Many of you may be aware that 3rd gen 4Runners have a hit or miss reputation for frame rust, especially in the rear of the vehicle. Unlike Tacomas of the same era, Toyota chose not to do a factory recall and repair for frame rust on these vehicles. With that in mind, when the COVID-19 pandemic rolled around in spring of 2020 I decided I wanted to do a bit of work under the 4Runner to update worn components in the front suspension. Since that apparently wasn't enough of a project I also chose to do a full "rust mitigation treatment" of my 4Runner's frame to ensure it survives for another 20 years.
Since I completed this project a couple months ago, I thought it might be fun to document it for others to see. Here goes!
Step 1: Inspecting the front suspension
Things look pretty worn, time to get a rebuild done!
Disassemble front suspension and take steering knuckles to shop to press out old hardware. They're gross at over 230,000 miles!
The knuckles had rusted enough I wanted to do something to fix them up. A bolt broke on disassembly too, had to drill and tap the hole.
I'm bored and it's COVID times, lets build an electrolysis tank to clean them up! Hacked up an 18V laptop power supply, used some cut up steel cans for the anodes, and Super Washing Soda for the electrolyte solution. The washing soda is Sodium Carbonate, not Sodium Bicarboante
They look a lot better after the electrolysis tank, but they're not done yet.
After a couple wire wheels and lots of cordless drill batteries, we're on the right track. Ready for paint:
Cleaned with brake cleaner, and then masked off the interior areas and gave them a coat of Rustoleum Protective Enamel. NOW we're looking good again!
Repainted the brake disc covers and took everything back to the shop and got all new parts pressed in. Ready for re-install!
Continued in following posts, lots left to go...