The reason for purchasing this 4Runner when I already had a 1988 IFS 4Runner, was that I wanted the solid axle for four wheeling. Another good reason was that the 85 was only ten dollars a month to plate compared to the 88 4Runner that was eighty dollars a month. The insurance company where I live did a cut off of 1988 for a vehicle to classify as antique and get the cheap plates. I drove a truck and trailer two hours away to go pick it up.
This 4Runner actually came with front and rear bumpers, a soft topper, and one of those cool inclinometers that sit in the middle of the dash but...... I told the previous owner to remove all that stuff because I was trying to get this truck for as cheap as possible. I was not a fan of those big tube bumpers anyways, and for some reason I just thought that soft topper didn't look quite right on there. Nor did that sticker on the window that reads "jeeps are cute barbie has one". I was quite happy about getting it with these almost new goodyear wranglers tires for the price that I did! A lot of life left in them.
I took the sticker off the wind shield that same day, also gave it a really good cleaning inside and out. First things first though, I check off some small maintenance items like cap and rotor, and spark plugs and wires along with an oil change.
Since this 4Runner is going to be my daily driver, I got myself an interior heater for when it's plugged in. It already had a block heater, which was needed for these dang cold Saskatchewan winters. When both are plugged in the windows stay defrosted all the time and I can just hop in and go without warming the truck up. This truck has really been an awesome winter beater.
A big thing that changed the enjoyability was adding a sub to the stereo! it just contributed to the whole driving experience. I started out with installing the amp under the passenger seat, I put it all back together then tried moving the seat back and forth. That did not work too well at all, It seems to hang a bit lower on the passenger side and also there is more mechanisms under that seat compared to the drivers side.
Worked pretty good under the drivers seat. Don't mind the mess! It's my daily driver I swear!
These sister's do have each others back though! When I bought the 85 the previous owners did tell me that after a few days the battery goes dead. So I have now realized to just drive it every day and I will have no problems!
The holes that the old inclinometer left on the dash are pretty ugly but I will probably find another one eventually.
I didn't even need new headlights but these knock off trucklite headlights look awesome with the black housing. I found these headlights on amazon.
The relays just screw in beside the battery and then just one extra plug runs all the way to the other headlight along with a ground wire and thats it!
I think they look awesome! give the truck a little more personality.
She does clean up nice though! and the drive with the roof off is very enjoyable, I will need a soft topper eventually or even a bikini top I'd be happy with. I'd like to be able to leave it in the rain with just a bikini top on but I guess the seats would still most likely get wet.
Next up on the chopping block! an ugly exhaust leak. I also have an exhaust leak at the exhaust manifold but that one can wait till I can afford to do a header. I have never done exhaust work in my life so it was quite the experience. The weld that was holding the bracket on finally rusted through. This is right below the drivers seat.
I actually had to go back to Canadian tire a couple times to get different size pipe. I thought the pipe flaring tool could flare it no problem but I was very wrong. I tightened that flaring tool so damn hard I stripped the threads. After screwing up I finally figured it out!
Here's what a thirty five year old starter looks like. After about six months of giving me troubles the starter finally gave up.
In winter time, my driver side window is very hard to crank back up. Especially when it was -50 celsius out. So I took the whole door apart and what I found was this window crank mechanism was slightly seized and needed a good lubricating. That seemed to help it a decent amount.
Speaking of -50 celsius temperature, that hole in my floor was chilly! These Canadian vehicles are rusty! especially these Toyota's.
It was like six times worse than I realized. This is how it looked after chipping at it for a while.
A couple times a week I will stay up till 1:30 in the morning. This was one of those nights I stayed up till it was prepped and ready for new steel.
I'm unsure what the best way would be to fix this but my goal is whatever is the most simple. I use as many flat pieces as I can. Since I'm not a fabricator I do what I can! And yes I kept the foot rest thing in there during this whole process! haha
Its ugly! but that doesn't matter because the carpet covers it anyways.
Here's the back side.
Primer and paint and call her good! should last for another thirty five years! Maybe this winter I will repair the passenger side floor.
Even my son loves this truck, climbing around pulling on every knob or lever.
This thing has been an awesome winter truck too. Lots of fun to drift around, drives really good even when stone cold(late for work), the block heater and interior heater sure make it more enjoyable on those really cold days.
Time for the passenger side to get some love now.
Got rid of the cruise control. Didn't work anyways.
Just cut a big chunk out for the shock hoops on this side.
A little bit more trimming but it's going quicker this time around.
To fill this hole in on this side, I used the same piece that I cut out! Instead of using one piece and bending it, I decided to make just a bunch of cuts.
Here is some kind of attempt at filling this hole. Took me quite a while to bend it this well.
It's very ugly I know haha. But with many many hours this might not look terrible lol.
Well it's still kind of ugly but oh well lol. I don't need to impress anyone with my welding skills.
Under side all painted and looking good.
I even paint matched it!
Going to cut the rust out and make these fenders fit the 37's a bit better.
After cutting the fender I am no longer able to use the plastic splash shield that's supposed to go in here. So I used this rubber that I had sitting around in my garage to replace the plastic. I will eventually rip it out of there but for now this should work.
I used the same rubber to cover the engine from being splashed also. These plastic clips to fasten it down should do just the trick!
All buttoned up! looks pretty damn good I'd say.
I put off doing these hoops for long as I could! I will definitely have to cut a hole into the engine bay for these hoops to fit.
Chop chop into the fender.
After getting the hoop just tacked in, I then flexed it out again to see if it was positioned properly.
All welded in, but now I need to try and close this hole in some how.
I decided to use a engine hoist to figure out bump stop lengths! It actually worked pretty good lol. Eventually my limiting factor was the roof of the garage but I think I got it pretty close.
Also seeing how much rust I need to cut out to stuff these 37's into the fenders.
Flexed it from every corner to try and get the most accurate measurement.
I even tried to give the bump stop some angle since the spring twists during flex.
Now trying to figure out how long of a front driveshaft I need. Drooping the axle far as it can go with the Hi lift jack.
Wow thats quite the difference! The new springs need to settle about 2 inches so this measurement will be slightly different in a month or two of driving around. Now to get a new driveshaft built!
I used the old brake shield to make the new brake line holder.
The new power steering lines installed.
Everything got a nice coat of paint under here.
The transfer case E-Brake, that bolts to the drive shaft.
The original brake cable line was broken so I had to find the one and only guy in Regina to re-make me one.
Emergency brake installed.
The Stealth custom series that I had mounted originally were just slightly too small to fit over the hubs. So I had to end up spending every penny I had to buy these beadlock wheels!
What a time consuming thing to do...... tighten the ring down properly.
Looks so good! love it!
Gotta throw the axle under and do some double checking that the leaf hangers are in the right place.
I took a couple leafs out to lower the front end down a bit.
Pulled the whole axle and springs back out to install the shock crossmember.
I decided to say screw the LSPV valve and go with a manual valve. I want to put the crossmember where that valve is.
I really do enjoy a tidy garage. Some times its a disaster, but I enjoy re-organizing all of the tools.
Shock crossmember all welded in.
The manual valve getting installed. I've never flared brake lines before so they will most likely leak.
Fresh coat of paint for the gas tank and also the skid plate.
Axle back under the truck, everything hooked up. And as you can see I have added a add-a-leaf block to raise the truck up another inch in the rear.
Not sure how good these dif breathers are but I guess I'll find out!
Front and rear axles are done finally! and now onto everything else.
I put this off for quite a while. Too many people were saying different ways of mounting. But the guys at trail gear seemed to have a good way to mount.
I mounted these shackles ahead of 90 degrees because the springs need to break in still.
Axle going under for the first time.
New spring hanger tacked in and steering bar installed.
Chevy 63 springs for the rear.
New spring hangers for the 63's.
Then I realize I cant mount this hanger fully because of the gas tanks......
After I did all of this work, I then realized the instructions said don't worry about welding the back side.... But I guess it's probably a better thing that I welded the whole thing.
Knuckle on, testing the preload with the pull scale.
For some weird reason I kept flattening these lock washers every time I tried to install the steering arm on the top.
Axle shaft about to go in!
It sure took some time getting the preload just right.
Locking dial getting cleaned, new gasket, and new gears.
Taken apart and ready to be sandblasted.
Paint turned out pretty good.
All back together and ready to go on the hub.
I had a hell of a time trying to pull this axle shaft out far enough to get the C- clip on the end lol Ratchet strap screwed to the wall actually worked!
All put together and ready for the steering arms.
Drilling the holes for the new steering box.
Even with that big drill, it was tricky to get all of the holes perfectly aligned.
Used my little hand held sandblaster for the box.
All painted and fastened in there.
Knuckles can be finished finally.
Spindle bushing.
Tearing into my hubs now. And remember this is my first time ever digging this deep into a vehicle before. So I never really know what to expect lol.
Hubs painted with new studs, races and bearings.
All ready to go together.
Third member installed.
Knuckles are very disgusting.
All cleaned up and degreased.
Spindles.
Dirty work.
Ready for paint.
Start cleaning up the front end while I wait for party to arrive.
Now to remove sway bar, anti wrap bar, the old leaf hangers, and the old steering box!
Steering box ripped out.
Shock towers torched out.
The pile of junk that was torched out.
Frame all cleaned up and ready for new shock hoops.
Ready for disassembly of the rear end.
The tire guy showed up at my house and installed these new 37" cooper MTR's onto my stealth custom series! very exciting for these to show up!
Axle is out.
Chop chop, rear end is ready for a cleaning and new leaf spring hangers.
IFS power steering kit about to go in.
Trying to find that sweet spot.
I love getting the kids involved :)
It took me A LOT of effort to crush that crush sleeve to 300 - 400 ft/lbs. When I did the rear differential, I just used our biggest air impact from my work and got it without too much troubles. For some reason I could not get it to crush this time..... Eventually I just got mad enough and hopped onto the table and just started tightening until I couldn't any more. Some how I didn't over tighten it! Amazing I know. Because if you over tighten it you have to get a new crush sleeve and start all over again.
You need to tighten it until your pinion bearing preload is at the desired amount.
Everything showed up! I can get back to work now. I also got the shock mount that goes in between the frame and the transfer case mounted E-brake.
My redneck hillbilly way of tightening down the ring onto the carrier.
Pressing the bearing onto the pinion.
Pressing the races into the 3rd member.
All ready to install the carrier into the 3rd member.
Setting the backlash between the ring and pinion.
To ensure that your ring and pinion are contacting each other correctly, you need to add some marking paint on the ring and then spin it around a few times to see how they are mating. To change the contact point you need to either add shims or add smaller shims under the pinion.
Knocked the races out with a punch. Again remember to mark your bearing caps before removing.
Press the bearing off so that you can reuse the shim underneath.
This is how far I got until I realized I didn't have the differential setup kit! dammit, I did so much research but I had to screw up somewhere! haha oh well, I need to update this forum and get other things done while I wait for parts to arrive anyways!
The front suspension I ordered came with a gusset to strengthen the axle housing and a small piece of armour to protect the 3rd member.
My welds are a lot better than they use to be, but still lots of improving to do. These welds are good enough though!
I used three coats of this high gloss rust paint. Hides all the imperfections!
She was very overdue on a oil change! It was disgusting in there.
Popped the pinion out of the housing with a hammer this time.
She is covered in grease, oil, and dirt! it's just packed on there!
Unbolt these from the top of the knuckles. You have to bash on them pretty hard to get them to come free.
Remove locking hub dial.
Everything all removed.
I have cut everything off that I do not need, like the emergency brake brackets, antiwrap bracket, and then also the steering dampener bracket.
All cleaned up and wire wheeled. I did not use the sand blaster on this one though.
All painted up, used three coats of a high gloss rust paint.
The front axle is coming out! jack it up and place it on jack stands.......nope, I don't even have jack stands big enough to hold this thing up... oh the things that stop you from working.
Unhook the brake lines.
Disconnect steering at the steering box. Also unbolt the antiwrap bar and driveshaft.
Unbolt shocks and leak springs. Then slowly lower down.
Move axle to the side for the rest of the disassembly.
Getting everything all bolted up! Installed the rotors and callipers and also the differential breather, some might say this isn't the best style breather to use. I found out that I had the callipers upside down, I was thinking that the bleeder should be on the bottom but that is incorrect.
While I was building all of this I didn't even realize that I don't have to re-use the old hard steel brake lines. This Skys off-road kit came with these braided steel lines that go from the GM callipers and thread into the factory T fitting. But what I ended up doing before finding out I had these braided lines was spend a couple hours researching on how to make my own hard steel lines and getting all the right stuff.😑 Luckily I didn't purchase anything before figuring this all out.
Ready for oil! I used this 70 - 90 synthetic gear oil. Apparently this oil comes with an additive to help keep the locker as quiet as possible. But I still used a little bit of another additive also.
Ou la la! All done and ready to go. That was a whole new learning experience but I loved it! Now onto the front axle.
Start with pulling the seals. I bought this nifty tool from my local auto parts store.
Open up the 3rd member, and remember this is my first time ever digging this deep into a solid axle before.
It's a good thing that I watched Youtube video's and read forums before doing this because I wouldn't have known to mark my bearing caps before disassembling.
Completely disassemble the 3rd member. Undo the pinion nut, and you can either hammer the pinion out or use a press. (hammering could wreck threads) Next pop the races out with a punch. Clean up before installing new races.
The new pinion and old one. The new one is significantly smaller since I'm going to 5.29 gears.
The Yukon Grizzly locker and the new ring.
From what I read on the interwebz, it seems to be easier if you heat the ring up in the oven before installing it onto the carrier. And it actually worked great! had no problem tapping it on.
You need to get the old bearing off to reuse the original shim in between bearing and gears. I struggled very much until I realized I needed a certain tool to clamp down onto the bearing to pop it out. Two days later the tool showed up in the mail.
Pressing on the new bearing.
Carrier installed and remember you marked the bearing caps so that they go on the same way they came off. Another brand new tool that I had to watch Youtube videos on how to use it. This dial indicator tells you the amount of backlash that your ring and pinion have on each other. Backlash is the amount of play or slop that you have in between the meshing of the gears. The way you tighten or loosen the backlash is by turning those circular rings in the middle on both sides of carrier. Tighten it so that you push the ring closer to the pinion which would give you a smaller number, or loosen it by taking the ring further away from the pinion to get a looser backlash.
Next measurement here is to check your pinion depth onto the ring. For the most part you just want to be as close to center as possible onto the ring. If you can't get it centered then you need to take it all apart again and either add shims or use smaller shims in between pinion gear and bearing. My second try I luckily got it right, it wasn't perfect but I figured good enough!
Gave the whole housing a good cleaning. sprayed the inside down with brake cleaner. Now it's ready for the freshly built carrier.
Even though I have a few of these first generation 4Runners, I still called a Toyota shop to source me a steering box from a IFS 4Runner since I don't want to chop up one of mine. I am converting my steering to the cross over steering since the lift I purchased comes with all the things you need to convert the steering except a steering box.
You need to pop the old hub free from the axle shaft. I must of spent two or three nights in the garage trying to figure out how to do this. I was hammer on the end of the axle, bashing it against the ground, and all kinds of shenanigans. Here comes Youtube again to save the day. I found a video that showed how to make a tool that can make this job wayyyy easier. So I welded up this tool that bolted up to the hub and used the press to pop them free!
After you get the axle shaft out of the hub then you can remove the wheel bearing from the hub.
Pressing in the new wheel bearing.
Hub ready to get pressed onto the new axle.
Seated the hub by using the press and a steel tub to go over the axle.
Since I only gave it one coat to start out, I figured I better give it another two or three coats to make it last.
Slid the axle into the housing and also installed my new disk brake conversion brackets.
Time for the clean up! most of what you see can actually be cut off. Which is basically just the emergency brake brackets. The steel brake lines were also very rusty too so those had to go too. Luckily I am going with the disk brake conversion and you no longer need those hard brake lines anyways. I start with chopping those brackets off, then grinding them down flat. I then go ahead with the wire wheel on the angle grinder which does an awesome job. I also did need to use the air grinder since it can get into smaller areas.
That wasn't quite good enough so I also bought this little hand held sand blaster for the nooks and crannies. I'm sure it would be fine even without using the sand blaster.
I just gave it one coat for now. I used this very simple gloss rust paint from Canadian Tire.
Before I get started I better give you all the parts list of the build. So the front end is getting the trail gear classic front lift, which comes with everything to do the lift and also comes with everything needed to rebuild the front axle also. It even comes with the steering upgrade to convert it to crossover steering which moves your steering bars from in front of the axle to above the axle so that you’re not bashing the steering bars against rocks. The one thing you have to find yourself is the steering box from a IFS 4Runner, that’s if your Toyota was originally a solid axle. Next up is the rear suspension, I went with Chevy 63 leaf springs, the Chevy 63 swap kit from trail gear so that I can install these fairly effortlessly. I haven’t bought shocks for the rear yet since I don’t know what kind of flex I’ll have yet, and I think I’ve decided to use the low range off-road rear shock relocation bracket brace. I will be upgrading the rear drum brakes to disk brakes, the kit comes from sky’s off-road. Since I will no longer have a Emergency brake on the rear axle, I will purchase the transfer case brake from sky’s off-road. For the front I’ve upgraded from the 4 cylinder brakes to the larger v6 brakes. I’m also upgrading the booster from a 91 T100 and the master from a 93 landcruiser fj80. Which was expensive buying those new, so either find them used or find cheaper ones. Now onto the axles, I’ve spent all of my pennies and went with Yukon grizzly auto lockers. Longfield chromoly birfields, and longfield axles aswell. I just stuck with 27 spline axles, hopefully that wasn’t a bad idea. Trail creeper 5.29 ring and pinion. Last but not least, 37 inch mud terrain tires with a beadlock wheel.