous Duratracs, but the Cooper ATP’s and AT3’s were pretty damn cheap and got good reviews. I just didn’t like that they ran small. Since I was pretty broke from the SC purchase I knew I needed to free up some cash. I ended up finding a good deal on some 5100/Eibach lift on TacomaWorld and pulled the trigger. It’s no Icon, but would be enough for my driving habits and needs at the moment.
After picking up those I ended up selling the Donahoes, which freed up enough cash for some tires.
Bye-Bye Donahoes…
I finally decided to pull the trigger on a set of 285/75/16 Goodyear Duratracs for $684 after rebates and Discount Tire coupons. Awesome price and made it worth it. Now I needed to figure out my wheel situation. I had a set of Tacoma 1st gen star 16’s and Tacoma 2nd gen Off-Road 16’s to choose from, but both of them were meh to me. I ended up finding a set of LC wheels for $130 on TW and snagged them up. I wheels got there on a Sunday and tires came on a Thursday. Got them mounted and painted the wheels semi-gloss black to match the theme.
Before with 245’s…
After with the 285 sexiness!
I have center caps, but was painting them.
I love the look now. Really brings the truck together and this is actually the first set of new tires I have bought for the 4runner since I owned it. It’s nice to start new.
Well I got the tires on Thursday and heading to Hollister for a TacomaWorld meet on Saturday. This trip I decided to take my 3 year old daughter, brother and 6 year old neice. I was a little nervous as to whether they would like wheeling, well they LOVED it. Both of them were yelling at me to go faster, in more puddles and mud. They called me out a couple of times because I didn’t want to go on some of the more difficult obstacles. We ended up having a great time and got me excited to wheel again with them.
They loved watching the trucks go through the frame twister.
How could you not loving wheeling with these two…
Video of me going through the frame twister, not my best attempt, but acceptable.
<object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/GrHOQNMn3UE?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/GrHOQNMn3UE?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
After getting the new tires and wheels I had a lot of rubbing. I needed to clearance a bit more, but also my turning radius was pretty wide with the 1.25” spacers, 285’s and 16x8 4.5bs wheels. I found some .75” spacers and decided to swap them out. I figured this would be a one beer job, but I was wrong. My spacers had become fused to the rotors and studs. I beat up one spacer pretty bad and decided to quit. Ended up getting some advice to use a putty knife and pry it off at different points. This helped a ton and proved to be the game changer. Got them off and found this.
It was because I used a gel locktite and it filled all the gaps. The spacers weren’t going anywhere which was good, but a pain to get off. So if you’re ever in the same situation, a putty knife is your best friend.