Thomas' thread: Built not Bought
- Thread starter DeclansDaddy
- Start date
DeclansDaddy
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So I've updated the first entry of this thread with an up to date pic and list of things done and my goals. Check it out and leave me some feedback. Thanks.
KidVermicious
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I missed it, is this going to be a street-friendly truck? If so I would say 35s are the max for the 22RE, I've seen multiple 4Runners and pickups with 37s/5.29/22RE/5 speed, and not one of them could move at freeway speeds or get up a hill worth a damn. It works on the trail, but if this truck is seeing pavement I'd plan on nothing bigger than 35s or skip the 22RE rebuild and go straight to an engine swap. And you will want to regear for those 35s for sure, 5th gear is useless with stock gears and 33s. 35s you'd probably lose 4th as well. :thumb:
If you're wheeling, you want a cheap automatic locker in the rear (I like Spartan, Aussies are good too, stay away from Lockrights), and you absolutely must have transfer case gears. You don't have to go straight to the doubler, but get some 4.7 gears in that transfer case post haste. Put that as high on your list as you can, because you have no idea what you're missing.
DeclansDaddy
New member
I missed it, is this going to be a street-friendly truck? If so I would say 35s are the max for the 22RE, I've seen multiple 4Runners and pickups with 37s/5.29/22RE/5 speed, and not one of them could move at freeway speeds or get up a hill worth a damn. It works on the trail, but if this truck is seeing pavement I'd plan on nothing bigger than 35s or skip the 22RE rebuild and go straight to an engine swap. And you will want to regear for those 35s for sure, 5th gear is useless with stock gears and 33s. 35s you'd probably lose 4th as well. :thumb:
If you're wheeling, you want a cheap automatic locker in the rear (I like Spartan, Aussies are good too, stay away from Lockrights), and you absolutely must have transfer case gears. You don't have to go straight to the doubler, but get some 4.7 gears in that transfer case post haste. Put that as high on your list as you can, because you have no idea what you're missing.
10-4. I'll be on the lookout for some gears. I'm assuming 5.29's is what I'm looking for? Does someone make the transfer gear swap? Think I have a set of 35's coming soon as long as the guy doesn't sell them by the time I can make the trip to get them. Trying to get the ball rolling on this project before my wife realizes just how much money I've been spending so far. I just ordered all new front bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, rotors, pads and calipers and she hasn't seen that bill yet. I hate dumping that much in the front end but with a SAS being at least a year out there is no way I could take my kids around in this thing with the front end so sketchy. There was a lot of wear and tear on this IFS.
KidVermicious
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If you're going 33s or bigger, you want 5.29 no question.
Marlin Crawler and Trail Gear both make a 4.7 gear set you can install in an RF1A transfer case. Unfortunately, I just scrolled up to check, and since you have the auto you don't have the RF1A. That's good news and bad news - the good news is the auto is much more forgiving when crawling, the bad new is if/when you want to install 4.7 gears and/or a doubler, you'll need to swap the truck to a W56 manual or buy a $600 adapter to put that RF1A on the back of your automatic transmission. I'd swap to a manual, myself, but that's a matter of personal taste.
DeclansDaddy
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Well since I'm now waiting for the parts guy to bring me my front end goodies figured I'd slap on the fenders to kill the time. I got to do some tweaking but I guess that's to be expected for these Tiawanese pieces. But for what this rig will be used for body gaps will probably expand and contract regularly. 
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DeclansDaddy
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I love coming home from work to a porch stacked with parts!!! RockAuto came through again, ordered parts Wed. and they're here Fri. Looks like I'll get this thing back together this weekend after all.
DeclansDaddy
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So here's where I'm at. Got the lift done just got to button a few small things up. I have a caster/camber gauge and a toe stick we use on racecars and I believe with the locking hub off I can use it to get my alignment close enough to get me to a shop. Anyone know how many degrees of caster and camber I should have? I've read that with oversized tires about 1/4" toe in should be about right but I can't find any info on the caster/camber.
In other news the brakes still aren't complete thanks to the geniuses at Advance Auto. Originally I was ordering calipers, then I saw a write up on rebuilding them so I thought well that sounds cheaper so I ordered rebuild kits. Got mine apart and the pistons were destroyed by rust (they were mostly out of the sleeve for god knows how long). So I ran quick to Adv. to exchange them and the left side they gave me will not fit over the rotor and the right side is crushed a little where the line goes in so I can't get the line in. So back at it tomorrow.
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DeclansDaddy
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Well took her for a test drive today and I gotta say, not bad. I'm having some troubles with the alignment though. I talked to my buddy who works at a shop with an alignment rack and he told me to probably shoot for +3degrees caster and -.5degrees or less camber. As it sits I have the cam bolts giving me the most positive caster as possible and from my gauge I'm getting +1-1/4 degrees. And on the left side I have +1-1/2degree camber and on the right -1degree camber. If I try to do anything about the camber I lose caster. So would running negative caster and getting my cambers right be better than what I got?
Also after sitting down and staring at this sexy beast I am having a change of heart on the paint. I've always has orange Toyotas as well as all my racecars but I am picturing this truck in my head now with a matte black paint job. Perhaps with the top a gloss black. We'll see if I keep pulling that direction.
Also after sitting down and staring at this sexy beast I am having a change of heart on the paint. I've always has orange Toyotas as well as all my racecars but I am picturing this truck in my head now with a matte black paint job. Perhaps with the top a gloss black. We'll see if I keep pulling that direction.
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DeclansDaddy
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Psshh!! Tell me about it. I avoid going there at all cost but I was in a rush and it's the closest parts store to me and it's still a 30 minute drive. Next closest is an Auto Zone about an hour out so my options are limited. When I can I usually just RockAuto what I need but in the situation I just needed some calipers. Lesson learned, yet again.
DeclansDaddy
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DeclansDaddy
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Well I did the horn trick KidV has in the stickies and it worked like a champ. Now to figure out why I have no reverse lights and why my A/T temp light is staying on all the time, even when cold.
DeclansDaddy
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Well the wife's on my ass about wanting something 4door for the little ones. Found this and am thinking I might go check it out. What ya think. Wouldn't mind having another 2nd gen too. https://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4660501184.html
Excalseras
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It would not hurt to take a look at it. Sure, it might be a little bit of work, but you could easily knock off $200 from that.
Your call.
Still interested in your rebuild here.
DeclansDaddy
New member
Ehh I think I'm going to pass. He's being too wishy-washy. First he wants to sell, then if the FPR fixes is he doesn't want to sell. I'm thinking about waiting for a good deal on a 3rd gen. But priorities is getting this truck up to par. Been raining a flood here so haven't had time to mess with it. I really need a garage!!
DeclansDaddy
New member
Hey how bout that I got reverse lights!! I really need to remember to take pics of my projects as I go and they can help others. After reading the FSM I was convinced my Neutral Safety Switch was out of adjustment. I re-adjusted it like the book says and still nothing. No reverse lights and the truck would start in any gear. So I pulled the NSS off and did some continuity testing and came up with nothing. So I figured hell I'll just order a new switch. After almost choking when I found out these things are like $300 from Toyota I figured what the hell, it comes apart so let's see how it works and maybe I can fix it. After I pulled it in half I still had no clue how it worked because there was nothing but dirt and old hard ass grease in it. I cleaned it out with some carb cleaner (probably should of used electrical cleaner but had none on hand) and quickly seen all the contact points. Pretty neat and simple design really. Also if you want to do this just to freshen yours up be careful, in the swinging arm there are 2 tiny springs that I imagine will fly out if yours isn't as corroded as mine. So I got everything cleaned up, Emory clothed the contacts and did some more continuity test straight to the contacts and every wire indeed had a contact, so it looked like it was good to go. I coated everything with electrical grease and put a thin coat of silicone on the o-ring gasket. Put it back on the truck, adjusted it and voila!! It now has lights and will only start in P or N. I love saving money!!!!!!! 
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DeclansDaddy
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Took the old girl on the maiden voyage to fill her up tonight. Not a bad ride, few bugs to work out. Have a wierd rattle/grind when I let off the throttle coming from the back end somewhere. It goes away as long let completely off the gas, if I slowly let off the throttle it will just rattle away. The headlights are definitely not worth a damn. Even high beams suck. Maybe a H4 conversion is in order. 
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DeclansDaddy
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Went for safety inspection today and got a little of a hard time about the height. I live in a town where every other truck is a super duty or z-71 on 40's jacked up to the sky but yet my 4" above stock 4runner with wore down 32's (I'd call them 30.5's) is somehow too tall??? The guy said if I had a back bumper it probably wouldn't be an issue as now he has to measure to the frame where the bumper bolts up. He kinda let that slide and hooked me up. He just asked me to make an effort to get a bumper on it. Yeah sure, right on that. Apparently the bottom of the bumper can't be higher that 28" here in the great commonwealth, I'm pretty sure stock would be pushing it. Any who i guess I got a year to get that straight. But to save from further troubles I think I'm just going to go with some 33's instead of 35's. They will suffice for what I need and will probably be a little easier on the old girl. Front driveshaft rebuild coming soon. I'll take pics of this project!!
DeclansDaddy
New member
And after some debating with the wifey "we" have decided that having a loud, obnoxious orange paintjob might not be as "cool" as it was 15 years ago so when the time comes I think we'll be going back with the factory Medium Blue color. Also I'd like to find out what graphics came on it and put those back on but in all black. I can sort of see the outline of the factory stripes, so I'm gonna see what I can find.
