97 4Runner Crawler

Did you drop the tank? I tried splicing those fuckers with the tank in place and without a 4th arm it wasn't gonna happen. lol

 

I tried twisting them up as it was and got pissed so I took a pair of pliers and yanked the fuck out of them. Must have pulled some clip loose and I got an extra inch or two then passed them below the cross bar and spliced it there.

 

Lessons learned:

Front still doesn’t like to flex
front bumpers don’t self clearance well

 

Before I gave up on IFS I was tinkering with putting longer coil overs up front and thus lighter longer coils. A well set up rear sway would probably do the trick, but it’s a lot of leverage to overcome and it adds up quickly with heavy coils and a linked, soft rear.

 

You were playing with a rear sway bar in the crawling thread right?

I really think a sway bar is the only way to really make it flex. These are 18” 500 and they are crazy soft and sits low with as much preload as I can give it before the coil will bind on compression. Thinking about swapping back to 600s or getting 550s. Could also do dual rate of some sort.

I have some 10” kings but just doesn’t seem like it would be worth the work to redo the mount

ive been doing research on pirate on using an ifs pickup torsion bar and it looks pretty simple just have to dial in the arm length and make sure you have clearance for it. I think I’ll also need to swap longer springs in the rear or I will loose a few inches of droop when I’m flexing.

 

That was me. I tried making my own but every one I made bent and broke. I’m still not sure what I was doing wrong, but 16” is a lot of flex so I was probably running out of misalignment. I used a torsion bar from a late model frontier I think it was. Got the idea from probably the same pirate thread you’re looking at. If I had to do it again I’d probably call up TK1 and see what they calculate. The Currie stuff looks too weak in my opinion.

 

There are so many variables to calculate I honestly feel like the only way to know is way too much experience or a bunch of trials with different setups.

I’m tempted to go for Chevy 2500 stuff since I saw one sitting in a junkyard yesterday but I would need some long ass arms and it would probably be so far back and take up fuel cell room if I go that way.

Will make sure I go for all super high misalignment stuff when I get there. The part that worries me the most is figuring out how to keep the max flex I have in the rear. My springs will have to still have probably 500+ lbs of downforce at full droop so I’ll need limit straps and some very different springs, or the sway bar will tap out the springs a few inches short.

 

The front is no slouch to my surprise, just has to tap out the rear suspension to make it flex another 7-8”

Mismatched tires and sizes but I hope I’ll gain that difference when I air down. 37 to the back 34 to the front with the other 3 on the ground.

 

15.5”+ of travel bumped and strapped but no CVs yet so we will see how much I loose from them. Might have to drop test it a few times before I turn in for tonight…

Getting pretty stoked. Front bumper is clearanced and I bumped the LCAs back a bit for better tie rod angles and the uppers back even more to add some more caster.

ordered a few sets of jk springs for the rear to try out and return if they don’t work want to lower it to match closer to the front. It is 2-3” higher now.

 

Buttoned up the suspension, aligned for now at 5 to 5.5 caster -.5 camber and zero toe. Might add a touch of toe since it feels a bit eager to turn. Return to center is super nice with the higher caster.

tried some 2.5” superlift jk springs in the rear to lower it and it only made .75” difference but they didn’t fall out on droop. I might hang on to them a bit, kinda wishing I just left them in now and see how they settle but too late for now.

Driver front clears a 37 at full bump lock to lock outside of the outer fender trimmed for 35s. Passenger side I didn’t want to re tub and was running out of time so it is bumped about 1/2” short and only cleared for 35s. Fenders trimmed for 35s to the point there is almost no point in keeping them.

Cv axles clear coilover at full bump and I cannot find any binding issues through full travel either side. It is strapped about 1/2” short of full droop on both sides to allow some stretch. Full droop is then limited by limited by the shock length on both sides, then upper uniball next. There is no CV bind that I can feel even with coilover at full droop past where limit straps bottom out. I have not measured travel with bumps and straps so I don’t want to make any claims but I would guess 14-14.5

also a drop test video because why not.

https://youtube.com/shorts/U7xcDnoFzOw?feature=share

 

Did you remember to trim the front bumper? I hear they don't like self-clearancing. lol

 

haha I’ve really been pretty scared to drive this thing after that. Felt way better last night driving it. Hydro bumps really kill the body sway after an initial dive.

I’ll wait a little while then probably get 2 more 37s to have a full set of 5. Don’t think the one I ripped up would do too hot at hwy speeds.

 

Drove it back to STL no problems and the pit bulls on method bead grips to test out.

tested rear locker since I haven’t used it since the new rear third member and it cycled fine and holds air. Tested front and it is pissing air out of the breather. Fuck me

if anyone has reccomendations let me know. Doubt I can get it figured out before wheeling tomorrow but hopeful I can get something working for it before next Thursday for Toyota jamboree in tx.

 

Did you have it in 4X when you tested the front locker?

 

No… could that cause it to leak?

I don’t think the computer ever registers that it is in 4wd since I got rid of all the add and vacuum stuff if that makes a difference.

Locker still engages just cycles compressor every 10 seconds ish.

 

Yep. It's happened to me a few times testing it after various repairs. If it's in 4WD it doesn't leak. Never really looked into more then that. lol

 

Yea I tried it this morning in even in 2wd and it fixed itself. Thanks

 

Ended up relocating the battery next to the driver rear wheel well because that is where the amp wire reached. Left the amp wire separate (1/0 CCA cable and a 200a fuse that was originally routed through firewall to battery is now just straight back to battery). Ran a 2/0 welding lead from the positive terminal through a 400a fuse up to a 400a bus bar in the battery’s original location. Grounded to the body in two separate places from the battery and grounded the bus bar to the body as well. I only used the winch to stabilize on a hill during a repair so still untested under hard pulls but it worked well for me so far. Jamboree is this weekend so may adjust the grounds but I will probably use the winch more then. @slander @cbechtold

Parts I used are listed

$46 Gloaso 400 Amp Bus Bar Box Copper Made Heavy-Duty Module with 8 x 3/8" (M10) Studs Terminals Battery Distribution Block 12V- 48V DC Black & Red Cover

400a Bus bar / box for under hood

$29 Spartan Power 400 Amp ANL Ceramic Fuse & Holder Kit Red

400a anl fuse and holder at battery, chose these because they say American made and seem to have a good reputation.
Bought some 500a fuses from the same company incase 400 isn’t enough.
20’ 2/0 power flex welding lead
T62 copper lugs for terminations - these are only rated for 150a. Seems like a low rating to me for a solid copper lug that fits 2/0 cable but I’m keeping an eye on them.
Ground is a couple solid cables run to the body in different places for now.

I am super happy with the suspension. It absolutely eats up crappy washouts and 6” loose rock. On big ditches I may have to tap the brakes to avoid bottoming the bumps but I never hit them hard all weekend. the valving is a little soft for the big hits or I need to bump up the psi in the bumps. They are currently at 300 locked offroad says max is 350 so maybe I need to learn how the oil fill changes it.

going too fast on crappy trail sections caught up to me Saturday night and I woke up Sunday morning to a banana outer tie rod. I decided to just run it for another trail but it only made it half way till I bound it in a hill climb and ripped the ball out. Got it swapped and kept going. steering rack d ring bushing is fucked and creaking bad but it drove 9 hours back to texas fine after adjusting toe. Switched to all poly rack bushings and it just cut that thing in half. Have a bunch of new oem d ring bushings that I’ll swap in but I’m goin got try and leave the other two poly.

flex is great till I hit a hard side hill when the body lean adds to the steep angle and my stomach wants to turn over with it.

 

Get it majorly stuck very bad going up hill and turn all your electronics on while winching and let me know if you blow the fuse! That way I can know if it will work on my junk or not LOL!!!


But seriously do that