Spent the long weekend working 1/2 days and got pretty far on the conversion. Below is the pic of the truck as I bought it. Progress pics below.
Stats:
1987 4runner
3" Body Lift
Very little (if any) spring lift in the rear- (Cheby's soon)
All Pro Spring hanger kit in the front- in place just need to weld it.
All pro Hy-steer kit
All Pro flip kit
All pro extended brake lines
Shocks- I dunno yet
1985 Toyota front axle with Detroit and 4.88
1987 Toyota rear 4.88 and spool
Marlin crawler 4.7

Now to the questions:

1. I have a set of Toyota rear downey lift springs that I want to use as the basis of the front spring pack. I know that the stock rears don't provide enough lift without mixing in stock leaves from the front. Will they work since they are lift springs or will I need some stock front leaves to mix in? I am guessing these rears are about 2-3" lift, but I have taken out the overload leaf. They have 4 leaves in the pack.

2. I know that lots of people are running the rears and have no problem with X-over steering as far as steering geometry. I have used the All pro kit with the mounts turned to move the front perch forward 1". That makes 3" forward of the stock location! Will this work or should I re-drill the centering pin location?

3. I have some fawked up brake lines- rusted on and stripped out(notice the rust in the pic.) Short of scrounging through the junkyard, any suggestions for brake lines? I was thinking of buying a flaring and bending kit from the auto parts store and making my own. Anyone tried this with brake lines?

Getting close- I can't wait to smash the piss out of this baby!

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/874runner.jpg :beer:

i'd say with your axle forward 3 inches you are going to have a problem getting your steering box forward enough to get the drag link angles right.

the front spring set up sounds good. i used my rears up front. they are awesome. they flex really well. i put an add a leaf up front, they ride really rough on the road. but if you like to jump a little they are fine, for crawling and rocks they are sweet. just make your own packs and figure out what works best with your truck.

i need to buy gears and get some springs for either the front or the rear of my truck. the ones i have on the back right now suck.
i'm thinkin' ill get some new front lift springs and make a pack out of all my springs.

Originally posted by TK
3. I have some fawked up brake lines- rusted on and stripped out(notice the rust in the pic.) Short of scrounging through the junkyard, any suggestions for brake lines? I was thinking of buying a flaring and bending kit from the auto parts store and making my own. Anyone tried this with brake lines?

Junkyard lines are only gonna be just as rusty, not worth the hassle. It's not hard to "bend your own", you can buy pre-fabbed lines in metric thread (M10x1.00) at any NAPA, then just bend them to be similar to the old ones. It's a pain to double-flare the plain steel line, I'd recommend buying the ones already done, they're pretty cheap, you can probably do the whole truck for around $60-70.

The other option is to just order all new lines from the dealer, yeah, they're not cheap but no bending hassle. They will fit for sure with the least amount of work, and you can move on to more important projects.

Some of the hard lines on my Cruiser pretty crusty, so I'm considering pulling ALL the lines off and sending them to a place like In-Line Tube (http://www.inlinetube.com/) and having them duplicated in stainless steel. End of problem. Cost is around $180.

hey ken, the only problem with inline tube or classic tube is they don't really like dealing with metric stuff, at least not when i taked to them. the one's from the dealer are about 25 to 35 each, not too bad.

dave

Originally posted by KLF


Junkyard lines are only gonna be just as rusty, not worth the hassle. It's not hard to "bend your own", you can buy pre-fabbed lines in metric thread (M10x1.00) at any NAPA, then just bend them to be similar to the old ones. It's a pain to double-flare the plain steel line, I'd recommend buying the ones already done, they're pretty cheap, you can probably do the whole truck for around $60-70.


Thanks. I thought NAPA had them. Should I get one of those tiny little benders or is that not necessary?

Originally posted by davefj40
hey ken, the only problem with inline tube or classic tube is they don't really like dealing with metric stuff, at least not when i taked to them. the one's from the dealer are about 25 to 35 each, not too bad.

dave

Interesting. When I talked to Classic Tube, the guy was pretty cool about it. He said they will match all the fittings in metric. He even offered me a little break on the price for a typical custom set, since I was the first FJ wagon, and they wanted the pattern.

I'll let ya know how it works out. Still considering it.

Tom,

The rear springs that are on it now are a combination of things and I can't be sure what they are at this point.

The spare springs you took are Downy but I am not sure which ones since I did not buy them. I think they still have the part number on them, so you might be able to get an answer that way. The truck they came off of did not have much lift so they could be 2".

Sounds like the try it and see method may be best.

Oh, and about not being able to wait to bash her, at least kiss her first:D :D

I better get my ass in gear or you'll be on the road before me.

can't wait for the "after" pics too:smokin:

I'll treat her right Pete! Thanks for the info. I should have those pics up tonight. I will post 'em here. Oh yeah- We ran out of gas on Saturday after everything was closed- so a sawzall works great in a pinch!

Originally posted by TK
[http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/874runner.jpg :beer: [/B]

Hey That picture was taken in Pacifica.....I hope you didnt go wheelin on the hill right there, cause they just made it a National Park :mad:

I live right down the hill from where that picture was taken.


Why dont you just get the AP springs also?... its not like there gold plated or anything:confused:

bought the truck from ChartDog who lives in Montara- He took that pic.

Now here are some progress shots...

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/heightb4.jpg

you don't see this too often: Billy working.
http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/billy.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/frontaxle.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/frontl.jpg http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/frontr.jpg

This side was cut off with a sawzall

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/sawzall.jpg

Ready to weld up:

http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/shackleb.jpg
http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/shackler.jpg
http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/sider.jpg

torch action so far- Hopefully Saturday will be finished cleaning it up
http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/torchedr.jpg


Here is the IFS crossmember welded to the frame after it ripped apart.
http://home.pacbell.net/tketter/welded.jpg

I am guessing that no one has tried this. I will be the guinea pig then. If it doesn't work, I guess I will be calling AllPro again...

first to try what ?

- jack

"first to do what?"

the rear toy springs in front (moves axle 2" forward) combined with the AllPro 1" forward mount without re-drilling spring centering pin. Most people like the 2" that the toy rears give you for clearance. My concern is the extra inch. I am worried about steering angle on the drag link with hysteer X-over.

I was hoping someone had tried it already- but no-one has posted a response yet.

And the answer is....

Drum roll...

1. Yes enough lift pretty flat- nice n soft too! I will post the part number for others to benefit.

2. No way! too far forward for for the x-over to work.

3. Monument Auto parts had brake lines and bender- in stock. Cheap and recommended rather than spending a huge amount of cash. Plus you get to route the lines wherever you want.

I gave up on the idea of using those springs. I ordered 3"lift extra long AllPros today. If that won't clear the tires, I will have to bust out the sawzall again. No biggie until I get some real meats anyhow.

All I have to do is bleed the brakes, mount the AP springs, and set up shock mounts and bump stops. Also- buy some new wheels.

Anyone have some 15x8 or 15x10 for sale?

Done by this weekend. Crossing my fingers.

by the way, just ordered brake lines from toyota for my 88 xtracab, they were $13 each at wholesale price(that was for the 2 along the firewall, 1 running down the frame and the ones on the rear axle)

dave

Not too bad. Good to know that Toyota is not trying to support the company on brakeline sales:beer: