EatonKyleH's Build Thread

[Mr.Rick]

then I'll finally want to regear.... and lock the front... and get a snorkel.... and get 37s..... and wish I'd have just left this damn thing stock.

Snowball effect my friend! This is why I hesitate to do anything to the sweet 16 (thanks for the name Kyle) just yet.... because it starts slow, a mod here a tweak there and then before you know it... you and your exbro friends are cutting into the bed of a brand new Tacoma trying to fit a high clearance rear bumper...

I'm so stoked for you tho that's its at the point where you are so close to "done"... whatever that word means

 

[Volcom]

Snowball effect my friend! This is why I hesitate to do anything to the sweet 16 (thanks for the name Kyle) just yet.... because it starts slow, a mod here a tweak there and then before you know it... you and your exbro friends are cutting into the bed of a brand new Tacoma trying to fit a high clearance rear bumper...

I'm so stoked for you tho that's its at the point where you are so close to "done"... whatever that word means

So when's the hymen breaking party, I mean bed cutting party on Sweet 16?!?!?! :hat: Sorry I had to, back to Kyle's build thread!

 

[TBuzz]

Can you get a overall width measurement also? What are you doing with old wheels?

 

[EatonKyleH]

she'll be comin around the mountain when she comes.

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Been super busy with work, my 5 year wedding anniversary this week, and all sorts of stuff. I'll have more shortly.

Truck is far from done. I've never felt so deep into a project yet so far away from completion.

 

[BrandonF]

Looking so dialed!

 

[EatonKyleH]

Kyle,

That last sentence made me laugh out load...only because I have had the same thought on occasion.

Durwin

Haha! Ya.... When it was stock I'd drive around eyeballing every modded 3rd gen I saw wishing and thinking about "when I get to that level" kinda thing. I find myself often more attracted to the super clean STOCK 3rd gens, 1st gen Tacomas, and 1st gen Tundras these days.

I really love this truck and what it has become. It drives awesome now and does most things pretty dang well. It's become pretty tailored to me and my wants/needs.

BUT
It's almost like a girlfriend that you like but don't really want to spend every waking moment with. After working on it into the night and on the weekends.... I need a break from it sometimes. But then we do some nasty stuff together and it all seems to make sense again!

Snowball effect my friend! This is why I hesitate to do anything to the sweet 16 (thanks for the name Kyle) just yet.... because it starts slow, a mod here a tweak there and then before you know it... you and your exbro friends are cutting into the bed of a brand new Tacoma trying to fit a high clearance rear bumper...

I'm so stoked for you tho that's its at the point where you are so close to "done"... whatever that word means

Dude "Sweet 16" is soooo gorgeous. Glad I got to see her the other day!..... Sounds like you've learned a lot from the 3rd gen build and will make some good decisions on the new truck.

But I want to cut her......soooo bad. Like strap her down and lay out my vast assortment of cutting tools in front of her.....

So when's the hymen breaking party, I mean bed cutting party on Sweet 16?!?!?! :hat: Sorry I had to, back to Kyle's build thread!

This sounds like a very adult theme..... I mean how many aggressive dudes can Rick's sweet sweet 16 take?

Can you get a overall width measurement also? What are you doing with old wheels?

I'll get on it measured soon. Really with my wheels its currently 2 inches wider in the front than it will be with my new wheels though.

The FN 5-star wheels I have on it will be for sale. They may already have a buyer lined up. Are you interested in them? If so I'll let ya know.

Looking so dialed!

Thanks Brandon! I've got a lot of things I want to change and finish on it still but I'm glad you dig it!

 

[Rockdawg84]

Looking great!! Now it's time to update your first post. I have long travel envy. LOL. :lmao:

 

[EatonKyleH]

Looking great!! Now it's time to update your first post. I have long travel envy. LOL. :lmao:

haha thanks! Still got a lot of work ahead of me before its really the look/stance I want. But its getting there! I've been so busy fixing other peoples vehicles I haven't had much time to work on my own.... and after working in the shop all day working on my stuff in the evenings/weekends doesn't seem all that appealing.

Anywhooo..... I sold my wheel, tires, old suspension stuff.

Matte Gunmetal SCS F5s wrapped in 35inch Toyo Open Country MTs are coming.

I'm heading to Moab in March...sooo much work to do! But excited to really get to use it and get some pictures!

 

[crazydubman]

haha thanks! Still got a lot of work ahead of me before its really the look/stance I want. But its getting there! I've been so busy fixing other peoples vehicles I haven't had much time to work on my own.... and after working in the shop all day working on my stuff in the evenings/weekends doesn't seem all that appealing.

Anywhooo..... I sold my wheel, tires, old suspension stuff.

Matte Gunmetal SCS F5s wrapped in 35inch Toyo Open Country MTs are coming.

I'm heading to Moab in March...sooo much work to do! But excited to really get to use it and get some pictures!

Great stuff man.

So the new wheels are the 4.5BS ones? Did you end up getting wheel spacers for the back to help get the track width back out?

How are you liking the ride? did Solo get the springs swapped out for you yet?

 

[EatonKyleH]

Great stuff man.

So the new wheels are the 4.5BS ones? Did you end up getting wheel spacers for the back to help get the track width back out?

How are you liking the ride? did Solo get the springs swapped out for you yet?

Yup they are 16x8 4.5BS.

I got black spidertrax spacers for the rear. I was considering running 3.5BS on the rear wheels but didn't want the hassle of breaking the tires down for a full tire rotation and that sorta thing.

Solo got me the springs and I swapped them out. Night and day difference. It rides INCREDIBLE. Seriously awesome. I'm on 600 pound 18inch coils now. The compression adjusters fine tune so much better now. With the 700 pound springs it just felt too stiff to the point the adjusters didn't seem to do anything because I always wanted them dialed softest.

It's still sitting a tad taller than I was hoping... but I think having a full 35inch tire in the fenderwell will change what I don't like about the look. Still very very little preload on the 600 pound springs.

I've driven it on a bunch of windy washboard mountain roads that used to make the truck "float" and feel uncontrollable. Now washboards feel completely tame and controlled. Also the body roll is noticeably less than before LT even on pavement.

My wife even comments on how awesome it feels in the beat up roads going fast now. I've been daily driving with it on the highway, towing with it, and mild trail riding with it and the feel/control of everything is improved significantly.

I still have a lot of work to do....

-My turning radius sucks with the 3.5 BS wheels I have on there on top of being 3.5 inches wider... hoping narrowing it out a bit helps.

-My droop is currently limited by the CV binding. I still need to modify the tundra shafts I have and see how much more droop they can take then and then strap it an inch or so before they bind. The uniball still has more to go so I hope modifying the axle picks up a few more degrees..... it droops aaaaaalllllloooottt already but I don't want the CV to be my limiting factor.... might have to make a call to RCV.... hhhhhmmmm...

I'm working on it again this weekend... so I should be able to grab a few more pictures.

 

[crazydubman]

Really glad to hear the springs changed the whole feel of the setup.

How is the up travel with the fenders? Did you cycle it before you mounted the coilovers again? Think there will be issues with the 35's and fender clearance?

I would have thought that stock tundra CV's would have been ok... if they have to be modded for more droop, that is news to me. Are they OEM tundra axles?

I always thought that a lot of the additional LT travel came from up travel. Is it really drooping out that much more than stock arms?

Going down the washboard road, how is the rear holding up against the front now?

 

[EatonKyleH]

Really glad to hear the springs changed the whole feel of the setup.

How is the up travel with the fenders? Did you cycle it before you mounted the coilovers again? Think there will be issues with the 35's and fender clearance?

I would have thought that stock tundra CV's would have been ok... if they have to be modded for more droop, that is news to me. Are they OEM tundra axles?

I always thought that a lot of the additional LT travel came from up travel. Is it really drooping out that much more than stock arms?

Going down the washboard road, how is the rear holding up against the front now?

Huh. Honestly I expected to HAVE to modify the axles. I just didn't have the boots and stuff at the time so I put the stock tundra CVs in to get it drive-able.
-Everything I had read said that modifying the tundra CVs was required for full droop.

In the article here:
Project Tacoma CV Axle Install: Off-Road.com

there is this part:
"We were mistaken when we first wrote that stock Tundra CV shafts could be used with the Total Chaos long-travel suspension without any modifications or additional parts. In order to allow the Tundra inner CV to operate through the entire range of the suspension travel, the sheet-metal where the stock inner CV boot mounting surface needs to be trimmed back and the stock CV boot must be replaced with a high-angularity Porsche CV boot that is available from Kartek (part number: KTKBAT101). "

On top of that I also talked to Solo and they said they recommend everyone use a diff drop spacer (which I already had) AND modify the axles to achieve full droop potential.

I have OEM tundra CVs.

I know I've seen people just throw tundra CVs in unmodified but I'm guessing they are either strapped way before full droop or something? People have done it but I haven't found anything to suggest that you are getting full use of the available travel that way. Like mentioned from several sources above I've gathered totally the opposite.

I haven't cycled the suspension without the coilovers in right now. I haven't installed the bump stops yet either so I'm not sure where they will end up right now. I'll have the new wheels/tires here next week so I should be getting the uptravel and bumps all set up shortly.

Most of the added travel honestly seems to be down travel. It's already very noticeably more than my mid-travel set up.... and I'm still only limited by the cv currently.

The rear is sad compared to the front... it never used to really bother me but now all the vibrations are felt from the rear and when driving over speed bumps, trail tracks, etc. The front consumes it and the rear feels saggy, bouncy. Definitely makes me want to upgrade the rear in the near future.

I'll have more numbers and information as I get it done. Right now I've still been in kind of a process packaging it all, getting odds and ends and dialing in the ride height and feel before I strap and bump everything and really finish it off.

 

[GSPRunner]

Damn Kyle. Just. Damn. Can't wait to see it on the bigger meats. Good wheel choice too.

 

[EatonKyleH]

Damn Kyle. Just. Damn. Can't wait to see it on the bigger meats. Good wheel choice too.

Haha thanks man! It's getting kinda stupid over here. I hardly recognize this thing anymore.

Hope you are doing well dude! Do you have a build thread on the Tacoma going? That thing is so sweet I'd probably have a hard time tearing it up so soon!

 

[EatonKyleH]

[MENTION=34852]crazydubman[/MENTION]

and anyone else interested.

Here is apparently proof why you MUST modify the inner cups on the OEM tundra CV shafts so that they don't bind before full droop.

Pulled them off my truck today and check it out!

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see that huge bend in the lip of the cup? That is where the shaft was sitting. It had bound up so hard it bend the shit out of the lip. This lip is what you grind off and replace the boot when following this how to link:
Project Tacoma CV Axle Install: Off-Road.com

Now it all makes sense. Definitely would have had some major problems it you really wheeled it without modifying the shafts.

 

[crazydubman]

Crazy man! I really thought the tundra CV's were bolt in. Guess I need to read more carefully.

Taken straight from Total Chaos's link for the LT axles.

- remanufactured Tundra axles and CV joints that are custom modified by TC.
- High angle inner CV boots and clamps are installed.

 

[t4r92]

Up for seeing how things look with the new wheel/tire setup.

 

[Unner]

The rig is looking awesome Kyle! Love the long travel stance.

When are you headed to Moab in March? I might be coming up there in March, but have never been.

Haha! Ya.... When it was stock I'd drive around eyeballing every modded 3rd gen I saw wishing and thinking about "when I get to that level" kinda thing. I find myself often more attracted to the super clean STOCK 3rd gens, 1st gen Tacomas, and 1st gen Tundras these days.

I really love this truck and what it has become. It drives awesome now and does most things pretty dang well. It's become pretty tailored to me and my wants/needs.

BUT
It's almost like a girlfriend that you like but don't really want to spend every waking moment with. After working on it into the night and on the weekends.... I need a break from it sometimes. But then we do some nasty stuff together and it all seems to make sense again!

Haha, the last part is hilarious.

 

[EatonKyleH]

The rig is looking awesome Kyle! Love the long travel stance.

When are you headed to Moab in March? I might be coming up there in March, but have never been.



Haha, the last part is hilarious.

Thanks man! I'll be in Moab March 10th-14th with a couple other dudes that are on here.

If you happen to be there any of those dates feel free to PM me and we could meet up. Moab is a magical place. You'll have a great time no matter what.

 

[Unner]

Thanks man! I'll be in Moab March 10th-14th with a couple other dudes that are on here.

If you happen to be there any of those dates feel free to PM me and we could meet up. Moab is a magical place. You'll have a great time no matter what.

If I go I'll be there the night of the 11th through the 17th. I'll shoot you a PM if I do end up going!