Stretch's 3rd Gen Build Round 2

[Appntr]

Yeah...Part 2. I was on here long ago when I had my 99. Sold it off when it was time to build a real trail rig and have a dedicated tow rig. Or else it was going to end up a pile of wrinkled sheet metal.

Specs were: TRD/LC Lift, 285's, Lockright in the rear, Trail-Gear Sliders, Diff Drop, Bud Built Skids, Diff Breather, Deckplate Mod, Intake Silencer Removed. All the standard 3rd gen stuff.

Yesterday I brought home a 97 Limited. Its not perfect, but the price was right with 161k. The weird thing is that it has the E-Locker switch on the dash, but no E-Locker. Guess I'll retrofit one in eventually.

This one won't get beat on the way my old one did but the build will be similar. I just needed something practical and reliable for work, hunting and to haul my mtn bikes around with now that I no longer have my F250 or my linked, 1ton 85 Xtra Cab.

 

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Picked up my LC Springs for the rear today. Drivers side is 19.25" and Passenger side is 19". The color codes are worn almost completely off so I had to revert to the tape measure.

A buddy locally has some 3" Revtek spacers for the front that I am going to put on until I can get rid of my other 4Runner and most of my parts truck. Once I can move those piles I'll get a set of coilovers for the front. Going to run a 1" BL and some Spidertrax spacers for the front and put the 315 Kevlars off my parts truck on here and trim accordingly.

 

[paddlenbike]

I remember your Highlander. Welcome back.

 

[Appntr]

I remember your Highlander. Welcome back.

Thanks! Its cool to come back and see a lot of the mods that were new or growing in popularity then become a mainstay now for this crowd.

 

[Fishwerks]

linked, 1ton 85 Xtra Cab.

Pics??

Welcome back, I like your old rig.

 

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Pics??

Welcome back, I like your old rig.

Ask and ye shall receive...

Bought it with some 33 Thornturds on it and completely daily driveable...Swapping on some 36 Iroks

36 Iroks, welded rear, locked front, stock case (one week later) bobbed bed

Built a rear bumper out of some scrap laying around the shop. It was actually the crossmember for a set of BudBuilt skids from a Tacoma we SAS'd a while before.

Built the front axle, dual cases, caged, seats, harnesses, fuel cell, 38 TN Cut TSL's

Building the seat mounts, and trans tunnel from where I cut it all out for the flatbelly

Said Flatbelly: This is how the truck usually spent its time when on Toy axles

Cage: I promise it was all square...but what surrounded it, eh not so much

Went wheelin' one day, decided I had enough fun on Toyota axles and had planned on linking the back anyway.

Went full bore and a few months later this rolled out of the shop...Propane 22r, Full Hydro, 2.0 Sway-A-Way Airshocks, custom 4 link w/ 1.25" RuffStuff Heims and 2" .250wall lowers, 4 wheel discs, Engo winch, more tube

Came home from Harlan with a mangled bed and did this

Sold it a few months later. Career change, moved, etc yadda yadda etc and haven't looked back. That kind of wheelin is fun but it takes a lot of money and even more time. Its not fun to drive 4-8hrs to wheel for a weekend and break on day 1 because of something stupid you overlooked from the last trip. A lot of the guys I wheel with are selling out for RZR's because we can still access all the stuff the big trail rigs can hit, but we can cover more ground and get more seat time over the course of a weekend with a LOT less maintenance and broken parts. Time value of money. The key to everything lol.

 

[azn toyo]

Nice Rigs. I'm also in Durham and just got a 97 Limited. Let me know if you ever need a spare set of hands when wretching on your rig. I'm always looking for opportunities to learn and would eventually like to do a few light mods to mine.

 

[Appntr]

Nice Rigs. I'm also in Durham and just got a 97 Limited. Let me know if you ever need a spare set of hands when wretching on your rig. I'm always looking for opportunities to learn and would eventually like to do a few light mods to mine.

Sounds good! I'm hoping to get a bunch of work going on this and strip down my parts truck once we get a few projects wrapped up at work in the next few weeks. Might take a few days off and just turn wrenches and drink beer.

Took the time to clean up the LC coils I got and found what remained of the color codes. Double purple, blue, white on one and Purple, green, white on another so they are 19.5 and 19.25 8 wrap coils. Same exact ones I ran on my 99. Just have to pick up some LC rear shocks.

As for the front lift, if I can find someone that has the Tundra Bilstein 5100's in stock (many places show a backorder) I'll probably order those and some ToyTec/Eibach Coils for the front.

Saturday AM I plan on going to pick up my Tundra/Sequoia 17" wheels.

 

[blegroswro]

I'm always looking for opportunities to learn and would eventually like to do a few light mods to mine.

 

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Ordered the last of the lift/wheels/tires parts I needed from Wheelers. Hopefully it gets to my office while I am out of town next week to Vegas for work so I can get to work once I am back in town.

A few of the salvage yards around me have the 17" Tundra/Sequoia wheels so whenever I get a chance to go grab 4 of them I will get those on and wrapped in a 285 Nitto Trail Grappler. I ran those tires on my F250 and loved them. My buddy that bought it from me ended up getting about 40k miles out of the set on that heavy pig of a truck. Plus, its the new popular Ultra4 tire braaaaaaaap.

 

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Work has finally slowed down to an above average pace...not the 12-14 hours a day we did for a month straight through March/April so I can start getting things going on this.

Ditched the running boards last night. Mucho bettero.

The parts to install pile is slowly growing from my cargo area to the back seat as I picked up 3 of my 4 Tundra/Sequoia 17's today. Grabbing the last one tomorrow morning then painting them up after work the next two days. With any luck I will have the lift and tires on this weekend. Still waiting on a few small parts from Wheelers that were on backorder, but they have been awesome and kept me updated every step of the way.

Cant wait to get this stuff out of the way so I can move onto some more fun stuff like fabbing up some beefy rear upper/lower links and some sliders. If my 88 4Runner sells this week like its supposed to I'll probably get on the waiting list for an Addicted Offroad front plate bumper.

 

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Shot these in the spray booth at work today during some rare downtime.

Cleaned, prepped and wiped down with lacquer thinner:

A few coats of self etching, sandable primer...painted, cleared...
And finished:

 

[Appntr]

Got the lift on today since the tires will be here on Monday.

3" Revtek spacers in the front ($20 hand me down from a wheelin buddy that switched to Coilovers)
8 Wrap LC's out back
Left the rear sway bar on this time since its more of a road going rig this time around than my old green one. Got everything apart and found the nut on the axle end of the panhard bar went missing at some point. Luckily we have a bolt bin from years of hacking up Toyotas and had one that would fit.

It sits a little ass high right now so I am going to see how it settles. I don't mind a little rake to it because I don't want it to sag once I am loaded down with gear for a weekend in the woods. And I currently do not have a full size spare on it. So its darn near empty right now save for my tools.

The front setup is only temporary until I can find someone who doesn't have the Tundra 5100's on backorder. Then I will run those with an Eibach/Toytec coil. Just have a few other maintenance items I want to check off before I spend more money on the suspension.

Pics will come on Monday once the new wheels/tires go on.

 

[shootmymime]

Sweet toys man! You wheel hard in some rigs.
I like where this is going. Also do you think someone swapped out the rear axle at one point? You should have a locker.

After suspension comes body lift... Right?

 

[Appntr]

Sweet toys man! You wheel hard in some rigs.
I like where this is going. Also do you think someone swapped out the rear axle at one point? You should have a locker.

After suspension comes body lift... Right?

Thanks! Hard wheelin was just the way our whole group went as time progressed. It is a LOT of fun, but even more work to maintain something you beat on that hard. My biggest mistake was going from 36's to 38's. That started the downfall of the last rig. I love building and trying new stuff so the 4link and ton swap was a good learning project but on the 36 Iroks the Xtra Cab was a point and shoot rig and the gearing was perfect.

I think someone did swap out the axle as most of the hardware looks newer than elsewhere on the vehicle and there isn't as much surface rust as there is on other parts. I have found a few full E-Locker axles complete drum to drum near me and will probably swap one back in once I get the time.

No body lift on this one if I can help it, not a fan of them really and with the plan to add an Addicted Offroad plate bumper I don't think I will like the gap created since it doesnt have a provision for a body lift. Just some 285's a rear locker and some armor....for now....Once I get out of apartment living and into a house with a garage or shop space in the fall of 2015 this thread should get way more interesting.

 

[Appntr]

Boom...still need some wheel spacers for the front as the Nittos measure very large. Exactly 33x11.25.

Should sit a little more level once I can order and install some coilovers in a few weeks. The inherited Revtek spacers that I used to get me by only net about 2.25" in the front.

 

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Snapped this after today's ride. Heading to our hunting property in VA next weekend and hope to run some trails that are nearby.

 

[azn toyo]

Nice

I have a set of LC80 wheels that I need to refinish and your sequoia wheels are making me second guess them. Yours do look good.

Where was the mtn bike picture taken? Is that carbon? Nice bike too.

 

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I have a set of LC80 wheels that I need to refinish and your sequoia wheels are making me second guess them. Yours do look good.

Where was the mtn bike picture taken? Is that carbon? Nice bike too.

Thanks. Took a while to piece together a set of the wheels but I think it was worth it. The pic was taken out at Umstead today. The bike is Aluminum. An 09 StumpyComp 29 frame and Reba Dual Air. 1x10, clutch derailleur, IndustryNine wheels.

 

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Got the chance to do a little wheelin over the weekend in VA. Overall it worked great and the Trail Grapplers hook really well on rock and dirt. Wheel spacers are finally in and I'll get them on tonight.

The search is on for a complete E-Locked rear axle and I plan to buy some tube to start building sliders and bumpers here in a few weeks.