The Renewal of Gaia

[jeff88]

New Shocks and Coils In-Bound!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I've updated this thread! What the hell have I been doing! Well... GF became wife. Wife got reggers: Job took all my time. Kiddo took the rest. You know... life! :lol:

So now...

After hours and hours of exhaustive research and changing my mind about 117 times, I just picked up some Rancho 9000XL and the OME 880/906 setup. They should both be here early to mid next week, just in time for my friend to help me install at his shop. I know some people don't like this or that, so we'll see how these do for our needs. Unfortunately, the wife drives it most days so considerations for Mrs. 5'3" have to be accounted for.

EDIT: I realized I have some updating to do! I haven't done much, but I've done a few things nonetheless that need to be listed.

Before the truck was "mine", my mom took it through the carwash and broke the antenna. At some point I just yanked out the whole thing back to the radio because I got tired of hearing the motor try to start up. Eventually I did finally install a stubby using a Tacoma whip wire. The reviews are hit and miss, but so far I haven't had a single issue with reception and I have radio stations as far away as about 60 miles.

I also picked up some FJ Cruiser wheels and installed the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor. I absolutely looove these tires. Almost no road sounds, and phenomenal in the snow. I was *purposefully* going into the snow banks while the Jeeps and Subarus kept getting stuck (including my friend who pulled someone out, then immediately got stuck! :lol

Terrible pic of the wheels/tires until I find another one:

On the Rack:

I also did the TBU:

EDIT 2: Almost forgot to list that we got a dog earlier this year. With everyone working from home this year, the time was right and really the time was now or never. The 4R has been great for him to hang in the rear with a cracked window.

 

[jeff88]

Fun in the snow (Feb 2019, when we could actually see each other!) About 2 weeks after getting the new brakes, wheels, and tires.

 

[jeff88]

Finally got around to getting the new shocks and springs on all 4 corners and air bags in the rear! :banana:

Rancho 9000XL on all 4 corners and OME 880/906 on front/back.

New Coilovers:

New shocks, springs, and airbags:

Found out the hard way that the factory put lock nuts on these tired, old shocks. We had to cut off the cover so we could get a pair of vice grips onto the shaft of the shock to break the nut off. No turning back now!

Original --> New
Center of hub to bottom of fender flare measurements:

Not entirely sure why the passenger rear is so high. I understand the driver rear will be lower with a full gas tank, but it's already pretty level to the rest of the truck so something is up there.:noidea:
Either way, I gained an inch or two from the old sagging suspension! :dance:

I installed the air line for the air bags into the rear bumper for now. We also changed out the rear sway bar bushings, which was perfect since we had to release the sway bar to take the springs off. No extra time whatsoever! I forgot to take a pic of those. We were done! :doh:

Got an alignment done afterwards too!

 

[5VZ-FE]

What kind of gauge/pump are you gonna use for the airbags? Mine have a range of like 5-30 psi, so the only pump that I’ve been able to use is a bike pump, and even that doesn’t quite go low enough…
Also curious what psi you’ll use for fully loaded and normal.

 

[jeff88]

What kind of gauge/pump are you gonna use for the airbags? Mine have a range of like 5-30 psi, so the only pump that I’ve been able to use is a bike pump, and even that doesn’t quite go low enough…

To be perfectly honest, I haven't planned that out yet. Eventually I will get an on-board compressor and I'll have it connected accordingly. For now it'll just be a standard old-fashioned tire gauge and garage compressor.

Also curious what psi you’ll use for fully loaded and normal.

I'm still testing everything out for comfort and proper function. During testing of the airlines I had them about 30 PSI and they were waaaaay too stiff with no load in the back. I dropped them down to about 5ish and they seem to have been better, but now it feels a little "flighty". I'm going to raise it to 10-15 and see what happens.

I also need to test out the PSI needed for camping and road trips. We'll see how it goes when we get there, but I can't imagine needing more than 20 or so unless I'm also towing something.

Keep in mind, I also have the adjustable Ranchos so I can play with those as well which might change the PSI of the airbags.

 

[jeff88]

Finally replaced these old, probably original, things.

Totally trashed

Put in the Energy Suspension 85141R Polyurethane 26mm kit

I really like how the red ties in with the Rancho coilovers

 

[brillo_76]

I love the rigs name and story. Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[Romeo1]

I enjoy a good resurrection story also. My 4runner was an accident the way I found her, and is a bit of a resurrection story.

She was severely neglected powertrain, chewed up bits and body isssues. But it’s just a testament to how well they were made. You’ll notice there aren’t many pathfinders and passports of that era around. But the 3rd gens live on.

Mines been an almost OE rebuild also. 1k in body work, and several thousand in suspension, armor, and Toyota parts and she’s coming along quite nicely. Almost 380k on the clock. I have it torn completely apart right now, but we’ll see what the adventure brings next.

 

[jeff88]

Catching Up

I keep forgetting to post updates...

A few weeks ago I joined the 300k club! :whoo:

After removing the trans pan for some maintenance, I've had a problem with a slow ATF leak. I tried using a couple different gasketing silicone, but nothing worked. I finally used a fel-pro style gasket and it seems to have worked for the last couple of weeks!

I figured out that I had a broken sway bar link so I replaced those. I used Moog K90681 which worked perfectly and reused the Energy Suspension bushings. The brake hoses were cracking too so I figured I'd change those while I was right there.

Last night, I removed the headliner so I can get at the sunroof/drains. I ran some wire down the drain holes so hopefully I cleared them out enough.

Tonight I will clean the gear that the motor attaches to. It's so gunked up that the motor wasn't moving the sunroof. The motor works free-air though so cleaning this gear should fix it.

 

[jeff88]

Maintenance day on Saturday. Was hoping to do some fun stuff too, but didn't have time.

Replaced rear shoes & wheel cylinders
Replaced front pads
Turned rotors & drums
Replaced valve cover gaskets
Oil change & fluids check

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