What have you done to your 1st Gen 4Runner today?

i found a beat up top...$40.00 and cut it apart to make a summer cover...aligns with the bolts no extra work and keeps the kids shaded.

 

Installed a winch in our new to us 85. Also replaced cracked dash with a new coverlay brand cover.

 

Tried looking for it do you have a link to it please. (COVERLAY)

 

I got it on eBay. Coverlay website shows color choices, but couldn’t order from them. Just type in “198x 4Runner dash “ into eBay search. Several sellers carry these. Was under $140. Hope this helps.

 

That coverlay looks good. I wish they were a two piece design. After you glue that down it would be a nightmare to have to do any maintenance where it requires removing and dash parts.

 

They do sell just the tray side. Not seeing any issues removing dash components with this cover. Only covers the original dash cap as far as I can see.

 

The gauge cluster hood and the dash pad/tray are separate parts and disassemble in different manors depending on how far you need to go into the dash.

 

My old one was one piece. No evidence of any separate pieces. Maybe replaced at another point in 35 years of use? Pretty sure I can still remove gauge cluster if a need arises.

 

Thanks for the insight on disassembly dark knight. I hope I don’t have to take anything apart soon.

 

New tires 35x12.5r15 on 10” rims.

 

Shocks, tie rods, idler arm, pitman arm, brakes, ball joints, axles, bearings, bushings.

 

I changed all my dash lights and switches to red LED’s.

 

Pro comp 33311 rear leafs bolt up 4” lift for 88 4runner. $263 delivered in two days from order date from summit racing with bushings but I don’t think they will work. Might have to find new stock ones. Gonna measure everything else tomorrow. Pro comp says they will bolt in with out modification. Gotta be better than blocks and without the extra spring length from chevy 63” springs . Just gotta find time to bolt them up. Will it need an alignment after install?

 

Sadly, I know less than nothing about suspension, and/or steering. I can't answer about the truck's alignment.

Having said that, I do ONE thing will have to be adjusted: The LPSV alignment. You can easily see the bar that connects the LPSV to the rear axle in your second picture. It looks like there was already a mod done to it for the lift the truck has now. About 1/2 way down the axle from the pumpkin to the tire. That strap bolted to the axle, right beside the brake line.
THE Book, the FSM, has an excellent alignment procedure for th LPSV. You probably just need to make a new "strap" that connects to the axle for the new height. I may well be wrong on that, though.

The LPSV determines the braking strength of the front and back brakes for the weight, and thus the height, of the back of the truck relative to the front. The lower the back, relative to the front, the more weight, so the LPSV applies more pressure to the rear brakes, as opposed to the front. If you lift just the back, you might get very weak, or no, brake pressure to the rear. Might be shocking the first time you drive it
Make sure you bleed the LPSV when you bleed the brakes, too.

If you already knew all this stuff, then I apologize.
Carry on!
Pat☺

 

Hi all, I'm always doing the constant improvement. Today I did something I've bought, and acquired the parts to do. Bought ( all OEM ) - Door seal, inner rubber window run - outside window rubber gutter run - door keep - about 12 door card insert holders and 2 new door bumper stops.
New ( not OEM ) Power window regulator and a nicer used door lock pull. Also had to buy a widow to get a non rusted to h*ll window holder and rubber.
Removed every thing and ajax the bear door. Before I did all this today I prepped all the rust out then used POR 15 to seal and covered that with Rustoleum almond ( VERY VERY close match to my color. Here's a picture of all that's going into the trash.

 

Well this will be a fun project! Maybe I’ll start this soon. And I just got the new radio in!
I’ll let you know how it goes!

 

I finally installed the springs today with all new bushings had to use new stock rubber bushings for the front and in the back I use the bushings the springs cam with and some from poly performance. new shackles with 3/4” bolts I think about 8” long? Works great no alignment needed. Cruised her around on the freeway today.

 

Removed all the parts I wanted and cut this body off of the 85 frame and straight axle. Now to reinforce the frame rebuild the front end and set the suspension how I want then transfer the drive train and body over from my 88.

 

New throttle body new ditch lights

 

I wish I had taken some "during" pictures, but this was the end result. The winch was not going to fit between the bumper and grill, so surgery was required. I had an extra grill from my 1989 that I didn't mind cutting up. I just removed my clean and pristine 1984 chrome grill and headlight surrounds and am keeping them in storage. I used a battery operated 4" diameter abrasive cut-off wheel. I then painted the grill with a rattle can black bed liner product. Also, I 3D printed a TOYOTA emblem and held it to the grill with double sided sticky tape.

 

I'm messing around trying to get a stereo installed. I like the looks of the modern FJ stereo and it's a 6 disc changer so hopefully I can get it to fit. Also, it has Orange background lighting LOL. I'll probably be replacing my green dash lights for orange in the near future.

 

The installation of tube doors required some adjustments to the hinges. Making those same adjustments when putting the solid doors back on was impossible without removing the fender. Had to be done... I also replaced my green dash bulbs with orange LED's.

 

I bought a set of refurbished wheels off eBay. Found a decent set of used Cooper Discoverer STT's (35x12.5R15") off Craigslist. Had to pay retail for a set of wheel spacers (2" rear, 1 1/4" front) to keep the tires from rubbing the leaf springs. Bought a set of Dorman lug nuts from O'Reilly's. Cleaned up most of the dirt around the wheel wells and shocks while I had each wheel off. All done for #TheLook

 

I've found this issue to usually be due to the driveshaft needing greased. Also, it may need lengthened or install a flange spacer if you have a decent lift. That all assumes you have good oil in the diff and the gears are still in good condition.

 

Well my 88 is finally underway again. Was waiting the past 3 months for advanced adapters to send me my custom atlas transfer case. Now fitment and testing is underway with the late model LS 6.0 swap!

My question is should I be concerned about any kind of frame twist with this LS? The 3.0 V6 that came out of it had stock horsepower around 150 or something. Now I'm going to have close to 400hp with sort of matching torque numbers. And let's be honest here, when you go from a 150hp anemic V6 to 400hp V8 you're going to want to get into it every now and then.

 

I have the exact same unicorn!!!

 

My buddy has an 89 pickup with a 350 in it. He ended up reinforcing the frame in the rear, adding ladder bars to help control the axle wrap and the biggest issue he had was the added weight of the bigger motor. He ended putting a solid axle under it and I believe running wagoneer leaf springs up front. He had custom drivelines built ( I built the front one and he had the rear built at a driveline shop) he was also running chromoly axle shafts in the rear.

 

I got my front seats redone in leather. I'm satisfied with how they turned out, but the shop seems to have increased the spring tension or something because I feel like I'm sitting 2" higher which is not a good thing.

 

Take it out put it pack just to see the clutch