Joe Risavi, our lead technition (both Toyota and Lexus Master Tech) performed the majority of the work on the truck. Joe has lots of SAS swap experience as he was one of the first to complete a SAS swap on a Tacoma pickup. After fighting with Dana 44's etc etc, he finally used an 80 series front axle on his truck. He certainly had a lot of experience and if we wanted, we could have made it a flexing slinky. Here he is admiring his work.
Here is Joe's Tacoma in action at the Chili Challenge.
The front suspension was mocked up and tire position and clearances for the 39" Kralwers were verified. At this point ride height was determined.
After the ride height and axle location was determined, the shock and spring mounts were added to the axle tubes. We also made new brackets for the control arms to mounts.
The axle was then hung on the vehicle using the control arms and shocks to locate the axle. Next step was the steering.
We decided that we would use a 80 series steering box mounted to the frame. We used a magnetic drill press to drill the holes in the side of the frame. The holes were sleeved for additional strength. The sleeves were tig welded in place.
After the steering box was mounted, it was connected to the steering wheel using a combination of 80 Series and 100 Series steering shaft parts. The drag link and tie rod were added and connected to the axle using Slee Hi-Steer Arms for the 80 series knuckles.
Many hours later we had the truck sitting on it's wheels. A 80 Series Panhard rod was installed with custom brackets. The panhard rod angle and drag link angle was set parallel to each other. The panhard rod mount was supported with a cross brace to the PS frame rail.
Once everything was in place, it was time to for some more clearance testing.
The truck was flexed up using a forklift. Using the forklift is not the same as trail time, but it allows for controlled suspension cycling to prevent a bracket punching the oil pan or some other disaster. Bump stop heights were determined and installed as well.
Once we were happy with the suspension install and completed some test drives, it was off to the paint shop.
After getting it back from paint, the custom front and rear bumpers were installed. The front bumper is a prototype for a production piece we are working on. It houses a Warn M12k winch with Masterpull Synthetic Line.
Once we were happy with the truck, Joe and TJ Briscoe (
www.homegrowninc.us) set about building a full roll cage. We decided to gut the truck and install a cage that mouted behind the dash. The complete dash was removed. The focus of the cage was to prevent the A pillars from collapsing in a slow roll over. Every Land Cruiser we have seen rolled showed the A Pillars collapsing. The cage was tied into the main cross brace located behind the dash. It was not feasible to run the front legs to the floor as all the electronics are located in the kick panel areas.
This cage was not meant for a Baja 1000 race, but to protect in low spread roll-overs. TJ and Joe did an awesome job in getting this shoe-horned in. Ben would be my co-driver on the Ultimate Adventure and he is 6 foot something, so we had to make sure we had plenty of head clearance. The cage was also extended to cover the back row seats.
The trucks maiden voyage was Moab and then the Ultimate Adventure 2007. It did pretty well, but if the boss did not drive like a jack-ass, we would not have broken so many parts. However it was all done in the name of research.
This was day 5 of the UA 2007. Somewhere in Texas. Nothing like tearing down your complete truck in a day to fix broken ring gears and axles. Thanks again To Brutal Off-Road for the use of their shop.
LINK TO COMPLETE GALLERY.