The engine compartment boasts MSD
ignition wires, MSD Blaster II High Vibration coil, MSD-6 off road
ignition system and a blue top Optima
The engine breathes through a
custom filter charger Brian built himself. He made it with
less than $50 in parts!
Chromoly A-arms are at the heart
of the WCOR 14" IFS kit
The front suspension uses a single
Rancho 9000 per side & the oil filter has been relocated to the
drivers side wheel well
Porsche 930 CV joints handle the
increased wheel travel & the increased turning
radius
Brian created custom 2x3", 0.25"
wall nerf bars to protect the body
Brian's custom rear bumper gained
him 4.5" more clearance than stock & has an integrated receiver
hitch
Brian Rishaw of Higley, AZ
built up this beautiful 1990 4Runner over a 7 year period.
The 4Runner could often be found on the trails of Arizona and
occasionally Southern California. Many of the pictures you
see here were shot on Woodpecker Trail.Brian chose to keep the original 3.0 V6 engine in his
4Runner. The engine breathes through a custom filter charger
using a K&N filter that Brian made himself and a throttle body
bored 4mm over by RC Engineering. Exhaust is handled by
Downey headers and a HKS 2.5" free-flow exhaust system.The computer watches over the engine with the help
of a JET performance chip. The engine compartment boasts
Rancho hood strut supports, relocated oil filter, MSD ignition
wires, MSD Blaster II High Vibration coil, MSD-6 off road
ignition, and a blue top Optima. A
good cooling system is important in the hot Arizona summer.
The stock belt driven fan was replaced with a Flex-a-lite
fan. Brian has custom mounted an Oil cooler with braided
stainless steel lines behind a Downey aluminum skid plate in front
with thermostatically controlled electric cooling fan with indicator light for
water crossings and uses Redline WaterWetter in his
radiator.Lighting is taken care of by the
Hella Vision Plus headlight assemblies and 80/100W bulbs.
Brian has upgraded the headlight wiring with PIAA high performance
wiring/relays. Stock emergency flashers have been replaced
with strobe units as you would see on a pace car.Brian chose 33x12.5 Bridgestone Dueler MTs mounted
on black ARE steel wheels to carry him over along the trail, and a
full size spare is carried on the Surco aluminum roof rack.
The job of keeping the 4Runner moving, whether all the wheels are
on the ground or not, is taken care of by a Detroit locker in the
rear & a LockRight in the front. Brian removed the ADD
(automatic differential disconnect) that originally came on the
vehicle.The stock clutch was replaced in
favor of a Downey Super clutch. The original ADD plates were
replaced with Warn Premium hubs. Redline synthetic oils are used in
both axles, the transmission, and the transfer case.
Differential breathers help keep water out of the axles.The travel limitations of the stock IFS were
overcome with the addition of a West Coast Off-Road 14" travel
kit. The kit replaces the upper and lower A-arms with longer
Chromoly arms. The stock CV axles are tossed aside and
replaced with Porsche 930 inner CV-joints ( just like Ivan uses on
his race truck.) and heat-treated anodized axle shafts by Summers
Brothers. Ball joints were replaced with Mega-Travel units from
Downey. Downey 2" longer tie rods with stock relay rod,
coupled with the 4" wider track of the WCOR kit gives a tighter
turning radius than a stock 4Runner. WCORs greasable idler
arm with weld-on guessetting and oil impregnated bronze bushings
replaces the factory unit.Smoothing out
the bumps is done with one Rancho 9000 shock in a Downey double
shock hoop on each front wheel. Brian upgraded to Sway-a-Way
torsion bars, and used polyurethane A-arm bushings and
bumpstops. Other front suspension upgrades include Downey IFS
front truss, Downey high-carbon gear steel torsion bar sockets on
upper A-arm, reinforced torsion bar adjusters, Downey
fiberglass front fenders, and a Doestch-Tech steering
stabilizerRear suspension is entirely from
Downey...1-1/2" lift heavy duty coils
springs, 1-1/2" polyurethane spring spacer, rear sway bar mount 3"
extensions, panhard rod 3" drop bracket, upper shock mount for
1-1/2" more shock travel, and he is still experimenting with a
custom upper control arm design using Downey Chromoly tubes and
spherical bushing ends.Doetsch PreRunner
10" travel shocks are used in the back, and custom limit straps
leave the rear wheels with 18" of travel. All suspension
links to the rear axle are using polyurethane bushings. To
handle the extra stress from the extra wheel travel the upper
control arm towers on the axle have been heavily gussetted. A
NWOR rear axle truss and skid plate has been welded to the axle
housing.The rear wrap-around bumper Brian
crafted out of 2x4" - 3/16" wall box tubing, and integrated the
receiver hitch into the bumper so it would not get hung up on the
trail. Nerf bars were crafted from 2x3" - 1/4" wall box
tubing and use a custom mounting that enables them to be bolted to
the frame and still support the weight of the vehicle.Additional rock protection comes from a ConFerr
transfer case skid plate modified with a plate going forward to the
Downey IFS truss. The front of the truck is protected by a
Downey front PreRunner aluminum skid plate and a modified Warn
winch combo which holds his Warn M9000i electric winch.Other upgrades include a 12V DC to 110V AC (300W)
power inverter, altimeter/clinometer combo from a 1st generation
4Runner, and a 3000 psi 80cuft aluminum scuba tank regulated down
to 125 psi. Communications and positioning are taken care of
with a Nokia phone, Midland CB, and a Lowrance GlabalNav 200
12-channel GPS system.
Unfortunately, only days before this
feature was published the 4Runner was rolled on an Arizona trail,
and was then totaled by the insurance company. All passengers
escaped unhurt and Brian suffered injury to his left
shoulder.Brian plans to replace the
4Runner with an extended cab Toyota PreRunner and take a leave of
absence from wheeling. He says someday he may possibly
purchase a FJ40 or Jeep as a dedicated trail vehicle and be back on
the trail with us again.
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