Sniv's Custom Long Travel Build

[snivilous]

Nothing really suspension related today since I'm waiting on Poly still...

I cleaned the blower fan, which it didn't really need once I got it open but whatever.

Started painting the Satoshi.

Worked on the rear. I dropped the stainless braided lines in, which was a royal pain in the ass to get the stock ones out. I also replaced my passenger side ABS sensor, the original one's lines had been snagged repeatedly and badly repaired so I finally replaced it. Getting it out sucked ass too, I hit it with penetrator, drilled into it, heated it with a torch, etc. Finally I clamped the shit out of it with vice grips and stuck a ratchet strap on the vice grips and to my rear bumper and had to torque the shit out of the ratchet but then it popped it out! In the coming weeks I'll try to clean up the undercarriage and get the rust off the rear axle, paint it, paint the LT, remove the now useless airbag system from the rear, etc.

I decided I probably won't move my shock mounts on the drivers side, after putting the tender coil in and going to full bump there's only a half inch or so I could move the top mount forward, and I can't move the bottom mount back since the primary coil only has a quarter inch gap from the CV boot when the tire is turned. So I'll have to live with the top of the shock being angled back--which it isn't that bad, maybe 5 degrees, it's just not parallel with the spindle which would be ideal but it shouldn't affect the shocks performance enough to make a difference.

I also remounted the top of the shock so the hose exits between the shock and the frame; the 90 degree swivel fitting is actually pretty nice, good thing they for some reason added it even though I didn't order the shock like that haha. I'll mount the reservoir on the frame facing forward, probably just tack on some hose clamps with rubber boots to clamp the reservoir. This way the it'll stay out of the engine bay and the hose won't get near the UCA ever.

And finally I started unbolting the passenger side engine bay components and will start cutting soon to mount the shock. I'm gonna try to get everything essentially done so when the last two uniballs and heims show up they can just be welded in and then everything will be ready to roll.

And here is a parting show of [MENTION=89531]Cartzo[/MENTION] 1G and the 3G. For some reason mine looks a lot shorter... Thanks for reading!

 

[snivilous]

Gonna ***** out Poly today and hopefully get my uniballs sent out today since I can make do without heimed steering if they can't get their shit together about my heims. As for yesterday, nothing amazing again. I inventoried all the fasteners I have, need, and change.

Worked on the passenger side LCA so once the uniball shows up everything can be welded on it, I modified the passenger side steering knuckle so it's ready for welding, and then I modified the drivers side UCA mount so it's a double bolt setup. The stock bolt was too long and would need a spacer on the end to be able to get torqued down, and this way adjustment will be easy since just the side getting adjusted can be unbolted. I will run a shock mount gusset from the frame, over the UCA mounting tube, and then to the shock mount to reinforce everything.

Thanks for reading!

 

[turbo8]

Might want to double shear the upper a-arm mounts now.

 

[snivilous]

Might want to double shear the upper a-arm mounts now.

I'm strongly considering it, I was lazy the past few days and said screw it every time I looked at it but now that you say it I probably will!

 

[4Running Daily]

I'm strongly considering it, I was lazy the past few days and said screw it every time I looked at it but now that you say it I probably will!

You should plate the frame too. Just ask [MENTION=82691]Broker[/MENTION]

 

[snivilous]

First it took Poly a week to ship my uniballs and heims and now, for the 2nd time, my order arrived in SLC and is delayed for "Emergency Conditions or Severe Weather". WTF. The package arrived yesterday at 10pm and then at 2am that happens. I'm getting pissed off over how often I'm getting shipping issues with UPS and how it can arrive at SLC and then somehow take multiple days to go the next 80 miles. Course, it doesn't help the fact PolyPerformance sucks ass and delayed my order a week in the first place. It's been almost 2 weeks to receive 2 uniballs and 4 heims. I could of had the truck running last Wednesday, now I feel like I'll be lucky if it runs this weekend. The entire passenger side is just laying on the ground waiting for the joints to be welded in and it's essentially ready to go, the drivers side is fully welded and aside from making it cosmetically sexy is ready to roll. I need the truck running so I can go to the airport next Thursday and preferably not take the bus so I don't have to skip a class.

I don't want to take everything for granted, but holy shit I have two companies screw up on one order. Sorry for the rant, the truck hasn't moved in 2 months as of this week and it should of been driving awhile ago, never mind monetary issues involved with this project but now I can't even get the final parts I need.

EDIT: Apparently there is no power at the UPS facility. Weird how often that seems to happen to me.

 

[downpour11]

EDIT: Apparently there is no power at the UPS facility. Weird how often that seems to happen to me.

Dealing with the same issues with UPS, thankfully we've been shipping our stuff FedEx and USPS and no issues... but we shipped out a couple things for a friend (he wanted UPS because it was a hair cheaper) and UPS lost both his packages! He just lost almost $1000 having to refund his customer.

Who knows what's going to happen during the holidays lol

 

[snivilous]

Time to get this ***** back on her feet!

 

[MillerPKA]

Just found this and read through all 25 pages. Boners were had.

Looks great man will definitely stay tuned!

 

[TheArkMaster]

So close I can taste it :banana:

 

[snivilous]

Yesterday I got both passenger A-arms tacked up and they just need to be fully welded. It's really annoying since every time I look at the passenger side I think something is wrong since I'm used to looking at everything angled the opposite way! The passenger side spindle and steering knuckle is finished. I also finished getting all the hardware needed for the passenger side. I removed the windshield wiper fluid reservoir, I was like what the hell is this giant plastic blob in my wheel well?! On the plus side it looks easy to retrofit a new reservoir since there are just two little pumps to (presumably) the rear and front sprayers.

The drivers side can support the truck, I actually had a huge scare where I was jacking up the drivers side from the A-arm to make sure everything would compress a bit and didn't realize the whole front end had been lifted up, and then the jack slid out from under the A-arm and the truck shifted to the side! I was like oh shit there goes the 4Runner. Luckily I had moved a jack to the front part of the drivers side frame to get better room working on the back part of the suspension where the jack originally was, and when the truck shifted the jack ended up right under the front cross member. So lesson learned about that, luckily not a hard way! Additionally I got the reservoir mounted up, all the bolts are in, and the drivers side is ready to roll. Nothing is super torqued or has lock tite on it, I'm going to put weight on the truck with everything being tight and then roll it out of the garage and make sure everything is looking good then take it apart, lock tite and torque everything and get the shocks charged.

The suspension weighs a ton, I think the spindle with rotor and caliper alone weighs 60+ lbs, and I would bet one side completed weighs around 100lbs. I'm not worried, it's a lot of unsprung weight but everything is so overbuilt it gives me a lot of confidence knowing it weighs more but is built like a tank. Like I've said in the past, in future revisions (which I'm already thinking about a lot) I'll optimize everything and focus on weight savings. Hopefully today she'll be rolling! Fingers crossed!

 

[t4r4life]

Awesome progress buddy!

 

[shootmymime]

1st off. everyone give toby a "WOOT WOOT" to help motivate him on his project! its starting to get cold up here in logan utah and there is still a lot of work to get done​

So here are some more pictures from another persons angle and perspective

I have been talking with toby (@snivilous) for quite some time now about stopping by his place as i go from my place to salt lake city area. Well this time i was able to make the jaunt over to logan to check out his truck. I must say he has one heck of a skill and determination to take on the large of a project.

I would not want to do it myself because i could not stand having my truck out of commission for so long and not even be able to drive it around the block.
#withdraws
But props to him for doing this on a tight budget and building it super strong.

His control arms , uppers and lowers look great. thick wall tubing and very stout. this could be a weld together kit if toby decides to sell the plans for someone else to go buy the material and supplies.

ok enough yakking and how about some pictures!


[url=https://flic.kr/p/pBrKus]

This is the brains behind it all. Sniv​

Mad props to my wife for sitting out and waiting for us while we talk 4runner stuff.​

UCA

Passenger side

LCA

Not done yet. going to box and gusset more of the uca support.


His 3d plastic printing he did for his grill. turned out pretty good i might add.

 

[derpiful]

Woot woot!

I absolutely LOVE that grill, with the 3d printing and everything. Can't to see what that looks like installed.

I can't ever imagine taking on a project like this. Sooo much work. With that in mind, I can honestly say amazing work.

 

[snivilous]

Alright, update! Long story short, she is sitting under her own power for the first time in 9 weeks!!! :cheers:

I wasn't able to get good pictures, and I haven't driven it yet since our MIG ran out of wire for the very last thing (passenger side tie rod) :redbrick: Which kinda sucks, good news is I might hopefully get some sexy pictures since this guy said he has a DSLR and could grab some so maybe Natemob won't destroy me and everyone else in T4ROTM.

And on to pictures. So this is the drivers side outer tie rod now. I was considering a double heim but that was more work than I wanted to do and I have to go to the airport Thursday. There's around +/- 2" of adjustment total. I have the heim on the bottom, I tried the top but it made my bump steer insane. Though this picture doesn't have it there is now a jam nut on the inner tie rod threaded portion.

Speaking of bump steer, this is the change in steering at full droop... why it acts like the steering is pushing the tire away is beyond me, you would think it would pull it in... whatever. Not sure how you fix bump steer entirely but it's not THAT bad and it's fine for the majority of the travel.

Here's a shot of the drivers side finished and passenger side waiting for it's tire. Dat droop!

Frontal shot of both sides at full droop. I guess you can kinda see it in the picture but the drivers side droops lower, definitely noticeable when I was jacking the truck up and down. However the passenger side measures a good 14" of travel which is what the drivers side is pulling, and it didn't seem like it was bumping higher but it must of been.

And then a final shot of how she sits right now. I cranked the coilovers down 2", didn't recheck if it was level yet (using the sliders as measurement) but it should be close. My coilovers are setup so I can move the collar all the way up and the coils can flop around so there is no need for spring compressors. Though I only cranked the collar 2" so I'm assuming even as low as I can go the coilovers will provide lift over stock height (assuming the rear end is still at a 3" lift which I doubt).

Tomorrow the passenger side tie rod will be welded up and then she'll be ready to drive. I'll throw the bumper and grille on and probably the hood, maybe the fenders too. I cleaned up the engine bay a bit, I haven't checked how everything clears at full bump but I got most of the hoses and lines and electrical stuff positioned away from the shocks.

I know it's nowhere near done! Nothing is painted, there are no bump stops or limit straps, right now the camber needs to be adjusted, I need to check engine bay clearance at full bump, fix any rubbing at full bump and when turned, grind on the LCA more on the drivers side at least so I don't get any binding when turning at full droop, etc. To reiterate, I'm flying to Colorado for business Thursday so right now it just needs to run! ...and hopefully not fall apart during the 160 mile round trip

Thanks for reading! I should have some fully assembled pictures tomorrow and a preliminary ride report from driving around on pavement haha

 

[snivilous]

Quick update before class, the runner is out of the garage! We pushed it but it's out :whoo:

Right now I need to add oil to the front diff, get cotter pins for the CVs, and then install the passenger side outer tie rod that [MENTION=89531]Cartzo[/MENTION] is welding up at work.

I cranked the shocks down some more. I need a larger jack.

I put the fenders, bumper, grille, and hood on.

The drivers side tire has too much negative camber I think and I adjusted the heims in all the way, I might have to shorten the UCA or move the LCA to get my adjustability back but we'll see. It'll work for now.

Dat stance

Still lots to do, but despite not being cleaned up or painted she's still sexy!!!

And a better shot of the grille, it's hard to get a photo when it's bright out. Still need to install the behind the grille lights. Again, this is the functionality phase and next week is the cosmetics phase!

Ride report coming later tonight (fingers crossed)!

 

[sn0wrunner]

Man this is getting good! Looking forward to more pics. Nice work!

 

[twitchee2]

Looks awesome man, Good work. Are you not concerned about the bending forces on the stock shock bucket and not having a through bolt for the UCA? did you beef up the UCA mounts somehow?

 

[TheArkMaster]

Hurry up and finish man. You're killing me!

 

[turbo8]

Do you have pictures of the upper shock mounts?