Hello and welcome...to my BUILD!

I have been driving my 22re 4Runner as a daily driver for some time now and have been looking for a daily driver to make the 4Runner more of a trail rig only type deal. The Runner is locked, lifted and geared which means it's not the funnest thing to drive....ON road that is...

Searched CL and after about 2 months of seeing leaky, tweaky, barely running 22re's I came across this one. PO said he had owned it for a month and it just was not his style. He said motor was stock with 177k but I'm still debating that, seeing as it is completely dry and looks brand freegin new! Interior was not in the best of condition. No speakers, mismatched/broken interior pieces, blown sub-woofer, after market steering wheel, no clock, and to top it off a hole where someone had previously installed a line brake or E-brake. Suspension on blocks in the rear and torsion bars adjusted up front which made the suspension ride...well...interesting lol. I'm new to minis and this is my first time riding in one let alone owning one so this is all new to me. Let's just say the damn thing feels like it has NO suspension hahaha. Upon the test drive I instantly realized the differential was locked! There was no clicking sound from an automatic locker but the wheels were screeching all over the place so I'm assuming its just welded After all this he was asking $3000 and I paid $2300... = me happy


HERE SHE IS





I love the motor, hate the wheels, love the seats and unsure about the suspension I love the ride height...I would want it no lower no higher but I would also like it to be functional! I'm going to be loading this thing up and driving it to Chicago soon and don't want to be draggin my heavy ass all the way there. Like I said I'm new to having lowered suspension but there has to be a better way......I'll search the forums later...

WHAT I'VE DONE SO FAR...

First things first I did a radiator flush and new fuel filter while separating the AFM harness in preparation for the battery/intake swap. I have yet to do this to my 4Runner so this will be the guinea pig. Here is a shot of what came out of the radiator.

After flush...yummy rusty water!

Here you can see the harness separated.







For the swap first thing was remove battery and intake.

Then these cables must be extended to reach the new battery location. One from starter + one from fuse box = positive. One grounded to frame + one grounded to body = negative.

I used 4 gauge stranded wire on everything. A little over kill but that's fine with me. I ran the cables in front of the radiator zip tied to the stock wiring that runs through that same location. Obviously the grounds I just moved instead of running those across. Made a hole for the battery tie down on the wheel well and used the stock tie down with stock bolt hole on the driver side next to the over flow.

I used the stock air box. All I had to do was cut off the mounting holes, plug the pair tube and it fit like a glove. I used the stock 90 degree pipe, wrapped my wire with conduit and electrical tape, threw a small cone filter on the pair and DONE!
A little jiggle and wiggle and it's in...



I actually ended up removing the pair and using just the stock hose with the small filter.

I'll get pics of it removed later...
Oh and the air filter that was in there was a totally wrecked K&N which I switched with my clean K&N...eventually I will throw in a stock Toyota filter. I'm not a "oiled air filter" fan at all, I've learned my lesson and am just using it for now.

Since owning the truck I made a trip to the junkyard and came back with lots of goodies! Here is a couple shots of the interior. I replaced center dash piece, steering column, ashtray, door sills, radio, and passenger side visor. (The original visor was fine but now it has a mirror for the lady. ) All of which I got from the yard minus the stereo...stole that from the GF's 99 Corolla which is for sale BTW locals.


I love the seats but I gotta do something about the seat belts....their corny IMHO ...kinda heavy on the package to if you know what I mean.





Got the reservoir for it to but I can't seem to find the harness it's suppose to plug into...anyone wanna chime in?


Noise reducing tailgate clips. (stops the tailgate latches from moving around and makin noise)


I got some teeth from the yard to!..(4x4 Toyota tow hooks)....Just cause


I likem...



Finally the big purchase from the junkyard trip was a black bumper, grill, and stock corner lights. I hate chrome... Unfortunately the corner lights are wrong! Which makes me wonder if the grill and bumper will work?? From the looks of it I think it will but I will have to wait and see. I'm going to paint them black first then throw them on. I've always liked these grills more...it's classic! Here is a pic of the grill.



THINGS COMING SOON

GETTING RID OF THESE NASTY THINGS ASAP!



Toyota air filter
seat belts
sr5 steering wheel
sr5 cluster
oil pressure sender
I want to remove and clean the catalytic convertor cause its installed all ****eyed and leaking from the flanges.
I'm waiting on my magnetic transmission and differential drain plugs to throw in some Red Line. Also waiting on my TRD radiator cap.


I need a diff. WITHOUT a locker... anyone know the gear ratio on the 2wd third members?


THINGS TO PONDER
Power steering setup?
cruise control?
wheels?
suspension?
why my heat is not working??
sliding rear window?


I will keep this thread as updated as possible. The plan here is to keep it close to stock with a little style. I want this thing to be reliable and to save me gas $ ...that's about it. As you can see this thread will be PIC HEAVY just like my other build threads. Thanks for tuning in and I appreciate any help I get from you guys...this is a new world to me I have a lot to learn

COMMENTS-QUESTIONS-SUGGETIONS ALWAYS WELCOME!!


-RONI-

 

nice build man!! love the interior work too! i need to hit up my local JY too cuz my dash is all Fukked up. tow hooks, great look! possibly some other misc parts i can fit in my pocket too lol

waiting for some time to do the battery/intake swap.
did u have to make a mounting plate for the battery or u just set it down there n use the hold down n J-bolt to secure it? also, did u make a bracket for the filter box or is it just hanging mid-air?

 

Lookin clean man ..I need some of them tailgate clips to

 

oh ya these too!!! where'd ya get them?!?!? my tailgate slams into the bed every time i hit a bump! sounds like my whole bed is gonna fall off.

 

A mounting plate would be nice but I just used the battery tie down with the J-bolt. There are after market mounting plates you can buy I just think they look goofy. It's on there pretty tight so I'm not too worried about it moving. Same with the air box its sitting where the battery use to sit. That thing is actually holding still better then the battery. It fits really tight. I left one mounting hole that I plan to put a bolt through and actually attach to the truck once I'm positive that I'm not going to move it or change anything.

Thank you Scrub! They work great....they just break so damn easily!

I'm not sure it will stop your whole tailgate from moving around cause it only holds the latches from moving. Are you sure It's the tailgate moving? Because I thought I had that same problem and after installing the clips I found out my whole bed is loose! Which reminds me I still have to go tighten those bolts!


-RONI-

 

battery air cleaner swap looks killer....willing to do it again mines!?!?!?

 

Nice find bruddah...love the look..

 

ya im sure. there use to be plastic "shims" in the latches but one is completely gone n the other is completely *Fukked* lol so the latches just rattle around in their locks, im just waiting for the day when they decide to punch through n swing my tail gate down n smack itself off my bed!

 

Thanks man. Yea i wouldn't mind meeting up to wrench. Just keep in mind power steering, amps, windsheild washer res. and ac lines could make your swap a bit harder but not impossible. Using a cone filter would make more room if you don't have enough room.

Thanks jaybee.

Pocketed them at the yard....im always pocketing clips bulbs and other misc. Things lol


-RONI-

 

That would be easy then...
Powersteering - nada
windshield washer - nada
amps - nada

 

Sweet. When were you planning on doin it?.

Shopping list for you...
Wire - whatever gauge you feel comfortable with
Conduit
Electrical tape
If your ac line is gonna be in the way u might need some intake pipeing.
Bat. Terminals if yours are as bad as mine were
Small cone filter for pair
Zip ties

I think thats about all i used. Here is a link to the write up i used from yota tech.

irab88's battery/intake swap - YotaTech Forums



-RONI-

 

Ill check out that link....now, back to sanding my bed in preparations for spray bedliner.

 

Nice I'm actually going to do the same to mine pretty soon. You should take some pics I'd like to see how it comes out and what product your using.

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Ok guys so I got my Differential/Transmission magnetic hex head drain plugs from Trail Gear. I love these things man it's got a much stronger magnet then stock and has a hex head to avoid stripping. Each drain plug has corresponding washer for each application. Aluminum for transmissions and T-cases and steel for Diffs. Also picked up a shorty black antenna.


When I pulled the drain on the diff. the first thing you heard was a huge CHUNK of metal hitting the drain pan. First pic is the diff and other two are transmission. You can see just how bad this needed to be done. The stock magnets had plenty of gunk stuck to them as well. I used the stock drain plugs as fill plugs so now I have 2 magnets in both the diff. and the transmission. I used RedLine MT90 in transmission and Coastal in the diff since that will be drained again as soon as I find a replacement diff.




All done with 2 magnets this time.


Here is a close up of one of the new drain plugs

Black shorty...


Of course after all this it needed a good wash so did a better job this time and took a few pics.








As far as the swap goes everything is still working great so I'm assuming I didn't break it All I've done since is clean up wires and make the piping fit tighter.

Oh and got rid of the resonator.

I wouldn't mind the rims so much if they were black....but they're not! ugh...


Awesome beanie I bought at the STEALership.


As you can see I need a new driver side fender....Such an eye sore...


That's all for now. Used her to pick up a junkyard transmission for the 4Runner today. Without this little mini I would have had to ask a friend with a pickup to help. This thing has already proven to be so damn useful, I LOVE IT.


EDIT: Forgot to mention I picked up an SR5 cluster at the junkyard along with black wheel well corners vs. the white that's on there now. I think the black will look good once I get the new grill, bumper, and door handles. I'm not sure if the current cluster has a mechanically driven speedometer cable or an electronic speedometer Hopefully it's a cable driven cause if not then I can't use the sr5 cluster I have. I will find out tomorrow.



-RONI-

 

truck coming along really nice just drop the back some more

 

Really coming along man glad to see it coming together quick that tranny looked like it needed a drain bad. I like the wheels proably cause I have the same ones . Just scuff and mask them up and spray them a new color

 

oooooh...part numbers for the plugs??? And where did you get them from?

 

Nah I'm pretty happy with the height.

To be honest I thought about doing that. But I'm a painter....and I know what it's like to paint over powder coating. It won't stick properly unless I powder coat again....which I am not willing to do...I'm also not going to ruin a good set of XXR rims by painting and watching it chip away slowly. We'll see what happens.....

Not sure on part numbers but HERE is a link to the WabFab website. That's where I ordered mine...I think it's a bit cheaper than actually ordering form the trail gear site. Just remember aluminum washer for transmission and steel for diff.

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Today I installed a new coolant temperature sensor. It's taking a while for the truck to warm up during cold starts. I always warm up the truck before going anywhere no matter what the temp. is outside. But lately I've noticed it takes looonngg! Impressively long....I thought coolant temp. sensor may make a difference but It doesn't seem that way. I will know for sure tomorrow morning but either way got a new temp sensor now....and cleaned my cold start injector time switch while I was in there. Maybe the intake swap works TOO well hahahhahaha The one to the left is the cold start injector time switch and the one to the right is the coolant temp. sensor.


I removed the Catalytic Convertor and cleaned the hell out of it. Forgot to take pics of it clean but you can see how dirty it was in the pic. When I was done the inside was the color of the outside....not black. When I re-installed it I used new gaskets and made sure it was in flush and not leaking all over the place like the previous installer had done.


Picked up this sr5 cluster at the junkyard....what can I say...you win some you lose some. Its the wrong cluster! I knew I had a 50 50 chance when I bought it. It uses the cable driven speedo unlike mine which is electronic. (Didn't know I had the electronic one till I pulled it out) Anyone want to buy it??
Arrow shows where the cable plugs in.



I've decided to change the little plastic corner piece by the rear wheel well to black. Grabbed them from the yard and threw them on. I think it will look much better when the grill and door handles go black to. Still have the white ones in case I change my mind.



While I was at Orielly's picking up the sensor I figured I would invest in some decent straps now that I have a pick up.


After 2 seperate trips to the yard I finally got my cup holder working properly and finally got a damn clock! Clock has a broken mounting hole on one side so it looks a little goofy but till I find another it will do. No pics on those....



-RONI-

 

I have a good clock if you need it. You've made good work on the truck.

 

Thanks man but don't worry about it. It's in...it works...It will stay there till I steal another from the yard.



-RONI-

 

I ve got a pair of 4x4 fenders off my truck for sale in white.