Strut bushings were one of the easier things to change. Bust the 27mm nut loose on the forward end, pull the 2-17mm bolts from the lower control arm and it comes right out. The energy suspension bushing kit I used came with new sleeves to go in the bushings too.

 

Crap tires and even more craptastic wheels are on. 2 of the wheels look like they were drug across half the curbs in the state and used to test pothole depth but fuggit for the price I paid I don't feel bad.

 

Need to check the air pressure in the tires when I get home. I'm guessing they are running about 50 psi at the moment so they ride like garbage.

 

I guessing "cobra" wheels? You going to clean them up or rock them as is?

 

Yea they're 98ish cobra/svt wheels. If i keep them I'll clean the edges up and decide on a color for them. Probably another shade of gray metalic.

 

Amazing what a difference there is in the ride when the tires go from 45 to 32ish psi.

 

Wow that's a big difference

 

45 psi is just a bit excessive.


So I've been googling ig brake installs and surprise, surprise I keep being led back here.

Looks like the ls400 swap is going to be the best setup for rotors all the way around and front ls400 calipers and mini front calipers will go out back. This m'fer should stop even better than it does and it's already fantastic.

 

Dang son you've done a bit O' work there. I like the new shoes

 

It's funny how it doesn't always feel like I've done much until I go back and start reading from the beginning. I was talking with my niece the other day about the 84 x cab I sold to my nephew. I put it together for him, a year or so later I ended up owning it for a while before he bought it back. She said something about me doing a couple modifications and general fixes and it got me to thinking. We realized that the truly was a big piece of crap before I owned it.



Anyway there is much more in store in the coming months. We're going to be winding down at work in a few weeks so I'll have much more time to work on the truck. I think I've finally decided on new tires for these wheels and what I'll be running for DD usage. It's looking like 245/40 stickies will go on these for autocross and 17x8's with 245/40's up front and 17x9's with 275/30's will go out back.

 

Funny how that works when someone actually works on a vehicle and starts doing required maintenance isn't it lol
I think some people hear about Toyota reliability before they purchase these rigs. Then they don't do any maintenance unless it turns into a big problem, then they wonder why. The next move is to sell it because they have to fix all the things THEY LET GO TO SH_T!
Then they expect to get top dollar out of it because "It's a Toyota man".

So you'll finally have time to flush that nasty brake fluid, or is that motor oil
Probably cooked it with all that autox'ing.

So they're 17's? I'm not one for liking the ultra low profile tires on giant rims but those look pretty good. I like the thinner spoke/star design compared to the Mazda wheels. What size tires are on there right now?

 

It wasn't so much neglect on my nephews part as much as it was basically a shell when I bought it for him. By the time I bought it back I had amassed all the parts to do it right. It got a weber, header, carpet, sr5 cluster, new radiator, 4x4 fenders, H4 conversion headlights, full led bulb treatment, new grill and bumper etc etc.

Yea they are 17x8's with 6" backspace. I have 1 1/2" spacers to go on the front and just ordered 1" for the back. The current tires are 205/50's
Yea the brake fluid is crap, I have some high temp dot 4 to go in it when I do the big brake setup.

 

Gotcha (missed that), previously neglected.

205's front and back, strange.

 

Shout out to Raffaelli for the writeup! I'll be doing this swap soon. Now I just need to find a rear caliper that has a mechanical e brake that isn't a pile of crap Cadillac caliper. I'm not above doing a hydraulic lock using a ball valve. I actually already have the correct stainless valve and adapters from my wheeler so if push comes to shove...

 

That will be sweet. I was searching around quite a bit last night and thought I saw that same write up on this website.

 

It's on here somewhere. I found it yesterday here but couldn't find it today but Raffaelli linked to that forum from here so I used it.

 

So I've been half assed looking for rotors for a proper rear disc conversion. These fell into my lap last night.


I hadn't thought of using rotors off a late 90's gm mid size car but my brother buys slotted and drilled rotors with ceramic pads for his kids cars so they have half a chance not becoming Darwin award winners. Long story short the car these were destined for went to the crusher prior to needing a brake job so here we are. I won't complain since they are solid 11mm thick and 11" diameter they should work well. Now to find some calipers in a bore to compliment the lexus front brakes...

 

The old truck still gets the job done. Cleared out my storage unit in preparation for a move. Lots of stuff is headed to the scrap yard monday so it'll get used once again.

 

Busy day in preparation for a trip over the mountains to visit the inlaws for a few days. I had built some 4x2x.25" blocks out of box tube but I hadn't installed them since I needed to cut and weld them to get the right angle and I didn't want to deal with having to buy yet another set of parts store u bolts. Today I hit up the local 6 states and had them build me some beefy u bolts that will last the lifetime of the truck or at least the lifetime of the suspension until I change it.


I finally got around to opening up the hub centric bore of my 1 1/2" spacers so I installed them up front and put the 1" out back and reinstalled the mustang wheels. It looks and drives a lot better now that I have a better offset and the toe is adjusted closer to correct. I'll snap a pic tomorrow of the new attitude the blocks provided.

 

so you have dont the lexus front brake conversion already? did I miss that somewhere?