AssBurns BeerRunner Build Thread

[AssBurns]

The BeerRunner Build Thread.
Here is what is going to start as my build thread for my 2000 Limited 4Runner. Nicknamed the BeerRunner. This started out as a stock daily driver and has progressed to being able to do most things I've thrown at it. It's now dual locked, 35's, armored, and 4-link'd. I will try to keep this page updated often as I make progress.

Current:







What I've done so far:


Wheels & Tires:

Goodyear MT/R Kevlar 315/75R16

G2 Gear & Axle 1.25" wheel spacers on all 4 corners

SCS F5 w/ OMF Beadlock Conversion

Stock 5 Stars (Replaced)

Armor/ Exterior

Custom Fuel Tank Skid

Custom Front Bumper V2

Custom Front Skid V2

Custom Front Bumper

Custom Rock Sliders

Custom Front Skid

Custom Rear Bumper

Shaved Rear Quarter Panels

Ruff Stuff Rear Diff Guard


Front Suspension

Donahoe Racing (Now ICON) 2.5 Coilovers w/o Resi

Bilstein Tundra 5100 front shocks (Now at 1st perch setting)

Toytec/Eibach 620lb front coils

SPC Front UCA's

Wheeler's Offroad Super-bumps (Removed)

@Plastics guy Bump Stops (Review)

Whiteline LCA Bushings

Toytec Diff Drop Kit(Removed)

Total Chaos Shock Tower Gussets

Total Chaos Spindle Gussets

Total Chaos Cam Tab Gussets

Poly Performance Limit Straps

333 Fab Alignment Cam Eliminator Plates


Rear Suspension

Dual Triangulated 4-Link

Custom Rear Outboard Shock Mounts

Bilstein 7100 Short Body 12" travel custom valving

LC80 8 wraps (Removed Back on)

Jeep JL Stock Front Coils (About 2" Lift)(Removed)

Daystar Competition Bumpstops (Removed)

Sway A Way 2.0" x 4" Hydro Bump Stops (Spaced for only 3" travel)

Custom Rear Control Arm Links w/ Metalcloak Duroflex Joints (Sold)

Custom 1.5" Panhard Lift Bracket (No Panhard bar anymore, so it got cut off)


Miscellaneous

Front ARB Air Locker

Rear Factory E-Locker

5.29 Gears

ARB Single High Output Compressor

Warn VR10,000-S Winch w/ Synthetic Rope & Factor 55 ProLink

Custom Hi-Lift Mount

Trail Gear Bomb Proof Motor Mounts

DMZ Fab Motor Mount Perches

Uniden 510XL CB Radio

5' Firestik

Custom CB Whip Mount

Kenwood TM-281A HAM Radio

KC Daylighters 130W (Removed)

Lazer Star 7" HID's (Removed)

Tubbed Firewall for 35's

Custom Battery Tray & Coolant Tank (Removed)

F-150 Fuel Tank Relocation & Write Up

EVAP Charcoal Canister Delete

Engine Cage

Swing Down Tire Carrier

Battery Relocation to rear cargo area

Clocked T-Case


Future Plans:

Ford 9" Axle (Build in the works)

35 Spline Currie Axles​

5.29 Gears​

Full Spool​

Trussed​

4th Gen T4R Disc Brakes​

​

LS Swap (Coming Soon)

LM7 5.3l Motor​

4L80E Transmisson​

NP203/205 Dual Cases w/ NWF Adapters and Shifters​

​

Fuel Cell (32 Gallons)

Custom Long Travel

Full Cage

Trans Skid

Coilovers & Bypasses on all 4 Corners






Trip Reports:

Dusy Ershim Trail | 08/15/2018 - 08/19/2018

 

[AssBurns]

I bought this vehicle 12/06/2014 after a few months of searching. I was initially only needing something that is 4wd and reliable. I wanted a 4 door Tacoma, but that was way out of my budget and while I was searching for Tacomas, I noticed how much cheaper 4Runners were for a similar platform. So I did a little searching and narrowed down my search to look mostly for a 99/00 Limited w/ e-locker. I wasn't set on this, but I was definitely looking for these models because 99/00 had the AWD Multi-Mode Transfer-case that I really wanted because I lived in the mountains at the time and we got snow during the winter months. I wanted a Limited because it had more features like leather seats, cleaner interior, and more likely to have an e-locker. After a few months of searching I found a 2000 Limited w/ e-locker for $5,800. It was in pretty good condition, all stock and had 160,000 miles. It was exactly what I wanted and was in my budget. We drove down to San Diego, and drove it home that night. The next morning, my wife went into labor and we had our daughter that evening. Perfect timing there, since it snowed heavily like 2 days later.



This vehicle was really supposed to be my wife's daily driver, and our vehicle to go camping with. I really never planned to modify it, because I wanted to get a beater Jeep XJ for wheeling. Well about a month later, my brother and dad wanted to go up to Cleghorn to do some wheeling. I figured I could just take the fire roads while they take the harder trails. Well turns out a stock 4Runner with an e-locker can do everything on Cleghorn. From there, I was hooked. I didn't ever expect the 4runner to be so capable and comfortable.





Once I was hooked, I had other plans for the vehicle, and we ended up moving back down from the mountains, so my wife didn't need 4wd anymore. The first thing I did was buy some 285/75r16 Pro-Comp MT2's since my stock tires were old and bald. I made the tires fit by cutting the pinch weld and doing some hammering on the firewall. The next weekend I made some sliders. I drove around like this for a few months and realized just how shot the suspension really was, especially for any sort of offroading. From there I decided on Bilstein Tundra 5100's with Toytec/Eibach coils up front and FJ80 8 wraps for the rear. I knew right away that I did't want to just use longer shocks when I lift it, since it limits my up travel and I didn't like the idea of extending bump stops. So I outboarded my shocks with some custom shock mounts and Bilstein 12" 7100's. From here my goal was to just do some lights and armor to keep it a mild wheeler that can do a little bit of everything.

 

[AssBurns]

Well once I started wheeling more, I started to realize the weak points and broke a lot of things in the process. The first major breakage was my rear diff. After that it was little things like cracked LCA's, shock towers, broken upper rear links, and bent lower links. Eventually I started to work on beefing up some other weak points and upgrade limiting or broken components such as custom DOM rear links, SPC UCA's, Spindle Gussets, Shock Tower Gussets, Cam Tab Gussets, Whiteline LCA Bushings, upgraded bump stops, etc. During this time I also built a front skid plate, rear bumper, and some other random stuff like a high lift mount and CB antenna bracket. During this stage, I learned a lot about the vehicle, offroading, and where I want to take this build. It was already way beyond my initial goals, and I still wanted to push the limits more by having more capability and the ability to go faster.

 

[AssBurns]

I've already put about 30,000 miles on the rig at this point and tires were wearing out quickly by now, so I knew the next logical step was to jump to 35's by buying a set of 315/75r16 Goodyear MT/R's. I took the wheels and tires down to my buddy's shop and we slapped them onto my stock 5 stars, and took it up the fire road to see how bad it rubbed. It was pretty shitty, but I knew I'd be spending the next weekend making the tires fit by tubbing the firewall and cutting the fenders. I also moved the battery tray a few inches to the side and rotated it 90* to make room for the tire to clear. I was stoked on the new tires, but I still didn't have a steel bumper, so a couple weekends later I made a tube bumper with a winch plate and an aluminum skid. I started to be able to tackle a little bit harder trails that would've been much more difficult on 33's, but I still hated the lack of ground clearance, and was getting caught up on my fuel tank and skids much more often due to me going on harder trails and taking harder lines than before. Well, I was on Motino Wash when I put a hole in my fuel tank, causing me to decide to just relocate the fuel tank instead of replacing it. I already had the idea of doing a 4-link down the line, so this was just another reason to get it out of the way.




So I used a rear aux tank from a early 90's Ford F-Series truck and made some mounting brackets, plumbed and wired the new fuel pump/sending unit, new fuel gauge, and a skid plate for the tank. This saved me a ton of room under the vehicle and gave me much better weight distribution than the stock tank. I learned a lot about how fuel tanks work and had a lot of frustration doing so. Now I thoroughly enjoy the benefits of the new tank setup.



I wheeled like this for a few months before I messed up my front ADD tube and kept breaking CV Axles any time I was in 4wd. I didn't quite have the time, money or care to fix it, so I just ran around in 2wd during this time. Well this caused me to blow two rear ends in 2.5 months! I was really getting over things, and needed to take a break from wheeling and focus on getting my rig fixed, and upgrade a few things that have been giving me trouble.




Once I did the tank swap, the next thing that I was constantly getting hung up on were the lower links and brackets. I knew the answer was 4-link, so I bought all the joints, and bought the right brackets to be able to make a custom link for the rear. I had two major goals with the 4 link. 1) Increase ground clearance and make the links a long smooth surface to slide across, rather than get hung up on. 2) Eliminate the god awful roll steer that the stock geometry had. Everything else was important such as keeping driveshaft plunge down, keeping a consistent pinion angle, increase the roll center height, etc. While I was doing this, I set my bumps to be about an inch below the frame rails, giving me about 3" more up travel than stock bump stops had. With this setup I had to tub the rear wheel wells and the cargo floor for my wheels and link tower to clear. I also went with hydro bumps while I was at it. This project took pretty much every free weekend I had from late April until late July. I was and still am so burnt out from working on my rig. I was extremely happy to have it running again and love the new rear suspension along with the increased up travel and hydro bumps.



At this point I had about 3 weeks to button up all the details, and install a front diff with an ARB locker and ARB compressor, then test it out to make sure it all works before our trip to Dusy Ershim Trail for 5 days. @4runner DOA came over and helped me knock out a ton of work for half a day, which saved me a fuck ton of time and effort. A week later I was on Dusy Ershim and didn't have a single mechanical issue, which was one of the best feelings ever (@theesotericone )

 

[AssBurns]

So now here we are in October 2018 and the only things I've done since the 4-link is install Jeep JL front coils on the rear to lower the ride height a couple inches. Next things on the short term list is rebuild and tune rear shocks, destroke the 4" hydro bumps down to 2". Put limit straps on the rear, and make a transmission/mid skid.

Long term goals are:

• long travel up front with coilovers and bypasses.
• Full cage
• Long travel rear with coilovers and bypasses tied into the cage
• Ford 9' axle to match front LT width
• Clocked dual transfer case or Atlas 4 speed for full flat belly
• V8 Swap maybe?

 

[DuroBumps]

That 4-link looks tuff as hell.

With the 4-link being double triangulated you eliminate the rear steer during flex right??

 

[AssBurns]

That 4-link looks tuff as hell.

With the 4-link being double triangulated you eliminate the rear steer during flex right??

Thanks! Yeah I actually have a hair of roll understeer when flexing due to the way the lower links are setup. It makes it track very well at high speeds.

 

[stumbles]

I get a lot of inspiration looking at this build and what I would mine to be some day.

I also like this a lot.

 

[AssBurns]

I get a lot of inspiration looking at this build and what I would mine to be some day.

I also like this a lot.

Thanks! Keep working at it and you’ll get there. I’m only like 1/4 way towards my next goals of this build. It’s fucking never ending. I don’t recommend this hobby to anyone haha

The radiator cage and skid has taken some hard fucking hits and still mostly straight. Only thing I would have changed would have been a shorter radiator from the get go. Now I have to redo a bunch of stuff if I want to get a better approach angle.

 

[stumbles]

Thanks! Keep working at it and you’ll get there. I’m only like 1/4 way towards my next goals of this build. It’s fucking never ending. I don’t recommend this hobby to anyone haha

The radiator cage and skid has taken some hard fucking hits and still mostly straight. Only thing I would have changed would have been a shorter radiator from the get go. Now I have to redo a bunch of stuff if I want to get a better approach angle.

What do you want to do next?

 

[AssBurns]

What do you want to do next?

The two next big ones are Long Travel and clocked t-case for a complete flat belly for more belly clearance.
From there, a cage and real long travel rear with coilovers and bypasses.
Maybe a V8 swap down the line?

 

[AssBurns]

Finally got around to destroking my bump stops. My bump stop are 2.0 x 4" stroke Sway-A-Ways. I knew when I bought them I would need to destroke them, so I had my buddy machine a set of 1" spacers to bring the stroke down to 3". I probably should have had him make some extras since I'll probably bring them down to 2 or 2.5" stroke. Idk why, but I've been super lazy about getting around to this, even though it only took like an hour while BS'ing and drinking beers with a buddy. It was super simple to do. Just release the nitrogen pressure (Keep the valve stem pointed up when releasing pressure or else you'll just blow out the oil). Once the pressure is released and the bump stop is fully compressed, you need to put the bump stop in a vice (I wrapped some rubber hose around it to really clamp down and hold things still when unscrewing the bump stop. Once it's unscrewed, slowly pull out the shaft and piston. Keep the oil in the can if you don't need to swap fluids. Place the shaft in the vice and remove the nut that holds the washers, valves and piston in place. Remove everything and keep it in order of how you removed it. From there slide the new spacers under the stock spacers, then reinstall everything in the reverse order of how you pulled it.

I filled mine up to 150 psi this go around. It might be a little on the high side, but it feels way better than it did with the 4" stroke at 115psi. I think bringing the stroke down to 2" or 2.5" will really hit the sweet spot.

 

[AssBurns]

Went and ran around Cougar Buttes this past weekend with @Hank, @fj_bruiser and another guy with a first get solid axle pickup. We got there Friday night and camped right next to the trail head of Hammer Down. @Hank and I walked it and had a couple of questionable spots that were off camber and could easily ruin your day if something went wrong. We decided to start with Cake Walk and Bullfrog first, then decide if we still wanted to run Hammer Down. Well on the gatekeeper of Bullfrog I tried to do a bonus line and broke another CV, so I used my only spare. We dicked around all of Saturday finding all sorts of bonus lines to play on near Bullfrog and Cakewalk. Initially we were talking about heading to Hammers on Sunday to run Turkey Claw or Chocolate Thunder but the Hammers was a little too far of a drive and we really wanted to do Hammer Down. With no spare CV, I had to be really careful, or else I'd be winching my way out of the trail which is never fun (ahem @theesotericone). We ended up making it through with no real damage. @Hank got some new dingers in his doors, and I broke the drivers side tail light. Now I have matching tail lights.
That trail is pretty damn tough but super fun. I definitely recommend it if you wanna tackle a hard trail (John Bull is not a hard trail compared to this btw)

Also while were out there, I took @Hank for a little test run in the BeerRunner. We were going about 40-50mph through a washy section that had some small 1ft whoops, then it eventually came to a spot that had some whoops about 2ft tall. I just went for it and stayed heavy on the throttle. Bad idea here. The first 6 whoops were fine, but then it skipped a whoop causing me to dive into the next whoop. That launched the front end way up in the air then back down into a 2-foot tall G-out that I plowed straight into with my front skid HARD. It sent a ton of dirt and dust into the air. We stopped and checked things out. The skid got pushed in a little, the drivers side LCA cracked, and the core support has so many cracks in it and pushed down enough that even the head lights are pointed towards the ground more. Plus the headlights are loose as fuck now. I haven't checked, but pretty sure a tie rod is bent since the toe is pretty far out. I guess it's time to throw some tubes in there to brace it up.

@theesotericone you missed a hell of a trip. We definitely need to go back and hit up Hammer Down again. It's short but fun. The weather is only gonna get better out there.

I'll figure out how to make a youtube video and get the rest of the pictures from the trip off my phone. This new laptop is too new for icloud for some dumb reason and makes it a pain in the ass to get the pictures from my phone to my computer.

 

[theesotericone]

I really wanted to be there man. Those pics just make it hurt more that I missed it. But I'm still married so it was probably worth it. lol

Glad you guys had a good time and let me know how that front end turned out.

 

[Dukestaco]

Sweet ass build. You are making me rethink the Tacoma build.

 

[Rat_Bastard]

Badass build! True example of dedication here.

 

[Octanejunkie]

Following you here now

 

[AssBurns]

Following you here now

Awesome!!!

Welcome aboard!

 

[theesotericone]

Following you here now

Awesome!!!

Welcome aboard!

Oh man, they'll let anyone in here. lol

Hey Mike. Hope things are well man. Are you still looking into the 4WD conversion?

 

[AssBurns]

Went out to Ocotillo Wells this weekend and tore up the rig again. I always say I’m gonna stay away from the obstacle course because I always break shit when I go there. So what do? I went to the obstacle course anyways.

Night 1, I was playing on the tires next to the entrance and forgot to turn off my locker when I was backing up to readjust and when I came down hard in reverse it popped another CV outer joint.
Night 2, I was playing around on an obstacle and a piece of rebar was sticking out and slashed my rear tire. Of course my dumbass didn’t bring a spare tire, so I went into town and had them mount up something just to get me home. Well that ended up being a 265/70r16 for $38. I gotta order another 2 tires tomorrow and I’ll have a matching spare along with the other spare that I always leave at home haha

Today as I was about to get on the road I noticed my steering was super sloppy. So I jump out and notice that the U-bolt thing that holds the steering rack on broke at the mount to the crossmember. So I just ratchet straped that fucker to the crossmember and it was all good.


My buddy that stayed asleep even after we tipped his chair back haha