Urban assault's '99 4runner build
- Thread starter URBAN ASSAULT
- Start date
crazydubman
New member
They look great man. I really hope they hold up this time and you are finally happy with your purchase.
smkd13
New member
Amazing build!!! Mines still in the early stages of my build but I am looking at either going CVJ or possibly RCV. It sucks about the issues you have been happening. But it looks like they are trying to resolve the issue. At least they are taking your input and real world testing to better their design.
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Full Floater Conversion
I finished up the rear full floater axle, disc brake conversion. It took forever. Mostly, waiting on parts, and oh yeah....this little guy showed up
I now have 2 boys. The way I see it, I will need at least one more truck to pass down. I'll keep my eye out.
Also, as I tore into the truck I realized the problem was more involved than originally anticipated. The spider gear in the rear diff had also split
If you look inside the sleeve of splines, you can see the split. It knocked down the leading edge of the splines on the old axle. Fortunately it stayed intact and allowed me to get off the trail and home. The rear diff came from East Coast Gear Supply last year when I re-geared to 4:88's. I cannot say enough good things about that company and their employees. They were amazing in backing up their product, customer service and turnaround. So many other companies in the off road industry could learn volumes from ECGS! Thanks to Casey, [MENTION=51127]Dous[/MENTION] for literally shepherding my rear diff thru the process. Everybody can debate 4:88 vs 5.29, but there is no debate as to where to get them. Drivetrain Specialists East Coast Gear Supply
I am loving the new full float disc setup. I used the Front Range Off Road kit and sourced various other chromoly parts from whoever had a sale or a coupon. I will eventually do a full writeup on this process because the kit has evolved and many writeups are outdated. I started with this writeup:
4x4Wire - Front Range Off Road Fabrication Full Floater
But it deviated right off the bat.
Thank You to [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] for helping with questions and guidance. He recommended I download the FSM for the '79-'85 trucks. This was a huge help as I hadn't even thought of the varying torque specs etc. He also helped me with some brake line questions.
This kit takes a while and has lots....I mean lots of parts, and steps. And you frequently need to ad-lib or improvise. This is probably why many of the write-ups fizzle out. Everybody just gets tired and wants to wrap up the project. It makes one appreciate the work that [MENTION=44220]BigFishAllDay[/MENTION] puts into his write-ups!
The foundation of the kit is the adapter which bolts to the housing via some large arp studs. Everything from your old drum setup can go in the scap pile. I enjoyed junking that stuff.
Here is the adapter bolted up
I painted everything except the sealing surface. Otherwise, the adapter will be exposed to the elements.
You can build up from here using junkyard parts, though I chose go to new. And new chromoly at that. Love em or hate em Trail-gear has many of the parts you will need. Frontier 4x4 Off-Road Supply had the best prices on parts and a coupon. Chromoly spindle, hub, drive flange, ARP studs etc. Marlin Crawler provided all the seals. Again, thanks to Dirtco for that lead!
If you don't already have a seal driver, pick one up before this project. It gets used several times on each side with seals and bearing races:
Spindle and seals mounted up:
New Chromoly Moser Axles:
These were sexy! Almost hate to cover them up.
And the new FJ-60 Vented Rotor, and chromoly hub:
Sorry for the crappy late night pics. I basically work all day, play daddy day-care all evening, then play with the truck after everybody goes to bed. Sleep is over rated.
I went with new SW13 calipers. These are 4 piston calipers and were stock on front solid axle toyota trucks. A quick google search will show that all the import track racers (nissan, toy, honda etc) are wanting this caliper setup for its stopping power.
Also the trail-gear 6pin drive flange and cap, with new ARP studs.
It looks so good I almost hate to bolt the wheel on. But, at the same time, I can't wait to get it dirty.
The rear-end is basically all new. Diff, axles, hubs, spindles, brakes, etc, etc, etc. There were a lot of twist and turns in the process. I also added a manual proportioning valve next to the master cylinder to adjust the rear brakes. I will get some pics of that. As a result of ditching the ABS, my speedometer is acting up. Though, I've got a solution for it and will post up pics for that as well. Like so many before, I just became anxious to finish up and get back on the trail.
And a driveway poser since I was so excited to get it off the jackstands
Thanks for checkin' in!
I finished up the rear full floater axle, disc brake conversion. It took forever. Mostly, waiting on parts, and oh yeah....this little guy showed up
I now have 2 boys. The way I see it, I will need at least one more truck to pass down. I'll keep my eye out.
Also, as I tore into the truck I realized the problem was more involved than originally anticipated. The spider gear in the rear diff had also split
If you look inside the sleeve of splines, you can see the split. It knocked down the leading edge of the splines on the old axle. Fortunately it stayed intact and allowed me to get off the trail and home. The rear diff came from East Coast Gear Supply last year when I re-geared to 4:88's. I cannot say enough good things about that company and their employees. They were amazing in backing up their product, customer service and turnaround. So many other companies in the off road industry could learn volumes from ECGS! Thanks to Casey, [MENTION=51127]Dous[/MENTION] for literally shepherding my rear diff thru the process. Everybody can debate 4:88 vs 5.29, but there is no debate as to where to get them. Drivetrain Specialists East Coast Gear Supply
I am loving the new full float disc setup. I used the Front Range Off Road kit and sourced various other chromoly parts from whoever had a sale or a coupon. I will eventually do a full writeup on this process because the kit has evolved and many writeups are outdated. I started with this writeup:
4x4Wire - Front Range Off Road Fabrication Full Floater
But it deviated right off the bat.
Thank You to [MENTION=67615]Dirtco[/MENTION] for helping with questions and guidance. He recommended I download the FSM for the '79-'85 trucks. This was a huge help as I hadn't even thought of the varying torque specs etc. He also helped me with some brake line questions.
This kit takes a while and has lots....I mean lots of parts, and steps. And you frequently need to ad-lib or improvise. This is probably why many of the write-ups fizzle out. Everybody just gets tired and wants to wrap up the project. It makes one appreciate the work that [MENTION=44220]BigFishAllDay[/MENTION] puts into his write-ups!
The foundation of the kit is the adapter which bolts to the housing via some large arp studs. Everything from your old drum setup can go in the scap pile. I enjoyed junking that stuff.
Here is the adapter bolted up
I painted everything except the sealing surface. Otherwise, the adapter will be exposed to the elements.
You can build up from here using junkyard parts, though I chose go to new. And new chromoly at that. Love em or hate em Trail-gear has many of the parts you will need. Frontier 4x4 Off-Road Supply had the best prices on parts and a coupon. Chromoly spindle, hub, drive flange, ARP studs etc. Marlin Crawler provided all the seals. Again, thanks to Dirtco for that lead!
If you don't already have a seal driver, pick one up before this project. It gets used several times on each side with seals and bearing races:
Spindle and seals mounted up:
New Chromoly Moser Axles:
These were sexy! Almost hate to cover them up.
And the new FJ-60 Vented Rotor, and chromoly hub:
Sorry for the crappy late night pics. I basically work all day, play daddy day-care all evening, then play with the truck after everybody goes to bed. Sleep is over rated.
I went with new SW13 calipers. These are 4 piston calipers and were stock on front solid axle toyota trucks. A quick google search will show that all the import track racers (nissan, toy, honda etc) are wanting this caliper setup for its stopping power.
Also the trail-gear 6pin drive flange and cap, with new ARP studs.
It looks so good I almost hate to bolt the wheel on. But, at the same time, I can't wait to get it dirty.
The rear-end is basically all new. Diff, axles, hubs, spindles, brakes, etc, etc, etc. There were a lot of twist and turns in the process. I also added a manual proportioning valve next to the master cylinder to adjust the rear brakes. I will get some pics of that. As a result of ditching the ABS, my speedometer is acting up. Though, I've got a solution for it and will post up pics for that as well. Like so many before, I just became anxious to finish up and get back on the trail.
And a driveway poser since I was so excited to get it off the jackstands
Thanks for checkin' in!
downpour11
New member
Back in business! FF, disc conversion, and chromo everything!? Great upgrade! :cheers:
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Thanks for your help with the diff! I'm jealous of your SAS!
Thanks! Jealous of your SAS too! The disc brakes are great and future maintenance will be so much easier than the semi-float drum setup!:cheers:
JWaldz
Moderator
I debated that full float rear conv. for the longest time. In the end I went with the CBI. Full float conv. stuff looked like a PITA lol but kudos to you for doing it. I still want one as I absolutely HATE our rear drum assembly setup in these rigs. My seals leak every single time I do any flexy offroading. What's the ABS issue you're having and I'm guessing you didn't keep the ebrake.
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Exactly! The full float was on my list, but way down on the list. The axle problem on the last trip bumped the FF up to #1. I hated the drums. Even from day 1, I wondered why Toyota did that. You will love the new setup. It's a lot of steps, but really not that bad. Most of the write-ups are written by guys who have lots of experience with earlier solid axle toyotas. This was my first experience with a solid Toy axle setup, so the first side took awhile as I tried to decipher the FSM. The next side went together very quickly and will be even quicker for any future maintenance. It will be so nice to be able to simply service/replace bearings, seals etc, at home in my garage. No press required.
You will lose the ABS. I don't mind this. However, there are 2 ABS sensor in the rear axle which contribute to the speedometer. There are also 2 front sensors, and one on the transmission/transfer case. I have the speedometer working off of the trans/tc speed sensor via a Dakota Digital unit and sending a signal to the factory spedometer. In doing this, I was able to sync my speed precisely with my gps speed. I was about 10mph off previously with 35's 4:88's. I mounted the Dakota Digital unit in place of the ABS ECU in the passenger side kickpanel. I will do a write-up on this once I'm sure it is not going to throw any VSS codes (P0500). Though, so far so good.
Thanks! I love the new setup. It will be on the trails next weekend.
Thanks again.
LINY4Runner
New member
PLEASE do a writeup on this.. [MENTION=56044]downpour11[/MENTION] and I are neck-and-neck on our SAS' and wondering how we're gonna keep our speedometers
the great him
Elite Member
wow just read through this, and i must say, you have one very impressive rig, not gonna lie im really jelly about your FF rear and the RCVs. even though you have had some issues with them i think the way in which you are portraying RCV is great, and we could all take a note/hint from this. im not sure if im gonna go with them or lotus for my axles i guess it all depends on how deep my pockets are... having owned a small business and worked hard at it trying to make it grow and get off the ground in a very competitive market and not a lot of money to sink into advertising, and yet still having to work a typical 9-5 job to pay bills and fun the personal business, i know exactly what good customer service can do and sometimes you have to go out of your way to make someone happy, even if that means a short term negative impact on you(as the owner), but the long term payoffs can be worth it if you can float it. in my case i could not and was forced to basically abandon ship, but did so keeping a happy customer and gaining a friend. so no real loss imo
I would love a write up on this as well. I have an abbott box I have struggled with to give me a correct reading. Looking forward to this!
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
No problem. I will get some pics of my setup. In the meantime I will post the links I used for guidance.
Best one:
Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum - View Single Post - My new trail/street rig build- '97 4runner
97 4Runner Intermittent Speedo Issue, Recent ABS Delete - YotaTech Forums
3rd gen 4runner/ functioning speedo without wheels speed sensors - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum
Universal Speedometer Signal Interface
It was frustrating because even though all the above links are 3rd gen, all the transmissions, plugs and wire colors were different. I'm not sure how many variations of 96-02 trannys there are, but there must be many combinations. In the end, I ended up matching wire colors from my transmission, to wires at the ABS ECU.
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Well said.
Thanks for the compliments also. I wish I could go back in time and advise myself how to get to this point easier. I feel like I've done everything the hard way; aka the expensive way. Though loving the setup right now.
Thanks again!
downpour11
New member
Awesome! Thank's for the links! Definitely would love to see a write up, I'll be ready to fix my speedometer next week. I still haven't fully searched the topic, been busy of course. Thank's man!
Scalded_Dawg
New member
Created an account just to say, there is A TON of BAD ASSERY going on in this build! Very nicely done!!!
Looking for a 4Runner project now and your build is like a textbook of how it should be done. Thanks!
Looking for a 4Runner project now and your build is like a textbook of how it should be done. Thanks!
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Thankyou!!! That is a huge compliment! And welcome to the forum. You will not be disappointed with a T4R. The 3rd Gens are in the 'sweet spot' right now for mods and aftermarket development. Great all around rig in my biased opinion. Good balance between off road, road, and creature comfort.
There are lots of amazing trucks in the 3rd gen section right now to get ideas from. A lot of my mods were inspired by, and sometimes blatant copies of, the top tier of trucks on this site. Start a build plan on paper, and then start checking off the items on the list.
Thanks again, and looking forward to your T4R!
URBAN ASSAULT
New member
Speedometer function following ABS Delete
Here you go. I may start a separate thread also in case people search the topic.
My truck is a 1999 4Runner Limited, 3.4L, V6, Automatic with an elocker. Just throwing that out there because the limited information I was able to find on this topic did not match my truck. Your truck is likely different, but the concept should be the same. (prob just different wire colors) It may also be on the output shaft of the transfer case.
First, I located the speed sensors on the transmission. If you do not have a speed sensor then there will be a plug. In which case, you can add one. I located mine on the drivers side of the transmission.
There are 2 sensors there. One 2 wire sensor and one 3 wire sensor. I used the 2 wire as it is the exact same thing as the 2 wire wheel speed sensor that I deleted. My particular sensor had a yellow/red wire, and a red/white wire. A quick test with the voltmeter showed the yellow/red wire to be the positive (signal) wire, and the red/white wire to be the ground. I believe these are 4 pulse sensors, meaning 4 pulses per revolution. My head was spinning after reading way to much about sensors, square waves, oscilloscopes, etc, etc.
I was hoping, for convenience, that these wires went to the ABS ECU. However, they go straight to the ECM - Electronic Control Module. In my truck, this is located behind the glove box. I removed the glove box and the horizontal air vent duct shown in the below picture
The ECM is now easily accessible. I located the 2 sensor wires in the furthest left (DS) plug on the ECM.
I tapped into the yellow/red wire. If you had a sensor on your transmission, then this is the only sensor wire you will need. If you added a sensor, then you will need to ground the negative wire.
Next I found the wire which feeds the signal to the speedometer. This is a grey wire with a blue stripe located on the large plug of the ABS ECU.
If your truck does not have ABS, then you can tap into this wire behind the cluster. Likely will be same color wire, from reading other threads.
Also, I tapped into the yellow wire on that same large ABS ECU plug for power to my Dakota Digital sending unit. Dakota Digital - Digital Instrumentation and Accessories. I used the SGI-5 universal signal interface unit. This allows you to calibrate your speed with a few button clicks.
Power came from the yellow wire, ground to a nearby bolt, "Signal in" came from the yellow/red wire, and Signal Out goes to the grey/blue wire to the speedometer.
I experimented with lots of different settings and applications of the sending unit. The best one was "OUT 5" with all Dip switches off. This yielded about a -12mph difference between my GPS and Speedometer reading. A few bumps of the "UP" adjustment button and the speedometer was perfectly sync'd with my GPS speed.
All buttoned up and looks like nothing ever happened
I went ahead and left the abs ecu in there. There are probably 50 wires in there and I can only tell what about half of them do. It is isolated since I've pulled the ABS relay, and now have removed the speedometer wire from it.
This setup should work for you too. Your sensor, or plug blank, may also be on the output shaft of the transfer case. (year and vehicle dependent). If it is a 3 wire sensor then it will be power, ground, signal. A voltmeter will sort them out.
Hopefully this helps you and others.
Here you go. I may start a separate thread also in case people search the topic.
My truck is a 1999 4Runner Limited, 3.4L, V6, Automatic with an elocker. Just throwing that out there because the limited information I was able to find on this topic did not match my truck. Your truck is likely different, but the concept should be the same. (prob just different wire colors) It may also be on the output shaft of the transfer case.
First, I located the speed sensors on the transmission. If you do not have a speed sensor then there will be a plug. In which case, you can add one. I located mine on the drivers side of the transmission.
There are 2 sensors there. One 2 wire sensor and one 3 wire sensor. I used the 2 wire as it is the exact same thing as the 2 wire wheel speed sensor that I deleted. My particular sensor had a yellow/red wire, and a red/white wire. A quick test with the voltmeter showed the yellow/red wire to be the positive (signal) wire, and the red/white wire to be the ground. I believe these are 4 pulse sensors, meaning 4 pulses per revolution. My head was spinning after reading way to much about sensors, square waves, oscilloscopes, etc, etc.
I was hoping, for convenience, that these wires went to the ABS ECU. However, they go straight to the ECM - Electronic Control Module. In my truck, this is located behind the glove box. I removed the glove box and the horizontal air vent duct shown in the below picture
The ECM is now easily accessible. I located the 2 sensor wires in the furthest left (DS) plug on the ECM.
I tapped into the yellow/red wire. If you had a sensor on your transmission, then this is the only sensor wire you will need. If you added a sensor, then you will need to ground the negative wire.
Next I found the wire which feeds the signal to the speedometer. This is a grey wire with a blue stripe located on the large plug of the ABS ECU.
If your truck does not have ABS, then you can tap into this wire behind the cluster. Likely will be same color wire, from reading other threads.
Also, I tapped into the yellow wire on that same large ABS ECU plug for power to my Dakota Digital sending unit. Dakota Digital - Digital Instrumentation and Accessories. I used the SGI-5 universal signal interface unit. This allows you to calibrate your speed with a few button clicks.
Power came from the yellow wire, ground to a nearby bolt, "Signal in" came from the yellow/red wire, and Signal Out goes to the grey/blue wire to the speedometer.
I experimented with lots of different settings and applications of the sending unit. The best one was "OUT 5" with all Dip switches off. This yielded about a -12mph difference between my GPS and Speedometer reading. A few bumps of the "UP" adjustment button and the speedometer was perfectly sync'd with my GPS speed.
All buttoned up and looks like nothing ever happened
I went ahead and left the abs ecu in there. There are probably 50 wires in there and I can only tell what about half of them do. It is isolated since I've pulled the ABS relay, and now have removed the speedometer wire from it.
This setup should work for you too. Your sensor, or plug blank, may also be on the output shaft of the transfer case. (year and vehicle dependent). If it is a 3 wire sensor then it will be power, ground, signal. A voltmeter will sort them out.
Hopefully this helps you and others.
downpour11
New member
Holy crap all that wiring is intimidating! Thanks for the write up!! This is going to be a huge help. :cheers:
