Time for that Stimulus Upgrade

Upon initial purchase of the truck, it was already pretty capable. It had Bilstein 5100s front and rear, Spidertrax 1.25'' wheel spacers in front to clear the 33'' Cooper Discovery A/T tires. It had a partial Sonoran Steel lift on it as well, which included upgraded rear bumpstops, an adjustable panhard bar, an extended e-brake bracket, and some other odds and a front diff drop.

It wasn't long after I returned home that it became apparent the CV boots needed to be redone and that the rear axle seals were leaking. I ended up doing a bearing and axle seal install pretty soon after I got it but I evidently didn't get them placed correctly and they continued leaking. I lost interest at that point and just drove it and put diff oil in it from time to time to keep things alive.

Last year I drove half way to Missouri and met a guy that had a set of matching 4.30 third members and an e-locker rear axle. I can't remember what I paid for that, probably around $600 bucks and brought that home to start rebuilding. Had the axle sandblasted and then painted it with Eastwood's catalyzed 2-stage paint and hardener. Along with that I purchased the obligatory Harbor Freight 20 ton press and a set of special tools a guy on ebay sells to make the axle seal and bearing install go much more smoothly.

I recently installed that over a weekend and am happy to report that the seals are holding up well at this point. We'll see how things are when the temperature rises in the warmer months but I'm pleased to say this last try was a success.

One thing the 4Runner definitely needed was an extended rear brake line for the rear axle coming off the frame. With the lift and the articulation that the vehicle is capable of, that OE brake line was going to find itself stretched thin at some point on a trail and I'd rather avoid having an issue there. Wheeler's Off-Road took care of me there and now that's no longer a trouble spot for the rig.

Another thing I've wanted to get away from is the factory 5-spoke wheels. That came in the form of Stealth Custom Series' F5 wheels. I decided that at the same time it made sense to bite the bullet and up the tire size to 35s, so out came the credit card (gotta get those points), and a week or so later a set of Toyo Open Country M/Ts showed up at work on the delivery dock.

If you're knowledgeable on the 3rd Gen 4Runner chassis you already know that 35s don't fit in the front (with full articulation) without some massaging of what's already there. So out came the inner fender liners and the OEM windshield washer reservoir. A smaller replacement washer reservoir from Scarab Off-Road that utilizes the Toyota fluid solenoids was installed in order to free up space on the passenger side wheel well for improved uptravel.

I'll be employing the skills of a good friend to accomplish the larger task of tubing the front firewall a bit to make sure that there are no clearance or rubbing issues when the suspension is fully compressed and the steering turns lock to lock. Not looking forward to that one but definitely looking forward to the end result.

Stay tuned for images of these improvements and more commentary on the build as time allows and progress is made.