Front End upgrades
This week we finally got the Solo Motorsports boxed spindles with uniball lower replacement, and heimed steering upgrade. I've been waiting months for this, and the day finally came.
About Solo Motorsports spindles:
1996-2004 TACOMA / 1996-2002 4RUNNER ? Solo Motorsports
The spindles are fully boxed and weigh a TON. I believe they may be the strongest point on my rig now. They do require a uniball upper control arm.
Toyota Fully Fabricated Spindles ? Solo Motorsports
They can be made to accommodate the steering upgrade, which I thought wouldn't be a bad idea. The steering is a 7/8" aluminum heimed monster of an outer link. It also appears to be nearly indestructible.
Toyota 1? Lower Uniball & 7/8? Heim Steering Upgrade ? Solo Motorsports
You do have to give up ABS though, since they are not engineered with a port for the ABS sensor...maybe something they could do if you ask, but I did not.
IMPORTANT - if you do this upgrade, you need to know that they are not engineered by default to fit the Tundra brake upgrade, but they can be modified to fit with a little bit of grinding to accommodate the thicker Tundra rotor. We found this out the hard way, and were concerned something was very wrong with the install. We were pretty freaked out, but that's when Solo came to the rescue.
Bobby, the owner of Solo, sent a truck to San Diego, picked up my rig, and hauled it on a flatbed up to their shop in Covina. Once there, they diagnosed the issue (Tundra rotors interfering with the uniball upgrade), tore it down, machined the part, turned my rotors, buttoned it back up, and returned the truck to San Diego in one piece. THAT'S CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
Moral of the story - make sure Solo knows ALL of the upgrades on your rig before ordering or attempting an install.
The ride is awesome - you can feel the weight a bit, but the steering is much more direct and any slop that was present before the upgrades is completely gone. Very happy with the current situation.
...now I need to track down this damn CEL that's persisted since smogging the truck. P0171 Lean code. I've replaced the O2 sensor, all vacuum lines, fuel filter, seafoamed, reviewed and rewired the 7th Injector, and cleaned (and finally replaced) the MAF. No luck. Code just won't leave me alone, but the truck seems to be running perfectly. My wideband does not seem to indicate any lean condition -- except maybe at idle... I still suspect the MAF, but that's probably irrational. I'll call URD for some help tomorrow.
Pictures:
No change in stance (dammit pole)
Lower uniball conversion
Spindles and brake lines
Serious outer links