4runner woes... help needed

heckyl

heckyl

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Location
NW NC
After seeing how capable stockish 4runners are, I decided I needed one for my dd, hunting, camping, excursion vehicle. I found an excellent condition 97 sitting on 33's but no lift, and promptly worked out a deal on it. So far I love the vehicle, and had started calling it the go-devil being that I hadn't found anything that it couldn't handle.... this past Sunday morning I however, did find the vehicle's limitations. Ice. Really my fault, not the 4runner, but my ego demands that I displace the blame. That being said, the passenger side tire sits back a couple inches from where it should, and will not turn at all, passenger side front bumper and lower fascia is not looking too good either. I haven't been able to really assess the damage, but I'm reasonably sure every suspension and steering part is thoroughly fucked.

This is where the questions begin; I'm new to Toyotas and I'm a bit overwhelmed with the size of the aftermarket. Where I want to end up is with an extremely capable dd, with bumpers and winch, on 33" tires that I can drive to the trail and then drive home. So to you Toyota gurus, where would you put the beefed up parts vs oem when putting the front suspension back together? What brands give the most for the money and what pitfalls can I avoid by doing this right the first time? I should also say that I'm a piss poor mechanic and will probably be looking for a shop or shade tree mechanic in the wilkes/elkin area to give me a hand in this endeavor. Thanks for any help or suggestions.
 
Later first generation runners were almost as good as a early XJ in stock form but not quite... I like the second gen designs tho but I’ve been in a 86 runner on 33s and had some hell of a good times! Mechanically you can’t beat a old 22r it’s like a sbc 5.7 I’m no yoter guy tho I’d buy a 95 and sas it on 35s for dd lol If they were bigger!
 
I had an 89 runner just before this vehicle, but didn't keep it very long due to lack of doors/cupholders... but damn. Offroad beast. I've had jeeps for years, and still love my jeeps, but I'm sold on Toyota for dd/weekend warrior duty.
 
Factory ball joints in the front. Accept no substitutions! For 33's, the drivetrain that's under it is fairly stout. Look for a factory e-locker rear diff from a Tacoma with the 4 cylinder and an automatic. They will likely be 4.56 gears. Keep that ADD in the front, as the manual hub configurations are slightly weaker at the hubs. Light Racing upper control arms, Bilstein 5100's up front, lift coils in the rear.

You'll be money ahead if you decide on the ultimate configuration you want this vehicle to be, and it sounds like you know, so you already know what your end game is and try to stick with it.

For cost savings, ACDelco brand inner and outer tie rods (maybe ball joints as well) are the Three 5 (555) brand that is touted by Toyota enthusiasts as being the closest to stock without blowing out the wallet. They're cheapest on RockAuto.

I can keep going with tips and such, but I'll keep an eye on this for specific questions.
 
SAS was my first thought, but I can't justify the cost involved for how I'm going to use the vehicle. Thanks for the heads up on the AC delco tre maulcruiser, I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start tearing this thing apart. I've never turned a wrench on any IFS equipment before, guess I'm fittin to learn. I've got to decide on a front bumper in the next couple days, just window shopping now.
 
maulcruiser said:
Factory ball joints in the front. Accept no substitutions! For 33's, the drivetrain that's under it is fairly stout. Look for a factory e-locker rear diff from a Tacoma with the 4 cylinder and an automatic. They will likely be 4.56 gears. Keep that ADD in the front, as the manual hub configurations are slightly weaker at the hubs. Light Racing upper control arms, Bilstein 5100's up front, lift coils in the rear.

You'll be money ahead if you decide on the ultimate configuration you want this vehicle to be, and it sounds like you know, so you already know what your end game is and try to stick with it.

For cost savings, ACDelco brand inner and outer tie rods (maybe ball joints as well) are the Three 5 (555) brand that is touted by Toyota enthusiasts as being the closest to stock without blowing out the wallet. They're cheapest on RockAuto.

I can keep going with tips and such, but I'll keep an eye on this for specific questions.
Click to expand...

The AC Delco professional ball joints are Triple5 brand, that's what I used on my Tacoma.
 
Awesome, I'm hoping I haven't ripped brackets off the frame or bent the frame...can't get it towed until the snow and ice melts off a bit.
 
heckyl said:
SAS was my first thought, but I can't justify the cost involved for how I'm going to use the vehicle. Thanks for the heads up on the AC delco tre maulcruiser, I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start tearing this thing apart. I've never turned a wrench on any IFS equipment before, guess I'm fittin to learn. I've got to decide on a front bumper in the next couple days, just window shopping now.
Click to expand...
If ya decide to go sas later on and wanna use waggy d44 (hearcthey are good shortened for yotas!?) I have one for cheap I’d let go of that may be usable for ya! $100-125 has everything to the spindles I pulled hubs and brakes tho not sure of ratio but I’m sure it’s stock gearing!
 
Sounds good, depending on how much fixing the IFS is going to be, SAS may still be on the table. I'll keep you in mind.
 
You can buy factory or aftermarket control arms to fix what you've broken. Basically you can choose between factory or aftermarket for all of the suspension components. Aftermarket is huge, as youve seen.

Look up Timmy the Toolman vids on YouTube....lots of very helpful DIY wrenching vids.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 
I’ll be honest if not gonna be your off-road rig I like my ifs in my 2500 suburban just sucks replacing cv shafts bc only ones I’ve found that’ll last are rcv$$$ biz store brands sucks tho! Other than that I went with XRF ball joints and haven’t had much issue with my ifs besides petty preventative maintenance! Don’t think xrf does yota axles tho but I was told they didn’t do GM and they do for the “1ton” fronts so may get lucky I paid like $20 more a joint then moog and it’s night and day diff!
 
I'm thinking aftermarket control arms and possibly RCV's. The factory IFS seems to be way more stout than chevy 1500, or just less weight and hp on the components, but either way, Toyota just seems to hold up better.
 
The ifs in Toyotas are very stout. I ran 33s on many different generations of 4runners without problems.
 
I wish I could get more travel out of it with out spending 3/4 of a fortune. C.Berry, is your 44 driver side drop and 60"~ WMS TO WMS?
 
Back
Top