"THE RESURRECTION" 97 4runner

[blakeape]

Thanks deadbeat son. My wife and I went to a beautiful but cold outdoor wedding in Glacier National Park this weekend. Good times and the 4runner did great cruising the snowy, icy roads. I have big plans for my Tacoma involving a 3 link and coilovers, with a new front frame so she donated her front bumper to The Resurrection! I only had a few minutes tonight, but got the bumper pulled off the Taco. I'll get it cleaned up and installed on the runner later this week.

 

[84scrambler]

looks great i have a 97 and a 93 love them both, where in Montana are you? my wife is trying to get a job in Helena and i hope she gets it and so long bay area

 

[blakeape]

looks great i have a 97 and a 93 love them both, where in Montana are you? my wife is trying to get a job in Helena and i hope she gets it and so long bay area

Thanks, I am in Columbia Falls which is in the NW corner close to Glacier National Park. We love it here!

I am going to put my Warn XD9000 on a hitch receiver for now so I can use it on multiple rigs and trailers. Eventually it will end up hard mounted on the front of the Taco again, but I got it pulled from the bumper last night. I won't get a chance to work on the truck again until Weds or Thurs.

 

[skrillah]

Wow, one heck of a build thread. No doubt in this case, one person's trash is another's treasure!

 

[blakeape]

Wow, one heck of a build thread. No doubt in this case, one person's trash is another's treasure!

Thanks, this has been ridiculously cheap for me after selling a bunch of parts and having the whole other rig to steal from. I did however just spend some $. I made a deal with a guy and am trading some 4.56 3rd members I don't need and some cash for a 4.88 V6 ARB rear 3rd for the back of this thing!

 

[84scrambler]

no job for her i guess i am stuck in this arm pit called the bay area

 

[blakeape]

no job for her i guess i am stuck in this arm pit called the bay area

Bummer about the wife's job. What does she do? Montana isn't going anywhere.

 

[Wainiha]

Nice rigs and nice place to live.

I lived in Bozeman for 6 months. Did some mild winter offroading in Hyalite and Beartrap(got in a good fight there on Memorial Day). Also some in Big Fork. I love Montana.

 

[blakeape]

Nice rigs and nice place to live.

I lived in Bozeman for 6 months. Did some mild winter offroading in Hyalite and Beartrap(got in a good fight there on Memorial Day). Also some in Big Fork. I love Montana.

Another good area outside Bozeman is the Tobacco Root Mountains over by Whitehall. I hope to take the 4runner down there this summer sometime.

 

[blakeape]

Surprisingly there are actually significant differences between a 96 Tacoma and a 97 4runner front frame. I redid all the mounting points, but the bumper is on the 4runner and very solid. The Taco had the fender bars which gave a lot of strength and they may go back on, but my new system is definitely significantly better.
Sorry, these cell phone pics suck.

 

[SIZZLE]

Interesting build. It's turning out real nice. I'm most impressed you did all this work in the dead of winter in Montana! Looks cold (i say from Cali) :sombrero:

 

[blakeape]

Interesting build. It's turning out real nice. I'm most impressed you did all this work in the dead of winter in Montana! Looks cold (i say from Cali) :sombrero:

Why Thank You. We actually had a 60 degree temp swing in the last week from -22 to 40.

 

[blakeape]

Rattle canned the old skid plates and threw them on this morning then ran over to my personal junkyard a couple miles away and stored a few things. First time I needed 4 low and she did awesome! Then I ran into town to get my wife a Valentines Day present and some flowers and came home to the UPS man dropping off my 4.88 V6 ARB third for the rear of this thing!

 

[Mauzer]

Nice, is that an old school Marlin flange?!

 

[blakeape]

Nice, is that an old school Marlin flange?!

This third was in the front axle of a Toyota buggy so the guy I bought it from actually went through it and resealed the ARB for me. Really nice guy he has "Hellfire Knuckles" which makes high steer set ups for the FJ80 Cruisers. Anyway he also tossed on the triple drilled flange which I think is from Trail Gear. I need to round up an ARB switch, some air lines and figure out an air source then she'll be all locked up in the back.