Corax's 1st gen RN61 4runner

corax

Explorer
I have a garage thread elsewhere and this rig has already been a few years in the making, but I wanted to share some of the ideas, info and tech that might be of use to others.

First a bit of history. This is what my truck looked like when I bought it in 2006 for $1k - '88 4runner, 4 cyl, 5 spd - windshield broken - trans shot - clutch gone - no RF rotor (brake pads were actually squeezing the cooling vanes) - rear drums seized - wheel bearings shot - interior mildewed & wet (rear window stuck open) - rusted fenders all around - god awful conversion van graphics down the side. All in all, not a bad price and plenty of room to upgrade as I made it road worthy ;)

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(check out the crusty mold on the shift boots)
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I started by installing a MarlinCrawler HD rebuilt W56 trans, salvage yard 4.56:1 V6 third members, home fab F & R tube bumpers and the 7MGE swap - all in the first 6 months. The engine swap only had 500 miles on it before we left VA towing a 3,500 lb trailer (just enough time to break in the clutch). Since then it's towed the trailer back to PA from the west coast and recently pulled it to Oregon via Colorado and SoCal.
 
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corax

Explorer
front armor

Armor is usually a good upgrade and helps protect your investment. One of the few weak points in the front IFS suspension from '86-'95 is the frame horn for the back of the front lower control arms - if you happen to get airborn, these can bend outward. Several companies make a piece that either bolts in or welds in to tie the 2 sides together, but I made my own so I could bolt a skid on later (and link to a Budd Built cross member, which is another future mod). I know Sonoran Steel made one, but it looks like major overkill (and I'm trying to limit how much weight I add). I had one from Front Range Offroad on a previous project, but they don't make them anymore & I didn't like the way it bolted on. I didn't want a weld on truss because I'd like the option of unbolting it to make dropping the front diff easier.

This is what I came up with, design is based on the discontinued Front Range truss, but with weld on mounts. Fab time + install was only ~4 hrs using 2" x 1/2" channel and 2" 1/8" flat bar. It might look weak, but it's only meant to work in tension to keep the A-arms from spreading and provide mounting for the actual skid plate
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I didn't want to lift the front of my 'runner any more than it already was, but one of the trips out I found that I kept bashing the front crossmember and it got dented up fairly well.. I consider skid plates to be "consumables" when offroad, so I'm not worried that the front skid also got a bit thrashed.
So this is the shape of my reinforcement. You can see the score lines where I was going to bent it to wrap around and under
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I cut the top off so it would conform better to the front crossmember
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all done :D 1/4" steel to help guard my front crossmember
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I also recommend front frame brace to reinforce the bumper mounting such as this one


The next part of this is a skid extending from the front crossmember to the one I made tying the lower-rear control arms together. This way, any hits I take to the front will be spread out a bit - I try not to slam around that hard anyway. It's a bit thicker than I would have liked, but the 1/4" metal plate was free. Because it only bridges a small span I'm not too worried about it doing any damage to the truck if I take a hard hit to it (a skid should bend before it affects the parts it's bolted to). The rectangle section was cut out to give the front diff drain a bit of space otherwise it would be completely flat.
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The rear of my skid bolted to the lower brace I made awhile back - note the angled piece which should help me from getting hung up in reverse (this was the cut out piece from between the front legs)
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Another plus is that now all 4 control arm horns are solidly tied together so force to one is spread out to the others.

I also made an idler gusset out of left over scraps, you can probably guess where I got the design idea from, but like usual I had to change it a bit. I also tapped the idler body (6mm x 1.0) and added a grease zerk on the front of it (the gusset doesn't travel far enough to hit the zerk)
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corax

Explorer
Auxiliary tank and raising the factory tank

Another project presented itself when I found a Northwest Metal Products auxiliary gas tank on ebay for $170. These retail for $600 + shipping when new, so this was too good of a deal to pass up. It mounts above the spare tire and adds another 14 gallons of gas to the truck. It's supposed to be a gravity feed system with a hose running into a fitting where the main tank drain plug is on the bottom. Problem with this is I don't like the idea of having something hang even lower off the main tank, especially a brass fitting that could drain all my fuel if it gets hit hard enough.

So I thought of putting a shut valve on it (elec or manual) and have the aux tank drain into the filler neck vent tube for the main tank, but the filler neck is too high and I don't want to put a hole lower than that in the side of the main tank because I'm afraid it'll leak.

My final option is an electric fuel pump, but fuel pumps can get damaged when they run dry from heat build up and I would have no way of knowing when to shut off the extra pump. I can't find anything saying they are safe for short periods of dry running and likewise nothing about how they work except that they do not use a diaphragm.

This is what I came up with, though it may be a bit over engineered it should save the pump from running dry, and if the rest of the system wiring fails a jumper wire across the load side of the relay will still turn on the fuel pump (actually changed it a bit from the first idea, now I have the switches working on the ground side with the relay at the passenger side rear of the engine bay)

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Red: fuel lines
Dk Blue: wiring
Parts: low pressure nitrous fuel safety switch (adjustable 2-5psi), fuel pump, momentary & toggle switches, relay, slight fuel line restriction (small crimp in steel fuel line to main tank)

- the toggle switch turns on the system, but the relay won't turn on the fuel pump until there is ~3psi at the low pressure switch
- press the momentary switch to bypass the pressure switch and turn on the relay and fuel pump
- pressure builds behind the restriction and makes the pressure switch close, the momentary switch can be let go now as the relay will stay on
- when the aux tank runs dry the pressure switch opens deactivating the relay and fuel pump

I also got fancy and ran a wire from the + side of the fuel pump relay to the switch panel through an LED and on to ground as a "fuel pump on" indicator light

Installing the tank is easy, so I'll leave out the bits about drilling holes and bolting it up. It's the details that'll make it trouble free in the long run . . . like an exhaust heat shield so the gas doesn't get too hot (excessive vapor/boiling)
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view from the wheel well - it looks fairly low-key so I'm not terribly worried about it getting siphoned
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transfer pump (universal, for a carb'd car) - I used 1/4 riv-nuts to attach it to the frame rail (still need to put a fuel filter inline to pretect the pump)
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a bit of protection to keep the hoses from chaffing against the frame rail, it also keeps them tied together nicely so they don't move around much
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a few months ago I had to repair the main tank fuel pump bracket because the metal line on the outside finally rusted through, while I was at it I added an extra line to dump the fuel from the aux tank into the main tank, I had actually extended that fitting down to the bottom of the tank in the hopes that it would work like a siphon once fuel starts flowing (in case the pump fails/doesn't work out I could still use the aux tank w/ pump removed). In retrospect, I could have just used the vapor line that is capped off to pump the fuel into the tank.
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I tossed my spare tire back under there and noticed that the tank didn't affect my departure angle at all, though if I drop off an obstacle the spare will definately take the hit. If I know I'm hitting any rough trails and have the room I'll just take the spare off and toss it in the back.
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rear view
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Switches installed - turn the toggle on, press the momentary switch till there's enough pressure to trigger the pressure switch, let go of the momentary and the pump runs till the toggle is switched off or the pressure in the line drops (aux tank empty) - the blue LED is wired to the transfer pump V+ wire so it is on any time the pump is running
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With the extra fuel on board I should be able to get a range just shy of 600 miles normal driving
(17 gal factory tank + 14 gal aux tank) x 19mpg = 589 miles

I installed a 1" body lift at the same time as the 7MGE engine swap (though the swap doesn't require it). This enabled me to raise the tank 1" to match. Originally I had 17" from the ground to the bottom of the tank skid plate and the tank hung ~4.5" below the frame rails. So I dropped the tank and spent way too long cutting off the front mount with my trusty Dremel. This is what it looked like originally
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then after much effort, mostly with my Dremel because that was the only thing I had that could get in there to cut the metal next to the welds - it is of course welded to the top sides and bottom (before I painted it)
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the rear mount was much easier. I cut it on an angle to get more weld between the 2 halves. I also used a 90* square to mark the 1" I was cutting out to make sure I didn't change the mounting angle
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here's where the tank is without the skid plate installed
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giving me a bit more ground clearance (approx 18" by the time I got the skid back on)
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corax

Explorer
I LOVE wandering around junkyards. Here's one of my finds - I was looking for a cylinder head to P&P, but instead found an '82 Celica Supra with an F303 axle code, which means it had a 7.5" LSD differential which would fit nicely on the front of my '88 (F=7.5" differential, the 3 at the end designates it as a 2 pinion LSD). This thread has all the pertinent info, except it fails to mention that you need to grind 1/4" off both stub axles before sliding them into the differential (if you don't, the passenger side won't seal and the driver side will push the bearing in the halfshaft tube out 1/4") - The *official* 7.5" Supra LSD into a IFS diff thread.

out of the Celica Supra housing - I ended up reusing the original Celica bearings, even though they had 205k miles on them they still looked good and haven't made any noise to date
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Disassembled - I ended up shimming the LSD springs ~ .075" to add just a little bit more bite to the original clutches. Not shown, but the side gear clutch material still looked really good for the mileage on this unit
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To me, this looks like it should have steel plates splined to the side gear for better torque biasing. Someone else thought so too and came up with this rebuild kit
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I didn't take any pics of the install and set up as that is covered in the link. I was able to get the same exact backlash as what it had using a combination of the Celica Supra shims and the shims that were in the 4runner housing. One word of caution, when I called a Toyota dealer to order a shim, they told me that the part number was good but has been discontinued.
 

corax

Explorer
brake upgrades

I upgraded the Master Cylinder in preparation for my T100 caliper swap - the bigger pistons on the T100 calipers need a slightly bigger MC bore. The '90s T100 1 tons have a 1-1/16" MC bore vs the popular 1" bore found in many mid 90's 4runners and LandCruisers - bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to the MC bore. A bigger bore moves more fluid, but produces less hydraulic pressure with the same amount of force on the pedal. In this case, I wanted to match what was available on the T100. I should have probably stayed with the 1” bore since I can't fit the dual diaphragm booster that the T100 uses and I've since installed the 1" bore MC

here's my $50 ebay master cylinder, brand new - note the 1-1/16" cast on the side
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out with the old 7/8" bore MC
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in with the new (and the aluminum looks much prettier than rust :D)
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EDIT:
I've recently installed a 15/16" master cylinder from a 91-95 MR2 turbo w/ ABS and while the pedal is slightly softer, I can now lock it up if I stand on the pedal. If I could have fit the dual diaphragm booster I probably wouldn't have had to take off the 1" master cylinder. I think I finally got the balance just right between master cylinder and everything else :D

it was a simple bolt on swap, no drama. The front brake line needed to be bent a bit to match up with the T100 MC port. I didn't bother to bench bleed it, prefering to do it on the vehicle with a rag under the lines. Initial driving impressions were good with pressure building and the pedal firm very near the top of it's travel, though when I got the T100 calipers on it softened up just a bit. I would not recommend this size MC with the stock 1st gen calipers as it could get tiring to drive with the extra firm pedal.

Here are the original calipers, note the S12+8 casting mark in the second pic. Toyota uses standard calipers on several different models, the cast mark identifies which ones are identical (no difference in the cast mark to indicate left or right side though)
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Here's what happens if you try to use the T-100 (S13WB cast mark) calipers with the stock rotors.
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BTW, when I was getting parts I told the parts guy it was a '95 T-100 4wd.

So I got a pair of T-100 rotors to go with the new calipers and pads - the only thing that needs to change for the rotors is to push the bottom of the backing plate away from the rotors about 1/8" to keep it from rubbing - otherwise everything just bolts on
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Here are the '88 4runner rotor specs:
# of Bolt Holes:6
Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
Diameter:11.375"
Height:2.535"
Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
Thickness When New:.79"
Discard Thickness:.709"
Vented / Solid:Vented
Center Hole Diameter:3.942"


here are the T-100 rotor specs:
# of Bolt Holes:6
Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
Diameter:11.41"
Height:2.59"
Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
Thickness When New:.985"
Discard Thickness:.905"
Vented / Solid:Vented
Center Hole Diameter:3.942"

So the only real difference is thickness and overall diameter - if you saw the "height" is also different, that's only because the rotor is thicker and the height needed to change to keep the rotor centered in the caliper.

The calipers are a simple bolt on affair, the only thing necessary is little bit of trimming to the backing plate
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Finished product (kinda finished, I didn't have the rotors on yet in these pics)
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for some other caliper options look here

The pedal feel with the bigger calipers was better, before with the stock S12+8 calipers and the 1 1/16" MC the pedal was rock solid. It still wasn't stopping the way I wanted it to and I had my doubts about the rear LSPV so I took it out of the picture.

Before we get to that, there's a lot of misinformation spread around regarding how this little piece of metal on the rear frame works. One of the most popular misconceptions is that the brake line going from the LSPV to the "T" near the passenger front wheel some how redirects pressure from the rear to the front brake circuit. How does the LSPV move fluid from the rear brakes to the front, to an area with higher pressure, without a mechanical pump? the line going to the front brakes is only used for "pressure sensing" in case of front brake failure - here's some reading on how proportioning valves work, scroll down to pg 13

here are 2 screen shot from the link above
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Here's the Field Service Manual for the Brake System on a '93, but not much changed in over a decade - the system is essentially the same

Speedway Motors has manual valves for $33 here. Summit Racing or Jegs also carries them and you can probably find them in any respectable hotrod or racing equipment store. Just look for the knob style like I have in the link - they're all the same and brand name doesn't matter much with a simple part like this.

Here's the Wilwood manual brake proportioning valve that I used - the shiny fittings are SAE standard for 3/16" brake line, the only metric (Toyota) fittings are the rusty ones that I re-used on the master cylinder, the Toyota fittings worked perfectly with the 3/16" line and mixing them on the line made it easy to adapt between SAE and Metric
(note: all brake lines where bent with a tool, brake line doesn't bend very nicely by hand - it has a tendency to kink)
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I took the LSPV off. The line that needs to get bent down to the flexible brake line is the one at the top of the LSPV - there is an -> next to the brake line on the LSPV. The line with an "F" next to it ties into the front brake line and can just be bent back or cut off . . . .
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. . . . once you plug the front "T" I just took a fiting and put a big puddle of weld in the middle of it to make my own plug.
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You might be able to get a plug, but I don't know where. I think the plug threads are 10mm - 1.0. Or you can forget about messing with the "T" and try to find a 90 degree brake line adapter from the same location on another toyota truck, like the one on the left in the pic below
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Another option to get rid of the front "T" if you can flare a brake line:
- cut the original Toyota ends off at the "T"
- slide new 3/16" SAE sized nuts over the bare ends
- flare the line and use a male-male adapter like I had to do in on vertical part next to the brake booster to adapt the proportioning valve to the stock lines (but do this at the "T" in the pass. wheel well)
 
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corax

Explorer
suspension

After a fair amount of research I decided to replace the sagging rear springs with Old Man Emu leaves. At the same time I installed a u-bolt flip which required new shock mounts be welded to the axle. The front works well with Sway-Away 25mm torsion bars (bought used off a prerunner in another forum)

before
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rear suspension height (rim to wheel well)
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the old and the Old Man Emu - the original spring pack was 3 mains + 1 overload - the OME pack is 4 mains + 2 overloads (main leaves are about the same thickness as the originals)
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Energy Suspension bumpstops, Marlin U-Bolt flip (note the excess trimmed off the top of the u-bolts)- this pic was with the weight of the axle pulling on the springs, I needed to get a longer rear brake hose yet (just a slight pull on the hose like this, but add the weight of tires though and it'll probably get yanked too much) I also didn't like the bumpstop placement - I thought it might get destroyed by the u-bolt nuts, so I ended up welding a shallow platform on top of the u-bolt plate for the bumpstop to bolt to and let it contact the factory strike plate. I'm still not ecstatic about how the e-brake cable is being pulled on (maybe a transfer case e-brkae in the future?)
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shock mount welded on, while doing the install I measured and mounted everything for 11.5" stroke Bilstein 5150's.
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after
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new height - I guess my old springs were really sagging, the OME springs should have only given me 2" (+ my shackles from the old springs give another 1.25") - I got about 5.5" total
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This was more height than I wanted or needed, it looked downright goofy like this. I didn't have the shocks on the back yet either, the dumpy Rancho's bolted up to the mounts, but I had 0 down travel. Once I got the Bilsteins on, the back end came up a bit more too (gas pressure). So I put some stock length shackles back in to drop the height a bit.

made a new set of shackles - 4" eye to eye out this "muscle car" shackle kit ($15)
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I also took the bottom overload leaf out - it didn't look like it would do anything anyway, just acted like a spacer or 3/8" lift block - I left the top overload leaf in to help control axle wrap. You can't really tell it, but I also added an extra gusset to the lower shock mount to get more surface area on the axle tube (probably wraps just under 1/2 way around now)
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moved the Energy Suspension bumpstop down to the bottom by welding a perch onto the u-bolt plate (left over 1/4" flat from shortening the shackles)
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and lost about 2" . . . which means I gained 3.5" from the OME's
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This I can live with, a little bit of rake and it doesn't look nearly as goofy anymore :D
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I ended up going with the "soft valved" Bilsteins 170/60 compression/rebound and couldn't be happier when I was hooning around the Utah desert
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corax

Explorer
Not really part of the truck and I'll normally advise against making your own removable recovery points, but it's your life and this has held up well so far dragging trees, trucks and even my mini backhoe when a wheel broke off . I did this several years ago with 2 extra hooks like what came on the front of my 4runner. I bolted the 2 hooks together making sure the bolt holes were aligned. Then I turned the heat all the way up on the MIG and welded them together. Next was opening up the hole farthest from the hook with a 5/8" drill bit. I added some rubber to either side just to keep it from making noise over every bump.

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they're nearly the perfect width for a 2" receiver - just a hair wider would be better, so the cross pin is completely in shear instead of a bit of bend, but I've never had any issue with the cross pin yet

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very similar in shape to these massive beasts when it's finished
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corax

Explorer
radiator mist cooling help

At one point I had some cooling issues with my chosen radiator on long uphill grades. The cooling system worked fine the rest of the time in stop/go traffic or at highway speeds, I just needed a bit of extra cooling on long steep grades or in the desert. This could also work to help wash off the radiator for those who like to play in the mud (the washer motor I got really is that strong).

Hayden has a product called Rapid Cool Radiator Mist System, but it usually retails for ~$ 80 (click me-> Radiator Mist System). I built my system for $10 plus a few spare bits I already had collecting dust. It’s a pretty simple system and only took a few hours for a nice clean install. This was just temporary until I got a bigger radiator. If you ever find yourself in a bind you can do this with the factory washer reservoir ;)

Here's the major components. A junkyard windshield washer motor that I swiped from a Mercedes, a “large” size universal radiator reservoir, 4’ 7/64” rubber tube, 20” 5/16” brake line - you'll also need a momentary switch and some wiring to run run the pump along with an anti-siphon valve to prevent the system from leaking down.
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I had to modify the reservoir a bit to mount nicely where I wanted. Using a heat gun I heated the bottle where I wanted it to change until the white plastic turned translucent. Then I pushed in on the corner with a block of wood and held it until the plastic cooled and hardened (cools much quicker if you run water over it).
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The spray bar needs to have a directed spray pattern so it doesn’t just shoot one solid stream at one part of the radiator. Using my mighty Dremel and a thin cut off wheel, I made 4 verticle slices in the brake line – 2 offset above centerline and 2 below centerline for more even water distribution across the radiator - if you use the heavy duty (thicker) cut off wheels, the spray may be weaker and use more water, the thin wheels keep the pressure in the spray bar up
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Close up shot of the slots in the spray bar - I used a pair of vice-grips to pinch the brake line closed and just for kicks soldered the end on top of that
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I mounted the spray bar in the grill behind one of the thicker horizontal sections by cutting 2 half circles and recessing it back in, this helped keep it from shifting around. I decided to use plastic zip ties to hold it in place, although a more permanent solution would be JB Weld (once you're happy with the spray pattern)
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When I ran the water without the fan on, you can actually see it coming out the backside of the radiator. The pusher fan whips the water around fairly well and completely saturates the radiator. Although it wasn't an issue, I made sure the water didn't spray directly onto the fan motor. I timed about 40 seconds of continuous use with the 2.5qt reservoir, but figure I’ll only needed to use this for 1 or 2 seconds at a time.
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Washer pumps are not self priming, so they must be located slightly below or even with the bottom of the reservoir. Because they’re mounted below the water level, you’ll need an anti-siphon check valve to prevent all the water from just leaking out constantly. These can be found on most rear washer hoses near the actual rear washer spray nozzle. Locate it as close to the spray bar as possible to prevent having to refill the entire water hose every time.
- water flow needs to go in the direction of the arrow -
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For wiring I just ran a push button momentary switch that supplies 12V to the pump. The pump ground goes to chassis. This little washer motor draws ~ 5 amps! but the biggest momentary switch I could find was 3A. Since it was only used for a few seconds at a time, it never presented any problems.

That’s pretty much it. When I saw the temps start to climb, I pushed the button for a couple seconds, waited half a minute and pushed the button again until the temps started to drop.
 

corax

Explorer
When I installed by e-locker I prepped for awhile before the actual install.
here's the tap and drill jig so everything is done on a 90* angle
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home brew actuator guard
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Made a "cut-out" template to modify the housing
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got my 4.88 Yukon gears set up by a semi-local Toyota tech Mark / 86 Toy (on TTORA) - price was right and I like the pattern, professional all the way. Here's the drive side (coast and pinion also dead on, only .001" variance on ring gear backlash measures at 4 spots)
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I'm not going into detail as this has been done many times before - except I did mine without removing the axle from the truck because I'm a masochist like that
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forgot to get the MIG from my roomie before he left, so the little bit filling was done with my old HF flux core rig
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here's the tap jig in action - I used a cutting wheel for the notch on the housing, less sparks than grinding the whole thing out
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the hardest part of the install was drilling the holes, but I got everything together in a reasonable amount of time.
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I love the after glow of a good project. With tools scattered everywhere I probably spent more time looking for xyz than I should have
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I took the 'runner for a gentle 15 minute drive around town to start the gear break-in process, plenty of gentle accel and long downhill coasting. I repeated a few more times that weekend and changed the diff fluid in 100 miles (cheap gear oil) and again at 500 (synthetic) just to be on the safe side

For the wiring part, I kept it relatively simple, I used this wiring from http://carterswebsite.com/4runner/mods/locker/ - easy to wire, 2 relays, a toggle switch that gets pushed in one direction to lock & the other to unlock. Instead of a momentary on-off-on toggle, I picked up a regular single pole double throw toggle - it doesn't have a middle "off" position, but will let me use a toggle guard. Unless I'm missing something in the diagram, it works just as well as the momentary (once the limit switch goes open, the relay turns off and everything stops anyway)

soldered, assembled and bench tested with a test light instead of the locker actuator as load - just enough wire to pull both relay boards out of the box if I ever have to
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ready to go - just had to JBWeld the connector to the box once I was sure there were no glitches. I used my trusty dremel to scribe the connector pin-out onto the lid for future reference - I can also unplug the connector and actuate it with jumper wires if the relays fail
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the rear harness mounted up nicely using pre-existing holes in the tank bracket
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I used a step drill to make a huge hole for the e-locker connector to go through and a spare grommet I had to seal it all up
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wiring was run and the controller just about ready to be mounted in an easily accessible location
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corax

Explorer
air filter

I was using a cone filter for the longest time but was never impressed with the quality of filtration. During a junkyard safari, I figured out a Subaru Forester airbox would work with a bit of tweaking.
here's the adapter I used so I can mount the VAFM to it (cut up a bit and redrilled)
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all adapted, JBWelded and ready to go
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ditched the cheese cone filter and installed and plumbed up the Subie box - I used 2 nutserts going into the stock battery tray to hold the bottom of the filter box in place
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At the same time I decided to install a 4crawler style snorkel routed into the windshield cowl. This raises the fording depth to just under windshield height and locates the air intake in an area of higher pressure much like any other cowl induction system.
getting ready for the first cut
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Subaru Forester airbox bottom back in again. the airbox has a 3" opening with a rubber lip seal from factory and that is what makes the seal
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I used 3" thin wall PVC septic pipe & learned that it doesn't heat bend very well without kinking so I ended up using premade bends - here's the front
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the rear, note the inlet is angled up a bit
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I did heat bend the inlet to help deflect any water from the cowl a bit better
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almost done
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add fender and call it a day - everything fit perfect with my fiberglass fenders, not sure if 3" would work with stock fenders but it might
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corax

Explorer
rear spoiler and switches

yeah, yeah, no worries, I already went through the "ricer" phase and realize that there is absolutely no reason to put a spoiler on the back of a 1st gen. Not like it's gonna improve my handling at 100mph. What it does do is keep the exhaust from coming in the partially open rear window at highway speeds - I was hoping for better than that, but I'll settle for a bit of bling and minor improvements. There's not much improvement with the window all the way open, but there is under 50mph with it cracked 3"-4". I couldn't smell any exhaust coming from the back over 50mph.

Here's what I started with - $40 ebay 2nd gen JDM rear spoiler with peeling clear coat
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I sanded a bit, but not too much - we don't need it looking too good - primered and painted it what I hoped would match the shell. Measured, marked, re-measured and drilled 4 mounting holes. Since the shell is double wall I continued the drill straight through to the interior and enlarged the inside holes so I could get the nuts onto the spoiler studs (the nuts are about 1" long and work well).
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the rear mounts don't match the angle of a 1st gen exactly, so I'll probably use some fuel tank epoxy to fill in the gap eventually (the type of epoxy that gets "kneaded" into a putty not mixed with a toothpick)
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finished job, though I may yet take the heat gun to it and make it fit the shell shape a bit better in the future
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here you can see the scoops that grab some of the overhead air and directs it into the back window (the orange thing in the left scoop is the connector for the 3rd brake light before it got connected)
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(gratuitous poser pic after conquering the back yard grass)
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I found these overpriced LED strips at Autozone and to upgrade the interior lighting in the rear since the “Deck Light” is all but useless. These cost $15, but 1/2 the price is probably due to the “TRY ME” switch and battery on the package. The same type LED strip lights can be found online for much cheaper and can be cut into 4” sections – then it’s just a matter of soldering 2 wires onto each separate section. Measured current draw on both is 20-30mA and best of all it’s an easy connection as these run straight off 12V (no need for a LED regulator).
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Mounted them in the rear corners & drilled a 1/8” hole for the wires to pass through. These have 3M tape already on them, so just clean the shell and stick ‘em on (if you’ve never used 3M tape before, make sure the lights are where you want them because they won’t move once the tape makes contact).
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The upper rear section of the shell is hollow and connects to the “d” pillar, but I still had to use a stiff piece of wire to run my LED wires into the pillar. Here’s the wiring at the base of the “d” pillar. I originally used a spare 2 pin Toyota connector that I had lying around to connect the shell to the body - run two wires straight to the original Deck Light, connect the LED positive to the lt green/yellow wire and LED negative to ground
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Now there’s plenty of light in the back, but not so bright as to be blinding (I could comfortably read a book by this light, even up by the front seats).

Here's 4crawler’s Deck Light Mod for some more info


I wanted to consolidate the controls and add a rear "patio" light to illuminate the area immediately behind the 4runner. I didn't want a huge bright light since I like to stay as dim and low key as possible while camping, and a dimmer light won't kill my night vision as much. Besides, if I want to light up a big area I can just turn on the reverse lights. I also wanted the switches up higher, out of sight and easy to find in the dark so I don't have to fumble around as much to find them if I'm sleeping in the back.

I was using the factory deck light switch in the rear for awhile, but things tend to get piled up and block its access. This is how I wired it using a SPDT switch, this is different than if you want to use the original light switch to control the LEDs.
Decklight02.jpg


I built a switch panel using some spare aluminum sheet that I had laying around. After measuring and drilling the panel I traced it onto the rear fiberglass shell so I knew what I had to cut. I made sure there was a decent size lip for the panel to sit against.
switchpanel02.jpg


The panel with switches installed - the switch guards are just $.75 double nutted J-hooks that I found at some big box home improvement store.
switchpanel01.jpg


I fished all the wiring I needed up through the "D" pillar along with 3 extra 14 gauge wires for future use. Since I don't need the illumination for the PW switch, the connector had 2 extra spots in it that I was able to use for the deck lights. Every wire is running through a connector so the shell can be taken off later without having to figure how to hook up a bunch of single unmarked wires. Here's the PW connector before I connected the wires:
switchpanel03.jpg


The toggle switches I got use a screw through an eyelet on the end of the wire so nothing should ever come disconnected. I ran power for the patio light from the "common" pole of the SPDT switch through another toggle - the patio light can never be on just by itself, the deck lights have to be on. Here you can see the cheap riced out LED driving light that I decided to use, it should light up the tailgate area perfectly and is mounted up in the rear spoiler.
reararealight01.jpg


switch panel installed
switchpanel04.jpg

and the layout
SwitchPanel06.jpg
 
Last edited:

corax

Explorer
front mud flaps & wheel wells

I like driving fast on dirt roads. The occasional gasp from my wife while she braces herself against the dash when the rear end gets loose is like music to my ears. But with the fiberglass fenders (and no fender liner) I got tired of hearing all the rocks dinging off my doors and rocker panels (this old steel doesn't need help with chips and rust). Since I started winter driving this truck again, I also got tired pretty quickly of slush freezing my door seals. So after 5 years of fiberglass fenders it was time to finally make some front mudflaps that extend into the wheel well to protect the door seals and rockers.

After I made a pattern with some cardboard, I picked up a single huge $15 mudflap from a truck stop. This thing nearly extended from one side in the cargo area to the other and is big enough for both guards with plenty to spare.
01truckmudflap.jpg


I traced out the pattern and made sure it fit properly. Then I flipped the pattern and repeated for the other side, keeping the thicker edge towards the outside. Note how it will extend pretty far up into the wheel well to protect the door from anything coming off the tires.
02patterntraced.jpg


There's a flat surface in the fender well, that if you laid a straight edge on, lines up nicely with the edge of the fender (so without bending, the mudflap will "snug up" to the fender edge). I traced this area out as well as where I wanted the bottom 2 bolts attached, and used my trusty Harbor Freight hole punch to make some screw holes.
03cutandholepunched.jpg


Then I pushed the mudflap into place and traced the holes to be drilled for my NutSerts ($15 tool from HF). Here are the nutserts installed after drilling the appropriate sized holes. I painted the edges before install and put a tiny dab of black RTV to seal things up before expanding the nutsert. These install like a pop-rivet, but allow me to use machine screws to bolt the mudflaps in place.
*NOTE* if you use nutserts be sure the nutsert fits snugly into the hole before expanding it, don't drill the hole bigger than you have to
04nutsertsinstalled.jpg

another view - in this one you can barely see the inner bottom nutsert on the other side of the body seam, this was a factory hole and fit a 1/4" nutsert perfectly
05nutsertsinstalled.jpg


a few stainless steel machine screws later and I'm done. With any luck, no more frozen doors and cleaner rocker panels are in my future. I still have to put a small screw eye in the bottom to pull it back and away from the tire a bit (think rally-style), but that's for another day.
06alldone.jpg

07alldone.jpg


I also made longer "gap guards" for the wheel wells. I started with an old racing slick my roommate had from his racecar and cut the sidewalls off with a utility knife (pattern already cut out in this pic)- I've hear pond liner works well also and is probably easier to find
fenderliner3.jpg


just over 3/16" of nylon belted high speed soft compound rubber (should suit my driving style)
fenderliner2.jpg


since I have a 1" body lift I left the original fender rubber in place and marked the distance from each edge I wanted to extend the new rubber guard. I took off the original, traced it to the slick, extended the edges where I wanted to and cut it out with a utility knife. I also used the original to mark and punch the hole ("hammer" type hole punch set from HF for <$10)
fenderliner1.jpg


I used 10-24 thread Riv Nuts in the original holes in the inner fender, they fit perfect and let me use stainless machine screws w/ fender washers to attach the rubber guard
fenderliner4.jpg
 

corax

Explorer
Comms

NMO mount on my roof for my 2M Ham 1/4 wave whip antenna. Here it is with the NMO cover on it
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and the 1/4 wave 2M antenna, just small enough that I don't think it'll be bothered by low branches. Now I just need to find a center console to stuff the 2M Yaesu into. You can also see my relocated antenna from a Ford Focus.
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Last winter during one of the snow storms I figured out that my CB squelch was messed up - it'd only open up if I pressed on the dial. I tried taking it apart, but everything is solid state and resistant to component replacement. So I got rid of the 10M/import CB and picked up a slightly used Cobra 18ST WX. There are no power mods for these radios, but they do have WeatherBand and are one of the only ones with a forward facing speaker. I started by modding the radio bracket with a fender washer to mount the CB (I hate welding sheet)
CBbracket.jpg


simple enough install
CBinstall.jpg


For the antenna I used to use a plastic mount and it worked fine, but after the fiberglass whip got bent over and shoved into the rear window to give enough clearance to drive into a parking garage (not me) it was too broken to fix. I did try removing the old mount and filling the backside with JB Weld, but the cracks would still open up whenever the antenna moved
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this is what I came up with. it's 2" x 1/8" flatstock with a small piece of 90* angle for the actual mount. I snagged the antenna mounting stud and plastic insulator from an extra "trucker" style mirror mount that I had laying around. from the point where it mounts to the truck it has a zig in it for extra tailgate clearance, and all the corners have been rounded to prevent any scratches or snags from happening. I bent the 90* angle to a bit tighter of an angle to better follow the rear sheet metal and give an evenly spaced look
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finished and mounted with (4) 6mm bolts & washers on the backside to distribute and minimize any bending force the factory sheet metal might get - you can also see where I ran the antenna feedline, a small notch in the sheet metal behind the taillight and some plastic trimming with my dremmel on the taillight housing did the job perfect
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I filled the holes from the old mount with JB Weld and used some touch-up paint to make it look semi-pretty again
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