LFaub's 4x4 conversion/camper build

Let’s see if I found the right guy. You my thermo buddy?

 

Yup!

 

Well now I know and can invite you either here or in class for any trips or if you needed help working on anything. Like I said, my truck is going to be down for a while while I build a cage, but we have a 4Runner that isn’t afraid of wheeling either.

 

Right on man! Yea lemme know if you’re out wheeling, sounds fun

 

bout damn time lmao

yea trust me, we're doin phat yeets this summer just wait!

 

I’m also thinking of making my own sliders this summer, too, so I won’t be pussy-footing that shit once I got some armor on.

All my projects depend on my Subaru though, and how quickly I can get that engine rebuilt

 

Took a trip to Sedona today to try Broken Arrow Trail. Was a blast! Was a good excuse to see how low range feels offroad, and got a good shake-down and stress test for all my new drive components

 

More pictures from my phone

 

Read through this whole thread trying to decided what to do with my truck. How did you learn all of this stuff? I’m am clueless and reading what you had to do to convert to 4wd is overwhelming for me. I have a 4 door prerunner trd and really wish it had 4wd now that we are looking at family overlanding but man oh man. That conversion process..... Wowzers! Well done to you! Awesome truck! Great thread for inspiration!

 

Unlike a lot of guys I didn’t do a whole lot of research and part counting. That being said there is a list of parts and you’ll find it on most 4x4 conversion threads.

What I did was I bought parts once I’d saved up, and when I was ready to install them, I threw it together. My build wasn’t the most smooth-sailing though, I had a lot of road blocks and whatnot while going through it (rust in my donor transfer case, wrong year transmission, wrong torque converter, wrong front gear ratio, to make a few). However, the build doesn’t require any fabrication, which means it’s something doable for a moderately-skilled backyard mechanic.

If I can give you any advice, it’ll be to be patient and find the correct parts the first time. I planned my swap for a solid two years before buying my first part, but a lot of my purchases were impulsive and I paid for that in the long run.

Also a huge help was that I had a service manual. I had a Haynes manual that I’d read in my spare time, and that’s how I ended up learning a lot about the different variations between model years, the different types of systems (like push-button vs manual transfer cases), and how and where to install everything.

Overall, the build is doable if you know what to expect. And while I don’t have my conversion as thoroughly-documented as some other TW members, I’m happy to give advice to anyone who wants to do it for themselves!

Edit: Wew sorry that turned out to be a bit of an essay, but a TL;DR is that it’s entirely doable, I had some hiccups that were entirely my fault, but if you’re set on doing the conversion I’ll try to give you any advice you may need

 

Nice Pictures Logan. Glad things went well.

 

Did my steering rack bushings today. Was kind of a bitch but certainly doable without removing the rack from the truck or using a press. Just needed a big C-clamp and a bunch of cussing.

Really glad with the turnout, the old bushings were so shot and now I got some kickass Energy Suspension poly in there. Next come LCA bushings!

 

Nice. Amazing how much the steering rack moves when these are shot.

 

Impulse-bought some OME springs after talking with some friends about trucks. Figure I’ll wanna do them anyways, so I might as well do it now since I’ll be tearing apart my front end to do the bushings.

Still need to find time to get the bushings done, too. Been ultra busy with work and can’t find any shop days. Hopefully July has some more opportunities open for me

 

Which springs did you get? I installed 881's Saturday with 511's. Got 1.5" lift on setting zero. Not what i needed so i will be doing some adjustments. Need another 1".

 

I did the 881s. I heard the 882s don’t work very well on 5100 shocks, so I was planning on doing 881 springs on the medium setting

 

Probably best even if you didnt have 5100s, i got like 4in of lift when I first put my 882s on

 

Let me know what you get.

I started with stock Toyota shocks & struts with a 1" leveler. I went to to 5100's set to Zero (

$143 24-249928 Bilstein 24249928 Shock Absorber

24-249928) with 881's and got 1.5" lift.
That is with all new front end parts and 4WD V6 AT Double Cab.

I also read that 882's were probably not good unless i planned a winch and beefy front bumper which i do not have plans for.

 

Yeah from what I’ve been hearing they’re pretty tall, but they’re the same spring rate as the 881s so I think it’d be a bit much for my truck

 

Springs came in and I got shop time on Monday, so I should have my front end finally dialed in next week