TonyB66's Ownership -> Build Thread (2000 Limited)

[TonyB66]

Looks cleaner inside the hoop

Inching closer to drilling holes... Maybe after another beer.

 

[TonyB66]

So, I did indeed mount those driving/combo lights inside the hoop. I first set the lights in the brackets to level.

They'll get properly adjusted later, but in the past I actually found this to work well with the vehicle's rake.

I received those fog lights and the mounting bracket on those has them sitting too high in relation to the hole. I was wondering if that might be the case. There were no such specs in the Amazon listing. With no bracket, just sitting on the bumper's mounting surface, they do line-up well with the hole, which is a bit small.

The bracket.

Slotting or elongating the bracket's hole will not do the trick. I have an idea or two that I think will work though...

While I give that some thought, I figured that I'd enlarge those 2" holes to 2.5". Used that same method. Definitely don't keep the drill near the face when doing such. Nope, didn't learn the hard way, but many years ago... Worked well, again.

After some clean-up and a quick paint before more rain tomorrow...

With the light back sitting on the bumper floor with no bracket, the opening is much better. I'll likely connect the angel eyes as running or parking lights.

Now back to figuring-out a creative way to mount them...

 

[Mark_BC]

The discount code dropped them to $180. At Northridge 4x4 - "4WHLNDLN". Might still work...

$207, before the code:

Baja Designs SquadronR Sport Driving Combo LED Lights Pair | 587803

$175 with the code. Not having enough driving experience with different lights at night to know, is it better to mount them high above the windshield or low at the bumper? With them below, they won't light up all the low points since your eyes have a higher line of sight. But this may not be a bad thing (?) because if you mount them higher so you can see the bottom of all the low points, then maybe you won't realise how deep they are and hit them too fast? Also, if high, they can reflect off the hood and cause distraction.

 

[TonyB66]

$175 with the code. Not having enough driving experience with different lights at night to know, is it better to mount them high above the windshield or low at the bumper? With them below, they won't light up all the low points since your eyes have a higher line of sight. But this may not be a bad thing (?) because if you mount them higher so you can see the bottom of all the low points, then maybe you won't realise how deep they are and hit them too fast? Also, if high, they can reflect off the hood and cause distraction.

Hi Mark. Sorry for the delayed response. Was busy with the family over the Memorial Day weekend...

Fog lights are best low, driving lights, as I recall, higher like around the same as the headlights. Indeed, higher is better for things like off road spot lights or light bars. That will be next for me, I might just go with Baja Designs again, the same Squadron, but in spots, probably midway up the windshield.

To mount the fog lights I picked-up some inside corner braces, three bucks at THD.

They required some fab work with a Dremel.

Painted-up.

Soldered the wires to make them a bit longer.

A test fit.

I decided to not bolt these in place, but 100% silicone instead.

I have waterproof connectors coming on Thu, but with a quick twist of the wires, I fired them up.

Nice access to the adjustment bolts...

I'll get the winch back in place next. It should fit with these lights, unless I measured wrong!

Anyone know the color wires for the nearest running lights on the front corners? Actually, I think Charlie provided that info earlier! I'll go back and find that information...

 

[phattyduck]

Anyone know the color wires for the nearest running lights on the front corners? Actually, I think Charlie provided that info earlier! I'll go back and find that information...

White with black stripe is almost always ground on Toyotas. The other wire will be power.

-Charlie

 

[TonyB66]

White with black stripe is almost always ground on Toyotas. The other wire will be power.

-Charlie

Thanks Charlie. There's some consistency as I noticed the fogs are the same way (black/white=ground), I believe pink being hot from the battery...

Well, I got some grief with the tires taking-up so much space in the garage, so I decided to finally get those on today. A delta shot.

I will adjust camber the best I can on the SPC arms before going for an alignment. I don't think 150 ft-lbs is enough on that SPC top nut as it moved a little last time. I'll try some blue thread lock first...

New shoes on.

Will work on getting the winch and control box in place next, maybe not today though and I return to work tomorrow...

 

[TonyB66]

Well, with the suspension finally installed, new tires and wheels too, some time for settling to occur, I scheduled an appointment for an alignment at 10am tomorrow. A local forum member recommended Aligntechs in San Jose. They know our 3rd gens and even the SPC UCAs, which is nice!

With the SPC UCAs on the G setting, this should go pretty well tomorrow. Will aim to have camber at zero, likewise tow (0 to -.10), and then caster maxed, likely/hopefully 1.5+, with a delta no more than .5 per side. If one must be more, a bit more on the passenger side is said to be beneficial with the crowning of most roads...

To drive there, I'd like to do so safely and not damage the new tires of course. So, I'm going to make some final tweaks with the front end of the 4Runner on our flat garage floor (too tall to completely fit inside). I cut a piece of angle iron to 18 5/8", the perfect length for these wheels.

I marked the floor to more easily return to the same location and I zeroed the angle finder.

I took an initial measurement on the passenger side and noted it at .5 degrees. I also noted that a 5/16" fit nicely in the SPC slot above, for later reference.

I was not able to get camber to zero on either side just using the SPC adjustment nuts. I currently have them both inward to the max, and that has me at .5 and .7 degrees camber. I will try again later to see if I can improve upon that. Given that this shop knows these arms well, I might allow them to adjust these nuts too...

Oh, since I didn't have the winch and its weight on the bumper, I quickly did so before I began like this.

Speaking of which, after the camber tweaking, I did make time to re-mount the winch body and I was quite happy that my measurements were spot-on. The fog lights that I installed fit nicely in front of the winch. There's a bit of play with the four mount holes, and I slid the winch as far forward as possible as that would be the tendency under load, and there is no contact with the fog lights. Dang tight though.

Will get back on the camber adjustment and hopefully have an uneventful trip to the alignment shop tomorrow...

 

[Joelzy]

jealous of the new wheel/tire combo :shocked:

interested to see how your alignment goes, my last one wasn't great but im still on factory UCAs. looking to upgrade before the next one and am leaning SPC still.

 

[turbodudey2]

With the SPC UCAs on the G setting, this should go pretty well tomorrow. Will aim to have camber at zero, likewise tow (0 to -.10), and then caster maxed, likely/hopefully 1.5+, with a delta no more than .5 per side. If one must be more, a bit more on the passenger side is said to be beneficial with the crowning of most roads...

I've been messing with my SPC UCAs to tweak my alignment recently. I started on "G" as well, but I wanted at least 2 degrees of caster so I ended up changing to "F" when it was on the rack at the alignment shop. That got it up to almost right at 2 degrees.

On my truck, with only 2 degrees of caster, I didn't like the way it drove. It was too "twitchy" on the highway. I wasn't very happy with the alignment shop that adjusted it the first time, so I decided to just do it myself in my driveway.

I moved the UCAs back to "E", and then reset camber and toe using a bubble level and the "string" method. There are lots of videos on youtube about diy alignments using just strings to take measurements. It ended up being very easy to adjust, and I will likely never take it back to a shop for an alignment.

After my diy alignment, it drove MUCH better. The caster at "E" was just what I needed.

 

[weekendclimber]

Will get back on the camber adjustment and hopefully have an uneventful trip to the alignment shop tomorrow...

This could be another opportunity for a [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and [MENTION=102606]infamousRNR[/MENTION] video!!

 

[TonyB66]

I've been messing with my SPC UCAs to tweak my alignment recently. I started on "G" as well, but I wanted at least 2 degrees of caster so I ended up changing to "F" when it was on the rack at the alignment shop. That got it up to almost right at 2 degrees.

On my truck, with only 2 degrees of caster, I didn't like the way it drove. It was too "twitchy" on the highway. I wasn't very happy with the alignment shop that adjusted it the first time, so I decided to just do it myself in my driveway.

I moved the UCAs back to "E", and then reset camber and toe using a bubble level and the "string" method. There are lots of videos on youtube about diy alignments using just strings to take measurements. It ended up being very easy to adjust, and I will likely never take it back to a shop for an alignment.

After my diy alignment, it drove MUCH better. The caster at "E" was just what I needed.

May I ask what size tires?

With 33's, the popular consensus has been the G setting, unless one has already addressed the pinch weld...

 

[octanejunkie]

Great progress! The new wheels and tires give it a completely different look along with the bumpers. Good choices.

If you used the G setting on the SPCs, how did you set the LCA's, front and rear? I need to install my SPCs soon.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[TonyB66]

Great progress! The new wheels and tires give it a completely different look along with the bumpers. Good choices.

If you used the G setting on the SPCs, how did you set the LCA's, front and rear? I need to install my SPCs soon.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Thanks Mike!

Currently in the waiting room in the hospital for one of our little ones. Just an annual check-up...

Following this from Bandit Runner:

"Well, I finally got my alignment the way it should be. This is what I had to do:

Step 1: Set the SPC UCA's to "G" setting. This basically gives you the same amount of clearance to the firewall that you had with the OEM UCA's. Do this yourself, because the alignment shop won't have a clue.

Step 2: Maximize positive caster by adjusting all 4 LCA cams bolts.
- Both rear cams pushed outward as far as possible
- Both front cams pulled inward as far as possible
You can easily do this yourself also. Just loosen the nuts, turn the cam bolts, and re-tighten the nuts.

Step 3: Raise the front of vehicle and adjust camber, by adjusting the bolt in the slot at top of UCA. Do this yourself. The alignment shop won't want to mess around with this. It is easy to do, just takes some time. All I needed was a tape measure, level, and some trigonometry (an angle finder would have been easier, but I didn't have one). This does take some trial and error. You have to measure camber, raise the vehicle, adjust the bolt in the slot, lower the vehicle, roll it back-and-forth to let it settle, and re-measure. Repeat until you get it right. It took me 2 tries to get the passenger side right, and 4 tries for the driver side. Tighten top ball joint nut to 150 ft-lbs.

Step 4: Now bring it to the alignment shop. Have them tweak the camber if needed and set the toe. My crude setting of the camber was actually in spec, so all they had to do was set the toe.

If you perform these steps you will maximize the firewall clearance, and at the same time, get the most positive caster possible. I got 1.6 degrees caster on one side and 2.2 degrees on the other. The truck drives great like this."

I did exactly that, but have not yet done step 3 just yet. Will put on the new 17" wheels with 33s, then adjust camber via the SPC arms. Curious if you are on the G setting too. F would allow for more caster, but less clearance..."

 

[turbodudey2]

May I ask what size tires?

With 33's, the popular consensus has been the G setting, unless one has already addressed the pinch weld...

I have 33s as well (285/75/16 Duratracs)

At “E” I don’t have any rubbing in the pinch weld, and I have not modified that side of the wheel well at all.

I do have the LCAs adjusted out for max caster as well - rear cam out, front cam in.

 

[octanejunkie]

Lol I think I have that post by Bandit Runner bookmarked too

I pulled my 17s/Grabbers off for the winter and was waiting to put them back on till I did my UCAs and aligned them but I wore the fronts out driving with bad caster - new tires are not in the budget right now but I don't want to trash the Dynapros on my 16s so I'm gonna install my UCAs soon.

Interested to see the results of your alignment tomorrow

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[turbodudey2]

It does seem like there is some variation between vehicles too. What works for one truck may not result in the same numbers for another. Just have to try it and see!

 

[TonyB66]

Back home... After driving it some more, not just back-and-forth a few times, both sides measure the same.

I tightened both down to 170 ft-lbs.

Thanks turbodudey2 for the clarification on your tires and additional information. Truth-be-told, I later saw your sig with your tire size, but I was unable to respond at the time...

Have you off roaded with this alignment yet? I ask because I recall a few who were able to get 33's to fit, with the proper BSing, and zero rubbing on the road using the default E setting. It was off road where rubbing was noticed though, and a setting change on the SPC arms (to G) was used to correct...

G seems to the be safe bet, yet I agree that there's probably a position or two that would strike a better balance, yielding more caster. Quite a few have been happy with the results at G, which typically gets caster in the 1.5 to 2.0 range.

 

[theesotericone]

Back home... After driving it some more, not just back-and-forth a few times, both sides measure the same.

I tightened both down to 170 ft-lbs.

Thanks turbodudey2 for the clarification on your tires and additional information. Truth-be-told, I later saw your sig with your tire size, but I was unable to respond at the time...

Have you off roaded with this alignment yet? I ask because I recall a few who were able to get 33's to fit, with the proper BSing, and zero rubbing on the road using the default E setting. It was off road where rubbing was noticed though, and a setting change on the SPC arms (to G) was used to correct...

G seems to the be safe bet, yet I agree that there's probably a position or two that would strike a better balance, yielding more caster. Quite a few have been happy with the results at G, which typically gets caster in the 1.5 to 2.0 range.

I'm on 35's and mine are set at F.

Camber is .21D .28P
Caster is 1.56D 1.95P.

The rig drives and tracks damn near perfect. I'm not saying to drop it back to F but you may need that extra .25 degrees to get caster where you want it. I ran this same set-up on true 33's and only had to beat the pinch weld. I had a slight rub when cycling the suspension but it hardly ever showed up on the trails.

 

[octanejunkie]

If G works with 32s then I'm good.

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[TonyB66]

I'm on 35's and mine are set at F.

Camber is .21D .28P
Caster is 1.56D 1.95P.

The rig drives and tracks damn near perfect. I'm not saying to drop it back to F but you may need that extra .25 degrees to get caster where you want it. I ran this same set-up on true 33's and only had to beat the pinch weld. I had a slight rub when cycling the suspension but it hardly ever showed up on the trails.

Matt, thanks for chiming-in. Nice to see you around here.

If you had to beat the pinch weld on F with 33's, which I'm not averse to doing at some point, I think it best to stay on G now. I honestly considered telling my family that I'd miss movie night to get this thing on F and wake up early tomorrow before the appointment...

Hoping to see 1.7+ tomorrow. If so, and if driving confirms, I'll be a happy camper.

If G works with 32s then I'm good.

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G would be plenty of cushion on 32s, from what I've read. Likely F too...

Packed my 22mm wrench for the cam bolts (approx 100 ft-lbs), breaker bar and torque wrench with 1 1/4" socket for the SPC UCAs (doing 170 ft-lbs). I'm anal and will torque myself before I drive home.