Project Saving Silverman

Shreddinlettuce said:
The wider perches look like a lot better idea than cutting g into the center section area where all the strength needs to be
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This is what I’m leaning towards. Aside from the possible reduction of strength by notching the housing, this route just seems way easier.

I *think* I’ll be okay on spring interference by keeping the tire size small(er). Based on what I’ve read, it seems like this is more of a problem when running 40”+ tires. My hope is I can maintain enough clearance by running an 11.5” or 12.5” wide tire. Backspacing will definitely be a factor in my wheel selection. Spacers will be a last resort I keep in my back pocket.

Side note/question: anybody know if the IFS hubs from the 4runner will go on the 80 axle? That could help push the tires out if I’m struggling for clearance.
 
I would put the axle on jack stands, bolt up the wheels and tires and turn them full lock to see how far apart you can place the springs.
 
drkelly said:
I would put the axle on jack stands, bolt up the wheels and tires and turn them full lock to see how far apart you can place the springs.
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I like it! Hadn’t thought of that. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. I could certainly do that with the current wheels and tires. That would give me a good sense of how much room I’ll have. I’m a ways off from being able to do that with a final tire/wheel combo though.
 
Just found the info below on marlin’s board. Looks like the 80 is roughly 8” wider than a standard 1st gen Toyota solid front axle. (I believe those are WMS measurements)

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Thinking back to a previous 1st gen pickup build, if I math for a minute:
55.5” WMS + 2” wheel spacers on either side gave me a 59.5” WMS width. Subtracting out the 29” perch spacing, and dividing by 2, I ended up with 15.25” from perch center to WMS on each side. This gave me enough clearance to run 39.5x13.50 tires on 3.5” backspaced wheels.

For the 80 front with “full width” spring perch spacing, I would have a 63.5” WMS and 31.5” perch spacing. That would give me 16” from perch center to WMS on each side. In theory, that would give me enough clearance to run a 13.5” wide tire on a 3.5” backspaced wheel. Running a narrower tire should allow me to run a deeper wheel backspacing if I wanted to.

This should work. Maybe.
 
I'm not ready to throw in the towel on a factory housing yet. But if I do, my money would most likely be going to Front Range for a Diamond housing. My F-Toy had a diamond rear with a 9.5" third, and it was ( . )( . ) Plus, TG is probably going to be getting enough of my money for odds and ends on this build anyway.
 
I actually narrowed my front spring width with the fj60 axle LOL!! That 80 axle can be a PITA with leafs. I would probably link it with a factory housing before going with a diamond, they have the same issues on leafs with the 3rd I believe, but I'm also not baller enough for custom shit like that.
 
My ADHD keeps me from focusing on finishing 1 thing at a time, so I haven’t put the interior back together yet. I did get the tunnel cut for the dual case shifters, but I talked myself out of installing the carpet yet in case I need to trim some more of the tunnel when the trans goes back in (hopefully permanently).

So instead of putting anything back together, I have been busy taking more things apart. IFS is completely removed now.

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Aaaaannnnnnd sawzall go bBBbbrrrRRRRrrrrrr

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Progress is progress. Planning to borrow a plasma cutter from @getstucksome to get the majority of the cutting work done. This was easy enough to zip through with the recip saw, but there's lots of cutting and grinding ahead of me. Hopefully the plasma will reduce the pain-in-the-ass factor of hacking off the bulk of the bracketry (from the frame and axles). Maybe I'll be able to make some more tangible progress over the long weekend. But probably not.
 
Kickdeez said:
I tried letting it sit there without messing with it to see if these things would take care of themselves...but I was disappointed with the lack of visible progress achieved with that method.
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:laughing: I hear ya! Im in the middle of that with a cage for my junk pile, fucker won't design and build itself, annoying!
 
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StretchASU said:
@getstucksome is too nice. You should be suffering and spending the cost of a Wuhan Plasma in cutoff wheels, flap discs and sawzall blades. That is the Toyota owner way.
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You ain't wrong. Done a couple of these now. After the last one, I told myself I wouldn't do another without some sort of torch. Matt said his Hiroshima Metal Hater 9000 is up to the challenge.
 
This update is more to just kick myself back into gear and keep the motivation and momentum up. Got all the IFS bracketry cut out, ground down and the frame rails cleaned up. The plazzzzzma cutter made this process considerably faster and easier compared to the sawzall/grinder method. The hope for this week/weekend is to get the front spring hanger widened and welded on (for full width spring perch spacing), cut holes in the frame and weld in tubes for the rear shackles, get front spring packs built and hung from the frame, and weld in reinforcement plates for the motor mounts. That should set me up for hanging a front axle once I fully land on which axle I'm going to use.

I picked up a 6 lug passenger drop waggy D44 from @ProbablyBroke. It already has leaf perches so it will hopefully bolt right up to the new leaf spring suspension. Came with offset shackles, high steer arms, tie rod ends, Toyota pinion flange, mini spool, 5.38 gears, a gear set master install kit, 2 sets of locking hubs, and some other odds and ends that *SHOULD* make incorporating this axle into the 4runner relatively straight forward. I won't be using the new 5.38 gears, but will have to re-gear if I end up using this axle. Ultimately, the end goal is still to hang the FJ80 front under this truck, but thinking through all I will have to do to get that axle under the 4runner, I believe the D44 will give me a better chance of getting this truck to the 2025 Edition of Not NC4x4 Bad Decisions Gathering. It will still be a stretch to make it all happen, but as of right now, I'm doing what I can to get it to that point. All the work I'm doing now will have to be done regardless of axle choice. And as I am going through this build, I am trying to set myself up in a way that hopefully won't require significant/difficult re-work when it comes time to swap out the temporary D44 for the permanent FJ80 front.

Hopefully my next update will include pics of an axle hung under the front of this truck.

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Well it’s been almost a month since the last post. There has been some cutting, some grinding, some welding, some disassembling, some reassembling, a whole lot of looking, measuring, thinking and planning of next moves, but it doesn’t feel like a ton of tangible/visible progress.

Recent updates/progress includes:
Front spring hanger has been widened and welded to the frame.
Rear suspension and axle removed.
Rear springs bastardized and repurposed as front springs and hung.
FJ80 front disassembled, cleaned, housing de-bracketed, kustum leaf perches tacked on, and housing hung (temporarily).
2-pedal assembly swapped out for 3-pedal assembly.
Dual cases disassembled for inventory/inspection. Cleaning and reseal in progress.

Right now the front axle is sitting at about +13 degrees of caster with weight on the axle and the frame at almost dead level front to back. This is due to some extremely scientific guesswork on the perch fabrication before I slid the axle under the truck. The axle “tubes” on this 80 housing are squared off in all the wrong places, so I had to take a preliminary stab at making some perches just to get it hung for mockup purposes and more precise measurements. Rough (calibrated eyeball) frame height measurements from pre and post sas put me at approximately 4” of lift in the front.

Next steps generally include the following:
Acquire rear springs and install.
Hang rear axle.
Buy new motor and install.
Reassemble tcases and install trans/cases.
Re-measure frame heights and angles with drivetrain in and all weight on axles/suspension.
Do math.
Adjust front/rear springs as needed to level the truck front to back.
Adjust rear axle pinion angle as needed.
Re-measure caster and perch angles of front axle.
Do more math.
Modify perches to correct caster angle. Shooting for +3 degrees (factory Land Cruiser spec is between +2 and +4 degrees).
Reinstall front axle, check, modify again if needed, and final welding of perches (front and rear).

That will get me over the biggest hurdles and bulk of the fabrication for this build. There will be other hurdles, I’m sure. I’m already anticipating rear driveshaft conflict with the stock gas tank due to the offset rear diff. But that’s minor in comparison to setting up the suspension to get these Land Cruiser axles under this rig.

Some pics…

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Quick update on the dual cases:

PO of the cases told me he thought it had 2.28 gears with 23 spline inputs in both cases and an RCV rear output shaft. I didn't attempt to confirm at the time of purchase because, honestly, it was such a smoking deal that I didn't care. Now that I have it all apart, I have confirmed that they are in fact 2.28 gear sets in both cases, but turns out they’re actually both stock 21 spline inputs. I don't see any markings on the rear output that would specifically indicate it's an RCV. Not sure if there would/should be any markings to indicate as such. I do know that I had an OG Longfield output in a previous rig, and it didn't have any markings either. Sooo, no new information there.

I already bought and installed a 21/23 spline coupler in the transmission. I thought I had at least 1 Marlin chromo 23 spline input laying around somewhere, but I actually recently gave it to a buddy, and it was for a 4.7 gear set anyway. So the plan is to get 2 Marlin XD Total Spline 23 spline inputs and a 23 spline coupler for the dual case adapter. I'm gonna leave the rear output alone. I'll *try* to drive it like it's a stock output, but remain hopeful that it's some sort of upgraded chromoly shaft.

One of the aluminum case pieces has a crack on the back side of a threaded hole. It looks like it was previously reassembled with a bolt that was slightly too long. I have a bin with spare transfer case parts that I'll pull a "new" case piece and proper length bolt from for reassembly.

That's all. No pics. Carry on.
 
If it makes you feel better in regards to the long bolt, I did that early in my Toyota days and blew out one of the threaded bosses inside the low range housing. I jb welded it back in and ran it for 2years without issue.


Sounds like you are getting too bougey with "finding a new housing", missed jb weld opportunity and remain true to the spirit of toyotaing.
:laughing:
 
gslander said:
If it makes you feel better in regards to the long bolt, I did that early in my Toyota days and blew out one of the threaded bosses inside the low range housing. I jb welded it back in and ran it for 2years without issue.


Sounds like you are getting too bougey with "finding a new housing", missed jb weld opportunity and remain true to the spirit of toyotaing.
:laughing:
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JB Weld is definitely an option, and was my first thought before I remembered I had a spare parts bin in my shed. I haven't looked through that bin in a while. When I get around to it, I'll check to see if I have a spare of that case piece, and what kind of condition it's in. If it's a no-go, this crack will definitely get welded by my good buddy JB and sent.
 
No progress the past couple weeks. I spent about a week and a half trying to source a 23 spline coupler that would work with this inchworm dual case adapter. Inchworm has been long gone. They were acquired by low range years ago, and then low range subsequently got got by TG, so there are no replacement inchworm parts available. Dual case adapter designs have obviously changed over the years, and none of the new parts are interchangeable with my adapter. Long story short: there’s no easy/cost efficient way to convert my existing adapter to 23 spline.

So I’ve decided to not throw any extra money into these cases right now. I’ve been down this path many times before, and chasing strength upgrades in Toyota cases is a sweater string I don’t have any desire to pull on. IF I happen to blow up the rear case input at some point, I’ll consider a new adapter and swapping everything over to 23 spline. The AA dual case adapter is not unreasonably priced, like the TG and Marlin units. But I’m not trying to spend that money on it right now.

The new plan is to put it all back together with the stock 21 spline stuff and allocate dollars towards axle gears instead. Trying to keep the end goal in mind here. I have to keep telling myself I’m not building a dedicated wheeler to beat the piss out of. 21 spline stuff will most likely be adequate for 35s and mild trail riding. Maybe.

The pace of this build has slowed down considerably. I was originally hoping and planning to try to get it ready for the G2G. I have had to force myself to slow down to do it “right” the first time. I was also spending way too much time in the shop when I really need to be taking care of other things too (family, work, house, tow rig, buggy, etc.). That being said, the 4runner will not be making its debut in October. I will continue to chug along as time and energy allows. I’m gonna shoot for having it ready for Uwharrie opening weekend 2026.
 
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