Sinking Creek 4WD Association

Well, when buying my '97 Tacoma I said numerous times that I wasn't going to wheel it. That thought quickly went by the wayside as the first place I went after purchasing it was Coal Hill. Par for the course, as soon as I unloaded my '97 4runner off the trailer I headed to the mountains with it for a little test run (before even hitting pavement with it).

Bald tires all around, shot suspension, and sway bars connected it did as well as could be expected (not very good). However, it did have many advantages and hopefully with the forthcoming mods it will do well as a DD, mild wheeling/exploration vehicle. I guess you could call it an expedition style build, although I doubt I would ever get to do any 'real' expedition wheeling.

Anyways, as it sat from the dealers lot:

'97 4runner SR5

-3.4L
-5spd
-4.10 gears
-open diffs
-265/70R16's

First thing was to get rid of the crappy P265/70R16 tires in favor of something more sturdy and capable. I decided on 235/85-16's over the normal 265/75-16's that most people run on these. Reasoning was that the 235/85-16 is a very common size the world over, 32" tall for good GC, narrow for better snow performance and increased MPG, and it's a load range E for better hauling and towing characteristics. Plus, I dig the Pizza cutters

I debated about getting BFG A/T's but they were still a bit spendy, so I went with Cooper Starfire SF510's instead. They have nice tread void for an AT and plenty of biting edges, so I expect they should do well in everything except deeper mud. I've wheeled them in the snow as well as about 100mi of snow packed back roads and they did amazingly well, as good or better than the snow tires on my taco. Haven't got to do any off road testing but I imagine they will be similar to any other all terrain.

I never got to check the fuel mileage with the stock tires, but on my last tank with the new tires I got 22mpg which was a welcome surprise.

New suspension just arrived yesterday, more on that later...

looking good Matt. Im liking those tires.

BadAssEddie wrote:looking good Matt. Im liking those tires.

Thanks, they were just something the tire store had in stock. The tread looked decent and they were really cheap, we'll see how they do.



I have a few other future mods I would like to do to this rig, but they will come as time/budget/need requires.

Overall:
-tires (done)
-suspension (next)
-hitch
need to find something high clearance or fab my own, the factory units hang down way too low for a good departure angle

-sliders
haven't decided if this is a good idea or not, on one hand they would protect the body a little, on the other they would tempt me to go places my DD probably shouldn't

-CB
-custom aluminum roof rack
something that I can mount quickly when needed but leave off otherwise. I like the super low profile of the Front runner wind cheetah, but not the price ($1000+) All I need to carry is a high lift and some aluminum sand mats/ramps off-road, or the occasional piece of plywood or lumber during the week. Maybe a stock setup would work I need to talk to hippie about this.

-some sort of drawer system/sleeping platform
-E-locker



Suspension:

I wanted to try the stock suspension for a little while and see how it rode/handled/wheeled, however the springs and shocks are so hashed that wasn't an option. Even without a load of any sort, the rear end bottoms out on most bumps and then rebounds into orbit. The whole vehicle seems squirrely on anything but the smoothest roads.

After much research I decided to go with Old Man Emu suspension front and rear. I also looked at the Performance Products 1" lift coils (which I think are no longer made), Sonoran Steel 7.2 suspension system (way overpriced) and '99 coils.

I was looking for better load/towing capacity, firmer ride, a little lift and better off road performance. I decided on 880 front coils and 906 rear coils, with 90004 front Sport shocks and 60027 rear shocks. The front springs are the lightest spring rate available and the rears are the heaviest spring rate (but least lift.) This combo should give about 1" to 1.5" of lift. I have to say I was surprised that this stuff is actually made in Australia, I always thought it was just part of their slogan.

Hopefully I will be able to get the suspension under it this weekend and get some better off-road testing and pics.

Man it's dead around here....


Anyways, I got the OME suspension on Saturday. Front was as expected, but in the rear I found out they sent me 890 coils instead of the 906's I ordered. I decided to install them anyways and see how things worked. Ended up with more rake than I was anticipating, but also longer, flexier coils in the rear, and more load capacity. Front went up 1.5", rear went up 2.25". With the sway bars unhooked it flexed amazingly well for an IFS rig, in fact the front droops so much it makes me worry a little about the CV angles.

Here are some before and after pics.

Before:


After:



Tell me if it looks like too much rake to yall (remember I view this thing as a truck and will use it as such.) I'm undecided, I might keep it this way or I might swap these out for the 906 coils. They would lower the rear .5" to .75"

I think its fine. You sound like it wont be unloaded very much, so I would keep it like it is. Rather have the rear a little high unloaded than sagging like a caddy when you are hauling stuff around, IMO. It doesn't look too exaggerated based on those pictures.

Looks good Matt. I think I'd stick with it. Remember that the coils will settle a little as they break in. Also, you carry enough tools and such every day that you won't notice it.

I agree with Alec and Terry. Not bad at all. Looks good

Sounds good to me then. I haven't driven it on the highway yet (need to get it realigned) but off road the improvement over stock was about 300%.

Next thing will be a trailer hitch, then a roof rack. I'm getting anxious to get a sleeping platform built and head out to the back country for some exploring.


One question for the Toyota guys, the ABS on this thing seems really scary. When on snow if you get on the brakes hard enough the ABS kicks in and a grinding/whirring/pulsing noise comes from in front of the firewall. When this happens the brake pedal also becomes hard to push and it seems as if the brakes aren't working at all. Maybe I'm not use to this, but it seemed pretty scary like I was out of control when in hard braking on slick surfaces. Is this normal for this system? I guess it's a more advanced ABS than my Tacoma had, I noticed this one has either sensor wires or lines running to each wheel.

Edit: on second thought I don't even know if my Tacoma had ABS, either way I liked that braking system better...

With ABS, just hold the pedal down. Sounds like the system was working properly. The noise you heard is the ABS system "pumping" the brakes for you. Everytime you let off the brake pedal it has to reset. Just nail the pedal and hang on. It keeps all 4 wheels spinning so you stay straight.

It's designed for people who panic and hit the brakes whenever they get in trouble like in ice/snow/rain ect when the road is slick. People who aren't used to it usually don't like it till they use it on the road.

I guess I'll just have to live with it then. I'm tempted to disable it but if I were ever in a wreck I'm sure in insurance company would have something to say about that...


Question for those running OME coils (any make), after they got broken in did they ride any better? Mine are so stiff the ride is akin to our C60 dump truck (not joking). Maybe the shocks are too firm, IDK. I expected a firmer ride but this is really bad. The coils I'm running are the lightest spring rate available. Thoughts?

VerticalTRX wrote:I guess I'll just have to live with it then. I'm tempted to disable it but if I were ever in a wreck I'm sure in insurance company would have something to say about that...


Question for those running OME coils (any make), after they got broken in did they ride any better? Mine are so stiff the ride is akin to our C60 dump truck (not joking). Maybe the shocks are too firm, IDK. I expected a firmer ride but this is really bad. The coils I'm running are the lightest spring rate available. Thoughts?

I do not have any first hand experience with OME suspension systems, however they are made out of the same raw materials as most others. This beings said, I believe that they will settle down a considerable bit. I have driven a truck with brand new coils and shocks and cursed myself, but after 1000 miles they rode much better. I suspect that you will experience the same. Also, have you driven the vehicle loaded how you expect it to be on a regular basis? The extra few hundred pounds makes all the difference in the world on a stiff suspension system.

Matt:

When I lifted my bronco, I disabled the ABS improperly. It seems to go into some kind of emergency mode. I had problems with the front caliper piston seals leaking. I replaced those damn things 4 or 5 times! Autozone was great about it, however. I would definitely do the research unlike me and just cut the wires and remove the sensors. Seems like you would have to source a non ABS master cylinder or something.

Your rig looks really good!

Brett

I think I might be running too firm of a rear shock.

I e-mailed ARB about it and waiting to hear back before I do any changes. I have to pick up 560lbs of quickcrete tomorrow, we'll see how it rides then, lol.

As for the ABS I'm going to give it another try next time it snows. Upon Terry's suggestion, when I start to slide I'm going to mash the brakes to the floor like a hysterical suburbanite soccer mom

VerticalTRX wrote:when I start to slide I'm going to mash the brakes to the floor like a hysterical suburbanite soccer mom