DD Subaru and 95 pickup

[JohnRobHolmes]

Winters around here can get pretty bad. We live on a somewhat steep road and it is typically passed over when they plow all the other surrounding roads. I've been looking for a 4wd pickup that my wife can drive (automatic) and found a 95 toyota 6 banger pickup with 180k for $2500. Only took a few years of keeping my eye out to get a good deal on something that hasn't been wheeled by a teenager. Since I have a kid it also needed to be extended cab. Between wanting automatic, v6, and extended cab it was like finding hens teeth around here. But persistence without a rush pays off.


First things first on the truck, replace the steering linkages and the ball joints. Compared to my old dodge it handles like a dream, but the inspector didn't agree that it was road worthy. Once we get tags i'm putting 35s on it and repainting the undercarriage so it doesn't rust away too fast. There isn't much crawling around here, but there are plenty of trails and I enjoy going out to the family farm and tooling around.

[JohnRobHolmes]

For the past few years I haven't had a vehicle of my own, I'm fine just riding bikes and mopeds everywhere. But with the addition of a child it wasn't so convenient to be swapping the passenger car around and constantly having to plan the shuttling. I wanted a WRX STI, but needed more interior space and ground clearance for the winters around here. Plus, I've got this farm creek crossing that just taunts most cars... The second choice was a Forester but I wanted enough room to throw a bike in the back, and I've never really liked the look of them. While the approach and departure on late models is much better than the outback, the newer ones have basically the same nose. So I chose the vehicle with more interior room and better gas mileage, a 2011 Outback. Something new that will be reliable and house the 3 kids my wife wants.


I ordered a 1 3/8" strut spacer lift this weekend and will purchase a set of skid plates next month. Not planning to go nuts wheeling this car but I do want peace of mind plowing through snow banks. I've ripped off a few plastic "skids" during the winter already. The steel wheelset will get some 29" All Terrains, and the alloy set will get regular 27" road tires.


After the lift, skids, and wheelsets are taken care of I'm cutting the bumpers and taking off the stupid side plastics. Everything is totally hollow and I've got a hankering for welding up some custom rails and bumpers with better approach/ depart angles.

[chino63]

Interesting idea on the Subaru, can't say I've seen one of these with a lift or custom bumpers. Looking forward to seeing it take shape.

[JohnRobHolmes]

I've heard it called a "bug out" vehicle to work over a car like this. Primitive racing makes the skids, Subtle Solutions makes the pucks. There is a local with a plasma table, so I'll be looking into getting the bumper parts cut from aluminum so it isn't too heavy. Probably add a hitch mount on front for a hitch winch.


The neat thing about these subarus is all the mounting points on the frame. It's littered with threaded holes! The skids are a completely bolt on deal.

[ROSS]

Hey John, just stick with 33's on the toyota. lifts are cheaper and so are tires. my old 97 had a 5" lift and 33's and went everywhere and never got stuck, just floated on top of snow and mud.

oh and by the way, ive got a set of 15" stock steel wheels with 1/4" tread tires just sitting in my garage if you want them to have a back up set of wheels.

[JohnRobHolmes]

I was bouncing back and forth between 33s and 35s. It has a 5" body lift already.

I'll take you up on the wheelset!

[Calderwood]

Good luck with the 3.0l. When the head gaskets go dump it for a 3.4l. Its a very easy swap and you end up with a way better motor. More power, better fuel mileage, better reliability and you can get the optional TRD supercharger.

I'm kind of a Toyota nerd. I have a 95 4Runner with: 3.4l - R151f - 2.28 - 4.7 - 4.56 on 38.5s.

Please say you are getting rid of that body lift...

[chino63]

Originally Posted by Calderwood

Good luck with the 3.0l. When the head gaskets go dump it for a 3.4l. Its a very easy swap and you end up with a way better motor. More power, better fuel mileage, better reliability and you can get the optional TRD supercharger.

I'm kind of a Toyota nerd. I have a 95 4Runner with: 3.4l - R151f - 2.28 - 4.7 - 4.56 on 38.5s.

Please say you are getting rid of that body lift...

I agree with this post.

3.4l swap = very good

5" body lift = very bad

Toyota nerd = Excellent!

[JohnRobHolmes]

I dislike body lifts too, especially with all the road salt getting in places it shouldn't. For the amount of work to redo this rusty missouri yota the right way, I would rather start fresh with something less turdly. In the mean time I'll get my hands dirty and learn a thing or two about working on trucks until I have enough cash for another.


Current hangup is the steering arm bolts. Can't replace the balljoints until the steering arm comes off, and they haven't budged with an impact and pb blaster. I picked up a breaker bar and 4 foot cheater to try again.

[Calderwood]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Current hangup is the steering arm bolts. Can't replace the balljoints until the steering arm comes off, and they haven't budged with an impact and pb blaster. I picked up a breaker bar and 4 foot cheater to try again.

Sounds like you just found a reason to do the SAS.

[chino63]

Not that we really have any rust out here but on the used cars I've worked on from the east coast, I've had good luck with a torch and penetrating oil. Soak, heat, soak, heat. Or air hammer or die grinder.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by chino63

Not that we really have any rust out here but on the used cars I've worked on from the east coast, I've had good luck with a torch and penetrating oil. Soak, heat, soak, heat. Or air hammer or die grinder.

Here's the recipe for a rust penetrating solution that works every time. I was shown this by a marine mechanic that has to deal with corroded hardware on a daily basis. Get a nice plastic spray bottle, and mix up a 50-50 solution of acetone and ATF. ( I use Dextron 'cause that's what I have on hand ) Adjust the spray nozzle to get a solid stream and just blast the offending piece of hardware.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Those steering arm bolts are being stubborn! Sheared a 3/8" drive breaker bar this weekend! Time to get a 1/2" drive and try again.

[BigSki]

In all seriousness, with your knowledge of winding transformers and things of that nature, could you build some type of induction coil to get the offending hardware a nice shade of glowing orange then nail it with an impact gun?

[JohnRobHolmes]

I could, or I could just pull out my torch and heat it . Had a really busy week so I didn't get a chance to bust that knuckle off. Maybe this week!

[BigSki]

So did you set your truck on fire yet?

[meatmonkey]

I'm confused as to why you feel the need to take the steering arm off of the knuckle to do the ball joints. I've done lots of them in those trucks and never felt the need to remove the steering arm. Actually, the only time I've had to remove those steering arms is to replace them when bent during an accident.

I'll typically just pull the lower shock bolt out and do one ball joint at a time using a pry bar to spread the A-arms to gain enough room to get the tapered studs out of their homes.

I'm also curious as to how the transfer case shifting linkage was adapted to work with the ginormous body lift. IIRC there is a lever that pivots off of a bracket on the back of the transfer case, and another pivot on the bottom of the body.

If your going to wheel it at all, stick with 33's. Even tires that large are going to wear out the idler arm on a bi-yearly basis. So make sure you get a good life-time warranty idler arm to save you money in the long run.

[rockhugger]

talking about 33 vs 35's, another thing to consider is gearing. If you go 35's you most definitely will want to re-gear the diff's, especially with the turdly 3.0 . At least with 33's the stock gearing will suffice and keep it driveable, albeit still sluggish on the bigger climbs.

Maybe cut that body lift down to a 1 inch as you may want that clearance Clarence... later on with future mods.

take the VIN # to a Yota dealer and have them check the history for head gasket recall done on that vehicle. At least you'll know if it has or hasn't been done.


I wish I had never sold my 91' extra cab.

[JohnRobHolmes]

I don't have enough clearance to get everything apart without taking the steering arm off too. I'm sure a new set of tools would fix it, but it's too late now.

Got a 1/2" drive and used a 4 foot cheater bar to get them loose. Ping!!!! The CNC install put a damper on my fun though, I haven't been able to do anything but manage the install for the past two weeks. I'm hoping to get it all bolted back together by this weekend so I can use it for the TrailMaster Challenge.

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Another thing that works awesome for penetrating rusty parts is brake fluid...I know, sounds insane and it'll eat paint, however, using it on non painted surfaces it works awesome.

When I did the frame swaps at the toyota dealer, I would rack the truck and spray all the shit underneath with brake fluid that I kept in a spray bottle the night before I would start to break it down. By the next day it worked its way into the most rusted or rusty stuff and everything would crack free with minimal fight...even the brake line nuts would actually free up.