2nd Chance 4runner
- Thread starter ghetto
- Start date
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I love how that front-end came together Josh! It looks great IMO... would love to see it on the trail one of these days.
ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
Here is an update. It seems like I have a cycle of not touching it for a couple months and then binge working on it. There are a few things that I have been wanting to do. I really wanted full hydraulic steering. The hydro assist was working fine, but it was too many turns to lock and I mounted it too low. I was also going to beef up my truss.... but then I found a set of axles and it turned into a long story. I basically made the decision as complicated as possible. What it actually came up with was I am switching from the 60 and 14 bolt axles to Rockjock axles front and rear. The front is a 60 and the rear is the 70, both high pinion. I am getting the front together now. I'll get some pictures up. I went with stock axle widths for a 79 ford axle to make replacements a little easier if I'm in a pinch. I got the shafts from Branik and they are machined for 50 degree steering. I will see what I can do with my set up. I would be really happy with 40+. Anything will be better than what I have.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
I also started tubing out the rear. Here are some photos from last week.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
I love the ORI'S. The more I have them the more I like them. They crawl better than anything I have seen. They also do better in the go fast stuff than I thought they would. I am working on getting that even better.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
Here is the front axle that I have been working on. Ignore the mess. I am trying to get ready for a race in 2 weeks so I am craming to get done.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
The front is coming along well. The front axle is done except for the hubs, which should be here tomorrow. I got my axle shafts and hubs from Branik. The shafts are chromoly and they are machined for better steering angles. I set the ram up for 45 degrees. The hubs are timken and they are machined for 35 spline and drilled or 8x6. I used stock Ford brakes that bolted up. I did need to drill the holes on the rotors for 8x6.5 to match the hubs. The power steering is all hooked up and partially bled. Hopefully I can start it tomorrow and bleed it the rest of the way.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
That's the plan. I was really hoping to do a dirt riot this weekend but some of my parts still aren't here. It should be driving but I don't want to race it first trip out. It should give me more time to be ready for OSRC.
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ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
So I did make it to OSRC and had a blast. I was really happy with how the 4runner did for being the first time out with the rebuild. The steering was a huge improvement. My rig is pretty big and still managed to dodge a few cones. The auto was nice but it wasn't shifting right. I only had 1st gear in low range. I have a GPS vss that seems to work decent in high range but I think it's not telling the computer what it needs to know for low. My tranny has a provision for a vss on the output so I ordered one. Hopefully it fixes the issue. Still it was nice to have the auto.
My starter is also on its last leg. I had to mess with it quite a few times to get it to start. I ordered one of those too.
The biggest issue didn't really hurt my score at all but it was a big deal. I had a local guy put together my axle housing in the front. It is a Rockjock 60 center and teraflex inner C's. He cut them, machined them, and pressed them in. He also welded them. That's were I had a problem. Saturday morning I was messing around before the comp started. I went off a small 2' step down. I did it twice and on the second time the rig was sitting funny. When I got to the truck I saw the knuckle had spun. We had an hour before it started so we pulled off the tire and hub. I used my on board welded to run my grinder and clean it up the best I could. I then used some 7018 to weld it back on. On obstacle 3. I was out of time and gassed it down the back of the Matterhorn. I was driving oit of a roll, and it landed hard! It came loose again. The crane of shame dropped it back at camp for us. We did the same thing and fixed it again. We made it back for out last obstacle. It held up fine for that and now that I am home I am welding it up right. I ground off the temp weld and got some nickle rod. I preheated, welded it, and used my heat gun to cool it slowly over a couple hours.
I am shooting for dirtriot in a couple weeks so I will see if my welds hold any better. Haha
Other than getting the brakes bled the last little bit I was thrilled. Hopefully I can get some radios before the next comp. My having that killed us in a couple places but it was one of the funnest OSRC's that I have been to. Can't wait till next year!
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My starter is also on its last leg. I had to mess with it quite a few times to get it to start. I ordered one of those too.
The biggest issue didn't really hurt my score at all but it was a big deal. I had a local guy put together my axle housing in the front. It is a Rockjock 60 center and teraflex inner C's. He cut them, machined them, and pressed them in. He also welded them. That's were I had a problem. Saturday morning I was messing around before the comp started. I went off a small 2' step down. I did it twice and on the second time the rig was sitting funny. When I got to the truck I saw the knuckle had spun. We had an hour before it started so we pulled off the tire and hub. I used my on board welded to run my grinder and clean it up the best I could. I then used some 7018 to weld it back on. On obstacle 3. I was out of time and gassed it down the back of the Matterhorn. I was driving oit of a roll, and it landed hard! It came loose again. The crane of shame dropped it back at camp for us. We did the same thing and fixed it again. We made it back for out last obstacle. It held up fine for that and now that I am home I am welding it up right. I ground off the temp weld and got some nickle rod. I preheated, welded it, and used my heat gun to cool it slowly over a couple hours.
I am shooting for dirtriot in a couple weeks so I will see if my welds hold any better. Haha
Other than getting the brakes bled the last little bit I was thrilled. Hopefully I can get some radios before the next comp. My having that killed us in a couple places but it was one of the funnest OSRC's that I have been to. Can't wait till next year!
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- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Crazy about the knuckle problems! Sounds like it just kept coming back. Awesome that you were able to make OSRC and compete!
IT was great seeing you out there again! Still one of my favorite 4runners! I have loved the tacoma front end. Keeps making me want to get another 4runner and put that front end on it. Nice job at OSRC! Sounds like you got the knuckle problem figured out as well, but ultimately for the rebuild it is working well for you!
ghetto
Registered User
- Location
- Glenwood Springs, CO
So it's been a long time since I posted about the 4runner. I actually didn't even drive it for over a year. I welded the knuckles back on with a high nickel rod. I was nervous to drive it, so I didn't. I finally took it out and tried it after almost 2 years. I beat on the front axle pretty good and it has been holding so far. I have had a couple hiccups here and there but I ran die trying in Montrose and a couple trails in Moab. It wouldn't shift but I fixed that by installing a vsc in the 4l80e. Now it's been a blast to drive. We did 3 days of trail riding in Moab with almost no problems. It climbed the hot tubs on hells revenge and the escalator. But in the year of not driving it I decided to build something else. So I will post up a build here soon.
