Dirtco's Adventure Thread

[Dirtco]

The other issue I had in the past was blown up stock knuckle bearings and crappy steering arms, so I bought Marlin's 25mm steering kit on Black Friday!

Info: https://www.marlincrawler.com/steering/high-steer/25mm-steering-upgrade-kit-w-arms

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[theesotericone]

The other issue I had in the past was blown up stock knuckle bearings and crappy steering arms, so I bought Marlin's 25mm steering kit on Black Friday!

Nice. Those look like a slight upgrade. lol

I have a question for you. If you where having assembled thirds built with ARB/new gears would you go with Marlin or East Coast Gear Supply? I'm looking into both. Malrin is having a 10% full site sale right now. There diffs carry a one year warranty. ECGS carries a 5 year. I've been set on going ECGS but with the discount Marlin will end up being a few hundred cheaper. Thoughts?

 

[Dirtco]

Are you going with a tube or plate bumper design?

Your mig welds have a tig weld look to them, they look incredible. Almost a shame to grind them smooth. Your work always looks so neat & well organized. It's motivating. I enjoy checking in on your progress.

Thank you! It seems the Photobucket policy change really took it's toll on a lot of these websites, it's nice to see there are still people checking in and posting.

As for the bumper, I'm leaning towards tube (for clearance and weight) but I might integrate some plate in for a cleaner look and a little more strength. I have some idea's, but I need to build the winch mount first and go from there.

 

[Dirtco]

I have a question for you. If you where having assembled thirds built with ARB/new gears would you go with Marlin or East Coast Gear Supply? I'm looking into both. Malrin is having a 10% full site sale right now. There diffs carry a one year warranty. ECGS carries a 5 year. I've been set on going ECGS but with the discount Marlin will end up being a few hundred cheaper. Thoughts?

I have nothing but good things to say about ECGS! I have no doubt that Marlin builds a quality differential (I bought one from them for the Turbo 4Runner), but the ECGS five year warranty is just mind boggling in this market. Not to mention I was outside the warranty period when I broke my rear differential and they still helped me out. It’s up to you, but after buying products from both companies I would lean towards ECGS.

 

[theesotericone]

I have nothing but good things to say about ECGS! I have no doubt that Marlin builds a quality differential (I bought one from them for the Turbo 4Runner), but the ECGS five year warranty is just mind boggling in this market. Not to mention I was outside the warranty period when I broke my rear differential and they still helped me out. It’s up to you, but after buying products from both companies I would lean towards ECGS.

Thanks for reminding me why I was going EGCS in the first place. Yours isn't the only story I've heard about them warrantying stuff that they probably could have denied. That piece of mind is easily worth 200 bucks.

 

[Dirtco]

The new frame section is in place and for the most part complete, the first step was getting the stock frame and new frame joined together. The stock frame is thin and has two outer layers so I had to tie those together in addition to the new frame rails. I still need to make the outer frame plates but I’m waiting to see how everything else in the suspension fits first.

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Inner frame plate

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New motor mount bracket

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Old bracket

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[Dirtco]

I installed the new oil pan and set the axle under the truck at roughly my desired ride height. The driver side didn't look too bad...

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But the passenger side track bar bracket is way too tall for the ride height I want, so it needs to be replaced.

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[TBuzz]

This is fantastic! Every winter the truck keeps getting better.

 

[AssBurns]

Might have missed it somewhere but what's your plan with the RCV axles? Selling them? Sold them already?

 

[Dirtco]

Might have missed it somewhere but what's your plan with the RCV axles? Selling them? Sold them already?

I had Lotus axles and I sold them to [MENTION=82211]TCMach[/MENTION] . I have a feeling he's going to need them!

 

[Dirtco]

I roughly set the frame height at 23” and positioned the axle in place, I had to move it forward quite a bit to clear the oil pan (maybe 3” or more). I positioned the lower link brackets in place (where the directions said) but this made the lower links too short and would’ve had to thread out the joints further than I liked. So I moved the lower link brackets 1.25” forward, this gave me a lower link length of 43”. That’s a little long, but due to the frame shape I can’t move the brackets forward anymore without cutting them apart and starting over. My friend has the 4WU kit and his are 42” long.

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Next up, the upper link mount on the axle. The one TG supplies is too short and places the link directly on top of the axle housing, it also got in the way of were the track bar should go. So I cut up the old track bar bracket that would’t work and used that to make my own with more vertical separation. Due to my track bar brackets getting lost in the mail I have not had a chance to cycle the suspension yet.

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Next problem (are you guys seeing a trend?), the tie rod sat way too tall with the FJ80 joints. It would hit the oil pan before anything else was close to touching. A lot of guys will run the tie rod under the steering arm with heim joints, i mocked it up and unfortunately due to the shape of the axle housing the tie rod hits the housing once you start to turn the steering arm. I found if I mounted the tie rod above the steering arm with the heim joints it lowered the assembly about an inch. I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough until I cycle the suspension, but I do have a couple idea’s floating around.

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Here I have one of the IFS hubs mocked in place, they will allow me to run the Front Range Off-Road Tacoma brake kit. This will let me use my Tundra rotors and calipers, they also add about 1.5” to each side. When it’s all said and done the front WMW should be roughly 65” wide.

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[Dirtco]

Since I was waiting for the track bar brackets to get shipped out for the second time I decided to build my crawl box. It's pretty straight forward if you follow the directions. I had to convert my high/low shift rail from forward shift to top shift, but that was pretty easy. Here is a write up if anyone needs it: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f11...ift-transfer-case-top-shift-crawl-box-289816/

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The reduction box adds 8.5" to your drivetrain length. I still need to find an early Tacoma transfer case that is shorter than my Multi-Mode transfer case.

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[theesotericone]

The reduction box adds 8.5" to your drivetrain length. I still need to find an early Tacoma transfer case that is shorter than my Multi-Mode transfer case.

It should be pretty easy to find one of those in a junkyard. I'm the exact opposite. I have the correct t-case but need the reduction box and adapter. lol

Your rigs coming along well and it's gonna be a beast when your done. You planning on being up and running by spring?

 

[BigBluePile]

So much win in this build. Fantastic.

Sent from my 2PZC5 using Tapatalk

 

[Dirtco]

It should be pretty easy to find one of those in a junkyard. I'm the exact opposite. I have the correct t-case but need the reduction box and adapter. lol

Your rigs coming along well and it's gonna be a beast when your done. You planning on being up and running by spring?

Yeah, I just need to make a trip down to Denver to pick one up. I've been more focused on the suspension and steering.

That's the plan, it's been extremely time consuming getting the suspension set up correctly. Let's just say that if I bought the TG 3 link "kit" and thought I could just follow the directions to install it I would be very disappointed. Luckily I did my research and knew I was pretty much buying a bunch of parts.

 

[owyheerat]

Dang Jeremiah,

My favorite 4runner just continues to get better and better and better...

I wish I had your skills...

Great job

Durwin

 

[JBurt]

I don't know if it's too late but with your link issues, would a different oil pan help? I know guys who do an SAS and 3.4 swap in older rigs go for T100 oil pans (I think with the rear sump) but I'm not sure how much they're different.

 

[rkntoy]

I don't know if it's too late but with your link issues, would a different oil pan help? I know guys who do an SAS and 3.4 swap in older rigs go for T100 oil pans (I think with the rear sump) but I'm not sure how much they're different.

Looks like he already swapped the pan.

 

[Snowden]

I've been under a rock. Just came across this next level stuff you're doing Jeremiah. This is some Big Dog sheet Sir...!!

 

[SnowLizard]

opcorn:op2:izza:

just waiting for an update...