Pearl's -King Shocks-Dirt King +3.5 -Califab -Metal Tech -Custom Baja Bumper -Doug Thorley Headers

I had been beating my 5th gen quite a bit and running up the mileage a lot, so I purchased this 03' V8 German Delivery from another forum member Fall of 17'. Intending to do LT but I just could never swing the extra money it takes to put that together. I did end up with a pretty cool LT rear suspension in the process. EDIT: Here is a You Tube page - 2UZ 120 - I put all of Pearls trail, headers and suspension videos in. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe9X_pJJOAS1TV8MMMSCbzQ?view_as=subscriber
The PO did a great job of stuffing these 315/70/17s under this thing.
Here is the first picture I took of it.


This is one of PO pictures I jacked.
First thing I did was put an ARB CKMA 12 in it. Hoping I can do gears and a locker one day, and I like to air down quite a bit. Here is a link to the Bracket I fabbed out of some cheap truss plate from Home Depot. Hopefully the link works T4R.org has had it's troubles lately.
Pre welder prep work for the TC Gussets

The Total Chaos Dual Shock set up requires the factory bump horn get relocated. Got the grinder and a cutting wheel fired up. Damn thing scared me had been awhile.
New bracket from TC. Test fitting and slowly getting it right wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done lol. Can you say butcher? Once the paint is on and the suspension bolted in no one will see it, but I would like to have done a little better. Gonna post the rest of this thread in a little while.

 

Spindle gussets welded on and painted



Shock tower gusset mock up w UCAs



Secondary hoop w Sec. shock and LCA mock up



Here is one of the whole system mocked up.
I checked measurements and clearances every chance I could. Too much isn't enough when it comes to this stuff.
Here is the whole system mocked up with some outlines of what has to happen prior to welding.
I cleaned all the frame and components for the welder to save time for him and me some MONEY!

 

Now it's off to Apex Fabrication for some GLUE!!



Cam Tab Gussets before and then installed, these are a pain but worth it imho.





And now the shock hoops and Tower Gussets. Had to hang the coil over and torque the hoop in place for proper fit. Notice UCA thru bolt with the inner
sleeves w washers in place to insure the gussets are square before he welded them.



Now we hang everything, check for fitment issues and make our marks for the secondary reservoir mounting brackets.
After we're done here, Pearl goes back on the roll back for the return trip to the house to be torn down again and painted.

MAN I WISH I HAD LEARNED HOW TO WELD!!

 

Rear Suspension-King Custom Length Smoothies and Califab LT Rear Links



Took some shuffle, some two step, and a little break dancing to get these Long ass Metal Tech springs in the seats.







Look at the droop these Califab links can give you. Spring is touching the tank skid but the upper link still clears.



Stainless Brake line extensions installed



Metal Tech Bump stop extensions and Wheeler super bumps. Bumps have been shortened since this picture though.
Here's a YouTube link of some footage.
https://youtu.be/n0Nh3PJnJeg

 

Very cool!

Keep us posted.

 

@nimby Thanks you Sir!!
Here is the truck as it sits now. You can't see the scuffed up fender wells and rubber encrusted washer jug from the first few times I was hitting the whoops and the massive dried puddle craters here in Florida.
I still have a lot to learn and many, many hours of testing seat time to get this thing right.
I have a trip planned next week with some other Go fast kooks. Hope to get some video of the truck in action so I can see what it's physically doing during all this automotive violence we call fun, and go from there.

 

It looks awesome!

Well done.

Interested to hear what you do to get it dialed in. Is the valving stock?

 

Forgot to post a video of the front suspension doing its thing.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/wG25bl4Nc1A

 

Thanks nimby!!

First of all there is driving style and terrain to consider. I have to realize this is not a pre runner pickup, it's stock SUV with big limitations. I may be able to adjust my driving a little bit and not hit some of these deeper obstacles with so much speed. Its a lot like driving a speed boat in the ocean, throttle control is everything.

I was on a time crunch for the install (by myself) on these systems because I work out of town for weeks at a time. So, I have yet to properly cycle the front or the back systems to get good measurements. I have clearance issues in the front that might need bump stop extensions to solve or I hack the inner fenders up.
That would possibly require me to relocate and reinforce the battery/fuse box-drivers side-and the intake box/arb compressor-passenger side-and possibly the power steering reservoir. The stock length control arms have these 35s cycling up inside of the outer fender well with only a tiny bit of contact and a little trimming would be needed there.

So there is that plus the valving, which I have a LOT TO LEARN!! Most of this system was pieced together from Group Buys and was intended for the 5th gen at first, which has a ton of weight added. The rear Kings are custom length so they are NOT a stock valving set up, I think they are close to what I need but the bump stop definitely needed to move up. I will have SOME valve changes available with the reservoir adjusters, but I may end up needing to internally revalve them.

The secondaries up front were intended for the 5th gen which has about 350lbs added with bumper, winch, 2nd battery, compressor, skid plates, etc. so not sure how those are valved.
When I decided to put all of this on the 4th gen, I ordered the coilovers from Filthy Motorsports. I have watched the owner Ben Brazda's YouTube vids extensively and decided to go with him. He personally calls you for a consultation and you go from there as to what valving specs you will need.

Tire pressure plays a factor in this a little bit as well as side wall rating. I have E rated on my 5th gen with all the weight added, 1100lbs over curb weight with tank, tools, recovery gear, fridge, etc. I can drop those tires down to 17lbs so it's comfortable off road, and will still handle OK on brief pavement runs.
The 35s on the 4th gen are C rated and feel kinda bouncy. I dropped them down to 17lbs one time and a bunch of mud and debris got shoved into the bead, which created a slow leak. The videos I took were at 25lbs and felt a lot better on and off road.

So in review, this is a long drawn out process, especially for me with no real knowledge about the pre runner style driving I want to do, or the suspension needed to do it with.
I wish I had a lift too!! Jack stands in a single car garage is no fun at my age lol.

 

Ah, didn't notice the adjusters on the reservoir until you mentioned it.

Ultimately, I'd love to do a similar set-up on mine, but it's a bit unrealistic for me since mine is a daily driver that only sees the dirt about 5% of the time.

I'll just have to admire your build for a while

 

Handles the chop ok. Still figuring medium sized whoops out. Handed me my lunch yesterday. Here is some speed in the chop and thick sand tho.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/DLEeyYNgdpg

 

Looks like fun, but i can almost say for sure the whoops will break your shit up at speed. I have been a desert rat for 35 yrs. or so, and the runner is to heavy for one thing.

 

Yea heavy is an understatement. 5340 on the Cat scales. I looked for Pick ups here. Big money still for 250k mile vehicles. I should've flew out and bought a used Prerunner. I needed the learning experience. I know my abilities lacking as well.

 

Trans temps were getting up over 200* the other day blasting through some thick sand. So I put a tiny bit of help in there on the factory cooler. Spal 4" diameter-3A draw- 124 cfm.

 

I think people freak out a little with trans. Temps, 200* in my opinion is acceptable, but the help you installed can’t hurt. I am guessing it was going up and down and that was a high at some point.

 

Yea, I was just testing a little to see if any issues pop up with the engine, suspension or drive train. I never pushed it more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time, so it never got much over 200*, but it was cool ambient temps in the 50s too. Torque app is only giving me pan temps on this older ecu, so I know the converter temps are up over 230* when the pan is at 200*. I've seen my 5th gen get up well over 200 in the bumper to bumper Florida summertime BS. I had to put a B&M cooler w a fan on it too. And yes, I kinda freaked out one Hot summer day loaded down with gear going up a steep grade in the Smokies. 5th Gen temps in the pan were hitting 230*. So I monitor temps and try not to heat them up too bad if I'm just goofing around off road.

 

This build is sweet man!

 

Got tired of this:


So I did this:


Using this on the pump: I also hacked up an old flip flop to cushion the jug underneath and stretch the bungee some. Don't use the rear pump so I left it alone. So far no leaks tho.

 

Lol hell yea it's stupid because it works! I might do something better one day, but for now? Stupid is as stupid does Sir.

 

Forgot to post this awhile ago.....starting to get it sorted out, but these trucks are heavy. Learned about removing the spacer on the Super Bumps from LTDSC.

 

loving this build

 

Because I installed the tower gussets before I thought about headers, installing them may have to be done by pulling the engine, that will be on the back burner for now. But I did order the new Doug Thorley Ypipe tho. They have released new Long Tube Headers and Ypipe for the V8s. For some reason URD doesn't make a Y for the 03' - 04' V8. So DT it is.

 

Less than a week. Ordered last Wednesday. Yes I need to mow my weeds....but I don't wanna!

 

Dead Sexy!! {rubbing nipples} Wish there were headers going on also, but right now pulling the 4.7 ain't in the cards.

 

Forgot to post the Body Lift pics. Roger Brown 1" BL and new OEM bushings.

 

Gonna have a bumper fabbed up soon, so I took the bumper cover off. 1/4" mesh for a little protection. Cheap trailer LEDs for blinkers.

 

Doug Thorley Y pipe audio-Stock manifolds and Thrush muffler with 2 1/4" from the Y pipe all the way back.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kIT8YTGYEwc

 

This Baja bumper has been years in the making. First of all finding out that NO vendors make them for 4Runners, then searching the web for custom builders out west willing to build one, then deciding on a style/construction, and then finding someone local to weld it up that has the time to do the R&D, on the East Coast where most people don't even know what a Prerunner bumper is or looks like. It's been a challenge. That said I have to give some props as this bumper is basically a copy of some guys out in Cali that go by @Troymclure and @LTDSC over on T4R.org, who's fine work and ideas on their own rigs are the inspiration for this 4th Gen build.

 

The boys finished up the bumper today. They chopped the lower portion out for a better approach angle. Vertical tubes and skid plates are done. Ready for primer.