y=mx+b's 05 4runner Build Thread

ordered this booger finally. It was inconsistent for a while, so I went with it, but now its full on dead. should be an easy replacement, its only the 3rd one I've done


brownie points for knowing the significance of the fake order number :math:

 

Actuator arrived Thursday and I replaced the driver front door lock actuator on Friday. Overall wasn't too bad, but its a little trickier than the rear doors that I've already replaced before. I'll update my writeup on t4r when I get around to doing the fancy formatting, but it will be added onto here where I have pictures from both rear doors:

This little guy has to come off on the front door


pop out this extra clip the rear doors don't have


these covers come off just like the rear doors and there is one screw behind each (These are pics from rear door, but same thing)


Then the door card comes off bibbidi bobbidi and the actuator can come out

Where is gets tricky is the front door has the keyhole. I struggled to get this piece out because I thought It would just slide out based on the plastic cutouts on the actuator. In reality, the lock cylinder needs to come out, but it was actually really easy. So you should remove the key cylinder before trying to even get the actuator out.

interface for the key


To remove lock cylinder, this little cap comes off and there is a lil torx screw behind it to take out. The the lock comes right out




the to get the actuator out, I peeled back the moisture barrier from the butyl. If you do it carefully, the butyl will just stick back to itself. for the front door, removing this bracket that holds the window track made it much easier to come out. Wasn't required on the rear doors, so I fought it a bit before wisening up


Also unlike the rear doors, the front handle connects to the actuator with a little rod that goes through a hole on a small arm. whereas the rear doors have a plastic arm that sits on a pin

front door


rear door for comparison


Lining that little rod through the hole was a bit difficult and I fought with the key/lock cylinder for a while on reassembly, but after pulling that out, it was easy peasy to get back together

 

Have a week off of school and work, so I'm going to be trying to squeeze in as much work as possible.

Main items I want to do are:

1. Weld hole in frame by the trans crossmember
2. Build a crossmember for behind the tcase for skids to mount too
3. Build skids that cover the transmission and tcase
4. Install my gusseted spindles

This is the offending hole. Is mainly on the side, but underneath is Swiss cheesed a bit too. Probably going to cut that bracket for the crossmember off and cut the rust out, wash out the frame, weld up the frame hole, reweld trans crossmember bracket onto frame


Got started on these brackets that will go on the frame and bolt on with rivnuts. From there, the tcase crossmember will span the frame to the other bracket in the other side


Bought myself one of these portable bandsaws for my birthday and I'm in love. An angle grinder is just an NVH disaster, and this does 80% of what a grinder does for me without any of the noise, sparks, or chance of catching a disk to the face.


And also my once black spindles are now pink thanks to @EatSleepTacos calling my bluff on a joke

 

Oopsie

 

No going back now! I'm curious how much is in the inside, looks like a ton compared to outside of the frame.

 

What is weird is that it's really bad around the factory weld joints, but like 1-2" beyond that, there is still tue factory black paint in good condition. Also a lot of dirt inside the frame lol

 

I miscalculated the order of things and painted the inside of my filler piece late, so gonna have to weld it all up tomorrow. Going to get a little rain tonight and a lot Wednesday, so hopefully I get it all wrapped up tomorrow. Have the other hole by the trans crossmember, so may dive into that tomorrow if I think I can get it all back together

Inside the hole, the part that is getting cut out


The opposite side: mint


The gross piece cut out. Used a combo of the angle grinder and plasma


Slightly out of view, but I did put in a temporary spanner under the hole to keep the frame from massively spreading in this area, since I remove a lot of material from the tensile area of the beam


And here is my patch. It's thicker than 1/8" but less than 3/16", so must be some gauge thickness

 

Mmmmm big ol' bowl full of rust flakes. That's wild it was so different from one side to the other.

 

Yummy! Yeah my guess is the welds weren't properly prepped/cleaned for paint, since the weld seams are the only areas that are rusty

 

Probably 10 gauge, .140 thickness.

 

Or I guess 8 or 9 gauge because that would fit the description too, but 10 gauge is definitely the most common.

 

Love the level of detail and photos you produce/provide with all of your endeavors!

Also excited to finally see your T4R this weekend, and with the Patrick theme continuing with the pink spindles!

 

Didn’t realize you were gonna be there too! Man, this is gonna be a great time.

 

You know it...still contemplating/planning on bringing the daughter since she is forward facing in her carseat, now sitting the back middle seat...!!!

 

That’s gonna be when I start taking George to things like this, when he can be forward facing in the passenger seat so he can see what’s going on!

 

I might swap priority on the spindles so I get to those before fabricating the trans skid, just so I have them this weekend lol

Just need to confirm if I need the spacers or not with a test fit

 

I hadn't considered throwing the seat upfront...also had it in my brain it wasn't allowed with the VA code...doesn't appear to be any "switch" to turn off any of the airbag options in 3rd gen Tacos
https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/safety/programs/car_seats/index.html

Sorry for the tangent Ryan...

 

I'm only doing it because in access cabs there's a switch to turn off the passenger side airbag, double cabs don't have that unfortunately.

 

no problemo on the tangent, I like just talking and reading anything!

Does sound like there is going to be a lot of people at Chris's this weekend, which should be a blast. I've met a few of the guys, but looking forward to meeting everyone else!

 

For the patch panel, got it mostly welded in, but I'm taking my time since I don't want to get everything too hot and melt through the frame. No pics right now, but I'm really happy with how my in-position welding is coming along

Just ordered a set of Sankei 555 inner and outer tie rods from NAPA, since I think they will be good to do when I swap the spindles. I think these are the OEM parts at almost 240k . Should be ready for pickup today.

Also ordered new spindle wheel seals, also ready for pickup today.

We're expecting a lot of rain here Wednesday, but should be clear Thursday and Friday. I'm thinking I'm going to try and wrap up spindles today after I get the panel welded in, if possible. Then Thursday and Friday can be dedicated to the other frame hole without having the rain brake up too much