A.Wilson013's Build Thread

[BigBluePile]

That's quite the trip! Very envious!!!

 

[D Farms]

so i saw this and made a set of shock mounts, and then flexed to see if it would fit, even with my stock tires and wheels it was not even close, you need to have spacers and extended bumps for outboard shocks for sure, unless you cut into the frame and make a pocket...

oh well ill just have to use the shock mounts for something else.

 

[SCRunner12]

so i saw this and made a set of shock mounts, and then flexed to see if it would fit, even with my stock tires and wheels it was not even close, you need to have spacers and extended bumps for outboard shocks for sure, unless you cut into the frame and make a pocket...

oh well ill just have to use the shock mounts for something else.

Good to know because I don't have spacers anymore. Thanks for posting!

 

[TheToyotaGarage]

So Saturday I headed up to a friends shop to see about getting the Light Racing UCA's, Icon Coilvovers, and Icon Rear Shocks installed.

Arriving at the shop...

All in all it went pretty well. I stupidly forgot to grab an UBJ press, so I had to stop after removing the coilovers and wait for a friend to arrive with the press, and food.

Photo showing the impressive difference in size...

Once the UBJ press and my much more mechanically knowledgable friend arrived, things went pretty smoothly. Even with the press it was a bit of a PITA, but managable.

Once the front was done, we moved on to the dreaded rear shocks...

We were only able to rotate the bolt about 2 degrees it seemed, so once the bolt was broken, we just held the wrench stationary and used our hands to ratchet the shock... Worked pretty well, really.

Here's another comparison shot... The Bilstein look feeble next to these things...

As per usual, I didn't take enough pictures throughout the process...

The ride home wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Setting the LR UCA's to the specified settings in the instructions seemed to have worked well enough.

This morning I took it into Firestone and had it aligned, and tomorrow I am going to head out HWY 2 to do some testing...

More pictures/a small report to follow.

do you still have the Bilstein?

 

[A.Wilson013]

do you still have the Bilstein?

I do not, sorry man.

 

[tyr0981]

I just read about your Icon suspension, my OME's are approaching 8 years old now, still feels like the day i installed them! the bad: washboard is absolutely miserable! (i actually broke a headlight mount on a seriously washboarded road) they are very firm ride until heavily loaded or moving fast.

how do your Icon's feel in washboarded roads? did they improve flex of the IFS up front?

 

[A.Wilson013]

I just read about your Icon suspension, my OME's are approaching 8 years old now, still feels like the day i installed them! the bad: washboard is absolutely miserable! (i actually broke a headlight mount on a seriously washboarded road) they are very firm ride until heavily loaded or moving fast.

how do your Icon's feel in washboarded roads? did they improve flex of the IFS up front?

They're still pretty bumpy, but I never feel like I am out of control. I think that maybe my springs are just a touch too heavy duty, as I am running the 700lb ones with a Hybrid bumper and fairly light winch.

My coilovers are the extended travel ones. Matched with the Light Racing UCA's it did improve the flex a bit.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Pretty dang unhappy....

3 weeks ago yesterday I dropped of my rear shocks to be rebuilt at a local offroad shop. I've had great service from them in the past and ALL of their reviews are stellar, which makes me believe this is an isolated incident.

One week later ( the day they said they'd be done) the shocks are not even started.

A few missed deadlines after that and we come to last friday... I get the shocks back, and one is clearly not right. Rebounding like a pogo stick. I consult the owner, he tells me bring it back monday (today).

I bring it back today, he fixes it, I get it back home and realize that it has leaked oil all over my floormat that I had it resting on.

So far I have invested $265 in rebuild kits, shock oil, labor, and fuel traveling to and from this shop 4 times in the past 3 weeks... About to start pulling my hair out.

 

[K2Runner]

Not A****n C** and O*****d?

 

[tyr0981]

I've only had the shocks of my sportbike worked on before, there's always something that ends up costing more, never was it the same price as the quote! sorry to hear about to hear about the workmanship though that's just the cherry on shitpie there....

 

[absalom]

Love the thread, especially all the work you've put into suspension. I'm a huge fan of every aspect of the 33" duratrac, but the load rating. Have you considered going to a D or C load rating 33" tire so as to increase your high-speed prowess? You and I may have touched upon this indirectly in a separate thread.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Not A****n C** and O*****d?

That's the one, mate... I think he's just got too much on his plate. Needs to higher someone to answer calls and teach someone else how to do suspension. Says he's the only one that does either.

I've only had the shocks of my sportbike worked on before, there's always something that ends up costing more, never was it the same price as the quote! sorry to hear about to hear about the workmanship though that's just the cherry on shitpie there....

I found a local guy that got it all fixed up in about 30 minutes while I stood there in his garage. Talked me through the process, what to look for, what makes a good shock, etc. Learned a lot.

He's a big shot in the motorcycle world. Worked for Ducati for awhile in the racing scene. Invented the quick disconnect front tire on race bikes.

Love the thread, especially all the work you've put into suspension. I'm a huge fan of every aspect of the 33" duratrac, but the load rating. Have you considered going to a D or C load rating 33" tire so as to increase your high-speed prowess? You and I may have touched upon this indirectly in a separate thread.

Thanks man.

My duratracs are a D rated tire, but they sucked the power out of my 4Runner pretty well... It still moves quickly when I stomp it but on gradual grades it'll downshift prettttty fast.

I'd like to get back into a c-rated tire, but I cannot find one that fits the bill. When it comes time for new rubber I will either take all the preload out of my coilovers and buy new springs for the rear to lower it down a smidge and move to 265/70/17's again, or I will try the 255/80/17 or whatever they're called... The skinny 33's.

Maybe I'll regear. I don't know. I regeared my 1st gen in about 2 hours for about $200 after buying fluids... I have a feeling this won't be the same, especially if I desire to maintain the e-locker.

 

[absalom]

Thanks man.

My duratracs are a D rated tire, but they sucked the power out of my 4Runner pretty well... It still moves quickly when I stomp it but on gradual grades it'll downshift prettttty fast.

I'd like to get back into a c-rated tire, but I cannot find one that fits the bill. When it comes time for new rubber I will either take all the preload out of my coilovers and buy new springs for the rear to lower it down a smidge and move to 265/70/17's again, or I will try the 255/80/17 or whatever they're called... The skinny 33's.

Maybe I'll regear. I don't know. I regeared my 1st gen in about 2 hours for about $200 after buying fluids... I have a feeling this won't be the same, especially if I desire to maintain the e-locker.

Just realized you have 17" 33's and not the E rated 16" tire. I hear ya about downsizing tires. FWIW, Yokohama makes C rated 33" AT's and MT's. I'm considering the 265/75/16 myself. Have you considered moving to a 16" tire for an even smoother ride?

 

[A.Wilson013]

Just realized you have 17" 33's and not the E rated 16" tire. I hear ya about downsizing tires. FWIW, Yokohama makes C rated 33" AT's and MT's. I'm considering the 265/75/16 myself. Have you considered moving to a 16" tire for an even smoother ride?

I would love a 16" wheel, but I just love these tundra wheels... And since I paid $50 for them, it's hard to justify spending ~$800 on wheels alone.

I'll look into the Yokohama.. I didn't know they had c rated 33's

 

[absalom]

Level 8 wheels are $96 a piece in the 16" size and pretty darn light. Also, I meant to ask you, after doing your body lift did you adjust the steering column? You mentioned you had heavy steering after and this is most likely why.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Level 8 wheels are $96 a piece in the 16" size and pretty darn light. Also, I meant to ask you, after doing your body lift did you adjust the steering column? You mentioned you had heavy steering after and this is most likely why.

I did a couple days later, yeah. All good now.

 

[tyr0981]

Level 8 wheels are $96 a piece in the 16" size and pretty darn light. Also, I meant to ask you, after doing your body lift did you adjust the steering column? You mentioned you had heavy steering after and this is most likely why.

Where exactly are they that cheap? on the interweb i could only find for ~110$ + shipping, i think it may be time for me to give up on the OEM wheels.... maybe, i'm guessing the 'Level 8' wheels are no where near as tough as the OEM wheels...?

 

[absalom]

Where exactly are they that cheap? on the interweb i could only find for ~110$ + shipping, i think it may be time for me to give up on the OEM wheels.... maybe, i'm guessing the 'Level 8' wheels are no where near as tough as the OEM wheels...?

I got mine for $96/ each at Camelback Toyota. Not as tough as OEM wheels? I debeaded my last set at speed several times and never caused more damage than a scrape. Tough enough for me!

 

[A.Wilson013]

Memorial Weekend Camping

Got a chance to get out this weekend with my wife, [MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION], his girlfriend, and [MENTION=60421]North[/MENTION]westtaco from Tacoma World. We did a slightly modified stretch of the WABDR starting north of Ellensburg and ending near Rimrock Lake down off of HWY 12.

Pretty uneventful trip, which is good. Covered a lot of different terrain, a ton of awesome views, decent weather, and great company.

Here are some pictures...

Off the pavement and airing down... Nice and clean.
DSC_0007 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

A ridge on the way up to Lion's Rock...
DSC_0014 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

Up on Umtanum Ridge
DSC_0027 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

Night 1 Camping
DSC_0053 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

[MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION] up on Bethell Ridge
DSC_0096 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

The newest member of my family standing proud on Bethell Ridge
DSC_0106 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

Night 2 Camping
DSC_0122 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

 

[the great him]

OK I need a RTT and to start hanging out with you guys