Project: 4Crawler - My
Weekend Toy(ota, that is)
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The Golden Crack
WildYoats in Moab, 2001
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Dropping into the
Big Sluice
Rubicon Bash, 2001
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Contents:
Owner
General
Engine
Electrical
Transmission
Body Protection
Vehicle Recovery
Custom Features
Wheels/Tires
Drivetrain
Bumper & Winch
Suspension
Technical Info
Future Mods
Suspension
4x4 Links
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Visitor
# 384199
since 08.AUG.2001
"4x4" in upper case is "$X$"
Life is good no matter what, after your lowest low is your
Marlin Crawler
!
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Owner
:
Roger Brown, P.E.
Located in SF Bay Area, CA. USA.
I used to drive a
1974 Toyota Landcruiser Wagon
(FJ-55) from 1984-91.
White over blue, 4 door, a classic "Iron Pig" as they are affectionately known.
Converted from gasoline to propane (LPG) w/ 50 gal. tanks - approx. 500 mile range.
Holley
350 CFM carb., modified for propane, dual exhaust with tri-y headers and glass-pack mufflers w/ front-of-rear-wheel exit.
30x9.50LT all season tires on stock rims and a 2" shackle lift front, 1500 lb. add-a-leaf rear.
Had to sell it after the California Air Resources Board mandated smog compliance for LPG in 1990. While I could easily meet the emissions specs., the visual check got me. I could never get a straight answer from the CARB on what emissions equipment was needed, for example they initially said "all OEM equipment was required", I asked "what about the evaporative canister for the gas tank?" and was told "yes, that's required", but I replied "I don't have a gas tank and the propane tanks are sealed pressure vessels!" to which they replied, "Oh, well everything BUT that" and on it went. When I asked for a list of required equipment, they told me I could only have that information if I was a licensed smog shop... Did I mention that I dislike the CARB!
Here's my daily driver:
Project: Caddy Shack
In case you think I'm prejudiced about Toyota 4x4s, I'm not.
After all a Jeep can go everywhere a Toyota does,
just take a look at this
!
So why did I buy this particular vehicle?
I wasn't really looking for a 4WD vehicle, but I knew I wanted to do something to keep from beating up my little
VW pickup
in the desert and mountains on roads I probably shouldn't be on in the first place. I like to
get away from it all
. My typical vacation trips have lots of highway driving in between sections of rugged terrain that I want to visit. They are usually multi-day to multi-week trips and I try to be self-sufficient for most of that, meaning I carry gear, food, water, etc. to spend days away from developed areas. Since I often arrive at my destination late at night, the ability to sleep in the vehicle is desirable to avoid setting up a tent.
A co-worker was selling an '86 4Runner (IFS) and that sparked my interest. I'd ridden in it a few times and was impressed with the vehicle. I researched the early 4Runner models and liked what I found, but also got interested in the '85 model (solid axle). The '86 was snapped up by an eager buyer, so I resigned myself to dreaming of an '85. A few weeks later, the co-worker informed me of an '85 4Runner being sold by an acquaintance. I rushed down and snapped it up right away.
The '85 model is the last one to feature solid axles and leaf springs front and rear. It is also the first model to feature the fuel injected engine (22-RE) which has fair power, good mileage and no carburetor to flood on steep hills. It has the fiberglass shell on back to allow lots of enclosed cargo room. Its got a medium wheelbase and track so its both stable on long highway drives, yet able to maneuver on tight off-road tracks. There is a pretty good aftermarket parts industry following for Toyota, unlike most of the other import brands. I liked my old Land Cruiser and here I could get a smog-legal equivalent.
This vehicle is not for every one, its rough riding, access to the rear seats is difficult and its underpowered for towing. For me, its not my daily driver, so I can optimize it towards trail use, while keeping it street worthy. I rarely travel with more than 2 people and often alone, so the rear seats are usually folded down. I never tow anything and I find the power adequate for my purposes.
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Vehicle
:
1985 Toyota 4Runner SR-5
290,000
miles and counting
I'm the third owner, purchased w/ 185,000 on the clock
Turned 200k driving west across South Dakota on my way home from a trip to Minnesota in 1998
White w/ bronze factory striping
The striping is a bit worn, but has some advantages in that the hood stripes have a directional reflection characteristic. Looking from the front, they appear in shades of light to dark bronze, but from the driver's seat, they are flat black. I don't know if this was intentional, but they serve as an effective anti-glare surface on the hood.
Unfortunately, the California sun got the better of the hood stripes. While washing it recently, the outer layer of a few stripes began to peel off.
So, I conducted a stripe-removal experiment
.
Also, the side stripes are positioned to take the brunt of scraping from trail brush, so I think I'll keep them for now
Most factory options:
Cruise control
Full gauge set; tachometer, water temperature, oil pressure, voltmeter
Power steering, brakes and windows; but I don't have the electric door locks
Flip-up sun roof
Tilt steering wheel
Stock wheel replaced with a quick-release Grant wheel
Driver's side adjustable sport seat with the cool "SR-5" fabric pattern
Air conditioning, currently inoperative and removed
Compressor to be converted for airing up tires
Rear heater
Now removed and replaced with a Tuffy security console
Intermittent wipers
Map lights
The infamous
clinometer
Altimeter, slope and tilt gauges,
modified for more range
Removable rear shell and factory roll bar
I had my truck weighed recently (at the Wonder Ice Cream Co., south SF Bay Area, CA.)
Shell on, rear seat cushions removed, 33x15.50 Swampers, 1/2 tank of gas, box of tools/parts and some camping gear and me in the driver's seat:
Front: 2180 lbs - Rear: 2480 lbs
Total: 4660 lbs - 47%F 53%R weight distr.
BTW: The worn 33x15.50 TSL/SX tires on 15x10 steel rims weigh in at 88 lbs. each, 352 lbs. for the set!
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Engine
:
22R-EC
2.4 liter, 4-cylinder, Electronic Fuel Injection
Pistons bored 0.020" (0.50mm) over for 2392cc total displacement (stock 2366cc)
Lubrication: Halvoline 5W40 synthetic and a Purolator PureOne filter w/ anti-drainback valve
Currently getting about ~18MPG (corrected) with 33" tires and 4.88 gears
Radiator:
A 2 row all-al;uminum radiator from eBay
Along with a stock Aisin fan and clutch
The radiator is a DIRECT fit, the 4 core support bolts line up perfectly and the fan shroud bolts right up, they even have the welded on metric nuts like stock.
Used to run a heavy-duty 3-row
GoDan #2041 (now: TransPro #432041) radiator
handles the cooling duties
The 2041 uses a larger radiator cap than stock, mine came with a Stant #329.
The larger opening makes for easier filling.
The radiator is a DIRECT fit, the 4 core support bolts line up perfectly and the fan shroud bolts right up, they even have the welded on metric nuts like stock.
The only difference is the radiator is about 1" thicker for the 3rd row of cooling tubes inside.
The fan now rides inside the shroud, so if you have a body lift, the radiator must be re-centered on the fan and if you have a large electric fan like a Flex-A-Lite, it won't clear the A/C compressor pulley.
Full custom exhast system, including:
LC Engineering
Street Performer header
New stainless steel catalytic convertor (mine was 90+% plugged after 220K miles!).
Currently running a Borla stainless steel turbo muffler with muffled exhaust tip.
Used to run a
Flowmaster 50-series Delta Flow
muffler ordered on-line from
Summit Racing
Muffler has a very nice sound, not too loud, bit you can hear it and it sounds
marvelous
.
Nice feature with Flowmaster is that you can specify the exact muffler configuration, mine was:
9 - Delta Flow series
4 - 4" Case thickness
20 - 2.0" ID inlet and outlet connections
5 - 50 series muffler, the quietest
3 - offset inlet and opposit offset outlet ports
This made for a very neat, semi-custom installation
And it sounds good, too! (link to QuickTime file)
Custom 2" stainless steel
tailpipe exiting between the frame and body
Now that the exhaust is getting out easier, I felt the need to get more air into the engine, so...
Relocated air box to stock battery location
w/ 2" PVC snorkle inside passenger side fender
fitted with a
K&N Filtercharger
Intake length is about the same as stock, even with the snorkle
LC Engineering
rebuilt throttle body and gasket-matched intake plenum
TRD
Level 1 camshaft to open the valves and let the air in and out faster
DOA Racing
steel timing chain guides to keep that chain where it belongs
ARP
head studs to hold it all together
Newly cleaned and balanced fuel injectors thanks to
RC Engineering
Wow, what a difference
!
Replaced most of the vacuum lines with a
3/6/10mm silicone rubber kit
.
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Electrical:
A
160A Premier Power Welder
supplies the power for...
Dual 800A Black Panther batteries located under the rear seat well, above the rear driveshaft
A 200A solenoid and
1/0
welding cable carry the electrons up front to the engine
3 -12V power points in rear cargo area
.
12V florescent light for rear deck illumination
Hard mounted 120VAC/300W power inverter
Parking lights
re-wired
to work with as turn signals
Hella
Vision Plus H4 (55/60W) headlights, w/ protective wire grills
Now upgraded to 50/100W bulbs and a dual relay wiring harness;
LET THERE BE LIGHT
!
Hella
550 Fog Lights
A pair of 35W Rock Lights provide illumination underneath for night-time action.
Re-wired power side and rear windows to work w/ ignition off
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Transmission
:
Rebuilt Toyota 5 speed
Aisin Seiki
W56-5
manual transmission from
Transmission Exchange
Recently changed the lube over to
Redline MTL
synthetic
A
Marlin
Ultimate Crawler
(dual transfer case), #263.
The 4.70 gear is installed in the rear transfer case which features a custom
4Crawler short-throw shift kit
The front crawl box has the stock 2.28 low ratio.
I also gain a 2-Lo range (2.28 : 1) without needing to unlock the front hubs, by putting the front box into low and shifting the rear case between 4H and 2H.
Currently running
Redline 75W90
synthetic gear oil
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Suspension/Lift:
Front:
Custom spring pack
consisting of stock '83 pickup and '85 4Runner rear
leaf springs
w/ 2.5"
dropped front hangers
Result in a 2.75" forward axle location
Custom u-bolt flip kit with 5/8" diameter Rancho u-bolts
Custom 2" longer than stock,
4Crawler wide-body shackles
Custom long-travel triple-shock (Rancho 9120/99012) setup
Front sway bar removed due to the cross-over steering installation
Custom, long travel, double-cardan drive shaft built by
Driveline Service of San Jose
All-Pro hybrid D60/Toyota front axle
w/ hydraulic-assisted high cross-over steering
Rear:
56" Orbit Eye springs, 5.5" lift
Custom
4Crawler double spring shackles
, 3.5"/6.5"
Custom CV-style drive shaft built by
Driveline Service of San Jose
4Crawler custom degree shims
to correct the pinion angle
Rancho 9012 shocks on custom mounts
Brake proportioning valve is tied up with an
adjustable turn-buckle setup
.
I found that with the weight of the 4Runner shell, rear bumper/tire carrier, I have no problems with rear-wheel lockup. Now I can dial in the amount of braking I need.
Body Lift:
3" custom
4Crawler Ultimate Body Lift
2"
4Crawler Drivetrain Lift
with Frontrange crossmember and skid plate
ProThane
polyurethane body mounts and bushings (shackles and spring hangers).
Note: Body mounts eliminate that annoying shudder over bumps and make washboard gravel roads tolerable.
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Drivetrain
:
Toyota 8" front and rear.
4.88 : 1
Precision ring and pinion gears
V6 rear and FJ-80 reverse-rotation/high-pinion front
ARB
RD23s front and rear
I used to run 5.29 Richmond gears and
Detroit TrueTrac
up front and a
Detroit SoftLocker
in back
Front axle: All Pro/Currie D60 hybrid axle w/ Warn locking hubs
Rear axle: IFS rear housing w/ Front Range Offroad full floating axle kit w/ FJ80 drive flanges
Addco rear sway bar w/ custom quick disconnect end-links.
With nice new gears and over a gallon of synthetic
Redline Shockproof
gear oil, I don't want water getting into the pumpkins, so I installed
differential breathers
with A/N fittings and S/S braided hose vented the front one to a
K&N
filter mounted high on the passenger-side firewall and the rear to a
filter on the rear tire carrier
.
After about 8 months, I found a problem with my original vent line installation. The were several low points in the tubing runs where gear oil seemed to collect. Enough gear oil built up until air flow was impaired. I rerouted the lines so both tubing runs will be such that excess oil can drain back down into the diff. as needed.
A
Centerforce Dual Friction
clutch turned by a
10 lb. heavier than stock flywheel
.
Really smooth operation at slow speeds but it grabs like the dickens around 3000 RPM
A
custom drivetrain lift
raises the
engine
, transmission, and transfer cases 2" from stock, coupled with a custom dual transfer case skid plate/crossmember maximizes breakover angles.
A 3" gas tank lift was also done to maximize clearance between the axles.
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Wheels, Tires and Brakes:
Tires:
For normal driving I use
BF Goodrich
33 x 10.50 Mud Terrain / KM tires
Mounted on stock Toyota 15x6 chrome steel rims.
I run 10-15 PSI off-road and 25 on-road
For serious off-road action, a set of 35x12.50 Goodyear MT/Rs on
15x8 Champion Beadlocks
To keep the rubber on the road, a set of
Centramatic
Continuous Wheel Balancers balance the wheels
To put the air back in the tires, the following setup is used:
Thomas
on-board air
compressor & front bumper air tank.
Installation information may be found
here
.
It'll air up all four 33x9.50 BFGs (simultaneously) in 6 minutes with my...
4Air tire inflator/deflator:
This setup ensures equal tire pressures; a very important concern with locking diffs.
The air down/up time is very fast due to large hose/valves.
I use a digital pressure gauge that reads down to 2.5 PSI in 1/2 pound increments, very accurate, important when I run in the sub-5 PSI range.
Quick disconect mud flaps remove easliy for off-road use
Brakes:
Front: Wilwood 4 piston calipers
Rear: Supra disc brakes
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Body protection and Vehicle Recovery(*)
:
Custom 3" 4Crawler body lift
to give clearance for...
KMA Wincher
front bumper carries...
a
Warn XD-9000
winch
Modified front of bumper into a Hawse fairlead for easy pulls
A
Pull-Pal
winch anchor for those tree-less extractions
Custom 4Crawler Rock SliderZ (nerf bars)
Custom
rear 4Crawler wraparound bumper
and tire/jack carrier
Front and rear fenders trimmed for added tire clearance
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Custom Features/Accessories:
GT Styling
shield/deflector up front keeps gravel and bugs off the windshield
The upturned lip generates a fair amount of down force. Really helps stabilize the rig in crosswinds. After the suspension lift, the rig is affected much more by the wind, but its much better with the deflector than without
Attached with two screws under the hood, I used two threaded inserts to allow for easier installation and removal
Rear
Deflecta-Shield
wind deflector keeps the rear window dust-free
48" extruded aluminum unit from
JC Whitney
; cost: ~ $40, said it wouldn't fit with the rear wiper but I had no trouble installing it
Included mounting hardware (for both fiberglass and steel bodies) and fully adjustable brackets for both height and angle. Trimmed the ends to match the width of the shell
AM/FM/Cassette radio by Clarion
A JVC 12-CD changer supplies the tunes when the reception fades
A Uniden GrantXL SSB/CB radio provides mobile communications feeding into a. 48" FireStik-II antenna
mounted on the left rear corner of the vehicle
Anyway, I now own an SWR meter and if any local 4x4 driver would like their antenna SWR checked,
Fire extinguisher mounted on roll bar
Hot water showe
r from R & M Specialty Products is installed inside the left front fender and plumbed into the rear heater hose
Handy for washing off the trail grime after a hard day of wheeling
A Kool
Kayline soft-tops
for the summer months
Other than that, its bone stock :-)
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Future Mods
(once the above items are paid for - Remember:
4x4 in UPPER CASE *is* $X$
)
Install a 3rd battery for deep-cycle discharge with accessories
Found that a portable jump start battery pack works fine for this, built-in 25AH battery and charger makes a great addition for powering stuff in the truck overnight and around camp, like for inflating the air mattress in the tent!
Add a 10-13 gallon water holding tank in back over the frame
Flesh out plans for a replacement hardtop with removeable sides
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[First created: MAY.1998]
[Last updated:16.August.2019 ]