60 Series Axle swap with the Trail Tailor Coil Conversion

[Idaho Savage]

I'm assuming you already know this and I'm too lazy to go back through the whole thread: As someone with the same conversion, be cognizant of that oil pan relative to the drive line articulation during serious flex. I had an LS3 in mine and managed to fracture the oil pan when my passenger front tire dipped into a giant hole while driver's went up and over a rock. Not sure if the tolerance is the same with your motor but something to think about if it is. My solve was a low pro pan from Summit and a slightly narrower drive line.

This might be totally moot depending on your motor.

Also, this conversion is going to change your life... in a very good way.

 

[dbbowen]

I'm assuming you already know this and I'm too lazy to go back through the whole thread: As someone with the same conversion, be cognizant of that oil pan relative to the drive line articulation during serious flex. I had an LS3 in mine and managed to fracture the oil pan when my passenger front tire dipped into a giant hole while driver's went up and over a rock. Not sure if the tolerance is the same with your motor but something to think about if it is. My solve was a low pro pan from Summit and a slightly narrower drive line.

This might be totally moot depending on your motor.

Also, this conversion is going to change your life... in a very good way.

Oh man good call! I’m not going to take it off-road I don’t think until I get some taller springs, but that’s a super good point about the oil pan. Are you saying your driveshaft hit so hard it cracked??

 

[dbbowen]

Progress was a little slower going today. The rear is a little bit more of a battle and it’s a bit more involved compared to the front. I also ran out of my good cut off wheels and had to use harbor freight ones and they kept breaking. The HF 6 inch cut off discs like to break a lot compared to the ones I get from the welding shop or 3m.

After I got the rear axle out. Both 60 axles went to their new home and I got to chat with a really cool local cruiser dude. Nice to meet good folks.


I had to drain and flood the gas tank with water and put a new sender in it, as well as an in tank pump. The external pump I had was mounted in a spot where a crossmember is going and it is finally time anyways. I really didn’t want to use this tanks inc pump but money is getting tight for the project and the Holley is like twice the price.

Until I install my ls1 intake, I’m running a return off the fuel rail. It’s lower pressure so it doesn’t need AN hose

 

[dbbowen]

I wasn’t liking how welding the little supply tubes was looking so I just cut a circle out of some steel plate and made a cover.

Before you judge, all I had was an angle grinder on hand so it’s not the prettiest thing ever but it’s got new oem bolts and a new oem rubber seal along with the fuel level sender. The sender, this plate, and the fuel pump were all sealed with the blue fuel pump sealant as well as orange FIPG on all of the bolts

in order to cut off the stock crossbar and frame brackets, the brake and fuel hard lines need to be moved out of the way, and I had to remove my old external fuel pump. My frame is pretty rusty. That’s a project for down the road.

And here’s all of the rear brackets and the remains of like 7 cut off discs. Never again harbor freight.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Oh man good call! I’m not going to take it off-road I don’t think until I get some taller springs, but that’s a super good point about the oil pan. Are you saying your driveshaft hit so hard it cracked??

Correct. I used to have pics but it effectively cracked the very bottom corner of the stock LS pan, next to the drive shaft. Fortunately, I'm a habitual gauge reader (especially after an unexpected, snow filled hole and jarring bang), so I caught the oil pressure gauge steadily dropping and shut off the engine. No damage was done, short of a pan that should have been replaced anyway and a slightly narrower custom drive line for good measure. My wife had to drive my Superduty 1.5 hours to where we were, which she wasn't super pleased about. Since the mod, no issues.

This is a well known factor with the LS conversion crowd, regardless of suspension.

Great work, btw. Super impressed!

 

[dbbowen]

Correct. I used to have pics but it effectively cracked the very bottom corner of the stock LS pan, next to the drive shaft. Fortunately, I'm a habitual gauge reader (especially after an unexpected, snow filled hole and jarring bang), so I caught the oil pressure gauge steadily dropping and shut off the engine. No damage was done, short of a pan that should have been replaced anyway and a slightly narrower custom drive line for good measure. My wife had to drive my Superduty 1.5 hours to where we were, which she wasn't super pleased about. Since the mod, no issues.

This is a well known factor with the LS conversion crowd, regardless of suspension.

Great work, btw. Super impressed!

Ohh! So you had the stock oil pan. I’ll try and look up the dimensions of it compared to my H3 oil pan I’ve got on mine. It’s a little more narrow I believe. I haven’t gotten my front driveshaft in yet because it needs to have the length changed. Thanks for the heads up. Definitely something I’ll watch. Thanks man this swap has been really fun so far. Definitely DIYable!

 

[4runner2FJ60]

The ultimate setup really. Content with all the axle work I did a year ago, but now I am thinking about just doing the front conversion. Those HF disc are cheap for a reason

 

[Idaho Savage]

Ohh! So you had the stock oil pan. I’ll try and look up the dimensions of it compared to my H3 oil pan I’ve got on mine. It’s a little more narrow I believe. I haven’t gotten my front driveshaft in yet because it needs to have the length changed. Thanks for the heads up. Definitely something I’ll watch. Thanks man this swap has been really fun so far. Definitely DIYable!

I believe you're good to go with the H3 but double check.

 

[dbbowen]

Yall. The rear swap is what separates the boys from the men. My 4 day plan is pretty much not going to happen but I’m pretty damn close. I drank about 2 gallons of coffee today. Got caught on fire. And took a bath in fuel from my “drained” external fuel pump.

What’s left:

-redo exhaust
-install fuel tank and run new supply line
- grind front radius arms where steering rod is hitting them
-fix steering stabilizer
- bleed brakes
- lengthen/shorten drive shafts.
-alignment


That’s it to get me on the road. The rear is tall. I think it’s the ome springs. I know they do a lot of their springs so the rears sit up higher than the front for load but I’m stink bugging now. Compared to my previous level setup I’m about 1 inch shorter in the front and .5 inch taller in the back. I’m going to have to let air out of my tires to get out of my garage haha. I think once the rear settles it will literally be perfect. I just need to match the front springs with the back.

I unfortunately had to cut off more of my exhaust than I was planning. I cut it at the resonator, and it looks like I’ll have to lose my exhaust cut out. Kind of bummed on that but there is literally no room.


Crossbar went at 6.5 inches here

The coil buckets are welded to the frame but @TRAIL TAILOR suggested I make a crossmember. I had some 1x4 tubing laying around so I was able to connect them and add some rigidity.

Here’s the brackets all tacked up.

 

[dbbowen]

And here’s everything all done in the back. All I’ve done is bounced the truck standing on the bumper and it’s reeeeal soft. I haven’t adjusted the shocks yet but I can already tell my dreams of comfort in a 60 series are about to be a reality.

This is before I connected the ebrake, routed the rear brake line, and the fuel vent line.

Driver side

How it is sitting now. Pinion angle is dead on with my tcase output. All the lines are run besides the fuel supply and most of the bolts are tight.

I forgot to take the lower shock bolts and the frame side upper control arm bolts from the 80 series I got my axle from so I need to source some of those before I can drive it.

Here is the steering to radius arm interference. It’s from the caster plates. Ran out of funds and couldn’t get delta arms.

 

[dbbowen]

in the back I couldn’t find many pics of the reservoir orientation on the shocks. I “guess” they’re right? I tried to copy the 80 series.

Here’s how it’s sitting now. It’s hard to get the stinkbug stance on camera but the tire poke is great and I’m on the fence about even using the fenders I bought.

Pics trying to get the front rake. My garage is an absolute s*** show. Don’t judge.

This is where I’m at after 4 days straight. If I had another person helping I think I’d be done. This is definitely a doable diy project. Maybe just don’t try and marathon it like I did….. but I mean it’s totally doable

Haven’t gotten used to how it looks without leafs haha

 

[HemiAlex]

Not gonna lie. I’ve never thought about coils up front, but you had me in an obsessive googling and planning mode.

Great work.

 

[dbbowen]

Not gonna lie. I’ve never thought about coils up front, but you had me in an obsessive googling and planning mode.

Great work.

I don’t have any driving experience yet but the front is definitely easier to do than the rear.

 

[4runner2FJ60]

Inspiring and impressive amount of work in 4 days on a garage floor! Your killing it. Cant wait to hear the first drive report. Now you are opening yourself up to questions for future converters!
I am very much about to start the part collection process for the front.

 

[Rustyj41]

Is that rake going to level out?

 

[dbbowen]

Is that rake going to level out?

The rear should settle some but so will the front. I don’t think it’s going to go away. I’m trying to look into springs vs a spring spacer now. I admittedly don’t know much about the tons of 80 series sprints out there. It definitely needs to come up about an inch in the front though. I kinda like the rear height.

What front coils are those?

The fronts are OME 2861 and the rear is OME 2862. I think they’re both medium duty oe replacement springs. I think they’re supposed to have a little rake in them. But with my front bumper and winch I think it’s weighing them down a little more. Idk if I should try a heavy spring in the front or a taller one. A buddy of mine locally has these 1 inch spacers that you put on top of the spring to get more height. Idk if it negatively affects performance vs going a taller spring

 

[4runner2FJ60]

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.

 

[Idaho Savage]

The rear should settle some but so will the front. I don’t think it’s going to go away. I’m trying to look into springs vs a spring spacer now. I admittedly don’t know much about the tons of 80 series sprints out there. It definitely needs to come up about an inch in the front though. I kinda like the rear height.

The fronts are OME 2861 and the rear is OME 2862. I think they’re both medium duty oe replacement springs. I think they’re supposed to have a little rake in them. But with my front bumper and winch I think it’s weighing them down a little more. Idk if I should try a heavy spring in the front or a taller one. A buddy of mine locally has these 1 inch spacers that you put on top of the spring to get more height. Idk if it negatively affects performance vs going a taller spring

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.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Also your absolutely killing it. Huge props!!!

 

[tmxmotorsports]

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 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.