95 T4R Daily/Overlander

[ZRex]

Hey guys! Here's where I'm at so far, I don't expect things to progress very rapidly from here, but there will be progress!

Here are some basic going-ons to start with, I'll try to keep this first post updated when things change!


Y/M/M: 1995 Toyota 4Runner SR5


Engine: 3VZ-E 3.0L V6

-Fresh timing belt, water pump, head gaskets, valve adjustment, tune-up

-Headers (eBay special, surprisingly high quality)

-Cold air intake (eBay special, truck was missing an intake and this was cheaper)

-LCE EGR Delete


Suspension/Drivetrain: Front IFS with stock 7.5” diff, Rear solid axle with stock 8” diff

-New Moog ball joints, steering linkages

-New National wheel bearings and seals

-Front 4Crawler ball joint spacers

-Rear OME 901 HD springs

-2” 4Crawler body lift (eBay special headers were touching the firewall, excuse for 35’s)

-ProComp Series 51 Rock Crawler wheels, 15”x10” 3.75” BS

-Cooper Discoverer STT Pro 35x12.50R15


Interior:

-OTRATTW Rocker switch to replace rear window switch

-Dual bluetooth radio (had to get some tunes going)

-Rear cargo area lights (best $10 I ever spent!)


Exterior:

-Roof and spoiler bedlined

-LED front turn signals

-LED fog lights

-Custom front bumper with recovery points

-Custom rear bumper with tire carrier and recovery points

-¾” Bow shackles (2 front and 2 rear)


Miscellaneous:

-Tool bag (Various pliers, tire repair tools, zip ties, hammer, etc.)

-Husky tool set (I have $30k worth in tools at work but couldn’t be bothered to spend more than $60 on a throwaway truck set)

-Schrade SCAXE9CP survival axe with folding saw, SCHSH1 telescoping folding shovel

-Recovery bag (strap, shackle protectors, ratchet straps)

 

[ZRex]

Things that will definitely be coming soon!


Needs:

-ProComp ES9000 Shocks

-HiLift Jack

-Snatch Strap

-Tree Saver

-Aussie Locker (rear)

-CB Radio (antenna, cable, radio, mounts)

-Manual hubs (Warn or Aisin?!?)

-Braided stainless brake lines

-Floor mats (Husky Liners looking like the best bet here)

-Dual battery set up

-Winch

-External Lighting

 

[ZRex]

And the good part, pictures!

September 26, 2017 I pulled this old rag home to Black Mountain, NC from Jonesborough, TN. $700 and a couple hours on the road drug home this 95 SR5 with blown head gaskets on a 3.0 and a 5 speed and 4WD.

Don't mind the potato quality picture!

First order of business was starting the parts ordering process. Timing set, head gasket set, intake, headers, 4Crawler BJ spacers, OME901 springs, LCE EGR delete, ProComp series 51 wheels in 15x10.

Then once all the parts started showing up, we tore into it!

And my friend rebuilding his $200 forester engine the same weekend.

Headers for the notorious head gasket issues, hopefully this will keep the heat away where it counts!

Made good progress the following weekend!

But not good enough.

Rough running after the top end rebuild which was totally my fault. I neglected to check or adjust the valves after having the heads cut and valves cut in. Pro tip, don't cut corners, it WILL bite you. It did run enough to move around at this point but not well enough to drive.

I did finally get around to measuring the valves and ordering the proper shims, in the mean time I installed the lift stuff that I had. That was a major boost to the motivation for me.

So I had the parts and finally made time to get everything together. Ran way smoother and made me much more confident in it.

Now, because I chose the eBay special headers (Superb quality for $130! No complaints at all) they were a little too close to the firewall than I cared for, touching brake lines and wires, I opted for a 4Crawler 2" body lift. Personally, I am not a fan of body lifts, but I didn't have a ton of options at this point. A couple hours with the lift and everything had a more appropriate clearance.

I knew I wasn't keeping the front bumper so away it went. Wow, it looked a lot bigger, I was really getting excited at this point. Prepping for the front bumper let me cut away some excess sheet metal and start believing!

What a stance it had now!

And finally! After some more tuning and tweaking she was on the road!!
,

Not much happened for a little while following that point aside from fixing little bugs and kinks.

Some noise started concerning me and knowing that the bottom end had water cycled through it from the blown head gaskets made me decide to throw rod bearings at it, not the best approach but after fighting with it for probably 6 months at this point I was tired of fooling with issues.

They weren't great, but also weren't awful.

Things were coming together at this point and still there wasn't much happening so I tried to find a little more motivation. Started a design for the front bumper.

The design sat around for a little while, I had the materials to do all of this but still suffered with the motivation factor. Fighting this thing for so long really put me in a funk.

I picked up some LED light strips at a big car show/swap meet and got around to installing them, needed some better lighting in the back. For the $10 I spent I was super pleased with them, they're wired into the original cargo light in the back and while that fixture no longer works the switch does control the lights either for the gate opening or constant on.

That is in complete darkness outside and you can see how well the rig is lit up!

 

[ZRex]

And a couple weeks ago, it finally began!

Got the bottom section of the rear bumper buttoned up and started on the carrier with some custom pieces.

Don't mind the boogery welds, the penetration is there but it was old wire.

Working on the carrier.

And pretty well buttoned up.

And getting started on the front bumper with some more custom pieces. Machinist didn't have any 0.500" mild to cut these out of so we cut 4 pieces of 0.250" and welded them together.

And here we go, bending and mocking up along the way!

And a roughly "finished" product.

And we got some new shoes! Cooper Discoverer STT PRO's in 35X12.50R15!

That's all I have for the moment, but I felt like this was long enough for an opening post!

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Smileyshaun]

by far my favorite body style of 4 runner , really miss mine some days . keep up the good work

 

[JCWages]

Very cool! I love seeing rigs take a detour from the salvage yard and end up in a garage like yours. You are giving this rig a second chance.

 

[ZRex]

by far my favorite body style of 4 runner , really miss mine some days . keep up the good work

I'm fond of all of them except for the 4th Gen, aesthetically. Though I wish toyota used the UZ engines in some of the others! Thanks! Lots more to come!

Very cool! I love seeing rigs take a detour from the salvage yard and end up in a garage like yours. You are giving this rig a second chance.

Thanks! You know I hadn't really thought about it like that. I've always thought about how 4Runners were so popular that most people would try to save them before they scrap them, but I think that's just my mindset. I don't like throwing things away that can still be used. At 268k right now the only thing that concerns me as far as longevity goes is the engine, and that can be repaired, replaced or swapped and the truck will keep on!

 

[Smileyshaun]

sense its a manual trans a 3.4 swap is real easy in those and the drivability gains are huge

 

[ZRex]

sense its a manual trans a 3.4 swap is real easy in those and the drivability gains are huge

It is, but I've also been considering other options. I've thoroughly researched the 3.4 swap but also thinking about an OM603/OM617 swap. It's only money, right? [emoji51]

 

[Smileyshaun]

The 3L is not a terrible motor once you get its little quirks worked out

 

[ZRex]

The 3L is not a terrible motor once you get its little quirks worked out

No, it's not, but they just don't make much power.

 

[Smileyshaun]

No, it's not, but they just don't make much power.

meh power just breaks stuff , toss in a couple lockers and a duel case and you'll go anywhere you want to go

 

[ZRex]

meh power just breaks stuff , toss in a couple lockers and a duel case and you'll go anywhere you want to go

Sorta, I don't want 1000 HP, but enough torque to use 5th gear would be nice! It's got factory 4.56s in it and I don't really want to regear. I do need to fix a knock sensor issue so once that's resolved my lack of power may have a little more help.

 

[HappyOurOverlanding]

And a couple weeks ago, it finally began!

Got the bottom section of the rear bumper buttoned up and started on the carrier with some custom pieces.

Don't mind the boogery welds, the penetration is there but it was old wire.

Working on the carrier.

And pretty well buttoned up.

And getting started on the front bumper with some more custom pieces. Machinist didn't have any 0.500" mild to cut these out of so we cut 4 pieces of 0.250" and welded them together.

And here we go, bending and mocking up along the way!

And a roughly "finished" product.

And we got some new shoes! Cooper Discoverer STT PRO's in 35X12.50R15!

That's all I have for the moment, but I felt like this was long enough for an opening post!

Cheers,
Mike

All I can say is WOW! I am in awe to all you have done.

 

[ZRex]

All I can say is WOW! I am in awe to all you have done.

Thank you so much! It's been a blessing having all of this equipment at my disposal. Just need to pick up a tig welder now and we'll be set for the most part.

I think I'm going to go up there now and start on some sliders. Still need to buy the material for my sleeping platform and roof rack but those are on the agenda!

 

[ZRex]

Haven't built my sliders yet, but did install some dirt on the new coopers finally!

 

[Bionic Randy]

And a couple weeks ago, it finally began!

Got the bottom section of the rear bumper buttoned up and started on the carrier with some custom pieces.

Don't mind the boogery welds, the penetration is there but it was old wire.

Working on the carrier.

And pretty well buttoned up.

And getting started on the front bumper with some more custom pieces. Machinist didn't have any 0.500" mild to cut these out of so we cut 4 pieces of 0.250" and welded them together.

And here we go, bending and mocking up along the way!

And a roughly "finished" product.

And we got some new shoes! Cooper Discoverer STT PRO's in 35X12.50R15!

That's all I have for the moment, but I felt like this was long enough for an opening post!

Cheers,
Mike

Awesome rig. Those bumpers are incredible! Great work

 

[ZRex]

Awesome rig. Those bumpers are incredible! Great work

Thanks! Always a work in progress!

 

[Baxter2010]

Thank you for your great ideas

 

[ZRex]

Thank you for your great ideas

Glad I could inspire some ideas! More to come soon!