1987 4runner SAS

[KS4runner]

Hey guys, new to snowtrek but I figured before the snow flies I'd get acquainted with the fellow snow wheelers and show off my rig! It's my 1987 22re 5 speed SR5 4runner, been in the family for roughly 15 years and was bone stock till I bought it in July for $2000. Solid axled it and have gradually been adding to it since then, took 2 1/2 days to solid axle it and being that I'm a WABO certified welder, it was a breeze. Here's some pics for your enjoyment.

[KS4runner]

Figured I should also include a little build info, brand new 35" kevlar MT/r's on 15x8 rock crusher black steelies, 12" travel bilstein shocks on all 4 corners, trail gear 4" leafs, 6 1/4" front shackles, 5" rears, OLD school trail gear 2" front drop hanger, fully rebuilt and trussed '85 front axle, rock rings on steering knuckles, martacked axle shafts, extended custom CV front driveshaft built by me, hi steer of course, 6 rock lights, smittybilt 10k synthetic line winch, custom front and rear bumpers built by me as well, HID headlights, csi LED's on the bumper (insanely bright), perfect gray SR5 interior and very nice paint. Also sold all the IFS, old wheels and tires, extra parts and accessories I'm only in about $2700 between buying it and everything, and yes it's my daily driver.

[Nobody]

Welcome to the forum. Nice clean rig there. I didn't see lockers mentioned...?

[KS4runner]

You're right! No lockers yet, I still don't have perfect clarity on which direction to go with them. Take the risk of snapping axle shafts in the front axle with a locker, or have to deal with the hassle of driving on the street with a mechanical locker because this is my daily rig. Unless i get a truetrac that is, because ARB's are great but im not that interested in dropping the cash on them yet! And for the records last season in my '85 pickup i sold, i went just as far as my friend in his detroit locked front and rear YJ on TSL's in deep snow on green mountain every time we went with open diffs and aired up!

[Nobody]

I believe selectable lockers are the only way to go in the rear. They will pay for themselves in tire savings. Especially on a daily driver. Automatic style lockers will increase tire wear, sometimes significantly depending on how you drive.

I have a automatic locker up front and it works great. If you're on a tight budget, I'd start by putting a lunchbox locker up front. It will help! It's also worth mentioning, that airing down not only helps with flotation and traction, but it will help prevent broken parts. If you're setup right and drive with some common sense, you really shouldn't need to worry about broken parts. Get that on-board air going!

[KS4runner]

Yes I agree there, no way around it that a disengaging locker is the way to go in the rear, and like I say the only thing that has kept me from tossing any sort of locker in the front is I just don't want to break birfs or axle shafts, I don't know what the likelihood of that is but at any rate I don't want it to happen if I can avoid it haha. And oh yeah I know plenty well about airing down, I was just making a point that my open/ open aired up Toyota went as far as my buddies jeep locked front and rear with TSL's, which I got a huge kick out of. I went every single weekend in that the past two winters and I'm just itching to get out with the runner... (gray goose) still on the fence about my OBA set up also. AC pump, viaair, comp tank..? What's the golden ticket ?

[Fubar]

Nice clean yota for how old she is.

How do you find the 35" tires, big enough?

I hunted down a York ac compressor. Me thinks it's the only way to go as far as oba. Almost like a factory fit and finish bolted up to the motor.

My plan is to make some aluminum tanks tucked in the running boards or roll cage.

What's a wabo welder?

[KS4runner]

Wabo stands for Washington Association of Building Officials and they have different tests for each welding procedure, and each one is a specific weldment and they are graded and tested and with a certain amount of those done you become a certified structural welder per process! I haven't had an issue with my 35's yet, undoubtedly I will have 37's next just because I like them and the tall sidewalls but I have a lot of ground clearance with the 35's and having everything tucked up on top of my axle housings. I like the sound of that OBA setup, what is the specific type of York compressor to get for that?

[EBSTEVE]

What's a wabo welder?

Someone who can weld an easy test in a controlled environment.

Go with an engine driven compressor, a York is my preference but I have used a few different stock ac pumps so if you can fund a factory bolt on it might be worth trying.

[KS4runner]

Haha yes, easy but none the less it's certs! Anyway, I have factory AC because I have an SR5, so the AC pump is already there, and I've seen my buddies do it to their Toyota AC so I know how to do it I just didn't know whether it was worth it

[EBSTEVE]

Haha yes, easy but none the less it's certs! Anyway, I have factory AC because I have an SR5, so the AC pump is already there, and I've seen my buddies do it to their Toyota AC so I know how to do it I just didn't know whether it was worth it

I think it would be worth it, unless the ac works and you want to keep it. It will probably be slower than a York but faster than an electric setup and it won't run out like a tank. I don't know how well the Toyota pumps hold up but if you search I am sure there is a ton of info on the interweb and you can probably pick up spares for cheap.

Not trying to dog you for the certs, my pipe cert alone makes me enough money to be worth it.

[Nobody]

It's absolutely worth it. I've run several different types of a/c pumps for OBA over the last 20 years, and they all worked just fine. One of my all time favorite mods.

[Fubar]

i think its a york 210. theres a whole list of donor vehicles if you do a little digging on google.

mine was from a 70s e350 econoline van or somthing. i payed 40 bucks and bought some gasket material and rebuilt it.

i also modified the air out put pick up tube so that i doesnt pump any oil. just air.

Dont think your stock ac pump will be any good.
the yorks are special b/c of the unique oil sump they have built in, that will keep the air seperated from the oil. like an air compressor pump.

most stock ac units just used the coolant as a lubrication method and dont have an actual oil reservoir.

Its crazy in the USA each state has their own welding institutions and certs. in Canada there are specific CWB structural certs that anyone can practice and get, but if you want to be a 'welder' you have to do a 4 year apprenticeship program. like correspondence through a company. then you are certified all across Canada. - makes more sense to me this way. im a welder also


edit:
the benefit of the stock ac on your toyota would be taking it off and reusing the mounting location in some way.

[KS4runner]

Well guys today was the first run of the season, I got up to 2 feet of awesome powder with a compactible base up tonga ridge. We got up to 5500' and it was snowing the entire time, hard. And the snow was absolutely perfect. I put the runner in a ditch purposely where my group was stopped to show off (I was hoping) rather than getting stuck like a fool and have to have someone pull me out, well those kevlar mtr/r's are amazing in the snow and I went from 3rd gear grabbed 2nd and punched it and it just pulled right back out as the tires are slinging huge snow roost all up the sides and back and my group was thoroughly impressed and laughing hard after I was out and stopped haha. Here's some pics of the run. And I winched out my buddies '78 f250 with a 6" lift and 35's out of the ditch right before his driver axle shaft came out and we had to do a trail repair. Oh well great times !

[KS4runner]

Here's some of the pics !

[Nobody]

Nice! Fair amount of snow. The big dump should be in the next couple of weeks.

[KS4runner]

Yeah I can't wait I'm ready to get back up there again, it was a great time I was so proud of the runner! So far it was the best snow wheeling I've done so far, Open diffs weren't that bad but a front locker would be nice for the right situation.

[H8PVMNT]

Nice 4Runner!

You will love the MTRs, I am finishing off a set right now. They were really great in the snow at 4 psi.

On the lockers, don't even think about it, just get some kind of lockers.

As far as the birfs, you are right on the line of durability with stock birfs and 35s but in the snow you have alot of cusion. Just don't sit and spin at full lock and you should be OK. That being said stock birfs can be had for like $20 each so breaking one is not the end of the world :).

I have been running on some of the old style moderately improved 27 spline birfs Marlin Crawler used to sell with the extra ring welded on the bell and heat treating with no breakage for about 10 years and that's with a 3RZ swap (150 horse whoohoo), 35s and 4.7 crawler gears. These can be had pretty cheap and they are a good upgrade. Longfields are probably your best bet.

The thing I love most about the old school 4runner is the removable hard top.

[n16ht5]

sweet! get some aussie lockers and you are good to go. I run open front still, but I have 5.29s and lockers set up in my shop, just been too busy to put them in

I converted my AC to OBA.. been doing it on every rig I have had.. I put a fuel filter on the inlet and squirt oil into it after each snow run to keep it lubed up.

[KS4runner]

Thanks you guys! Glad you dig my runner. It's a killer rig, and yes I LOVE the removable hardtop. It's so nice being able to haul 5 people when I want to and then fold the seats down and throw dirtbikes in the back with the rollbar and top off. But I really need to get on this gear and locker situation, if ANYONE is selling 5.29's In 3rd members please let me know. I'm not picky, open, locked, just no welded haha. I'm going back up to tonga on Friday should be even more snow and this time I may have to air down, but at any rate those mt/r's really rock and I'm so glad I bought them, perfect blend between a streetable tire and more than anything a great offroad performer. Mud and snow both. So yeah I guess I will tap into my AC pump, and go ahead and do the OBA off that and them I guess just bring my portable air tank to fill up rather than directly off the pump is that right ?