tacoma2002's SAS Thread (1 Viewer)

[tacoma2002]

I burned the midnight oil last night and got a few more things done.

I was able to get the steering box located as far forward as possible. This required some modification to the TG steering box plates since the Tacoma frame narrows toward the very front. No big deal but time consuming.

Plenty of room for Hydo lines

Passenger frame plate done with the exception of a little more welding and grinding. I already had the frame pretty warm so to keep from having too much heat soak I stopped.

Nothing motivates you quite like rolling a tire under your far-from-finished project hehe

I believe my frame height will rise +/- 2" from this. I had planned on that early on but for COG sake I'm still shooting for 26" (currently where the truck is sitting).

Sheet metal trimming along with time, will tell.

 

[tacoma2002]

For the steering I frankenstined my own piece. I disassembled the u-joints on the factory Tacoma shaft and reassembled them creating a single U-joint setup. I cut the shaft after the firewall (where the shaft tapers down) and attached a 1st Gen mini-truck "slip" shaft to the other end. Finally got it cut to length and mocked into place.

As you can see I need to do a little brake line re-routing as well as secure the wiring harness out of harms way.

Overall I'm happy with how it turned out.


So far on this project I've used all Chassis Unlimited brackets and tabs...I'm very impressed with their Laser Cut CNC pieces (to say the least). If possible I will use every tab and bracket from Chassis Unlimited from here on out..

So far its looking like my lower links will be in the 40" range and the upper link will be in the 41" range. I have a 20* offset on the upper link at the frame with 3" of separation. If all goes as planned I will have 10" of separation at the axle with the upper link sitting at 15.4*. Since I expect my ride height to grow an inch or two I'm not 100% certain on what my lower link angle will be but I'm trying to keep them as parallel to the ground as possible.

I'm not 100% certain what these numbers will put my Anti-Dive value at...and with this being a truck build I don't have a lot of options as far as link separation goes. With all of this in mind (and if my math is correct) I should have a very manageable anti-dive % when its said and done.

 

[tacoma2002]

I've been working on the final geometry of the suspension over the last week or so...double checking numbers and formulas etc. I finally nailed down some final numbers that I'm happy with so I went ahead and cut some lower links. After getting everything squared up I tacked it into place.... This thing is finally beginning to look like something! I've also been working on small details such as motor mount gusseting and plating off that I have not documented. I was able to complete the driver frame plate and get it into place as well.

I will not be able to use the upper link mount that I purchased from Chassis Unlimited due to clearance restrictions. I'm planning to build one this weekend so I can cut and install the upper link.


Pinion angle set at 3*

Passenger side link mount in place.

Driver side lower link mount tacked into place. Link angle at current ride height is 9*. As stated before I'm hoping to lower the ride height so this number will go down some with that.

Driver frame plate tacked into place.

I moved the front axle 3" forward from the stock location. This made my final wheel base 125"...not happy about that but I'm planning to back half and shorten it to 112-114" next winter. With that being said I will likely move down in tire size and lower the truck some more when that happens For now 125" and 40" tires will have to work.

Current frame height is 28".

 

[tacoma2002]

I've been slacking for the last few weeks....I seem to have gotten a head cold that I just can't shake.

As discussed before I was not able to find an upper link mount that would suit my needs. I opted to build my own to dial in my link separation as well as direct the link away from the oil pan. I still plan to box the upper link mount across the front and back side to prevent the mount from shifting horizontally under load. So far this is what I have.

I cycled the axle some to make sure I didn't have any binding issues...seems like this thing could have twisted for days...too bad I'll have to limit the travel with straps and bump stops

My next task will be plating the upper link mount and working on getting all the steering linkages cut to length and put into place. I still have to disassemble the steering box and drill/tap for hydro assist as well.

While I have all the parts to proceed, I just found out that I will be deployed to Houston, TX for the next two weeks for disaster relief.

Happy trails!

 

[tacoma2002]

I finally made it back to the 'Sip

I'm patiently waiting on a $1,200 package from King as we speak. Steering, panhard bar and shock towers will be going in this weekend...

 

[tacoma2002]

I've been farther behind than I planned due to some unforeseen circumstances.

I ordered an oil pan and pickup tube from a member of another forum and after receiving it (two weeks later) I realized he had sold me a 4cylinder oil pan as a 6 cylinder unit. After some back and fourth we were finally able to come to resolution.

This left me needing an oil pan and pickup tube...

I ended up traveling to Chariton, IA to Frontier 4x4 and buying an entire engine that came complete with the oil pan and pickup tube I needed. Not only was I able to get an oil pan and pickup tube but now I have a spare 3.4L engine. I spent some time with Luke in his shop looking over his 4runner and discussing my build. Luke was a super nice dude to deal with. I would highly suggest doing business with him if you have the opportunity.

and thennnnnnn....

My wife hit a deer with her Highlander and 'temporarily' put it out of commission. I had to devote most of my time to my '97 FZJ80 thereafter to make it 100% roadworthy for her to drive. After a knuckle rebuilt, new radiator, oil pump o-ring, distributor o-ring and full service she's on the road while I fix the Highlander and carry it in for paint.

Constant resistance.

I did recieve my coilovers last week (6 weeks exactly from order date). These things look freakin' sweet!

I spent the last few days working on the Tacoma's steering and panhard bar placement. I was able to get the shock towers and lower coilover mounts tacked into place and the coilovers on. I'm sitting about 5" above my planned ride height at the moment (frame at 29.5" with the axle centerline at 17") BUT I don't have the steering box, battery, radiatior, front bumper etc in place. I'm guessing it will settle about 2-3" with all of the weight added but that still leaves me needing to lengthen the upper shock towers by 2-3". Not a huge deal but still kind of a PITA.

As it sits now...

For now I'm leaving the towers in place and starting to burn in all the link brackets and frame plates.

The few things that I've done undocumented include rebuilding of the steering box and drill/tap for hydro assist.

 

[tacoma2002]

As of now all the finish welding is complete. I was able to get the axle housing off to the powder coater today and hopefully will get it back the middle of next week depending on work load/schedule with Thanksgiving being this Thursday.

I sat down a week or so ago and drew up a sketch for some rim stiffeners/rock rings in a CADD program. Pretty basic design but I think they look pretty cool. I send the drawing to Southern Steel in Memphis and had them Laser CNC them out of some 3/16" plate.

One wheel finished...or so I thought. I ended up having some pretty heavy grinding marks show through the paint. I'm going to sand them down with some 120 and 220 before hitting them with a high build primer and paint. You can see in the picture the grinding scars that I speak of...

I tried to blend most of the welds into the frame so it'll have a "factory" look when I'm done. Here you can see where I blended the frame plates in with the steering box plates/mount. Not too bad....lots of work.

I had a winch plate that I'd drilled out into some 1/4" several months back. I just now got it into place with a few good hot tacks. The goal is to leave the front bumper as least bulky as possible. I'll end up cutting the corners of the plate off at an angle and attaching some tube work to it when the exo cage starts. For now you get an idea of how the winch will sit.

Yesterday was spent mostly cutting and lengthening the shock towers. I ended up adding 5.75" to the Chassis Unlimited plate shock towers. Predicted frame height will be 25-26" with zero preload on the coilovers.

I dropped the hubs off at the machine shop to be machined to accept the Tacoma rotors as I'm using the brake kit from FROR. I left the lockouts with the machinist also in hopes that he can add 4 more dowels to the hub/lockout mating surface for strength. Hopefully I'll have those parts back by mid week.

Stay tuned. The next post will the the truck sitting at ride height with tires/wheels .

 

[fjfodee]

Fire and Ice ride??

 

[tacoma2002]

Man I wish! I burned all my vacation time already and our physical year doesn’t start until February.

Ramble fo sho.

 

[tacoma2002]

I had quicker than expected turn around time with the powder coating and machine shop. I was able to get all my parts back on Wednesday afternoon.

As mentioned before I had the machine shop turn down the OD of the IFS hubs to work in conjunction with the Tacoma brake kit from FROR. They were able to add 4 hub studs to the IFS hub and drill the lockout to match. This should bring some new found strength to the stock Toyota setup.

I took time to sand/prime and repaint the wheels on Wednesday night. They turned out awesome. This is a picture after one coat of semi-gloss black. After a few more coats they should be 10-8.

The housing looked killer after powder coat...way better than I anticipated for sure.

Right now I'm battling some issues with the steering shaft/shock tower. I cut the shock tower and put in a 2.5x2.5x.250 wall square tube to help clear, but due to the angle the shaft will run toward the firewall I'm still having issues. The shaft needs about 1/8-1/4" clearance on the front side to clear comfortably. I'll be taking care of that this evening hopefully.

 

[tacoma2002]

For the first time in this project I've had to take a couple steps backwards. A little disheartening at first but in the grand scheme of things...not so bad.

The plate coilover mounts that I bought from CU ended up falling 5.75" short of where they needed to be. I cut them and extended them so they would be the correct height. Then comes steering shaft clearance issues. I notched the tower for the shaft to pass through but due to the angle that the steering shaft runs it was hitting the back side of the notch. Unfortunately the notch was cut to the maximum. My options were to begin notching the towers (without replacing the removed material) and sacrifice structural integrity or get to bending tube...

I've been bending tube the past day or two. I finally have the towers dialed in to my linking. I just need to get to the shop and build some mounting tabs then get to welding.

Yesterday I had hoped to completely build the axle hub/hub. As I was laying all my parts out on the table I noticed a couple of critical pieces missing. The Birfields nor the inner shafts came with birf C clips or the clip that goes on the outside of the birf to hold it into the hub.

I called TG only for them to tell me neither product comes with clips...I guess they'd rather sell you the $4.50 c-clips separately....I would highly suggest they advertise this so someone else doesn't fall a week behind waiting on bull**** parts....oh well.. After a call to Luke at Frontier 4x4 I have the parts coming... I don't like the fact that this axle housing doesn't come with a full sized drain plug (you have to remove the two bottom studs to drain the housing) so I went ahead and ordered a 1.5" inspection plug while I was at it...at least this will give me an idea of how my internals look since I don't have a large enough hole for trashed gears to fall out of...

 

[tacoma2002]

I was able to get the inspection plug hole cut and the plug welded in. After that I took time to build the axle completely....I love the way everything worked out...especially the FROR Tacoma Brake kit I got from Brian! I buggered up the powdercoating when doing this but I have some touch up spray on the way.

A lot has changed...I'm not one to audible and deviate from the original plan, but in this case I had to. I bent some shock hoops using 1.5"x.120 tube...after they were in place I made a template and built some shock tabs. This left me with nothing to do but add a tower brace across the engine compartment to tie the towers together. I did not have enough room for the tube to go across the top of the engine due to hood clearance. I had previously thought about just adding a tube across the back of the engine to the other side.

After some contemplating I decided that with the bends of the tube this would be a weak point...I went ahead and added a piece of tube across the front of the engine as well to eliminate this possibility of bending.

Once this was done I was able to put the wheels and tires on then sit the truck on its own weight...this is 'almost' at full compression...I'll have to tighten the coilovers up a tad to raise the ride height...Frame is currently at 24.5"!

Now I'm having an issue with the panhard bar mount contacting the coil spring on the passenger side...I'll need to cut it loose and move it Driver about 2" to correct. Other than that and adjusting the coilover preload....we're closer to home!

 

[tacoma2002]

I moved the panhard bar mount and adjusted the preload relatively close to where it needs to be. I was curious about how much fender I was going to have to trim, so out comes the fork lift!

I had to stop lifting due to the tire being in contact with the fender inner supports. Not a huge deal as they're removeable. Next will be trimming fenders and some of the inner structure away to eliminate the possibility of the tire being cut while flexed and turning.

The goal for this week is to finalize the steering (tie rod and drag link), shorten the panhard bar and get the radiator back in so I can have a high pressure PS hose made *hopefully* before Christmas.

 

[epike7915]

Nice work!

 

[tacoma2002]

So the last month has been spent on relatively boring items that I didn't bother to document. A lot of disassembly and reassembly to get everything just right.

I had started tube work and on the second bend the compressor took a dump....luckily a $50 capacitor, and a 2 week wait, put it back in business!

Before the tube work began I took it down the road for the "maiden voyage"...

With the exception of the steering wheel needing clocked, I was pleased.

Then it was time to give the bender a work out...

Most all of the long runs are now bent and tacked into place. I still have to align the short pieces along the extended cab before tacking them...oh yeah...and about another 100ft of tube...

 

[N22]

Nice!

 

[Haggis]

Looking good!

 

[tacoma2002]

After some time, frustration and serious help from friends I was able to get this exo and tube bed semi complete.

Tube bed shaping up.

Its the details that makes something 'yours'...unfortunately these details take some time to get like you want it...

I painted the bed sides white on the outside to see how I'd like it...

Front bumper section is not complete until I get the winch mounted (this unit was used for mock only). I plan to add some plate around the fairlead area and below the winch plate...

View attachment 1675647

 

[tacoma2002]

At this point it was time for Mardi Krawl 2018....so I shot some black paint on the tubes and bed and took off for Tuscumbia, AL.

I have a few small kinks to work out and I still have to add tail lights, winch and several misc. tubes for cosmetic purposes...but overall I was happy how it worked.

 

[TRDMaui]

hey great job man. Im linked in front on 3 linked in front with 39.5 iroks and 25" with 4" uptravel. I cut my frame off and built one to make it a little easier (my frame was cracked as well so rather than repairing I just built one out of 2x3 from the firewall forward) I really like your cage work too. I running a 2uz v8 mated to a r150 5spd and dual cased... fzj80 full floater rear and ruff stuff 9.5'xhellfire hi steer up front. sweet ride you got.