Hi All, lifting a 1990.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been here so hello again. Things I’ve done since my last visit is add a new stereo and speakers, went back to the stock tire size to try and improve gas mileage, haven’t done much off roading and I’m maybe averaging 13 miles per gallon. My truck is completely stock and everything still works.

So I’m thinking about getting back into mild off-roading and with that I’m toying with the idea of putting on one of those 5 inch rough country kits from eBay and going back to a 31 or 33 inch tire. My guess is that will push my 3VZE engine to its limits and gas mileage is going to drop to maybe 10-11 miles per gallon. I put a brand new Asin clutch in about 3000 miles ago, I’m just hitting 182,000 miles.

Has anyone here done that lift and how bad did it affect your mileage ?

I’ll post up a pic or two in the morning.

And Thank you for sharing if you can. And since that avatar pic the stock factory rims have been put back on.

 

I had a that same lift kit on my 92 Toyota pickup. 3vze 5 speed 4.56 gears on 35" tires. I was getting 12-13. The motor in my pickup is rebuilt with just about 10k on it so it's pretty fresh. Not apples to apples but hopefully it helps. What gears are in your 4runner?

 

I actually don’t know what the gears are back there, factory stock I’d have to look it up.

Wow man ! 35’s you have that baby up there. I doubt I’d go that large I think a 33 is about max for me.

I’ve had this truck 4 years now, traded my K10 straight across for it thinking 17 mpg and air would be nice. Owner of this truck claims to have done the headgaskets and timing belt, which I checked earlier this year and all looks good. Only thing I’ve replaced is the power steering pump, original went 170,000 miles. She runs strong for a 3VZE and I keep maintenance up on everything. Well the heater core finally gave out, that was fun.

 

You don't need a lift to run 31" tires. All you need is a 1.5" ball joint spacer to run 33s. Just put some good shocks on her and a locker and you'll be a terror off road!

 

Now that’s some practical thinking ! Like it man . I hip to the 31’s that’s what I was running before going back to the factory tire size. Took a minute for that to grow on me, purely on looks the 31 is much nicer.

What brought this on was looking at some of the Gen 2’s posted on the web, boy they look good with that lift kit and 33’s ! For me here in Nevada that’d be just about the perfect package, that and it’s bucket list to go to Moab and explore. I think that would cover a good portion of it, if I was a bit younger I’d almost consider going with a solid axle up front. Reality is that’s not going to happen, so going to run it stock.

Thanks BestGen, I’m going to research doing that.

 

I'm half way through collecting all the parts to do a SAS. I'm at the point of just selling off all the stuff I've collected and just sticking with the IFS...

Here's a link to the BJS:
http://4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/BallJointSpa
cer.shtml

This site is full of great Toyota info.

 

I love my truck. To much other stuff going on right now but around April I’ll get going on getting her up a bit. Also thinking about the exhaust header replumb on her.

 

Well thinking about maybe letting my truck go, before I dump my few bucks at something without a solid front axle up front. Before her I’ve only owned Older Chevys with that solid axle up front and a granny 4 speed. I have no idea what it would take to do that kind of conversion on this Toyota but I imagine it would be a ton of work.

Maybe a trade for an older Jeep Cherokee that already has the bones and parts available for doing a solid 4X4 truck with more capabilities. This Toyota has been nothing but reliable and good to me/us kinda hard to even consider saying goodbye.

 

Everyone has their own understanding of their needs. Along with off road capability, reliability is an important attribute for whenever you go off road. Your Toyota has both qualities, but a Jeep Cherokee will only possess one of them. Think about it for a minute! Depending on where you go, it’s a long walk and a huge hassle if you break down.

 

Yeah I know it Oldtoyotaguy, you speak the truth and I’m in agreement 100%. There lies the quandary I’d be giving up a lot. I don’t know if I’ve got the experience to go through a complete Jeep type drivetrain. Regardless of the trade that’d be the No#1 priority and ya know I’d have to deal with it because above all reliability is a must.

Something my 4 runner has been very good at. And it has killer AC, my boys and I have literally ran to the truck after more than a few desert hikes...LOL.

 

Hey, I love Jeeps, personally, and I’ve driven a few - never bought one though. But thought about it. Some friends own them. It’s oddball things that happen in the middle of nowhere, like an idler pulley seizing, or a fuel pump dying. Things that just don’t happen to a Toyota, even really old ones. I’ve always been part of the recovery effort, and carry a lot of stuff to help others out and fortunately in the last few generations of Toyota’s I’ve wheeled, I haven’t broken down. I like to go alone sometimes, so reliability is very important for me.

 

Your vehicle came with 31's originally. You can tell by the rear tire rack and the rims. It can actually fit 32's without lifting it. Change out the rear coils to OME's and spacers up front and you can fit 33's but your mileage and power will suffer.

 

Oldtoyotaguy, again I have to agree. I’ve put a lot of pride of ownership into her. Anything that’s potentially showed signs of wear has been replaced with original factory parts, anything that did go is the same. Not the cheapest route but when you’ve got 170,000 miles on an original fuel filter before it finally plugged is testament to how good the OEM stuff is. And a bonus is anytime anything started to go it was close to the house .

I also carry extra stuff just in case, rarely do I ever see an older Toyota broke down on the side of the freeway, can’t say the same for other brands. I get where your coming from. I put my truck up just to see what might come down the pipe and now after pondering it I doubt I’m going to let her go.

Are you sure tlrhiker ? I was running 31’s on different rims but in the interest of gas mileage, which did improve when I switched to the current tires with the factory rims. Which I was told and concurred with my research.

Here’s a quick picture,

Do they make a 31” tire that fits the factory 15” rim ? I need to go look.

 

Yes, the 2nd Generation came with either 31's on 15" rims or 225/75-R15. Those specific wheels could only be had with 31" tires from my understanding, same with the rear tire carrier. But I cannot say with 100% confidence. The only way to really know is to find out what gears you are running. For 225 tires you have 4.56, for 31's you should have 4.88.

 

Well, started smelling the faint aroma of fresh gas in the cab of my truck this Wednesday. No leaking anywhere that I could see. Drove over to friends house for a short visit, got back in the truck and first time ever it took about 15-20 revaluations for it to start, never done that before, with the continued smell of gas yet not a single leak that I could visually see.

after some research it appears I’ve lost a seal on fuel injector. So just ordered some aftermarket units for the truck, brand name is “mostplus” from Amazon. Will stop at Napa Auto Parts for the top end gaskets.

Looks like I’ll be spending next week tearing the top end down and replacing everything.

I’m pretty sure they’re original injectors so 190,000 isn’t to bad. If anyone reads this and has some pointers on the job please share. If anyone wants pictures as I do the job speak up and I’ll be happy to share.

 

Well a little more research and there’s a part called a Fuel Damper so going after that as well. I’m almost willing to bet that’s the culprit. That will be replaced with an original Toyota part, expensive little bugger.

 

Hey bro, just some advice on the fuel injectors. Note the torque spec and sequence. It doesn't take much. If you over do it, you will be doing it over again. If you need the spec, when I get home from work I can share that with you. If you change that fuel damper I would use a new copper ring seal.

 

BTHB - fuel injectors. Some info straight out the FSM. Also - while the injectors are out the vehicle and on the bench.
Briefly hit each one with 12 volts. Just tap - tap - tap it with 12 volts, to make certain the solenoids are active and functioning.
Sure there are vids out there to clean them... But make certain the solenoids are active before install. Some folks may say "four hole" injectors... All I can say is my Denso's have been good for 24+ years of my ownership.

Hollar - if you need any other info.

 

BTHB, more fuel injector info.

 

Sorry for the late response, life happens and shit gets in the way. Thanks 92T4R, I promise to get pics for you after I finish the fuel injectors on my truck. I’m kinda rushing here, just compared the new 4 hole injectors to the ones that were in my truck which I believe to be original.

everything looks good but why the hell did or have I ever noticed anyone talk about the cups they sit in with the o rings. Mine are bad, talk about.....your an idiot sir, call Napa, oriellys, autozone, etc and tell them you need fuel injector cups for 1990’s 3VZE......hahaha. I found a place in lake havasu, guys know what’s up. Sending them priority to me now.

I’ll post some pics tomorrow or Saturday when things settle down.

 

Hey Bro - no problem. I posted a thread entitled injectors with info from the FSM that may help you.

 

I saw that so myself and I’m sure others appreciate your taking the time. Let me power through this project and I’ll tear into the rear of the truck and get you pictures of the inside tire mounting area and inside of the tail gate area to give you an idea of how it works.

so here’s a few pics of today’s adventure, removing the intake, and getting to the fuel injectors. It’s not as bad as I thought t would be, just methodically marking everything working from the drivers side to the passengers side disassembling.

Here’s a shot of the old and new injectors,

So that thing in the middle is the injector cup, that sits down in the manifold and the injector nestles into that. Mine look original, they are extremely hard, there’s no way I was putting them back in. Having never seen them before, I though I had cleaned the first 3, it wasn’t until I pulled the other fuel rail that one injector came out cleanly. And I realized....wrong sneaker boy the seals were still in others I just didn’t know the difference.

here’s where they sit, these I partially cleaned.

I need to hit the parts store for a few things and a few cans of berrymans B12 to thoroughly clean them,
This is before,

What I did was use my shop vac and at the same time holding the nozzle down on the hole and scrubbing with a brass brush to suck up the crud without it dropping down into the cylinder, at least trying. I’m going to tape a 1/4 inch hose to the vacuum nozzle then insert it into the cylinders and try and get any bits that may have fallen inside.

I’m going to end up replacing some dried hoses along the way, also there’s a hose that goes under the plenum, whoever worked on this truck last didn’t use a hose with a 45 degree bend, so circulation was completely cut off where it goes to the fresh air cleaner . So I’ve got some things to correct but I’m looking forward maybe some increased fuel mileage and power.

more to come.

 

Looks like your on you way. Just don't over tighten the fuel rail. Those injectors should pivot with with a bit of resistance.
Don't forget to use the FSM test method of putting fuel in the rails to test for leaks.

No hurries or worries on the pics of the swing rack area. I don't need any of the tailgate. I have one here.
Thanks brother.

 

Hey as you put the EFI back together assemble the rails and the copper tubes with banjo bolts loosely and make sure everything is lining up and seating. Get all of it finger tight only. then secure the rails to the intake, 12-15 ft-lbs on the fuel rail nuts. Then work over the banjo's 27 ft-lbs on these and you can re-use the copper washers with this torque. Make sure the injectors can swivel and then re-attach the fuel line. I used Halomar on the injector o-rings. The damper is not cheap and is on the NAS passenger side rail at the back and is perfect for filling the cab with fuel stink when it gets a hole in it. Buy the shininess it looks like you have that already figured out. LC Engineering is a great Toyota resource. Make sure the steel line that is part of the vacuum circuit which actuates the pressure relief regulator with diaphragm on the DS fuel rail near the distributor is clear. This was full of rusty crap on my rig. When this diaphragm can't regulate the pressure in the fuel rails the injectors get overwhelmed and it will be running rich. I had to poke a stiff piece of piano wire through the tube on mine and blow it out with compressed air so the solenoid valve could apply vacuum to the diaphragm when needed. Another cool thing to do is back drill Ø 21/64 the Banjo by the distributor and tap it for 1/8-27 NPT and thread a Schrader valve into the banjo bolt's head. Then you have a fuel pressure access point built in and is super handy for figuring out problems with fuel delivery to the injectors etc. My eBay four hole injectors are super noisy as compared with what I recall the Desno OEMS sounding like.

 

Hey BT,
DO NOT throw those Denso injectors away.

 

BTHP - How'd you make out with your FI energies?
And don't give thought to those interior pics for me. There is a wrecking yard not far from here, they apparently have 2 retired 2nd Gens which I am certain they are gutted to the bone that will allow me a peek behind the rear quarter trim panels.
Just sipping on coffee wondering how you made out with you FI energies.

 

I took the 4.88 front axle out of a '93 4rnr. The code to look for is G144 which denotes the 4.88 ratio. Then I got rid of the ADD system on the long side. Swapped on my 88 axle. Notice the bigger shaft! Here's what to look for: