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Hello guys I am new to the site and just picked up a 87 runner in hopes of making it a beach mobile. Went out last weekend and as soon as I hit soft sand I was in doubt. At a slight incline I began to bog and couldn’t get enough speed up to get second gear. Even on the flatter soft sand I could cruise in 1st gear at high rpms but couldn’t get second without bogging down. Burned up my clutch in about 20 minutes. Not sure what shape it was in but seemed to shift and feel fine before on the road. My question is should I build it up to be as good as it can or is the good ole 100 horse 22re not enough for the sand? I am running 285x70x17 pro comps with bjs and add a leaf in rear. Will regearing allow me to Get higher gears at lower speeds in the sand? Is an automatic that much better for sand? What’s the best clutch for heavy duty use? Thanks for any and all advice!
certainly no expert but I have driven manual quite a bit. Didn’t seem like I was being hard on the clutch so i don’t know how I messed up. Elaborate that’s why I’m asking. Not just for short douche bag comments. Is your rig a v6? Is it auto? All
stock gearing. Trying to actually learn something but thanks a lot bud
you also didn't mention what air pressure you ran in your tires. for sand running, you want to be down around 4 to 8 psi.
I didn’t air down much. I was still
at 20 psi or so. I didn’t think it would be necessary as there was diesels pulling travel trailers and ˟˟˟˟ out in it. But I certainly will. I have just heard anything under 10 is easy to throw a bead off. Is that true?
certainly no expert but I have driven manual quite a bit. Didn’t seem like I was being hard on the clutch so i don’t know how I messed up. Elaborate that’s why I’m asking. Not just for short douche bag comments. Is your rig a v6? Is it auto? All
stock gearing. Trying to actually learn something but thanks a lot bud
Douche bag comments? bahaha.
Common sense goes along ways. You should've had zero problems if you were in some form of 4 wheel drive and air'd down to 8-10 PSI. You're sure the transfer case was in the correct position and the hubs were locked? What kind of truck I have and what's done to it has little to nothing to do with keeping momentum. You should be able to bury your rear axle to the sand, put it in 4LO and roll out, no problem.
Again, driver error and it has nothing to do with the 4Runner making a mistake in the sand.
Last edited by MaK92-4RnR; 08-18-2020 at 08:26 AM.
Another thing that helps in sand is a locking diff. I put a Spartan lunchbox in my rear and after that I could go through sand in 2hi. With difficulty, but still. 4wd and I never got close to being stuck. Some people are turned off to lockers because of the price, and they do get expensive. But my Spartan was only about $260, definitely worth it IMO
i've routinely aired down to 5 to 12 psi for various off-road things over the last 30 years. at 5 to 10 psi, you aren't going to throw a bead in the sand, unless you are trying to go 70 mph. but at normal speeds of 20 mph or less, you'll be fine. same with rock crawling - emphasis on crawling - it isn't a speed race for us recreational wheelers.
i run my cj5's 35x9.5x15 swampers at 4 psi all the time when not on pavement, and i run them at about 12 psi on the pavement at highway speeds.
While I attended Cal Poly in the late 80's I had my 1982 Deluxe 5 speed 4X4 set up with a Leer camper shell and had made it a walk through. It was not as heavy as your 87 but it provided a 4Runner like atmosphere with the second seat attached to the bed rails. I had Downey leaf springs and revolver shackles in place with Rough Country double shock hoops and mounts at the front and back axles. Four Rough country B-Mk 5's up front and four more Nitro Chargers on the rear end all with 8 inches of travel and light valving for double shocking which at that time it was state of the art.
The first year I had replaced the 31x10.50s with smaller ??x9.50-R15 BFG All-Terrains because the 4.10:1 stock gearing was not happy with the 31's. I would run these on my 15X7 Enki's at <10 psi and run circles around the Poly Goat club members with their full size American Iron pickups.
After year two at Cal Poly, SLO I realized the smog check wasn't required in the mid state so I opted for the Downey kit with Dual Side Draft Mikuni's, a Mikuni-Muscle-CAM, a DT-header and no CAT. I dropped in 4.88:1 gears with an ARB in the rear and put 32x11.50R15's BFG muds on some 15X8-1/2" Enki's. Those last two years at Cal Poly when a Pismo run was taken in it was all about air time and getting < 9 MPG when at WOT. The 32's with low air pressure floated very well and I would push the truck hard into curved razorbacks producing decent rooster tails with the ARB locked and I never unseated a bead, partly because I know the pick up was quite light for the rubber it was running. With about 120+HP on tap and with plenty of speed in low range with 2nd and 3rd gear the truck would own most of the dunes but the flotation and momentum were the key to maintaining the fun with four people on board.
She was anything but a mistake for the sand!....
P.S. I remember catching sight of a >85 model year pick up at pismo one time in 87 or 88 which had the 22RE Turbo in it. The nit-wit was flying up the dunes in reverse repeatedly. Little did he know that the oil pick up is at the back of the oil pan and that there was a darn good chance he was going to run the oil pump dry. It sure was a nice brand new shiny black rig with all of the SR-5 decals gleaming.
Another thing that helps in sand is a locking diff. I put a Spartan lunchbox in my rear and after that I could go through sand in 2hi. With difficulty, but still. 4wd and I never got close to being stuck. Some people are turned off to lockers because of the price, and they do get expensive. But my Spartan was only about $260, definitely worth it IMO
Yes sir locker is definitely on the list! How easy is the install of the spartan? And does it bind when turning on the road? I thought I wanted to save up for the arb but not sure if it’s worth it. But the on board air is definitely a nice feature.
While I attended Cal Poly in the late 80's I had my 1982 Deluxe 5 speed 4X4 set up with a Leer camper shell and had made it a walk through. It was not as heavy as your 87 but it provided a 4Runner like atmosphere with the second seat attached to the bed rails. I had Downey leaf springs and revolver shackles in place with Rough Country double shock hoops and mounts at the front and back axles. Four Rough country B-Mk 5's up front and four more Nitro Chargers on the rear end all with 8 inches of travel and light valving for double shocking which at that time it was state of the art.
The first year I had replaced the 31x10.50s with smaller ??x9.50-R15 BFG All-Terrains because the 4.10:1 stock gearing was not happy with the 31's. I would run these on my 15X7 Enki's at <10 psi and run circles around the Poly Goat club members with their full size American Iron pickups.
After year two at Cal Poly, SLO I realized the smog check wasn't required in the mid state so I opted for the Downey kit with Dual Side Draft Mikuni's, a Mikuni-Muscle-CAM, a DT-header and no CAT. I dropped in 4.88:1 gears with an ARB in the rear and put 32x11.50R15's BFG muds on some 15X8-1/2" Enki's. Those last two years at Cal Poly when a Pismo run was taken in it was all about air time and getting < 9 MPG when at WOT. The 32's with low air pressure floated very well and I would push the truck hard into curved razorbacks producing decent rooster tails with the ARB locked and I never unseated a bead, partly because I know the pick up was quite light for the rubber it was running. With about 120+HP on tap and with plenty of speed in low range with 2nd and 3rd gear the truck would own most of the dunes but the flotation and momentum were the key to maintaining the fun with four people on board.
She was anything but a mistake for the sand!....
P.S. I remember catching sight of a >85 model year pick up at pismo one time in 87 or 88 which had the 22RE Turbo in it. The nit-wit was flying up the dunes in reverse repeatedly. Little did he know that the oil pick up is at the back of the oil pan and that there was a darn good chance he was going to run the oil pump dry. It sure was a nice brand new shiny black rig with all of the SR-5 decals gleaming.
that’s awesome man I’m really hoping I can get this thing dialed in and have some fun with the family. Always wanted a first gen and can’t afford a razor so I’m gonna make this work lol. Thanks for the reply and the story!
Yes sir locker is definitely on the list! How easy is the install of the spartan? And does it bind when turning on the road? I thought I wanted to save up for the arb but not sure if it’s worth it. But the on board air is definitely a nice feature.
The install was surprisingly easy, I just made sure to watch every video and how to I could. The Zuk was a great resource. Did it with a buddy in an afternoon, took it to the sand pit that evening. The only specialty tools you'll need are torque wrench of course and you really should have a dial micrometer with a base. The cheapo at harbor freight works fine.
It does sometimes bind on the road if I'm gassing, and rarely when I'm coasting. It sometimes will bind and then BANG when it releases. Not a pleasant feeling. But that's pretty normal operation for a lunchbox, and I'm learning how to drive to avoid it.
I of course wanted an ARB but the price is just not an option for me. It works awesome, made a world of difference especially climbing muddy hills and ruts
I am curious about regearing. I heard as a general rule 33” tires and under don’t typically need to change gearing. But I feel like these 33’s are a load for the small 22re in here. It would be different with my tundra. That 400 horses will spin the tires any time you want lol. And I will
definitely be airing down on future trips. I honestly didn’t think it was necessary I literally saw a guy in a 98 Lexus sc430 drive out of the dunes. Almost ˟˟˟˟ myself
08-17-2020, 10:31 PM
