FNG checking in from the Carolinas

[PD1744]

Very nice, I'm pretty sure the previous owner of mine never used recirc, hence the dust and gunk packed in the evap. You oughta do some threads in the DIY section, I'm sure there's a ton of others that would appreciate it besides myself heh. On that note, I did one on lower balljoints, definitely go with OEM there as I tried Moog and had to redo 'em with Motorcraft. Same as you I couldn't find LCA bushings but I decided the same, they damn sure don't look bad enough to merit replacing the entire LCA (and at that point I might as well upgrade haha!). Been there on the second key also, mine only came with one, I found an OEM uncut blank on Amazon, had a local locksmith cut it, and had to have the dealer program it (and technically probably disable the lost one); unfortunately you can program a 3rd yourself but not a 2nd. That's crazy the little 3.7L plugs lasted 300k, was there any electrode left?!? What's he going with for the new trans? You going to core the old one or tear into it? Never hurts to have a spare...

Next on mine is chasing another frontend clunk, nothing major but just annoying heh, need to retorque everything, like you I pulled the swaybar and prefer it without. Waiting to see if I can score any Black Friday deals on the GJ third brake light, BD 30" light bar and an S2 for the rear bumper. Wanted to redo the hood decal but kinda missed my window of summer heat to assist in removal, that'll probably wait 'til Spring along with a reflective tailgate decal and gloss between the front & rear door windows. Will likely work on the wheelwells then too (hammer pinch welds, Line-X or Rustoleum bedliner on the rear). Definitely wanting a dead pedal, check out Evil Manufacturing, and ditto on the bed supports, I'm thinking GJ Motorsports but considering KHC and SVC. I really need to diamond plate the inner tailgate, catch can is on the short list too, as is Gen 2 rears if I happen upon them. Then there's the long list haha! It never ends, and this year I went and got a bass boat so yeah, same deal dividing my time/money between two toys and never enough of either one lol!

BTW badass 4runner, post pics or a link if ya got a thread elsewhere on it, really curious what 8-banger you crammed in there...

Man I always have those intentions to do a nice write-up, take plenty of pictures, post a DIY to the web, hell maybe even make a YouTube video or something, especially since I'm super indebted to all of those before me that have put forth the effort to do so and share their knowledge... And then I just start working and forget all about it or get too dirty to mess with taking pictures and shit lol. Don't know if there's an actual audience for a dude with bloody ass knuckles, cussing his ass off and flinging tools everywhere... But maybe. I always leave it open for anybody to reach out if they have questions about a job I've done or even better if they're local, I'm always willing to lend a hand.

Thanks for the note on the LBJ. What was the issue with the Moog? I've heard of people both saying the don't fit and they do fit. I was actually eyeing the Mevotech "heavy duty" ones on RockAuto. They're half the price of OEM. I've had pretty good luck with Mevotech stuff. I've been hit or miss with Moog components.

Honestly the plugs on his truck didn't look too bad considering. I've seen way worse. You wouldn't have believed it. Only thing that struck me as really bad was the throttle body. I haven't seen one that disgusting. With the transmission, we have a buddy that owns a salvage yard who already gave him his first replacement that he had a mechanic friend put in for him, but it was never quite right, so the junk yard guy told him that he might have gotten a bad one so he told him to bring it back and he'll give him another one. Always a roll of the dice with junk yard parts. I personally would rather have a rebuilt unit than a pulled one, but not my call. Can still have issues with rebuilds too.

Ah the good ole' front end clunk. I'm beginning to think that you never rid yourself of it fully. Everything I do seems to quieten it ever so slightly, but it definitely still presents itself every now and then. Worlds apart from when I first got her though. I think the lower shock bolt had a lot to do with mine, but hell if I know if I'm ever anywhere close to 406 ft-lb or whatever. My hood decal is shit too. I live with it. My buddy offered to swap me one without a decal, but it's not bothering me too bad right now. I don't want to think about what a nightmare it would be remove that thing and lay down a new one. I had a Mustang Cobra that had racing stripes on it that I did a pretty horrible job of removing. I did buy one of those rubber eraser wheels for the job but never used it. Might have yielded better results.

Are you on 37's? Is that why you're having to mess with the pinch welds? You have Deavers? Thoughts on them?

And thanks. Here's a link to my 4Runner build but fair warning, I've been a member there for 8 years and have owned that truck for 16, so it is a lengthy 50 page read. Enter at your own risk. But it's the stock factory V8 engine with just a shade over 230k miles on it now. The 4th Generation 4Runner is the only one ever to come with a V8. It's a 4.7 liter that they used in the 1st Gen Tundra's, Sequoia's, Land Cruisers, Lexus LX and GX's.

 

[stolleee]

My wife and I just bought a place in NC as a second home on Beech Mountain. Havent seen any other Raptors up there... Subaru's and Tesla's.

 

[PD1744]

My wife and I just bought a place in NC as a second home on Beech Mountain. Havent seen any other Raptors up there... Subaru's and Tesla's.

Nice man! Love the NC mountains. Nah, I don't see many Raptors up there either. Subies for sure. Toyota's too (4Runners and Tacos). I don't think those narrow twisties are best suited for the Raptor, though my crazy buddy just got back from Tail of the Dragon whipping his around with a bunch of McLarens, Lambos, and GT-R's at some event there. He had a blast.

We'll be taking the rigs up this weekend to do some light wheeling and camping around the NC/TN border between Asheville and Gatlinburg. I can't wait.

 

[BenBB]

Man I always have those intentions to do a nice write-up, take plenty of pictures, post a DIY to the web, hell maybe even make a YouTube video or something, especially since I'm super indebted to all of those before me that have put forth the effort to do so and share their knowledge... And then I just start working and forget all about it or get too dirty to mess with taking pictures and shit lol. Don't know if there's an actual audience for a dude with bloody ass knuckles, cussing his ass off and flinging tools everywhere... But maybe. I always leave it open for anybody to reach out if they have questions about a job I've done or even better if they're local, I'm always willing to lend a hand.

Thanks for the note on the LBJ. What was the issue with the Moog? I've heard of people both saying the don't fit and they do fit. I was actually eyeing the Mevotech "heavy duty" ones on RockAuto. They're half the price of OEM. I've had pretty good luck with Mevotech stuff. I've been hit or miss with Moog components.

Honestly the plugs on his truck didn't look too bad considering. I've seen way worse. You wouldn't have believed it. Only thing that struck me as really bad was the throttle body. I haven't seen one that disgusting. With the transmission, we have a buddy that owns a salvage yard who already gave him his first replacement that he had a mechanic friend put in for him, but it was never quite right, so the junk yard guy told him that he might have gotten a bad one so he told him to bring it back and he'll give him another one. Always a roll of the dice with junk yard parts. I personally would rather have a rebuilt unit than a pulled one, but not my call. Can still have issues with rebuilds too.

Ah the good ole' front end clunk. I'm beginning to think that you never rid yourself of it fully. Everything I do seems to quieten it ever so slightly, but it definitely still presents itself every now and then. Worlds apart from when I first got her though. I think the lower shock bolt had a lot to do with mine, but hell if I know if I'm ever anywhere close to 406 ft-lb or whatever. My hood decal is shit too. I live with it. My buddy offered to swap me one without a decal, but it's not bothering me too bad right now. I don't want to think about what a nightmare it would be remove that thing and lay down a new one. I had a Mustang Cobra that had racing stripes on it that I did a pretty horrible job of removing. I did buy one of those rubber eraser wheels for the job but never used it. Might have yielded better results.

Are you on 37's? Is that why you're having to mess with the pinch welds? You have Deavers? Thoughts on them?

And thanks. Here's a link to my 4Runner build but fair warning, I've been a member there for 8 years and have owned that truck for 16, so it is a lengthy 50 page read. Enter at your own risk. But it's the stock factory V8 engine with just a shade over 230k miles on it now. The 4th Generation 4Runner is the only one ever to come with a V8. It's a 4.7 liter that they used in the 1st Gen Tundra's, Sequoia's, Land Cruisers, Lexus LX and GX's.

Haha right?!!! I usually hit about 90% complete and think "I shoulda taken a before and after picture, or a closeup of that thing that was virtually impossible to reach but I found a really cool workaround, but I totally spaced it out and/or don't have a camera". ******* you have a 12mp or whateverthehellitis smartfone camera right in your pocket and almost crushed it two hours ago wrestling some part out from under the truck. But hell yeah there's an audience for it if you do!!! I'd subscribe just to add to my vocabulary, there's no such thing as too many ******* profanities when it comes to wrenching heh.

Moog balljoints fit fine and had a nifty grease zerk but I don't think they even made it 10k miles of mostly street (well nominally a street, this was in New Mexico so "semi-improved roadway" is more accurate) driving and light weekend offroading before developing audible play. A few shots of grease cured it for a week and it came back, needless to say that got old quick. 17k-ish on Motorcraft and no play, no noise. Mevotech might be ok but regardless of brand do yourself a favor and mic them before you tear down, have read reports of some (Moog I think but not certain) that didn't fit and it's a good bit of work getting there.

That sucks it's second time around on the tranny, but good that they are making it right. I haven't had any issues with mine but know it's probably only a matter of time. BTW if you haven't come across threads about it, check into the "Saudi" transmission cooler upgrade (OEM replacement roughly double stock size and fits like factory), and it's probably already done but make sure you have the most recent programming recall (last year I think). I'll be doing that lead frame next transmission oil change as well so if you beat me to it take pictures!

Yeah there's multiple threads chasing front end clunks and I think you're right, it just moves to the next component every time I find one. No 37's yet but eventually I'm sure! Yes I went with +3 Deavers, definitely recommend them (or +2 if you don't plan on much weight in the bed) along with bump stops (I went with SVC adjustable and love them), ideally both at the same time so you don't have to pull the u-bolts and drop the axle again just to install the strike plates (and/or mod the factory block or whatever to work with the little stock bump stop nubs). Big difference but big cost too so it better be!!

Awesome 4Runner build thread, you're not lying it's a long one lol! But a damn good one, well written and plenty of pics, just as it should be. I forgot all about that 4.7L, always wondered why it never made it into a Taco, great rig though I'll be reading more of it. Beautiful scenery there too, I moved from southern NM to AR and it's a world apart, like @stolleee said about NC there's few Raptors around here but tons of Tacomas and Heeps (I like Jeeps and had a WJ so I can say that hahaha!). Got out today to enjoy the fall colors, only to come home to a yard full of ******* dead leaves that I gotta deal with...

 

[PD1744]

Haha right?!!! I usually hit about 90% complete and think "I shoulda taken a before and after picture, or a closeup of that thing that was virtually impossible to reach but I found a really cool workaround, but I totally spaced it out and/or don't have a camera". ******* you have a 12mp or whateverthehellitis smartfone camera right in your pocket and almost crushed it two hours ago wrestling some part out from under the truck. But hell yeah there's an audience for it if you do!!! I'd subscribe just to add to my vocabulary, there's no such thing as too many ******* profanities when it comes to wrenching heh.

Moog balljoints fit fine and had a nifty grease zerk but I don't think they even made it 10k miles of mostly street (well nominally a street, this was in New Mexico so "semi-improved roadway" is more accurate) driving and light weekend offroading before developing audible play. A few shots of grease cured it for a week and it came back, needless to say that got old quick. 17k-ish on Motorcraft and no play, no noise. Mevotech might be ok but regardless of brand do yourself a favor and mic them before you tear down, have read reports of some (Moog I think but not certain) that didn't fit and it's a good bit of work getting there.

That sucks it's second time around on the tranny, but good that they are making it right. I haven't had any issues with mine but know it's probably only a matter of time. BTW if you haven't come across threads about it, check into the "Saudi" transmission cooler upgrade (OEM replacement roughly double stock size and fits like factory), and it's probably already done but make sure you have the most recent programming recall (last year I think). I'll be doing that lead frame next transmission oil change as well so if you beat me to it take pictures!

Yeah there's multiple threads chasing front end clunks and I think you're right, it just moves to the next component every time I find one. No 37's yet but eventually I'm sure! Yes I went with +3 Deavers, definitely recommend them (or +2 if you don't plan on much weight in the bed) along with bump stops (I went with SVC adjustable and love them), ideally both at the same time so you don't have to pull the u-bolts and drop the axle again just to install the strike plates (and/or mod the factory block or whatever to work with the little stock bump stop nubs). Big difference but big cost too so it better be!!

Awesome 4Runner build thread, you're not lying it's a long one lol! But a damn good one, well written and plenty of pics, just as it should be. I forgot all about that 4.7L, always wondered why it never made it into a Taco, great rig though I'll be reading more of it. Beautiful scenery there too, I moved from southern NM to AR and it's a world apart, like @stolleee said about NC there's few Raptors around here but tons of Tacomas and Heeps (I like Jeeps and had a WJ so I can say that hahaha!). Got out today to enjoy the fall colors, only to come home to a yard full of ******* dead leaves that I gotta deal with...
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The struggle is real my brother. The intentions are always there. If I had a second person just for camera work it would be great. Then there's editing, uploading, etc. I just can't be bothered with all that work lol. Bless those that do it though. I think the guilt of not contributing enough to the ether is what makes me write my forum posts somewhat detailed. I'm a slow evolver and started in forums and just kinda stayed there. Didn't do much social media (though I'm trying). No YouTube content creation (but lots of viewing).

Thanks for the info on the BJ. I ran Moog greasable LBJ's on the 4Runner on my first LCA rebuild. They seemed to hold up okay but the bushings I used, not so much. Complete arm replacements are cheap for the Toyota so that's the route I went this go around.

Interesting info on the trans cooler upgrade. Thanks for that! I don't think any cooler upgrades are necesarry for my purposes and usage. All temps (trans, engine, etc.) seem to be nice and comfortable. I don't tow and ambient temps around here aren't extremely punishing (humidity a different animal). But it's good to know somebody has done the legwork on this. And yes, the trans flash was the first thing went in for after I got the truck. Mine falls under the lead frame campaign too, but that window closed last year I think and I don't think mine has the issue. Do you think oil catch cans are important on the 6.2? I could make a case for the Eco Boosts for sure, but never felt compelled to look into on on these.

Thanks for the feedback on the Deavers. It's honestly the only 'mod' I'm eyeing now that my headlights and 3rd brake light are done. I really do not love the way the rear end of this truck behaves. I don't feel like any other F150 I drive feels like this. Be interesting to see how hard it will be to retrofit a 3rd gen Raptor coil set-up or if somebody in the aftermarket will come up with a similar solution.

If Toyota would have done a 4.7 in a Taco, I would be ALL IN man. The platform is the same. The old 4.0 V6 is a great engine though. These 3.5 that they use now have a few kinks. It's a solid motor as well though. But yes, give me a V8 taco maybe with the newer 4.6 and I'm sold. You can keep all you TRD PRO ridiculous factory markup stuff, just give me that platform and let me build it with aftermarket parts. I know there's probably something in the works, but Ford is leaving so much market share on the table by only giving the rest of the world the Ranger Raptor. Mid-sized truck market is so thirsty for something like that.

 

[PD1744]

Not related to my Raptor but the 6R80 transmission replacement on my father-in-laws work truck went down this weekend. Transmission job in a driveway on jack stands is rough. Almost lost a finger in the process. Few lessons learned for sure. 2WD with a V6 so process would be a little different and a little more difficult I’d say on our trucks. In the end we got her all buttoned up and it’s running perfectly. Over 311k miles on a beaten work truck that didn’t even get it’s first tune up till just a few months ago. This thing is a warrior.

Pic of new trans on jack and old one pulled on the other side of the truck. No real other good pics because, like I said above, I suck.




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[BenBB]

Got it DONE, nice!!

 

[PD1744]

Changed my transmission mount yesterday. A little background. A while back after the trans install I crawled under the Raptor to see how different the setup was from a 2wd F150 and noticed a huge crack in the rubber on my transmission mount.

I ordered the part from Tasca for about $100 just to have the order cancelled and refunded due to “nationwide back order” on these. They said nobody had them. Went on eBay and ordered another one from a dealer selling on there for a little more money and same story. Ordered a 3rd from a dealer selling on an Amazon store and payed even more ($130), but finally got one.

Install was not as easy as you’d think. One particular fastener not easy to deal with as well as getting the thing in and out without taking the exhaust loose requires a little finesse. Only tip I can offer is take the rubber exhaust hanger isolator out first when reinstalling. Helps a lot. Got it done.



The front had broken all the way through. Super sloppy. Man what a difference. Money very well spent. That lumpy vibration at initial brake lift off is almost completely gone. I was chasing that since day one. Thought it needed a tune up, then thought it was a broken valve spring, then called it axle wrap. Was mainly this all along. I sort of leaned toward something in the transmission over time as the problem would get better if I bumped the transmission into neutral when sitting at a light. But I’m sure the engine mounts need to be done too as they’ve been doing all the work for who knows how long. Not looking forward to doing that because I know what’s involved after that engine replacement.

So that vibration is gone, shifts are super smooth now, even going over bumps feels smoother and taking off feels oddly more planted. Amazing how much a sloppy driveling was affecting the truck. Also learned that F150 guys replace their stock mounts with Raptor ones to improve a low speed vibration on their trucks. Could be the reason for the low parts availability. Happy new year!


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[BenBB]

That's awesome, good to hear it made such an improvement! Going to have to crawl under there and check mine...

 

[PD1744]

Knocked out the lower balljoints today. Rolled the dice on the Mevotech TTX (Tough Terrain Xtreme) which is marketed as a ‘heavy duty’ solution. Half the price of OEM. Seem like really nice units but time will tell. One of mine was in really good shape. The other one still had a little life but I’m happy to have gotten the job done so I don’t have to worry about it.






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