SCRunner12
New member
Damn that's scary to look at. Glad they didn't fail on you when you were driving. I will keep a lookout for an e-locker here.
stockwell45's 97 4Runner Build Up Thread
- Thread starter Stockwell45
- Start date
Stockwell45
New member
I scored an E-locker housing for $40 yesterday, had to drive all the way up to Grass Valley to get it though. Came with all the links too, so now I have extras if I break anything.
While I was there I made the quick jump to Sacramento to hang out with some long lost friends. And I got to try on a 35 they had in their garage. Totally dig this setup and love the rim, these will be my next socks and shoes when the 33's wear out. It will only take a little pounding to make them fit at full lock when stuffed.
I'm thinking new 33 BFG A/T's on painted LC rims like the pic for DDing, and 35 BFG KM2's on the black wheels for wheeling trips.
Elocker coming soon! I might be buying a car tomorrow, but if not then I can get started on looking for an elocked 3rd immediately.
While I was there I made the quick jump to Sacramento to hang out with some long lost friends. And I got to try on a 35 they had in their garage. Totally dig this setup and love the rim, these will be my next socks and shoes when the 33's wear out. It will only take a little pounding to make them fit at full lock when stuffed.
I'm thinking new 33 BFG A/T's on painted LC rims like the pic for DDing, and 35 BFG KM2's on the black wheels for wheeling trips.
Elocker coming soon! I might be buying a car tomorrow, but if not then I can get started on looking for an elocked 3rd immediately.
shadow247
New member
Nice score on the rearend! All the yards around here want 500+ for a rebuildable rear-end! I love the way the truck is coming along. Lots of functional mods without being obnoxious! Really digging the ARB front bumper and the custom rear bumper!
IF you could find another rear-end for 40 bucks, I could make it worth your time to have it shipped out here! That is just an amazing deal!
IF you could find another rear-end for 40 bucks, I could make it worth your time to have it shipped out here! That is just an amazing deal!
Stockwell45
New member
Yeah I'll head down there, hope I get my rear locker in before then.
Thanks man!
Yeah I'll keep my eye out. This is the cheapest one I've seen around here, but I bet it wouldn't take me long to find one in the $80-100 range. I'll let you know.
BigFishAllDay
New member
Congrats on finding such a great deal on the housing. That even beats the deal I got by $20.
t4r4life
Elite Member
nice you follow the thread on TW? too much detail to post it here. Didnt get to meet you last time hopefully you can make it down this time.
Stockwell45
New member
I wasn't really even looking until I saw the awesome deal you got. The I thought holy sh*t you can get those for cheap lol
Yeah hopefully my brother doesn't break his arm again lol. Do you have a link to the thread on TW? I'm not over there too much.
Stockwell45
New member
Just scored a complete elocked 3rd off pirate for $300 
arty:
So now I have a complete elocked rear end for the whopping price of $340
arty:So now I have a complete elocked rear end for the whopping price of $340
SCRunner12
New member
Nice finds on the e-locker. Those will help out this summer. Lets hope nothing gets in the way of Hollister on the 22nd. Here is the link. It's a pretty good group and should be a lot of fun. A couple of guys might be spending the night there. I think t4r4life might be.
NorCal TW Hollister Day Trip: April 22nd 2012 - Tacoma World Forums
NorCal TW Hollister Day Trip: April 22nd 2012 - Tacoma World Forums
Dirtco
New member
I'm not sure what's next, I'm torn between Budbuilt skids, Tepui rooftop tent or ARB fridge. It's all coming sooner or later, but just not sure what to do first. Probably skids. Just gotta save those dollars
The Tepui rooftop tents are really nice! I was a little concerned about the quality when I first ordered mine (mainly the price difference between it and other ones on the market) but I was happy when I got it and opened it up. The quality seems to be really good for the price.
Stockwell45
New member
I'll definitely be there this time, I'm hoping my locker will be all set up by then. And if others are staying the night I'll probably just stay too. Gotta make up for missing out on the last trip.
Your actually the first person I've had any feedback from about the tent. What size do you have? I was thinking about the Kukenam, but was worried about the quality. So I guess this settles it then. Another plus is I can pick it up from their warehouse in CA to avoid the shipping fees.
Dirtco
New member
I have the Kukenam, just got it a couple weeks ago. I have not had a chance to use it yet, but from what I've seen so far I'm happy (I don't have much to compare to, though). I do feel that you get what you pay for when it comes to RTT's but I'm not going on any crazy multi-country expeditions, just recreational camping when I'm wheeling, exploring, Moab, etc.
Here is a good link on Expedition Portal about the company and RTT's in general. It starts out with them getting a bad wrap from a bunch of people that don't know what they are talking about, but the conversation turns around after a page or two. They are made in China, but after reading this it seems most of the tents on the market are (including ARB). I did a bunch of searching on Expedition Portal and I never heard anything bad from someone that actually bought the tent (there were a couple issues with bad covers, but those were replaced free of charge).
Tepui Tent RTT - Expedition Portal
Here is another link about their customer service. Mine was in stock and shipped out the next day, made it to Colorado in 3 days. The box was in good shape and all the parts and directions were there.
How Tepui Tents saved our trip - Expedition Portal
And a couple pictures.
Stockwell45
New member
Locker is in! It was a ***** to throw in, but a good learning experience I guess. Everything seemed to be bent or tweaked in one way or another, so taking off the old axle and putting on the new one was more of a pain than it should have been.
Here's what I started with
I swapped all the axle studs with button head allen bolts. I've heard of peoples diffs actually pulling out from the housing under high stress, so these will prevent that from happening.
All torn down, pretty much wore out by this point lol
The new setup. Don't mind the crapload of RTV...shortly after sealing up the diff, I realized I forgot to put the oil deflectors back in the axle. So I had to open the whole thing up again and put even more RTV on. It was a blue nightmare. And yes, it's not as beautiful as BigFishAllDay's axle, but hopefully it will be someday!
Eventually my brother wandered out of the house to help me out. Then friends started showing up randomly. They stood around with beers in their hands for a while, then they eventually helped reassemble everything, which I am really thankful for.
Managed to strip two bolts on reassembly, a sway bar bolt and the bolt on the center of the pumpkin that centers the e-brake cable. The mounts for the sway bar on the axle housing actually snapped off on a test flex. I guess it couldn't handle the stress with one bolt already sheared off. So I'll have to weld it on or something
Here's what I started with
I swapped all the axle studs with button head allen bolts. I've heard of peoples diffs actually pulling out from the housing under high stress, so these will prevent that from happening.
All torn down, pretty much wore out by this point lol
The new setup. Don't mind the crapload of RTV...shortly after sealing up the diff, I realized I forgot to put the oil deflectors back in the axle. So I had to open the whole thing up again and put even more RTV on. It was a blue nightmare. And yes, it's not as beautiful as BigFishAllDay's axle, but hopefully it will be someday!
Eventually my brother wandered out of the house to help me out. Then friends started showing up randomly. They stood around with beers in their hands for a while, then they eventually helped reassemble everything, which I am really thankful for.
Managed to strip two bolts on reassembly, a sway bar bolt and the bolt on the center of the pumpkin that centers the e-brake cable. The mounts for the sway bar on the axle housing actually snapped off on a test flex. I guess it couldn't handle the stress with one bolt already sheared off. So I'll have to weld it on or something
Stockwell45
New member
It wasn't really that hard, it was just time consuming. This writeup helped me out, maybe it will help you too.
4Runners.org - 3rd Gen 4Runner E-locker Retrofit
And my 4runner didn't have any prewiring. I had to buy the factory elocker harness, which I got for under $40. The rest I wired myself to my own switch. This is how I did it.
How To: DIY Retrofit Elocker Wiring - YotaTech Forums
SCRunner12
New member
Nice job! Got to love the friends that just come over, critique you and drink your beer. Luckily they helped out in the end.
BigFishAllDay
New member
Once again man, glad to see you got it installed and that it works as planned.
Stockwell45
New member
Been busy with the 4runner lately. Last month at Hollister Hills, I snapped both CV's in the obstacle course. We replaced one there at the trail with a spare, and I was able to get home on the other one being broken.
The goal was when replacing both CV's back home, to remove the front diff and replace my leaky oil pan. The 12mm allen bolt on the front diff had me stumped, as no stores around here had an allen wrench that big. So all I could do was replace the CV's and call it a day.
Trail fix
Original CV on the left with 230k miles...suprised they lasted this long!
New ones in...the paracord helped hold them up while I whacked them in
I also built myself a dual jerry can carrier. I wanted something I could take on and off, as I didn't want to drive with it on everyday. After a little fab work and tab making on the tire swing out, I created this...
Completely bolt on, it only takes 2 minutes to take on and off the tire swing out.
Tire only
Jerry can mode
I am leaving today for the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, AZ. So I will see how well everything holds up. For the next week I will be hitting trails in Utah and Arizona!!
The goal was when replacing both CV's back home, to remove the front diff and replace my leaky oil pan. The 12mm allen bolt on the front diff had me stumped, as no stores around here had an allen wrench that big. So all I could do was replace the CV's and call it a day.
Trail fix
Original CV on the left with 230k miles...suprised they lasted this long!
New ones in...the paracord helped hold them up while I whacked them in
I also built myself a dual jerry can carrier. I wanted something I could take on and off, as I didn't want to drive with it on everyday. After a little fab work and tab making on the tire swing out, I created this...
Completely bolt on, it only takes 2 minutes to take on and off the tire swing out.
Tire only
Jerry can mode
I am leaving today for the Overland Expo in Flagstaff, AZ. So I will see how well everything holds up. For the next week I will be hitting trails in Utah and Arizona!!
Stockwell45
New member
Road trip is finished, and the 4runner served me well! 1800 miles, 1 cracked battery terminal, 1 speeding ticket, and about $400 in gas made this a trip I'll never forget. The main point of this trip was to go to the Overland Expo, which was also an amazing experience.
Camped out on the north rim of the Grand Canyon for a night, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
100 yards from the campsite
The Overland Expo really was worth the drive. Anyone who has wondered about it really should check it out. Made quite a few friends and saw some awesome stuff. And spent a ton of money there which was expected.
Some cool stuff out there
Checked out Death Valley on my way home too, it was 106 degrees when I took this pic
I got some 7" HID flood lights at the expo. HID's really arn't my style, but I couldn't pass them up for the price. They really do light up the night too.
Camped out on the north rim of the Grand Canyon for a night, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
100 yards from the campsite
The Overland Expo really was worth the drive. Anyone who has wondered about it really should check it out. Made quite a few friends and saw some awesome stuff. And spent a ton of money there which was expected.
Some cool stuff out there
Checked out Death Valley on my way home too, it was 106 degrees when I took this pic
I got some 7" HID flood lights at the expo. HID's really arn't my style, but I couldn't pass them up for the price. They really do light up the night too.
