aemravan's build thread - project TacoRunner
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The swing out is solid. It's definitely more solid than my previous setup. There's obviously some shake if you try to move top/bottom of the tire, but with this size and weight it's to be expected. But just as a precaution (an antitheft) I'm going to run a steel cable lock through one of the lug nut holes and secure the wheel to the upper mount.. this way it's not as easy as taking off 3 lug nuts to grab it, but also, in the case something decides to NOT hold up, there will at least be a steel braided cable in the way..
for the swing out itself, I got some 11,000lb working load axle tie-down soft straps that I plan to loop around the assembly and probably just tie in to my passenger side recovery point. This way, in the VERY unlikely scenario that long term vibrations compromise the welds holding the pivot bracket to the flat face of the bumper, i'll have the strap drag the assembly along instead of catastrophically coming off the rig and bouncing around the road (there's probably a good 150-160 lbs all said and done).. seeing what a flying 35 wants to do when it hits pavement is giving me some PTSD and I just want to have some added peace of mind.
But on a less fun upgrade/work... looks like I'll need to pull apart my thermostat housing/waterneck assembly and reseal it. I've been leaking coolant for quite some time, and with a long trip coming up in April I want to make sure everything is fully buttoned up.. since there are 3 points of failure there (o-ring on the thermostat, o ring on the water neck outlet, and FIPG gasket on the waterneck inlet housing ) I'm just planning to replace all 3. Thermostat only has 20-30k miles on it but I figured may as well replace it while you're in there. :whipping2
for the swing out itself, I got some 11,000lb working load axle tie-down soft straps that I plan to loop around the assembly and probably just tie in to my passenger side recovery point. This way, in the VERY unlikely scenario that long term vibrations compromise the welds holding the pivot bracket to the flat face of the bumper, i'll have the strap drag the assembly along instead of catastrophically coming off the rig and bouncing around the road (there's probably a good 150-160 lbs all said and done).. seeing what a flying 35 wants to do when it hits pavement is giving me some PTSD and I just want to have some added peace of mind.
But on a less fun upgrade/work... looks like I'll need to pull apart my thermostat housing/waterneck assembly and reseal it. I've been leaking coolant for quite some time, and with a long trip coming up in April I want to make sure everything is fully buttoned up.. since there are 3 points of failure there (o-ring on the thermostat, o ring on the water neck outlet, and FIPG gasket on the waterneck inlet housing ) I'm just planning to replace all 3. Thermostat only has 20-30k miles on it but I figured may as well replace it while you're in there. :whipping2
That's what I was thinking, like how the heck can these bushings be so worn after around 7000 miles!? They are Total Chaos bushings that I replaced back in July 2021, grease them regularly, torqued, and now they are pratically blown!
Btw, really nice work on the rear spare tire carrier!
Btw, really nice work on the rear spare tire carrier!
Thanks! If I didn't have to work I'd stay home and fabricate stuff all day, it's satisfying building something of your own and having a finished product to show for it.
I will say though that having the spare mounted DEFINITELY shows it's weight. I'm back to quite a bit of a squat under acceleration. Still way more manageable than it was before but it's worse than it was with out the extra 100+lbs sitting furthest out when weight starts to transfer.
Long story short, I got one final ( :rofl: ) thing to replace (again). I'll be swapping the Ironman 4x4 shocks back in because I feel like the rebound valving is significantly stiffer on them than on the Icon's. I looked and see that I can have the Icon's re-valved, but that's a rabbit hole I don't want to go down... plus, the shim kits are somewhere in upwards of 200-300 bucks and I would need someone do do it for me. :scared:
I will say though that having the spare mounted DEFINITELY shows it's weight. I'm back to quite a bit of a squat under acceleration. Still way more manageable than it was before but it's worse than it was with out the extra 100+lbs sitting furthest out when weight starts to transfer.
Long story short, I got one final ( :rofl: ) thing to replace (again). I'll be swapping the Ironman 4x4 shocks back in because I feel like the rebound valving is significantly stiffer on them than on the Icon's. I looked and see that I can have the Icon's re-valved, but that's a rabbit hole I don't want to go down... plus, the shim kits are somewhere in upwards of 200-300 bucks and I would need someone do do it for me. :scared:
What if you were to re-install the Dobinsons 749v rear coil springs, would that help with the squat under accleration?
The variable rate dobinsons springs were the worst for squat. On top of being the tallest spring (500mm free height) you can run (by almost 4 inches) the starting spring rate is like 190lbf/in, so as you start transferring weight to the back it's super soft, and only increases to a max of like 270lbf. The OME 899 spring is a 400mm free height spring, but has a constant spring rate of 387lbf/in so even though it's almost 4 inches less tall, it results in just about a 2 inch ride height drop from the dobinsons setup (which ended up perfect for me).
I did find that this was literally only half the equation.. which was a bit surprising to me.. but I guess it makes sense that the rebound in the front coilovers impacts the behavior greatly. The valving in the Icon 2.5's was great .. just didn't suite my application.. they would unload super fast which would pitch the front end up like a boat. This probably makes a ton of sense for things like desert runs in the whoops sections so the wheel can track the terrain better.. but for me this meant a ton of bump steer.
The ironman foam cell shock unload way slower, and I estimate that i'm down to like half of my previous front end rise under accelaration.. which is great.. because this also means I can lift the front end up a bit more without having the bump steer issue.
I'm not running a front sway bar anymore... and switching over to the foam cell shocks almost gives the feeling of having a sway bar vs icons with no sway bar in the same setup.. I think I finally got me a winner for the combination lol.
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Always appreciate your insight and info on this stuff lol, I have a decent general knowledge of suspension, but you definitely go into the more finer details!
any time man! And to be fair.. it's not like I know a lot.. it's just that it's all fresh knowledge from the 5 different suspension swaps i've experienced with in the last 2 weeks :drum:
But I think I finally, more or less have it where I need it. Pulled some quick measurements, and looks like I have a slight drivers side lean, both front and rear, so i'll see about adjusting the front coilovers up a bit, with a little extra on the drivers side after work. But all in all, at this point it feels like I'm just splitting hairs and just need to stop messing with it and drive the damn thing.
However... probably another one of my crazy ideas... but I just bought a set of super low mile 3rd gen tacoma upper controls arms that I'm putting in place of my JBA high caster arms... I just found out that the added down travel is pretty much marginal with the JBA (or really any aftermarket UCA) over the factory.. and having the built-in high caster means my wheel is pushed back towards the firewall.. I'm still making some contact with my relocated and shaved body mount, so a bit of reduced caster (from the current 4-5* I'm seeing) is a welcomed trade off to move the wheel away from the firewall a bit without having to cut more.. we'll see how that idea works out.. but $160 for 2 OEM upper control arms with less than 10k miles on them seemed like a steal to at least not give it a try.. :clap2:
Found my old drive shaft spacer from when I ran the FJ t-case. Decided it wouldn't hurt to throw it in since my axle is pushed back about the same thickness as this spacer. I've been dealing with the driveshaft thump and no type/amount of grease makes it go away.. I'm thinking maybe having it over extended so much from stock isn't helping.. we'll see how it does.
Looks like the Tacoma UCA's will be here sooner than expected... might even have them in this weekend to see how it does :banana: I'm hoping I can keep my caster in 2 degree range at least.. it's a sacrifice I'm certainly willing to make because I don't know how much more cutting I want to deal with on the body mount :banplease:
While on a factory-parts shopping spree, I decided it's probably a VERY good idea to get some spare CV axles... the ones I have now are OEM axles, but came from Ebay with some questionable mileage... I found some reasonably priced 5th gen OEM axles from one of the toyota dealers for like $290 shipped per axle with tax... I thought it was reasonable for a non reman-oem axle assembly. The plan will be to swap these in and keep the current, old ones as spares.. or maybe i'll just keep running these and see what happens.. :boom:
Looks like the Tacoma UCA's will be here sooner than expected... might even have them in this weekend to see how it does :banana: I'm hoping I can keep my caster in 2 degree range at least.. it's a sacrifice I'm certainly willing to make because I don't know how much more cutting I want to deal with on the body mount :banplease:
While on a factory-parts shopping spree, I decided it's probably a VERY good idea to get some spare CV axles... the ones I have now are OEM axles, but came from Ebay with some questionable mileage... I found some reasonably priced 5th gen OEM axles from one of the toyota dealers for like $290 shipped per axle with tax... I thought it was reasonable for a non reman-oem axle assembly. The plan will be to swap these in and keep the current, old ones as spares.. or maybe i'll just keep running these and see what happens.. :boom:
installing the 1" driveshaft spacer, at least so far, has fixed my driveshaft thumping issue from stop/start. Hopefully it stays that way, but I have a feeling that having the axle back so far stretched the driveshaft to a problematic spot on the splines, hopefully it stays that way because right now it runs like a dream :flypig:
Also, now that I have a hundred miles or so on the setup, I'm amazed at how well they ended up balancing with 16oz of balance beads in each tire.. never thought it would be better than my other wheels balanced at the shop.. but I guess the big delta is also having a really nice, proper set of wheels to start with. :hat:
My tacoma UCA's are on their way to hopefully deliver today, contemplating waiting to swap these in until my OEM 5th gen axles arrive so I can do it all at once, but I haven't gotten a shipping notification on those yet.
I'm also hoping that all my seals and seal packing arrive this week so I can knock out the thermostat housing re-seal and get rid of the pesky coolant leak and be done with this thing for a little while.
Also, now that I have a hundred miles or so on the setup, I'm amazed at how well they ended up balancing with 16oz of balance beads in each tire.. never thought it would be better than my other wheels balanced at the shop.. but I guess the big delta is also having a really nice, proper set of wheels to start with. :hat:
My tacoma UCA's are on their way to hopefully deliver today, contemplating waiting to swap these in until my OEM 5th gen axles arrive so I can do it all at once, but I haven't gotten a shipping notification on those yet.
I'm also hoping that all my seals and seal packing arrive this week so I can knock out the thermostat housing re-seal and get rid of the pesky coolant leak and be done with this thing for a little while.
Well let’s see if I’m just crazy or if this puts me in the sweet spot .. I know one thing … there’s no quality like oem Toyota quality .. can beat a set of sub 10k mile UCAs with fresh bushings for $130. Yes, I will lose some caster .. though I feel like I have some to spare and keep it drivable.. but I don’t think itlll lose much down travel .. from some tests I’ve seen, the oem balljoint actually has quite a bit down angle compared to a lot of aftermarket UCAs. For instance, it does let look like icons give you any more angle than stock , and since there is much less loading on the uca compared to lca and other components , I think this will hold up just fine.. and could give me the amount of clearance I need to the body mount.
On a related note .. one thing crossed my mind today while watching a 4wd conversion on a mustang on YouTube.. if/when I pull the motor for maintenance .. I would have the perfect opportunity modify the lower cross member that mounts the steering rack … with some room to play I don’t see why I couldn’t recess the rack down a whole inch, if not more , via a custom lower member.. or even just a modified factory one .. only thing keeping me from sinking it down and front /back is that it’s sitting atop the factory member.. why couldn’t you just chop off the top and reinforce the bottom …? The diff mounts to this as well obviously .. but I feel like even the bottom surface could be shifted down slowly for a bit of built-in diff drop … hell maybe even lower the rear for a full parallel diff drop [emoji2371] the rear member would have to be clearances for the front driveshaft , but that’s a cake walk in the grand scheme of things … this could potentially open up the possibility to really have a solid setup using the lc200 (and maybe the rclthd in the future ?)
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On a related note .. one thing crossed my mind today while watching a 4wd conversion on a mustang on YouTube.. if/when I pull the motor for maintenance .. I would have the perfect opportunity modify the lower cross member that mounts the steering rack … with some room to play I don’t see why I couldn’t recess the rack down a whole inch, if not more , via a custom lower member.. or even just a modified factory one .. only thing keeping me from sinking it down and front /back is that it’s sitting atop the factory member.. why couldn’t you just chop off the top and reinforce the bottom …? The diff mounts to this as well obviously .. but I feel like even the bottom surface could be shifted down slowly for a bit of built-in diff drop … hell maybe even lower the rear for a full parallel diff drop [emoji2371] the rear member would have to be clearances for the front driveshaft , but that’s a cake walk in the grand scheme of things … this could potentially open up the possibility to really have a solid setup using the lc200 (and maybe the rclthd in the future ?)
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In reference to the above lc200 comment here is what I’m envisioning .. since the lca mounts build off of this member I will likely not mess with the bottom .. but there is a seam half way up that could potentially be cut out and reinforced, effectively dropping the rack an inch or so, possibly more with a little effort. Not the smallest project.. but would literally allow me to raise the front an entire inch from where it sits now without impacting bump steer any more it currently is :shrug:
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And this is the rear diff mount point that locks in the height .. what’s stopping me from cutting this completely off, dropping it down 1 inch to match the diff drop front spacers, and boxing it back in to allow for clearance around the front driveshaft ..? This would effectively reset the cv axle angle to exactly where it is now, but with 1 added inch of lift .. am I crazy ? (I mean .. obviously .. but specifically to this idea ..? lol)
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Had to look that up really quick. Apparently that’s the “arm style “ diff drop . In general , it’s basically the same thing as a diff drop spacer kit, except the curved arms allow for no loss of clearance to the skid plate up front since the arms are curved.. other than that, they don’t drop the diff any more level than a spacer kit, just at 5-7x the cost.. yikes .. a definite must if you want to maximize ground clearance .. I mean losing an inch at the skid plate is effectively negating the step up from 33s to 35s or 35s to 37s.. which is huge.. now a combination of these arms with dropping the rear mounting point an inch.. woo boy lol. Talk about form and function .. you’d be able to get an extra 1-1.5 of downtravel with a proper uca and shock .. or just added street ride height with minimal wear on cv and boots.
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Late night shopping done sir it again .. [MENTION=101325]rdruss[/MENTION] I’m blaming you for this one :rofl: .. after taking a quick second look .. I’m pretty convinced all these places get their kit from the same vendor in China .. just guessing .. since it’s literally available on Ali express lol. I didn’t go that route but did find this and figured for under 300 bucks it wouldn’t hurt to try .. long term I’m still set on investigating the relocation of the rear mount lower but for now this should be interesting to see if it works or not ..
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Axles and factory UCAs are on. From the first test it looks like it pushed the wheel away from the mount just enough to clear 
The drop arms should be here match 15th , it should drop the axle angle down even more and hopefully keep these expensive OEM axles alive for a while.
These 5th gen axles don’t have a whole for the cotter pin /secure nut to the axle nut.. might address that later but likely will just send it. It’s on there solid.
Next up is patching up the coolant leak.
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The drop arms should be here match 15th , it should drop the axle angle down even more and hopefully keep these expensive OEM axles alive for a while.
These 5th gen axles don’t have a whole for the cotter pin /secure nut to the axle nut.. might address that later but likely will just send it. It’s on there solid.
Next up is patching up the coolant leak.
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