T-Revv's T-Runner

Copying my build thread over from a different forum. Please look through, get some ideas, ask questions if you have any and I will keep updating as I continue on with this.

 

Back story: I wheeled my IFS lifted carburetor 86 Ext cab pick up for a couple of years, then got rid of that, bought a single cab 91 pick up, that I straight axled, locked, geared, custom bobbed flat bed, ect. Had a great time with my 91, i love that truck. However, I decided 2 things. Decision 1: Its time to go bigger and better. Its time for links, dual cases, select able lockers front and rear, 37's (the list goes on). Decision 2: I want more seats. Ive always lived my life with the more the merrier perspective. I love having people around, entertaining and and sharing my fun with others. In my 91 I have the two race seats, 1 for me, one for my fiance, so i could never take people. Plus one day ill have kids and want seats for them too. So for reason number 2 this 91 as great as it is, isn't going be the one to build big and bad like I'm thinking. So It became time to build a 4 runner.

 

Looking through 4 runners (mostly 2nd gen, and 3rd gen, not a fan of 1st gen) here and there, not really having money for one until i sell my truck, but just looking, dreaming, drooling. This 2nd gen 4runner randomly pops up on a local 4wd page i follow on facebook. runs but over heats (3.0 problem), stock, unmolested, automatic trans...$400. Of course this catches my attention. Not a fan of the 3.0, but i dont have the money to buy anything new enough to have a 3.4, and i wont wheel an automatic, its just not in me. But for $400... i can put a man trans in it, and maybe later put a 3.4 in it. I call the guy and make sure he has a pink slip for this car ( i dont want to buy stolen property) he does. Im there. Start checking everything out. ***wait... is this a 2wd 4runner? crap...how did i not notice looking at the pics or ask that? but im already planning a SAS and a trans swap, so i guess it doesn't matter. talked the guy down to 350 with "oh i wasnt expecting a 2wd, idk if i want it" went to fire it up, battery was junk, pulled mine out of my truck and it fired right up. The guy looks at me and says "Oh my god, its never started that easy, i dont know if i want to sell it now" haha, i didnt drive down here to work on your stuff for free buddy, no we already agreed on 350. drove it on to the trailer, handed him his money, got the pink and was on my way home.

 

SR5, pretty clean, especially for $350 and I drove it around and on to the trailer. not bad.

 

My original plan was a 4WU links front and rear right off the bat. However that would take every ounce of what im selling my 91 for, plus I'm not quite ready to buy a diamond housing yet and i don't think a stock housing would hold up too well over time with the link system. So for now it will get All pro Springs all the way around, leaving me money for the important things like dual cases, gears and lockers. (a linked 2wd, stock geared truck wouldn't make it far on the Rubicon) But in time the links will come. I am determined to at one point own a linked rig. And im planning on keeping this one for awhile. Looking at the long game with this build, instead of whatever to get it going.

 

Kept running it, trying different things to see why it was getting hot. Went to put water in the radiator for like the 4th time and saw the galaxy in my cooling system (bits of stop leak floating around). Great. Well no need to keep testing, with stop leak through the whole cooling system im going to pull the motor and tear the block down. Gotta make sure all of that is out. So time for rebuilding the head, decking the block, checking my pistons and rings. Going to stud the block with ARP head studs, put a multi-layered steel head gasket on it. New water pump, thermostat, radiator. If you're going to do it, do it right, you know?

 

The motor tear down begins

 

Oh ya... this is what everyone wants to see when starting a project... looks like a rats nest tucked into the engine

WOOHOO!! ITS OUT!

 

got the motor all torn down, ready for rebuild. I AM PUMPED (excited)!!!

 

Found the source of my overheating issue was someone who tried to rebuild the motor before put the left head gasket on the right and right on the left, blocking water ports... (no circulation)...Idiots. Also found this gem, oil coolant port completely plugged with rust. But all in all the block and cylinders look good. Everything looks like a good platform to start to build

 

At this point, started getting my transmission built by Marlin Crawler, R150F with upgraded billet shift forks, chromoly thrust washer and chromoly bearing cover plate and short throw shifter being built to do my 5 speed swap. And man it looks good all done. Cant wait to slap this behind my fresh built motor in the T-Runner.

 

And the engine parts start rolling in. My Aisin parts (water pump and oil pump) the important stuff you don't cheap on, some Toyota seals for the stuff i never want to change again, and LCE multi-layered steel head gasket and ARP head studs. Id take a pic of my Doug Thorly long tube headers, i don't want to unpack all of that yet.

 

The machine shop resurfacing my heads and decking the block took their sweet time. But its going back together now. Block reassembled, heads on, t100 rear sump oil pan on.

 

With not much happening while waiting for parts and deciding we didn't want to be working on it with all the built up oil, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, dirt, grime and god knows what else under the hood and on the frame, I spent a couple hours under there with putty knives to scrape, and degreaser and scrubbing pads going to town on that thing. I stepped back into the shop smelling of orange from the degreasser and looking like I had just rolled in grease. But it still was not as clean as I wanted. So deciding it wasn't worth my time really get it all off, I took it to a local truck washer where they put it on a lift and sprayed it with their degreaser, scrubbed it pressure washed it. The whole engine bay and under carriage. This should make life much easier when we start really working on this.

 

Started getting my front housing cleaned up and the detent in the housing pushed out to accommodate my elockers


The knuckle balls were looking a little pitted so we cleaned them up and got them looking good.
Before:

After:


got the axle all gusseted with the Marlin Crawler full face diff armor, Marlin Crawler knuckle ball gussets and Marlin Crawler upper axle gusset.

 

While waiting on the lift space to start getting this done. Got the engine done and ready to go in, trans is done and ready to go in, tcase is waiting for a 23 spline 2.28 input to come from Japan. Diffs are built and ready. Been messing with my axle, got that armored, got my high pinion Elocker diff installed, 30 spline EMPI shafts in, high steer arms on with 25mm pins top and bottom, and have been mocking up Tacoma brakes. parts will start going under it soon, everything is basically prepped and ready.

 

finally on the lift and going under the knife (well plasma but you get it). All the IFS is cut off ready for the straight axle and lift to go in.



Got the springs hanger installed, frame tubes in, motor mount boxed, springs mounted, axle hanging, steering box mount moved forward.

 

The T-Runner is off the lift and sitting on its suspension and axles. Now we just need to finish building the tcase, and put in that beautiful rebuilt engine and new transmission, figure out drive lines and Ill be hitting the trail.

 

Got my dual E-locker harness from Off-Road Solutions. I knew they did good work but this blows me away. The wiring is ridiculously clean, it has a super nice fuse block in it, everything is clearly labeled for ease of install. Wow. If you guys need harness work, I definitely suggest giving Mike a call at Off-Road Solutions.

 

I test fit some prototype bumpers for Marlin Crawler, they are looking good. Very Happy with them, I painted the front bumper before installing, the rear I left bare for now, but will be painted the same color soon.

Here is the rear once I took off the factory Bumper:


Here is how the bumper brackets installed (super easy)


And here is a couple of the rear fully installed (not painted) (ignore all the parts in the back of the vehicle, its still a project)



Front W/ No Bumper:


Got the front bumper all painted and mounted:


From the side with both bumpers on:


T-Runner complete with bumpers now. Change my name to McDonalds, cuz Im lovin it

 

Pictures of the engine in.


But a lack of judgement on my part may have set me back a little. I didnt think about how long that fuel had been in that tank (no telling how long it was there before I got it). Started it and may have instantly ruined 3 of my 6 freshly rebuilt injectors. Doh.

 

I like where this is headed. I too wish sometimes my 88 pickup had more seats.

 

What’s your ring/pinion ratio and tire size? The 5.29’s with 35’s with my 3VZE/R150f are geared a bit low. 2800rpm’s at 60mph.

 

5.29 with 37" tires. The combination seems perfect to me.

 

Awesome. I want to go 37’s. When you get it all together I’d be curious to know you rpms at 60mph on a flat roadway.

 

It is done, Im just catching up posting it to this forum, I will have to check for you what the RPM is at that speed. I belive its around 2500 if my memory serves correctly

 

New Tires I decided to go with the Cooper Discover Stt Pro. They seem to perform good offroad, but dont wear super fast on the street, not too aggressive, but aggressive enough. A good dual purpose tire. These will suit the Trunner well.

 

OVRAROK (from the Marlin Crawler Forum) reminded me to flush my heater core after I found those idiots before me had ran stop leak in the cooling system. Rather than flushing it I decided to change it... that was fun, to get to the heater core the whole dash and dash support have to come out. But once i got it out, super glad I changed it. That thing was so plugged up, and had been so for so long that the copper had started to oxidize. Thing looked nasty. Unfortunately didn't get a pic of it, but here is pic of the dash torn apart.

 

Could not get my cold start injector to work. Replaced the injector, replaced the injector timer, retraced all the wiring. No cold start. Marlin was scratching his head, couldnt figure it out. Then after looking at the wiring schematic for the umpteenth time, he realized we needed to check the water temp sensor for the computer (different than the water temp sensor for the gauge) and viola messed up connection in that plug. Which means the computer didnt know the engine temp, so it wasnt sending the signal to the cold start injector. Headache solved.

 

ell there is a local street fair where our local 4wheel drive club has a booth coming up this weekend. They want my 4runner there, Fingers crossed Ill get it done to be there. Then next weekend is trail closings, which im supossed to be leading through swamp lake, and then panamint valley days the following weekend which im registered for... So its crunch time. Lots of events the TRunner is supossed to be at and it is so close to being done. Just trying to wrap it up.