Srabai DD build thread

[Srabai]

Hey everyone, I've been looking through here for a few months now. My first car was a 1992 Celica GT and it was a beast. It lasted a year before I drove it into the ground. After that I switched to GM for a while. 1994 C1500 pickup then a 1994 C1500 Suburban. After I destroyed both of those, I found that I wanted to go back to Toyota.

While looking around, I found a 1997 4runner for sale a 1/4 mile away from my house. This is a big deal because there are very few 4runners up here in Ohio and all of them are out of my price range. The listing stated that it had a blow head gasket and asking price was $575. The next morning the guy called me and I bought it. He was a dentist that just wanted it gone.

210,500 miles, 4x4, e-locker, limited. There was a bit of rust on the rear tailgate and a spot on the drivers fender.


If anyone has any questions about part number or procedure, ask away.

Bought at 210.5K. Currently at 230K

Completed work

210500 Miles
- Radiator - 10/10/13 - Spectre - Autozone
- Battery - 10/12/13 - Duralast AGM - Autozone
- Front Struts - 10/20/13 - Gabriel Lifetimes - Autozone
- Lower Ball Joints - 10/20/13 - Moog - Oreilies
- Front Brake Pads - 10/20/13 - Duralast Cmax - Autozone
- Front Brake Rotors - 10/20/13 - Duralast - Autozone
- Front Brake Lines - 10/20/13 - Advance
- Outer Tie Rod Ends - 10/20/13 - Oreilies
- Pioneer Radio Dual Din - 11/03/13 - Walmart
- Oil Changes, every 5,000-6,000 miles, full synthetic
- Valve Cover Gaskets, Cam seals, intake plenum, washers - 11/16/13 - OEM - Toyota
- Spark Plugs - 11/16/13 - OEM - Toyota
- Spark Plug Wires - 11/16/13 - OEM - Toyota
- Coolant Flush - 11/16/13 - Universal
- Rear Diff Fluid - 11/19/13 - Lucas HD Synthetic
- Rear Wind Deflector - 11/24/13 - OEM
- Rear Coil Springs - 12/24/13 - Moog - Oreilies
- Rear Shocks - 12/24/13 - OEM - Toyota
- Rear Sway Bar Link - 12/31/13 - Duralast - Autozone
- BF Goodrich A/T 265/75/R16 E - 03/09/13 - Tireman
219000
- Blue wire mod - 4/20/14
- Trans cooler - 7/13/14
- Synthetic Trans fluid change - 7/13/14 - Castrol
- Radiator hoses - 7/13/14
225000
- Hella horns - 9/13/14
230000
- Undercoated underside of truck - 9/28/14
- Flowmaster 44 series muffler - 9/28/14

Average MPG:
Winter: 14-16 mpg
Summer: 17-21 mpg

 

[Srabai]

Once I paid for it, I jumped it, put a few gallons of water in the radiator and drove it home. I fully expected to rebuild the motor but something told me it wasn't the headgaskets. The next day I started it up and did a block test. While testing, I found that the radiator was leaking coolant.


After the new radiator, I finished the block test and it came back negative.


Here is the interior. The drives seat has a tear along the side.


A few days later I pulled the running boards off

 

[Srabai]

I don't like chrome so I pulled the grill and primed it. I will finish it with some gloss once it warms up.


I don't think the PO did anything to the truck and there was a scary vibration above 60mph so I replaced the front struts, LBJ's and OTR's


All the brake lines broke and I threw new pads and rotors on there


I love Ohio rust


One day I'll put a lift on it but for now I just want a nice stock vehicle. Also, there are very few places to off road and I don't want to be that guy


Afterwards

 

[Srabai]

OEM radio was pretty bad so I pulled that


Got a Pioneer from walmart for $160. I know they are cheaper online but I don't know how to wait.



Next inline was the leaky valve cover gaskets. All replaced with OEM Toyota parts.






While I was in there she got new plugs and wires


Really clean for the miles. PO did have it serviced at toyota every 3000 miles. Only oil changes on record since 1999.


Needed new spark plug seals too

 

[Srabai]

After all of that, it got an oil change, driveshaft lube, rear fluid replacement and a new rear spoiler.

It also got a new Duralast Platinum AGM battery.

I drove it from Toledo to Atlanta over thanksgiving and pulled ~20mpg the entire way. No coolant loss or oil loss. It drives like a champ up the hills and the only thing I need to work on now is the cruise control. Halfway home, it started acting up.

Current mileage 214550

Current costs = $2492 including the cost of the truck.


New OEM rear shocks are sitting at the dealer waiting to be picked up. Ill do those next weekend after we replace the clutch in my roomates 1991 celica.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Dang dude this rig looks clean. Not bad at all for 210k. Can't wait to see what's next.

 

[Srabai]

Dang dude this rig looks clean. Not bad at all for 210k. Can't wait to see what's next.

Thanks man, I'm thinking some new rubber next. I ran BFG A/Ts on my other trucks but I keep hearing good things about the duratracs.

A lift would be nice but it would look pretty goofy where I live.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Thanks man, I'm thinking some new rubber next. I ran BFG A/Ts on my other trucks but I keep hearing good things about the duratracs.

A lift would be nice but it would look pretty goofy where I live.

Where do you live? And same here about the dura tracs. I also like the way general grabbers at looks.

 

[Srabai]

Where do you live? And same here about the dura tracs. I also like the way general grabbers at looks.

I live in Toledo, I found a set of Duratrac 265/75 r16's for sale on tirerack.com for around 800. I need to stop spending all my money on this thing.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

I live in Toledo, I found a set of Duratrac 265/75 r16's for sale on tirerack.com for around 800. I need to stop spending all my money on this thing.

Hahaha, have you seen my build? I pretty much spent my whole deployment check on it. Worth it.

 

[Srabai]

Total time: ~6 hours.





Todays project was the rear shocks and coil springs. I bought Moog coils and picked up some OEM Toyota rear shocks for $88. If anyone wants to go OEM, remember that the shocks don't come with new lower bushings. The are pretty cheap and probably not bad. (mine weren't)







I started by pulling the rear tires. They were seized on just like the front. A crowbar inbetween the wheel and drum and some WD-40 penetrating oil popped them off easily enough. Unbolt the lower shock bolt (17mm). Then find a way to get the top nut off. It's a (14mm) I believe, once I got my socket on it I clamped the top part of the shock tube and twisted it off. It broke cleanly. The passenger side I had to pull it back and forth to break it off.



Once the shocks are off, unbolt the sway bar link/stabilizer links. (17mm) for the bottom one and (12mm) I think for the top. (You only need to take off one)
Pull the coil out. I used a big crowbar and a little one to manage. Place a jack under the rear diff while unbolting the sway bar links, then lower the jack down so the springs come out.


I tried 2 ways to get the coils and shock in. On the drivers side, I put the shock in first, just bolting the top. There is a hole at the top of the coil spring mount that you can use to get more room up there. (with the coil removed) Then I put the coil in. The passenger side I did the coil spring first then the shock. I think if I had to do it again, I'd put the shock in first on both. FYI, the mcpherson strut compressor doesn't work on the rear coils. They just get in the way and cause problems.

Then jack up the rear end and reattach the sway bar links and the bottom shock bolt. I broke my passenger side sway bar link so I've got 2 new ones coming in from autozone for $120. I figure non critical parts can be cheap(er).



I threw some red thread locker on the top shock nut. It tightened down just fine without having to hold the top shock shaft.

I finally picked up a jack that'll lift the 4Runner. Harbor freight has their 3 ton low profile jacks for sale for $89 here in toledo. Normal price is ~$160. Lift maxes out at 19 or so inches. I used 5 jackstands for this project.

 

[Singtoe]

I hate rust. Pretty great deal though.

 

[Srabai]

I hate rust. Pretty great deal though.

Rust is all I know, all you southern people are lucky. I read your v8 build thread. Pretty sure everyone on here wants to do that. All that wiring must've been a nightmare.

 

[Dirtyfingers]

Heyyyy I know about rust too! I may be from Texas but somehow my 4runner came all the way from Massachusetts. Man if cars could talk. The stories they'd tell.

 

[bpowa]

6 hours to replace shocks and springs? Was it due to the rust?

BTW. There was no head gasket leak after all?

 

[Srabai]

6 hours to replace shocks and springs? Was it due to the rust?

BTW. There was no head gasket leak after all?

It took a lot longer than I was expecting. Sway bar link broke and I tried out a coil spring compressor that didn't work. It can't be more than an hour or so job if everything goes right.

So far no headgasket leak. I'm sure I'll be doing a motor swap/head replacement sometime down the road because the PO did run it out of coolant and overheated the motor. It runs prefect for now.

 

[bpowa]

If you unbolt the lower shock and let the Axel sag with the wheel off the coil should have slid right out. Its a pain where the top shock bolt is placed. Bad design by Toyota.

Looks like you did great on the price and rebuild. :boink:

 

[Srabai]

If you unbolt the lower shock and let the Axel sag with the wheel off the coil should have slid right out. Its a pain where the top shock bolt is placed. Bad design by Toyota.

Looks like you did great on the price and rebuild. :boink:

I tried like hell to get the coils back in without removing the sway bar links. I wasted quite a bit of time trying, I agree with you on the top shock bolt though. Turns out, if you're replacing the shocks, pull the coil first and then you have access for your entire hand to reach up through the hole to grab the shock bolt.

Update:
Passenger sway bar link was replaced with a duralast lifetime (no issues so far) back in late December for $60. If anyone's going to do it, there's a spot to put an allen wrench on the lower bolt so you can take the nut off without it spinning.

The truck is running like a monster through all this snow, haven't gotten it stuck yet. Changed the oil yesterday after a touch over 5,000 miles. I used Castrol full synthetic with the Mobil 1 EP filter and noticed a touch of something milky on the dipstick but nothing bad in the oil. It seemed to use about half a quart in that time.

I'm actually thinking about trading it for a manual transmission Toyota truck or car (Celica, MR2, MKIII Supra) so if anyone has anything like that, let me know. I miss driving a stick shift. I could throw some cash (~$1000) towards something nicer or take cash for something that needs a bit of work.

 

[Srabai]

I ran over a screw at work and used that as an excuse to pick up some new tires. 265/75/r16 BF Goodrich All Terrains. I would've gotten Duratracs but they were out of stock and I hate waiting. I really need to get those wheels cleaned up this summer.

 

[bpowa]

I ran over a screw at work and used that as an excuse to pick up some new tires. 265/75/r16 BF Goodrich All Terrains. I would've gotten Duratracs but they were out of stock and I hate waiting. I really need to get those wheels cleaned up this summer.

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Does this mean your not selling the runner?

Give it a chance. I like mines more and more.