Well it's long overdue, but some updates.
My wife and I headed to Fresno to pick up that engine. 105* in Fresno when we picked it up and drove all the way with AC on the way there and back. (Unusual on my lone trips so I noted it).
Stopped on the way back to get some brunch / lunch. Apple Annie's was a cool pitstop for good food and Americana.
Actually spent time working on the "race truck" with a tool I never knew I needed until I had to modify the lower arm mounts which don't really work well with the XLT lowers. I had figured out that the uppers from Solo on my 4runner weren't made to clear the shock bucket, but I'm not sure whether this was the jig for Solo's lowers or my beat 2nd / 3rd hand rig.
https://www.harborfreight.com/53-am...Yl5r6Jnsibwgp_JxN_5WiRr54LtnxHKwaApiuEALw_wcB
I had made shims with Send Cut Send to make the lower arm inner and outer bushing sleeves fit the mounts. I needed to make them all fit looser on the inside mounting surfaces and tighter on the most fore/aft mount surfaces.
Got all the mounts done and the cats were left undisturbed for 4-5 months.
In the meantime I had to fix the 4runner. 3 years ago I bought it 2nd hand and while it was uber clean inside and out, with 300k miles it was puking oil out of all the engine seals and an axle boot. This was the intended daily for my wife and I had a perfectly gone through motor in my lawn ornament. In along with the engine went an OEM steering rack, Solo stock size uppers and lowers, and Kangs since we got the 4runner on the cheap.
I give you my heart
When I got the uppers from Solo, I couldn't get them to fit without modifying my coil bucket, so I luckily got helped out from my friend who runs a machine shop and shortened the bushings and bushing sleeves. He grew up working in this shop for his dad and is about to retire so he seems to like it when I come by with a new project to keep him from getting bored. He never lets me give him money so I always hook him up with snacks and sodas since he doesn't drink alcohol.
However, perhaps due to the uppers not jigged right by Solo, possible expertly bent spindle by yours truly, I could never get the truck aligned without significant positive camber (.6*) from me with an angle finder
and by a competent alignment tech at RPM Garage in Monrovia.
Flash forward to today and my wife's tires were too wore down on the outsides and I needed to also address what I thought was a leaky diff seal (expertly installed incorrectly by me and was leaking gear oil all over the wheel well). That "leaky diff seal" led me to get manual hubs for the 4runner and also since I couldn't pinpoint why I couldn't get an alightment, I got spindles from TW where a guy presses new bearings and manual hubs over in Virginia. It was well worth the time and frustration it saved me.
The "leaky seal" ended up being a leaky power steering return line I expertly missed and was slinging oil all over that dripped onto the CV below.
Oh well, I got fancy oldschool hubs out of the expert misdiagnosis and rebuilt the steering line.
However even after all this I wasn't able to get the truck aligned even with the cams basically maxed out. I can't tell you how many weekends I spent working on adjusting the cams, ride height, etc.
I talked to Bobby / Travis over at Solo and telling them that the uppers were the one thing I hadn't messed with, I asked if they wouldn't mind trading a properly made pair if I traded in my uppers.
They gave me a brand new set with all new hardware and uniballs. Those guys always treat me like I'm a big baller. I appreciate them.
Saw a clean clean Ford over there.
Got the new uppers on (you can see how worn the outsides of the tires are). I didn't get the alignment numbers I was after, so I lowered the ride height.
For some reason I got severely conflicting printouts on two "free alignment checks" from local places. I only changed the toe between the first and second. The toe's off on one side over the other because the rack is off from when I installed it and I'm matching the tie rod threads rather than centering the steering wheel which I'll straighten out later at the rag joint once I get it all dialed in. I also zeroe'd out the toe after the second report by the way.
I don't know whether these shops don't know how to find preliminary specs, run misleading preliminary specs to get people to get an alignment, or both, but at this point the truck drives straight, doesn't pull and I'll let RPM go at it in the next week or two.
Got like new Hankook Dyna Pro 31's on OfferUp for $400. Swapped my wheels from the Tacoma daily to the 4runner at the same time.
