Frankenstein Build: Stock -> 37's on IFS -> SAS

Thanks! The only thing I have left to make is a decent cover for it. I am having trouble finding good material. I want PVC coated polyester, like what bounce houses are made of, but finding a supplier that doesn't sell it in 1000's of yards is difficult.

 

Just had a random thought about this. What about the material those inflatable rafts are made of? I know we use to have one that was pretty thick/durable material. Maybe hack one up

Sick build by the way!

 

BTW, I've been to Ontario quite a few times to visit the Ventura Foods plant for work. I've learned to stay in Rancho C and always have to eat at Avocado Burger for lunch and Lazy Dog for dinner. I brought my wife with me on one trip and we drove up to Big Bear. There's so much to do out there but I do enjoy living in the free state of AL.

 

That's a good idea! Very similar to a bounce house. I just need to find someone who popped their raft. I was thinking about calling some bounce house rental places and seeing if they have old equipment or a lead to some material. I soppuse I could call some rafting places too. To bad the closest river to raft in is over 200 miles from me....

Thank you! Hopefully this summer I can get some much bigger projects done on him.

 

Haha I'm glad you like our "little" town. You can never go wrong with Lazy Dog or Avacado Burger, that's for sure! I love Lazy Dog's Bacon Jam burger, mmmm....

No kidding on things to do, we have just about everything within an hour drive. My only gripe is the people. People. People everywhere. You cannot escape the people. When it snows the mountain roads are deadlock from here to the desert. Everyone in the valley wants a piece of the snow.

 

I haven't updated this in a while, so I figured I would

1st off I sold the solid axle I purchased because it was turning in to too much work to make the 5 lug axle work with a 6 lug Toyota. I could have done wheel adapters but I really didn't want them. I sold it for the price I paid for it, so that was nice.

On the other hand, a couple days after I sold it I found a Wagoneer axle!! The guy only wanted $400 with the springs, and everything! You bet I jumped on that. This axle is so much nicer as well as being 6 lug, the right width, and a ton of documentation online to install it. I don't have the cash for the SAS right now, but I will slowly collect parts as I can, I'll keep you all updated as I go.

 

Now on to things I have actually done to the truck.

Skid Plates!!​

I finally have real skid plates!! I helped a buddy cut out some metal and in return he gave me a Savage transmission and T-case skid for a 3rd gen 4runner after seeing how jacked my old "skid plate" was.







Now for those that don't know (I didn't), the 4runners have a crossmember right after the T-case that us Tacoma's don't. Many Tacoma skid plates have arms that bolt to the frame, but the Savage skids are built to bolt to this crossmember. So the transmission skid worked, but the T-case didn't have anything to bolt to. No worries, I just made my own crossmember. I used 2"x2.5" .120 rectangular steel tube which I was able to cut with my grandpa's horizontal band saw.






I welded it right to the frame in the same spot the 4runner's cross member is located. I am super happy with my welds too! So much improvement since my last welding project. I finished it off with some bed liner paint and holes for the skids. Believe it or not the truck feels more sturdy with this crossmember. Their is less frame flex off road and it feels tighter on the road.

For the front skid I purchased an one through Yotamasters. I got this one because 1. it was super cheap, 2. I have an All-Pro bumper, and 3. I knew I would need to modify it to work. I Couldn't find a used Savage skid so this was the next best option. The All-Pro one is nothing fancy but it is the same thickness steel as the Savage ones. I had to cut the back off of their skid off to get it to work with my other skids. This is because of the bend in All-Pro's skids. This bend mounts to their transmission skid, but I don't have their trans skid, so I didn't need it.



I'll update with some pics of the skids installed. I thought I had one but I guess not. Overall this set up looks and works great! I haven't lost any ground clearance and I feel good about bashing rocks. I would highly recommend if you can only find used 4Runner skids. Total cost for everything was about $210.

 

Wiring Cleanup​

Over the last year I have added a few to many things directly to the battery. It was starting to look messy especially after the winch and air pump (more on that later). I looked around for a wiring kit but I couldn't find anything in my price range or that I liked. So as per usual I decided to make my own! I had some terminal screw rails and some plexiglass lying around so I decided to see what I could make. Below is the beauty I came up with:


The large rail is made from 2 copper bars which uses the screws from the terminal rails to both hold it and connect it. The 2 bolts on either end are for battery and winch hookup. Notice how messy my battery terminals are.

After a little wiring cleanup I ended up with a fairly clean and easy to use system.





It made wiring up my air pump and winch a breeze as well. I also replaced my battery terminals with quick disconnects. So far I like them very much, they aren't super sturdy, but they haven't bounced off and I can disconnect the ground in seconds.



I was worried I wouldn't be able to get in to my fuse box but I can still easily open the box and remove fuses as needed. The next step will be adding a very large circuit breaker to the hot side just in case I experience a short. Overall it is a little band-aid, but it is home made and works just as well as anything for sale, for literally no money!

 

Air Pump!​

After I sorted out my wiring situation I felt comfortable installing onboard air. I really wanted an ARB pump, but cmon, that's too easy (and expensive). I had an old 12v cigarette port pump and an old 5 gal air tank lying around. I decided these were the perfect combination for me. My only problem was turning the pump off when it got the the pressure I wanted. Thankfully, by some stroke of luck, I was blessed by finding a broken Husky air compressor on the side of the road. I took it home and removed the pressure shutoff switch and recycled the tank. My plan was meant to be.

After I had all the parts collected and ensured they were working I started thinking about a way place/mount the tank. I found the best area was in the old spare tire space. I will never use the spare tire holder again so I may as well use the space for something. I purchased some water heater straps to mount the tank and it is actually super solid!



The pump feeds in to the tank through the pressure switch and after the pressure reaches ~85 psi it shuts off! The pump also has a switch on my dash so it doesn't always come on, only when I want it. On the other side of my tank I have a standard female air compressor fitting which I can connect a hose to.



I am slightly worried about breaking the gauge off but I will cross that bridge when I get there. I may run some new hose to tuck it closer to the pump, but for now it works great. The pump runs for about 15 mins to fill the tank which isn't too bad. I can turn the pump on when I am about 20 mins from the end of a trail and be ready to fill my tires by the time I finish. The air tank could also help with re seating a tire if the bead pops off or running some very small air tools.

I know some of you may think my truck is a little ghetto, but I am having a blast with almost no money and I am using things I have around the garage. I am figuring out new ways to do things and I am enjoying the whole process.



As a side note lots of people walking by like to ask what the bright yellow tank under my truck is. Older Toyota people are worried it is my propane tank but when I explain to them what it is they all think it is pretty clever!

 

Coilover Rebuild​

I am running Tundra coilovers on my Tacoma. So far they have worked great but I have noticed the remote resi. hose was hitting my UCA. This was okay until the fitting broke and started dumping shock oil everywhere. I decided it was time to do something about this. I went to an aircraft parts store near me and together we came up with a solution. We ended up completely rebuilding my hoses with new fittings which allowed the UCA to travel completely without hitting the fittings.



I ended up using a 90 degree fitting connected to 2 45 degree fittings on the top and bottom. This allowed for enough customization with angles to properly avoid the UCA. It just barely, and I mean barely clears, but it clears and that's all that matters!





I welded some remote resivor mounts to my frame to get the resivor in a good spot.

Unfortunately it ever so slightly rubs on my tire and in the future I will probably tuck it closer to the coilover, but for now it isn't a huge issue.

I think it came out super clean and it's completely custom. The hoses cost $80 but even combined with my coilover rebuild cost I have saved over $1000 vs. buying new!


As yet another side note, taking these springs off is crazy sketch! I hate doing it, it's only a matter of time before I loose a hand or something.

 

Clutch Replacement​

I figured this would come some day. Over the last month I have noticed my clutch slowly getting softer and softer and taking some time to grab. It got to a point where if I floored it it would slip. Time to replace it!

The previous owner claimed he replaced it 20k miles before I bought it, and I drove about 30k since I've owned it. 50k miles shouldn't have killed the clutch, and after taking it apart I do not believe he replaced it. The clutch and clutch cover both still said Toyota/Aisin on it! Based on how the guy repaired this truck (teflon tape to seal the injectors!) I highly highly doubt he would've spent the money on an OEM Toyota clutch.

Spent about a day removing the transmission and clutch. The previous owner forgot a bolt in the bell housing, stripped another, and didn't tighten the crossmember mount so the transmission was just bouncing around back there. I spent a long time re threading bolt holes and tracking down the missing bolts. Freaking booger eater.

And check out the flywheel! Gross





I went to my local machine shop and he was able to get it looking like new, so at least that was nice.




Next time I do this I will replace the flywheel but I couldn't afford a new one this time.

For the actual clutch I bought the Marlin Crawler kit. It was slightly cheaper then the OEM Toyota one but with much better reviews. They got it shipped to me next day!!




And now the truck feels AMAZING! The clutch grabs hard and it is actually easier to press the pedal despite going from 900lb to 1200lb pressure plate. I am very happy with this clutch and would recommend it to all Tacoma owners.

 

Awesome. Nice job. What did they charge to turn the flywheel?

 

Thank you! They only charged me $30. I expressed my concern about the crack but he said not to worry. I trust the shop, they have been around since the 50's and it's been a family business for 3 generations. The current owner is the grandson of the founder which is pretty neat!

 

Very fair price from a shop with a great story. I suspect they know what they are talking about.

 

I was expecting to pay $75+ but I was very happy and suprised with the work and price. I would like to believe the same lol.

 

Updating this finally.

Over the last few months my truck has received some much needed reliability mods. I finally got around to installing some Total Chaos spindle gussets and Eimkeith LCA reinforcements. 100% worth the price!! Toyota no longer manufactures our spindles and used ones are getting more expensive by the day.



I started by removing the front suspension. Every time I do this it gets easier!



Then lots of cleaning and welding, pretty straight forward!



As a note: the Eimkeith kit works on our trucks IF you grind off the sway bar mount. Turns out 3rd gen 4runners have the sway bar mount in a different location. Our mount interferes with the kit. No worries since I don't run a sway bar but some food for thought on anyone planning on doing this. You may be able to buy a new 4runner LCA with the relocated sway bar mount but eh, at that point you're spending a lot.



Threw some paint on the components and reinstalled them. Pretty easy and I feel much better wheeling the truck! (Also may be necessary for the 37's going on this year )

 

LIGHTS!!

It was about time for some lights! I was getting pretty tired of my old foggy headlights and decided to send it on a bunch of Chinese lights from Amazon.

I decided now was a better time then any to re do my power distribution system. I made a little mount and bought a fuse/relay box from Amazon.









SOOOO much cleaner then my previous solution.

I had a light bar lying around so I bought some mounts on Amazon and used my new favorite tool to install it, RIVNUTS!









The bar sits pretty low and looks pretty good IMO!

I didn't take many pictures of the rest of the install but I used wire wrap on all my wires and ran everything to all the different parts of the truck. I wired reverse lights, rock lights, ditch lights, a light bar, and bumper lights.

Here is a comparison between headlights, high beams, bumper lights, and light bar. Camera was set in manual mode as to not adjust exposure:









And some pics of all the lights on:







Just under $200 and I can wheel at night comfortably. I am most impressed with the 2 lights on my bumper. They put out almost as much light as the light bar! Since I spent my time on the wiring it will be easy to upgrade to better lights as I have the money. For now the Chinese ones are perfectly fine.

 

RETROFITS!

So now I have great lighting while wheeling, but what about on the road?? Originally I was okay with this but one day on my way home I hit a dog I couldn't see until it was too late. This scared me and I realized my OEM headlights were a danger. I looked at some pre made projector options but holy cow!! $500+ for headlights?? No thanks. I love the look so I set out to build my own.

Started by removing the old headlights. I stuck it in the oven to remove the lens but overall a heat gun would have had the same effect.



Now as you can see my OEM headlights are smooth on the inside with the refactoring done in the lens. Obviously I didn't want to use the old lens so I bought some perfectly clear lenses on ebay. The ebay headlights came with the refraction part in the head light body itself which i didn't really like. I decided to use the smooth body in my OEM lights with the clear lens of the ebay ones. Thankfully they were the same shape and fit perfectly together.



I was happy with my Chinese lights from my offroad light install so why not use some on the headlights too?? These are the cheapest projectors money can buy and I can honestly say they work pretty good! They came with all the hardware for a retrofit. As you can see from my test fit they fit pretty good! I didn't like the chrome look so I painted everything black. With projectors you don't need all the reflective surfaces any way.



Since I was building my lights I figured I'd throw in some flare with these RGB halos. My wife thought they looked like "cute bug eyes". (Thank God cause usually she gets mad at all the money i spend on my truck )







Now I love the halo look but the halos I bought aren't great quality, I will replace them one day but they work for now.

Finally was able to test fit everything in the housing and they looked great! One more trip in the oven, some clamps and headlight glue, and they were sealed!







Now if any one has used projector headlights before they will know there is a shield for high and low beams. Many people just send it with high beams all the time but I didn't want that. One transistor later and the H-L beams worked with the factory switch! Here is a diagram on how to do this:





Finally I installed the lights and adjusted them where they needed to be. I am very happy with this build. My headlights are ultra bright and adjusted properly as to not blind everyone on the road. I HIGHLY recommend this mod.

 

Eventually I will get around to posting my custom bed rack and the troubles I've been having with my steering system and how I ultimately fixed it. For now I'll leave off with future plans. I had to sell the solid axle for a new steering rack, but I think that was for the better right now. I don't have enough money for a SAS at this time.

I think for the next year I am going to focus on doing some mods that will make the truck fun, even with "stock" IFS. To start I am going to get a regear and a front locker. 4.88's are going in because they are one of the few ratios that work with a solid axle. Since I am regearing I am also going to a bigger tire size. I decided on 37's because why not. With 37's and 4.88's the ratios will be dead on to stock 4.10's on 31's. There are a few people on 37's and I think with some solid CV axles I can reliably run 37's.

Once I get that work done I will start getting my crawl box ready for install. I have the parts to build the box but just haven't had the time to get it together. Since I am manual I will be running 4.7 gears in the crawl box.

I think that will get me a very capable truck for a while until I have the cash flow to link and one ton swap it. I figure if I'm gonna go through all the trouble of a SAS I may as well do it right.

Wish me luck and I'll update y'all in another year !