I ordered one of the Old Man EMU steering stabilizer kits and finally got it installed. I am pretty sure the stabilizer on my truck was original and basically doing nothing. Well worth the ~100$ for the kit. The dampner comes with the hardware to fit the truck preinstalled. I did this upgrade in about 20 minutes. I got lucky and the old stabilizer came out really easy. As always hit it with some penetrating lube a day or so before you do this and it will go much smoother. I picked up a pickle fork to make this an easier job. 10$ for a tool I WILL use again and last a life time.

The trucks steering seem more solid and more controllable. Best of all I don't feel like the wheel is going to fly out of my hands on every bump. I will get it off road this week and really see how much of a difference it makes but, it all ready feels a lot better.



Old Vs. New




The ball joint is the upper most part of the picture, you will need a pickle fork or a good hammer.



Easy unbolting is it isn't rusted solid



Even looks a hell of a lot better

 

I bought a add a leaf kit about 5~6 years ago. About 3 years ago I tried to install it and realized I had none of the tools I really needed to do it. So it went on hold for another 2 years. Then last year I get most of it apart and realize I couldn't take the bolt off to take the spring pack apart. Needed to be cut off. So another year goes by. Now I am driving these really rough roads working in the oil fields of Texas and DESPERATELY need to get the saggy ass springs some usefulness again. So I finally ponied up and bought all the tools I needed and got it DONE!!! Well mostly...The stock U-bolts really aren't long enough. They are catching just enough threads on the nuts that I can drive it until the new U-blots come in. I know new springs are best but, I already had these and so they were by default cheaper haha. I also plan on lifting it with a ball joint lift so and at that time I will pony up for some new springs.

No one really has much of a write up about putting in a add a leaf setup so thought I would share a few of the things that were a huge pain for me.

So a few things about installing one of these. You are going to need a few things to make this not be a TOTAL PIA.

-First is some sort of high lift jack (you know you want to buy one anyway). My large floor jack just couldn't lift the truck high enough to really separate the springs from the axle and give me enough space to get the new higher arced spring inside the spring pack.

-The nuts on the U-bolts were stuck on good, lots of penetrating lube and a big breaker bar got it loose.

-It is pretty likely that you will have to cut the bolt holding the spring pack together. For some reason the bottom side of the bolt is totally round with no way to grab onto it. So another reason to get yourself a new tool. I used an angle grinder and a cut off wheel.

-YOU WILL NEED NEW U BOLTS. Everyone says maybe, possibly, depends. Almost certain they will be too short but, with 28 years of stress shouldn't you just spend 40$ and know they are solid? My U-bolts are the square flat bolts. The stock u bolts are 2.5" wide measured from the inside of the bolt and they are about 6" long. Really an extra inch will be all that is needed to have a good fit but, you can easily cut off the rest if the only ones you can find are too long needed. I have a 1986 DLX 4runner 22re. So maybe you can pre order yours and avoid delays like I did.

-I found the easiest way to do this is to remove the ubolts and then jack the rear end of the truck up as high as you need to get the spring pack bolt free from the axle perch. Then you can cut off that bolt. While the spring pack is apart, jack the rear up more to give you enough clearance in the spring pack to insert the add-a-leaf between the thick helper spring and the other three leafs. Once you have the add-a-leaf wedged in there the new bolt that hold the spring pack together should be enough force to compress all the leafs together as you tighten it down. Your breaker bar and another long bar will likely be needed to kinda push and pull the axle enough in place to lower the jack and put the spring pack bolt back in the proper place on the spring perch. A friend would make this a lot easier.

Also good time for new shocks since taking them half off makes putting the add-a-leaf in easier. I found out one of my shocks was totally gone.

I had some seriously saggy springs and they were sitting on the helper spring pretty hard. It bottomed out every single time I hit any kind of bump. After install I gained almost 2.25" back to the rear height of the truck. It actually sits ever so slightly higher than the front. Once they wear in a bit the truck should sit just about level. Even with a busted shock (waiting on the part as I type this) the truck rides a million times better. The add-a-leaf in a worn out spring pack feels fairly soft. I bought them so long ago I forget which brand I bought but, pretty sure it was Pro-comp.


Saggy butt truck.




Just less than 3" from tire to fender well.


Looks and rides so much better.

 

So after a really long hiatus I am back working on my 4runner. I lost a job, moved back to California, started a new job, had a giant cedar punch a huge hole in my house, 9 months of repairs and moving back. I bought a third vehicle as a commuter so the runner is just for fun now.

The plan: first step is gears and a locker. Got my hands on new front ifs axle and rear third with 4.88s in them. The front is installed. I did myself the favor and knocked the studs out of the front axle shafts before installing it. Using bolts instead I will have plenty of clearance to remove the CV axles without undoing the ball joints. I don't plan on removing the ifs anytime soon so this was worth the 40$ in bolts to me.

I bought a Lokka brand lunchbox locker. Took my recently purchased 3rd member apart only to realize I bought the wrong locker model. My rig is an 86 4cyl. The third I bought is a v6 model. So I'll have to send the locker back and wait. I plan on sharing that install and anything I learned.

Since the truck can only go in 2wd until I replace the rear 3rd I plan on working on the simple cheap stuff for now. Some LED lights, new additional fuse block, painting the wore out chrome trim, etc.

Really excited to be back working on the old girl. Seems all I can think about are upgrades.

 

So this mod was a bust. The switch I wired in failed in like two months. Totally rusted and rotted out. Next time I go to pick and pull I will see if I can use something from a rig that already has a light. Don't use a steel switch. Could also be the way I wired it. Could also be all the salt in the dirt where I worked in Texas. Who knows. Hope to get it working again soon. Was a really nice feature.

 

I hate chrome. It can be done well but so many vehicle makers just cram a bunch of plastic chrome on the vehicle. My runner is mild in the chrome department but I still hate it. I plan removing what trim I can and painting what I need to.

After seeing a new grill on eBay for 40$ I decided to paint mine. If I ˟˟˟˟ it up I can afford a new one.

I cleaned it with a degreaser. At first I used a spray from O'Reilly's. After spraying it I realized it had strong solvents in it. Not good for plastic grills. So I quickly used a cleaner like simple green. Then I rinsed, dried and started sanding. Used a 120 grit then a fine steel wool.

For paint I used a 2x Rust-Oleum. It's a paint and primer in one. A half a can covered everything I needed. 4 light coats and a satin finish. I far prefer the look. Looking forward to seeing it in the sunlight. My shop lights reflect a lot.

My side markers are so old when I removed them the lenses just fell off the housing. The glue had become brittle. Oddly it made it much easier to paint. Then I just epoxied the lens back in.

 

In my search for how to install an after market tachometer I was rather surprised to find a lack of information. In usual style every post just suggested swapping in an SR5 cluster. Two problems with this for me. First I already owned the tach. I bought it ages ago but, never installed it because everyone just kept saying using an SR5 cluster. Second SR5 clusters have gotten really pricey. Maybe I could get lucky and find one somewhere but, for the moment 150-200$ could be better spent on shackles or tires etc.

So FINALLY I found one lone picture of how someone installed it CORRECTLY and easily. I found a few photos of splices made right at the ignition coil but these all looked messy and there is very little wire to play with. Here is the original post that has the info I needed https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116/installed-aftermarket-tach-244532/

On the firewall side of the coil pack is the negative terminal. This is the side the tach should be connected too. There is a cover over these connections so it may not jump out at you are first. Hoping someone else finds this post and it helps them some day. I will include more photos as I finish the install.

Coil pack is located at the bottom of the photo to the right of the steering pump reservoir and to the left and down of the master cylinder.
Coil pack is below the ignition coil with a wire sticking out and a plastic cap on it.
Coil pack with cover removed
Location of coil pack
Location of coil pack.
Tach wire connected to the coil pack on the side closest to the firewall. I will move the tach inside the cab and wire it up. Don't worry.
Tach wire connected to the coil pack on the side closest to the firewall.

 

A few more pictures of the black out grill and side marker housings. A while back I ripped of the plastic trim on each end of my bumper. One on a rock and another in a parking lot. The ends of my bumper were trashed. So I cut them clean and I think it looks a lot better. I will some day buy/make a tube bumper but, for now I will make do with modified stock. i plan to paint the bumper black to match the grill. But even now I really like the look better than how it came from the factory. I hate chrome, well cheap plastic stuff so I plan to remove or paint it all.

Black out grill and side marker lights. Cut and cleaned up the ends of the bumper.
Before and afters.
Before and afters.

 

Nice build! Really like that led strip addition under the hood.

 

Thanks! The LED strip under the hood was a super great idea that hasn't worked out so well. The pin switch I bought rusted out and froze up in like 3 months. I just ordered a magenetic switch that is sealed and should last a little bit longer. I will share it once I have got it installed.

 

Easy install once I figured out where to hook things up. Hooking up to the positive on the dimmer dial resulted in some weird quirks. It would turn off when I adjusted the dimmer. So I decided to just wire the white dimmer wire up to the fuse box. That way it's just on when the car is on. The tach is dim enough already I'm good with it just being on.

 

Since the pin switch failed completely I looked for something else that wouldn't rust. Found a cheap magnet switch. Won't rust, no moving parts. Took some work to line it all up but, so far so good. Hopefully it holds up better.

 

Since I rewired my side markers to function as blinkers I thought I would make use of the space in my bumper. So it took some searching but found a set of cree LED lights that where about the right size. Was able to use one of the stock blinker mounts and a self tapping screw on the other. The for well. Will wire them up soon.

 

I've been featured! Very humbling.

https://www.yotatech.com/articles/4r...efuses-to-die/

 

Awesome! Good job!

Been planning to do this. Haven't done the corner markers, yet. You just rewired, but not changed bulb to brighter one? The turn signals are typically around 23 watts (1156 bulb or equivalent).
I looked but the low-profile ones I find are wider than the opening. What LED lights did you get for the bumper? How's the spread and cut-off?
What's the dimension of the lens? If the lens is just about the same size as the opening, I would mount them from behind he bumpe? Might look cleaner.

 

I changed the bulb to a LED bulb. They are plenty bright for a blinker.

Samlight 7.5 inch 2 PCS 18W Spot Flush Mount Led Light Bar Off Road Driving Lights Fog Lights for Jeep Truck, 2 Years Warranty https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073Z62PQW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Z0FFAbA62KKA7

These are the lights I used.

I thought about mounting them behind but it would take removing the brackets that held the blinkers. I was happy to reuse one of the mounting points rather that having to get the cutting wheel out. I'm also planning to paint the bumper black so they will look more like part of it.

 

I apologize for the wordy post but I learned a lot on getting this rear end done.

I finally put in some new gears and a lunch box locker. After 8 years of owning this truck it's finally coming together. Once been rolling around on 31s the whole time I've owned this truck which means it's always been under geared. Now with some 33s it should have a little more torque than stock.

I bought my gears already installed into a 3rd member and the front axle for about 400$. Well worth looking for someone upgrading to 5.29s. All the bearings had been redone and everything was in great shape. Bonus, the 3rd I bought is a v6 carrier and way beefier. Check out the photo below for comparison.

So I bought a Lokka brand lunch box locker. Good reviews and a buddy had one in the front end of his XJ and it's worked great for him. For 250$ for a locker it was hard to pass up. But don't do what I did and look under your truck at the 4cyl carrier, order the locker, them realize the 3rd you bought with 4.88s is the v6 carrier. They are not the same. Both install in a 8" rear but the lockers after different because the spider gears are different. Lokka was great about getting me the correct locker (50$ for shipping). They got it to me in less than a week with the return.

There are some good guides out there for a Lunchbox install but couple problems I ran into.

Holding a third in place to be able to undo bolts and torque them back in is tough. You either need a big ass vise or build a jig to hold it. You'll be glad you did.

The guides will say if you mark where the adjuster nuts are you can just put them back the way they came out and you'll be good to go. I used permanent marker like I saw in one guide. That's fine if you don't have to use more degreaser. I lost all my markings. Even if I had the markings reseating the adjuster nuts and getting them at the right depth is no simple task. Without the special tool to torque down those adjuster nuts I decided I needed help. Since I had done every other party of the install but adjusting the backlash basically, it didn't cost me much. A local builder did it for 20$. Money well spent. So you may want to make some calls about what it will cost before you dive in. You can likely DIY but may need a little help like me.

So far the Lokka seems great. It's been snowy and especially icy on my dirt road and the Lokka got me to the highway like a champ. I'm sure I would have spun a wheel without it. It makes a clicking around corners in the parking lot. But I had to have the back window open, the wipers off and the heater off to hear it. So basically a non issue. It does change the driving characteristics though. For instance turning in the parking lot I could give it gas but if I let ito and back on it would buck on me a bit. Let off the gas and it would quit. So none of these are deal breakers but will need some adjustments in how I drive. On an icy road I shifted a bit hard and the rear gave a kick. Again nothing major but little bit more attention to how I drive. A locker is a compromise. A few quirks are worth the huge change in off-road traction.

I have work to do to get the 33s not to rub but stocked to have one of the most important upgrades done.

 

Got the 4.88s in and then weeks later boom. A bad whirling sound came from the front passenger side. Then a day or two later I look and there is gear oil all over the ground. Under closer inspection the passenger side stub axle had pulled out from the front IFS axle.Instant panic. I thought it had to be catastrophic damage inside that axle. I had just FINALLY done the most important upgrade and now I had killed it. I was a little broken hearted and it was turkey season here in California. So I just ignored the problem for a while.



After some research I found out that it really isn't hard to pull this stub axle out. The clip that holds the axle in is designed to pulled out and put back in. This terrifies you if you don't know this but, ultimately it would make it easier to change the seal. On the Gear Installs web page he demonstrates how the axle comes out with just a screw driver as a pry bar and how it can be reused and just popped back in. Finding this got me over the hump and I dove right in.
http://www.gearinstalls.com/ifs.htm

So a buddy with a JK, we won't hold it against him, came over and we torn down the whole passenger side axle and hub. You can find his build here http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/b...hread-1435478/ Turns out two things happened. The bearing started to give way and the CV axle was also suffering. SO I think the combo of that caused to much wobble and tugged the axle out.

So it was time for new bearings, races, and seals all around. Seals and races are something I could go the rest of my life without doing again. Even with the kit, they are just frustrating as hell. BUT got them all in with not damage to any of the seals, I consider that a win.

So in the course of pulling the axle I pushed the sub axle back in. It went in rather easy and I considered leaving it in and not changing anything. But cheap parts got the better of me. We pulled the drain plug on the axle and saw nothing that gave us any worry, no chunks, shavings. So we decided not to pull the axle cover to check on the gears. Everything looked ok.

Pulling the stub axle back out proved more difficult that I imaged. I could not pry it out. So I had to get a slide hammer to get it done. The kit of course did not come with any of the hardware it was supposed to (O'reilys rental). So I had to improvise. The seal was 8$ and a new c-clip was 2$. A little extra work and some cheap parts was well worth knowing it has fresh seals and hopefully that clip will hold the axle in a bit better.






So after seals, races, bearings and a new CV axle she runs great! Nice and smooth. Planning a nice run with the family and friends this weekend. I am hoping to get my 33s mounted and clearing the fenders before this weekend!! I have pounded out the pinch seem and have some extra bump stops to put in the rear and hopefully that should do it. Below are some photos of the pinch weld in the front fender. I measured to show a friend how much clearance this really gives you. Also what the hammered weld looks like. I mad a few relief cuts near the top and bottom with a cut off wheel on a grinder but, over all hammering this out was easy. I threw a little paint on it to stop any rust from setting in. I want to put the plastic fender wells back in and try a heat gun to mold them in tighter to the fender. We will see how that goes. I don't like the electrical open and exposed like this. Also it should hide my ˟˟˟˟ty paint job.

 

Something I forgot to mention. I had pounded out the studs on the IFS axles to make CV joints easier to change. Which they really are way easier with just bolts. However I forgot to put any lock nut on them. In the first picture you can see abolt sticking out near the top. This bolt was bent and pretty beat up. So I think the bearing and axle caused a lot of wobble, which shook the nut loose, which caused the bolt to flop around and eventually pry that stub axle out. So this time each bolt has some working lock nut on them. Lock nut was a basic thing I overlooked and it cost me.

 

Don't buy used tires. PLEASE don't buy used tires. I don't say this as a you might get totally ripped off sort of way. There is always a chance you get them home and they are totally junk, rotted out from the inside and dangerous on the road. This isn't what I am talking about. What I am talking about is all the stuff a tire shop WOULD do for you except that now that your tires are (6 years old in California, 10 years in other states) a lot of tire shops won't touch em. They say there is to high a chance for damage. So this means they can't be remounted on the rims, no new valve stems and no balancing.

So my saga begins with new gears. After years of waiting to upgrade I decided that this poor under powered truck need gears and a locker. I have read time and time again that is one of the best upgrades you can make. Better control with lower gearing and traction with a locker. So I upgraded to 4.88 gears (from 4.10) and added a Lokka brand lunchbox locker. Of course this means I needed new meats.

I had my eye on 33x10.50 BFG KM3 mud terrains. The budget is a little tight at the moment so while I pinched those pennies I kept an eye for a good deal on some used tires. My first mistake. I finally saw a set of 33x12.50 off brand mud terrains for sale, on the rims for 300$. I figured a second set up rims was a good thing so off I went to check them out.

If you only read one paragraph make it this one. When I got there the tires were in the garage. Two of them were holding air but two were not. He assured me they did but, hadn't been driven on in a while. They looked to be in good shape and since none of us had a compressor on us I wouldn't be able to test them. So rule number 1. if you think you should buy some tires. BRING A COMPRESSOR. My dumb ass probably still would have bought these tires but if I knew they were leaking I could have gotten some cash off. Also had I attempted to fill the tires I would have realized that one of them had a damamged valve stem. Rule number 2. bring a bottle of soapy water. Two of the tires leadked bad around the bead and the valve. I didnt even notice this once I got them home and aired them up. They seemed to hold air fine but, they were flat two days later. That is still a fast enough leak that they really could go flat over night wheeling trip. If I had an air compressor with me and I had the soapy water all of these things would have been noticed and I could have passed or in my case of being a dumb ass I would have probably got the guy down to 200$ and left with the tires. Which brings me to rule #3. DON"T BUY USED TIRES.

But I did buy used tires and had I known these things I lilkely still would have bought them. So why is this so bad? Well like many things in there world of used vehicles you never know what someone has done to it.

So two tire held and and two tires did not. None of my local shops would touch old tires so I was stuck doing it myself. I found online that you can balance your tires with plastic air soft BBs. I really liked this idea as it is a (seemingly) easy way to keep big offroad tires in balance. Between big lugged tires and steel rims my experience is that keeping tires like this in balance is never gonna happen. So throw 8 ounces of BBs in and presto insta-balance. The problem comes from unseating the bead to do this. This is hard. Maybe not for every tire but, for mine it sure was. It is like wrestling a monkey trying to get these things off with all the back yard tricks I could find online. However; eventually with enough sweat, throwing tools and cursing the tire bead Gods finally relented.

More down sides though. Once the beads were free I saw why the tires were leaking at the bead. A bunch of crap had gotten in between the tire and the rim. Probably do to all the time they spent stored in the garage (clearly stored outside). All this debris had also caused corrosion on the steel wheel that was not allowing a good seal at the bead and tire. Fine, I would use a grinder and some wire wheels and clean it up. After dealing with the beads I really didn't want to take the tire off so I just used the wire wheel as I pried on the tire for some space. Again wrestling the gorilla sucked. It took a couple hours to clean them up. Good news though the tires seemed in good shape all things considered. So I was hopeful that all this misery was worth it. I sound like I am bitching here but, with just a few tire irons this job is really exhausting. If I ever was willing to do this again I might invest in some tools to help.

So as I get ready to seat the bead I prepare to put the new valve stems in. When you don' take the tire off the rim there isn't much room to work with. Which of course means I dropped a valve stem back inside the tire. Wrestling a 90 lbs tire to get a valve stem out is damn near impossible so off came the tire. After an hour on the mat with the gorilla the valve was in and the tire back on. I used some bead sealant from the local auto parts store and the bead seated nicely. No leaks and all is well. While I was in there I made sure to add the BBs as well. So no leaks, balancing done, tires in decent shape all good!

More bad news. After putting all the tires on and going for a test drive it became really clear that one of the tires was terriblly out of balance (the non-leaking BB free tires). So I swapped it into the back because I had a wheeling trip to get to. In the back it was still pretty bad but, at least it didn't feel like I was going to run it into a tree. After the wheeling trip I also realized that the damaged valve stem (which I had forgotten about) was a rather big problem. Oh did I mention this is on the 4th tire (two leaky ones and one out of balance one). Nothing could be screw on to the valve stem because the threads were so damaged. I could kinda jam on my home compressor enough to get air into it but that wasn't going to work with my portable compressor. So that would also have to be address.

So first dealing with out of balance tire since it would need BBs anyway. I tried everything I could possibly find to unseat that bead. I used a floor jack and ratchet strap. Broke the ratchet strap. I used the front end of a Chevy 1/2 ton and a Hi-lift. Only lifted the truck off the ground. SO I drove over the tire with the Chevy. Nothing brought that bead off. As I pried at it a bit with some tire irons I could tell someone had used A LOT of bead sealant and it just wasn't coming off with anything I had (hopefully this means that my other two tires will never throw a bead haha). So after some searching I decided to just rip the valve stem out, put in the BBs and with enough lube I was told I could smash the valve stem back in. LIES. I mangled that valve stem until it was unrecognizable..

I did however find a really cool tool kit that will actually replace the valve stem WITHOUT unseating the bead. I figured this was a really useful tool if anyone ever damages theirs out on the trail so I ordered it. I will update on how that works once it arrives.

After ripping the old valve stem out I noticed something pecuilar. There is A LOT of water in this wheel. More than I imagine just from sitting outside. So I think someone sealed the hell out of the tire and added water to balance it. They added a ton. I thought that tire seemed a lot heavier and I was right. Again it doesn't look like this has caused to much damage and the tire is in decent shape.

In short people do dumb ˟˟˟˟ to cars so please do not buy these tires from me when I go to sell them on Craigslist.

 

You are getting a good education and learning how to do for yourself. That is a good thing

Such never comes for free. So long as no one gets hurt, it's a bargan