60 Series Axle swap with the Trail Tailor Coil Conversion (2 Viewers)

[dbbowen]

Thanks, I am also feeling left out having a Gamaviti with no wind deflector.....its louder than the tires. I clear the garage door opening by maybe a 1/2" with the rack on. I should have build it with an 8' door.

Hah man. You can just order the deflector by itself and use threaded bar clamps from Amazon to attach it. That’s what I did. I ordered mine without as well to go for the minimalist look but it was so freaking loud

I dunno. Assuming you want, say, 1" of rake, putting the tank back in and filling it might do wonders. Mine has an aftermarket bigger tank so I can't compare apples to apples. I'd put that tank back in, fill it, drive it and see where it settles before going with spacers.

I just got the tank back in tonight and man. It was a battle getting those straps close to get the bolts started. Was probably out there for an hour and a half working on two bolts. It’s still empty so no rear height change so far but hoping it drops it down a little bit!

Also you’re absolutely killing it. Huge props!!!

Thanks man! I really appreciate it. I’m kinda losing steam now that I am back at work during the day. I took off Thursday and Friday to work on it. Really appreciate the kind words!

I agree your not done putting weight on the back end.. have you checked your castor angle? I'm sure @TRAIL TAILOR has more answers on 80 spring heights/weights. Spacer would be cheap temporary fix to figure out what height weight springs with your bumper may need something for the weight not so much the height if that makes sense.

I haven’t checked yet, hoping to go get an alignment to see where I’m at once I’m all back up and running. Kind of by some stroke of luck the 5* plates and high pinion diff put my front pinion angle within one degree of my tcase front output flange. On the leafs I really needed to be running a DC driveshaft because it was so far out. Now the pinion angle is perfect.

I think you’re right about the weight part of the springs. Right now from the floor to the fender line, the rear is 1.75-2 inches taller than the front

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Also weight in the back will bring the front up a little. Looking good man gonna be sweet

 

[dbbowen]

I didn’t get any photos tonight because getting the gas tank back in took both arms and both feet. It’s back in now though so one more thing ticked off the list.


I took my driveshafts to get resized today at a local place and they let me stay while I did them to save a second trip to pick them up.

For the front driveshaft, They said I was within 1/4 inch of perfect and said I could just run it. For the rear he added 1.75 of an inch. He also asked if I wanted thick wall tubing. I had ordered thick wall tubing when I bought them and they definitely weren’t. Awesome. They are now.

I’ll get those installed tomorrow, do the last parts of my fuel supply line, and grind the radius arms and I think the exhaust will be the only thing left to do

 

[dbbowen]

Also weight in the back will bring the front up a little. Looking good man gonna be sweet

Thanks man! I think the rears will definitely settle some. With the tank in it didn’t really change much haha. Once it settles I’ll be able to pull into my garage again. Right now I’m 1/2 inch too tall in the back and can’t get out haha. Going to need to put those 80 series oem wheels and tires on to get out

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Buy some sand bags put them in the cargo area to lower it

 

[dbbowen]

Buy some sand bags put them in the cargo area to lower it

Thats a good idea! When i did my 4runner SAS with leaf springs my all pro springs settled a full inch after about 4 months. maybe this is a similar deal with the rear. Fronts defintiely need to go haha

 

[dbbowen]

Hit a few snags but everything is ready besides welding out my exhaust. It’s tacked together now. I tried to tig weld it tonight since it’s all 304 but the old tubing I reused was just too dirty. Tomorrow it’s getting Mig welded and probably won’t be stainless anymore haha.


Also a brand new Napa caliper leaked out of the box so I had to go replace it, but the brakes are bled, it’s got fuel in it and the fuel pump works, and the diffs are filled.


Hoping for a first drive tomorrow if I can get the steering stabilizer off. My tre puller broke yesterday.

 

[dbbowen]

yall. this s*** is amazing. First drive impressions... It feels exactly like driving my wifes 100 series. Like i am shocked at how good this thing rides. I hit a speed bump doing 50mph and it just ate it up.

Ive got some rake going on but going to easily fix that with a spring spacer. I think its messing up my caster as well. The front being so low and the 5* caster plates arent jiving together very well. I also very much so need an alignment

Going from my leaking old MC and booster and crap 60 brakes that should have been replaced 6 months ago to the 80 series MC/Booster/Fr and Rr brakes is awesome. I swear i thought i was about to throw myself into the steering wheel.

Im pretty sure my drag link is clanging into my radius arm on big hits but i just need to grind them more, the spacers should fix that some too i think. Either that or its my rear axle on my exhaust


The dobinsons MRR shocks are awesome. They need more Low speed compression on the adjusters though. I have mine set to max Low speed compression and i still get a little brake dive and lean back on acceleration. Which is odd because the IMS shocks have too much LSC on them. I have the high speed set a little softer than middle, and the rear a click or two softer than the front. For rebound im one click off of max rebound. These are just initial settings, ill be able to fine tune them over the next few months to get it really dialed.

The entire steering setup is so much more solid now. I had all new relay rods and TREs and my steering box was good and adjusted before... but the 80 box and linkage is so much tighter and more responsive. I honestly think a lot of the slop from the steering on the 60 is from the relay rods and leaf spring bushings.

I have some steering sway, but i also dont have the stabilizer hooked up right now so once my bracket from TT comes in that will go right back on.


heres some pics!



I need to pop the steering wheel off and re straighten it

Here is the rear. By this point i was pretty over it, and i was having a really hard time tig welding the old dirty SS to the new sections so I just migwelded them.

The front. I need to pop half of the yoke off the front driveshaft and move it to my 60 series driveshaft because the diff flanges are different. So its bluetooth SEMA style for now.

And the outside

This is just showing tire stickout. its not too bad at all!

 

[dbbowen]

I still need to:

-connect the hoses to my diffs for the ARB Lockers, but the wiring and stuff is already done on that.
-axle breathers
-Install 30mm spring spacers
-Install knuckle Led Lights, but the wiring is already done on that
-do the steering stabilizer
-front drive shaft
-measure bump stops and adjust so the tires dont hit the fenders
-touch up paint all the spots that got messed up on install
-Weld caster plates

Im pretty happy with the poke, i am pretty sure im not going to use my sahara fenders i bought from Australia. Still going back and forth on it.

Oh also, the in tank fuel pump is just as loud if not louder than my old external pump. Probably since its closer to the floor now. If i could do it again.... i would skip the in tank pump. Juice isnt worth the squeeze there.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Q

yall. this s*** is amazing. First drive impressions... It feels exactly like driving my wifes 100 series. Like i am shocked at how good this thing rides. I hit a speed bump doing 50mph and it just ate it up.

Ive got some rake going on but going to easily fix that with a spring spacer. I think its messing up my caster as well. The front being so low and the 5* caster plates arent jiving together very well. I also very much so need an alignment

Going from my leaking old MC and booster and crap 60 brakes that should have been replaced 6 months ago to the 80 series MC/Booster/Fr and Rr brakes is awesome. I swear i thought i was about to throw myself into the steering wheel.

Im pretty sure my drag link is clanging into my radius arm on big hits but i just need to grind them more, the spacers should fix that some too i think. Either that or its my rear axle on my exhaust


The dobinsons MRR shocks are awesome. They need more Low speed compression on the adjusters though. I have mine set to max Low speed compression and i still get a little brake dive and lean back on acceleration. Which is odd because the IMS shocks have too much LSC on them. I have the high speed set a little softer than middle, and the rear a click or two softer than the front. For rebound im one click off of max rebound. These are just initial settings, ill be able to fine tune them over the next few months to get it really dialed.

The entire steering setup is so much more solid now. I had all new relay rods and TREs and my steering box was good and adjusted before... but the 80 box and linkage is so much tighter and more responsive. I honestly think a lot of the slop from the steering on the 60 is from the relay rods and leaf spring bushings.

I have some steering sway, but i also dont have the stabilizer hooked up right now so once my bracket from TT comes in that will go right back on.


heres some pics!



I need to pop the steering wheel off and re straighten it

Here is the rear. By this point i was pretty over it, and i was having a really hard time tig welding the old dirty SS to the new sections so I just migwelded them.

The front. I need to pop half of the yoke off the front driveshaft and move it to my 60 series driveshaft because the diff flanges are different. So its bluetooth SEMA style for now.

And the outside

This is just showing tire stickout. its not too bad at all!

Yesssssss! Congratulations! I told you it would be a religious experience. Great work!

 

[dbbowen]

Q

Yesssssss! Congratulations! I told you it would be a religious experience. Great work!

Man you were right. I wasnt expecting it to drive like this. I had an 80 and it was way stiffer than this one. This is suuuuuch a good upgrade!

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Man you were right. I wasnt expecting it to drive like this. I had an 80 and it was way stiffer than this one. This is suuuuuch a good upgrade!

Andrea has a one owner 97 FZJ80 bone stock. She asked me "If this is an 80 suspension under this 60... WHY DOESN'T MY 80 RIDE LIKE THIS ???..."

Glad you are enjoying the mod.

Jason
TT

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Once the coils settle it rides even better.

As the coils settle check your axle shift too. May need to reset your panhards.

Jason
TT

 

[dbbowen]

Once the coils settle it rides even better.

As the coils settle check your axle shift too. May need to reset your panhards.

Jason
TT

Good call, Ill keep an eye on it. I gotta say. Thank you for making this kit. The gain in ride quality alone is worth the effort and time/funds spent on the project.


To put it into perspective, my solid axle swap on my first gen 4runner was cutting off the IFS and welding on hangers for leaf springs, not coils and that project took 3 times as long and was much more difficult than this swap. I had to plate and sleeve the frame, relocate the steering box and sleeve the holes for that, modify the core support for the steering box, among other things. The brackets and everything were just normal mild steel so everything had to be ground before welding.


This kit just needed the old rivets cut off from the spring hangers and one crossmember cut off. The metal for the brackets had no mill scale so it was ready to weld pretty much out of the box, i think i wiped them all with acetone to paint them and thats about it.

Its hard to say, but LS swap and this axle swap return about the same amount of "holy s*** this is so much better." With the 1 year old kid, i dont wheel as much as i used to, but the road drivability of the truck is just lightyears better now.


I was able to knock this out alone in 4 full days and 2 days of messing with it after work. If you had a working plasma cutter and a second person working on it with you it would be even faster. Definitely a diyable job if you can mig weld and operate a tape measure!

 

[4runner2FJ60]

I loved the front drive shaft bluetooth comment.....my 80 front conversion is going to be bluetooth for a bit. But I am starting the parts collection. Awesome job on this and thanks for the detailed thread.

 

[tmxmotorsports]

My 62 has leaf spring heavies front and rear with shackle reverse rides like a damn tank.

 

[4runner2FJ60]

@tmxmotorsports I need to make the short drive down to Gravedigger to meet up sometime soon!

 

[dbbowen]

I loved the front drive shaft bluetooth comment.....my 80 front conversion is going to be bluetooth for a bit. But I am starting the parts collection. Awesome job on this and thanks for the detailed thread.

haha well when it comes time if you can find a junk 80 front driveshaft the end uses the same ujoint size so you can just swap it over. I think the diff flange might have the same splines and swaps over too. That might be easier on second thought haha

My 62 has leaf spring heavies front and rear with shackle reverse rides like a damn tank.

I had medium front and rear with the heavy add a leaf. I was trying a middle ground but it still rode like a tank haha

 

[dbbowen]

So it looks like the guy who built my driveshaft didnt balance it. I noticed there are no weights on the new driveshaft tube.

Im getting some weird driveline vibrations at 30mph+. I did rotate my tires for the first time ever as well but i didnt think that would have as much of an effect. Going to get an alignment and check the balance of all of my tires this sunday. My pinion angle on the rear is within 2* of each other.

Definitely a head scratcher. I guess ive just got to try and knock out all of the variables that could be causing it

 

[BurntToast]

So it looks like the guy who built my driveshaft didnt balance it. I noticed there are no weights on the new driveshaft tube.

Im getting some weird driveline vibrations at 30mph+. I did rotate my tires for the first time ever as well but i didnt think that would have as much of an effect. Going to get an alignment and check the balance of all of my tires this sunday. My pinion angle on the rear is within 2* of each other.

Definitely a head scratcher. I guess ive just got to try and knock out all of the variables that could be causing it

Are you running a DC with pinion clocked towards the tcase flange?