'86 4-Runner

Suspension

  • 5" lift leaf springs - brand unknown
  • Solid front axle swap (SAS)
  • RS9000 adjustable shocks
  • Ford shock mounts in the front
  • Allpro non-histeer crossover steering
  • 2-1/5" longer that stock shackles - Downey
  • Energy suspension poly bushings all around
  • 1" block in rear - Downey
  • Marlink heavy duty tie rod
  • Brake line mounts moved down to accomidate lift

Drivetrain

  • '94 22RE - 43,000 miles
  • '82 Celica intake manifold - powder coated red
  • '94 valve cover - powder coated silver
  • LC Engineering ceramic coated header
  • DOA (Racing) high flow fuel injectors
  • '94 W56 5 speed transmission/transfer - 43,000 miles
  • '85 Toyota solid front axle - totally rebuilt
  • 4.30 differential gears - stock for auto tranny
  • 33-12.50 BFG MT's
  • American Racing "Cheapy" black wagon wheels

Body

  • Rear bumperettes removed
  • Original Toyota decals removed

Interior

  • Shifter console/boot from '85 deluxe pickup
  • Rear heater
  • Speedometer in kilometers
  • Garmin Streetpilot GPS

Misc

  • Russell speed bleeders all around
  • Power locks/keyless remote entry

Coming Soon

  • Custom rear bumper
  • Onboard computer with MP3/DVD/GPS
  • New rear quarter panels
  • New black paint!
  • Rebuilt '85 rear axle (I don't want to add fender flares for inspection)

This is my latest "baby", and also my daily driver. I bought the truck in March 2000 for a whopping $500. It is an '86 SR5 with around 150k miles.

When I purchased the truck it had a very bad rod knock. After pulling the oil pan and checking things out, I found that the #3 cylinder rod bearing was missing. The connecting rod and crank were too buggered up to salvage, at least for a reasonable amount of money.

The truck also had Independant Front Suspension (IFS), and an automatic transmission. I opted to swap the engine/tranny/transfer from a '94 Toyota pickup in rather than rebuild what was there since the original drivetrain had obviously not been taken care of. I bought the drivetrain from Woodward's - a salvage yard near Philly for $1400 total. I thought that this was a good deal considering that the parts only had 43,000 original miles on them, and I had heard so many bad things about almost all of the engine remanufacturers out there.


I also swapped in a solid front axle using Toyota front spring hangers, and duplicating the factory mounting method for the rear of the front springs. With the solid axle in place I was able to install some 5" springs that came off of the '85 parts truck that I had purchased a year or so before. I don't know what these springs are, but with the addition of Ford front shock mounts and RS9000 adjustable shocks, the truck rides like a dream!

More pictures here