Builds 86 Xtra Cab Build (4Wheelunderground 3 link front, 4 link rear and 3.4 swap) (1 Viewer)

[aztoyman]

It worked! Woohoo. Made a BIG difference. It's now where it needs to be. Tomorrow I'm going to cut the tacks on the panhard bracket and shift it a tiny bit forward and reposition the bump can a little bit as well.

While I was going in and out with the booster I realized MAYBE I could have put a mity-vac on it and pulled the shaft in?? Dumba$$!! All that work for nothing!! Then confirmed it's not the shaft anyway. It's the studs. I don't know if a vacuum would have worked and if it did, what would I do if the diaphragm was blown? I'm over it now anyway. Ha ha.

 

[gnob]

Persistence pays off. Looking good.

 

[aztoyman]

I'm definitely tired of cutting tack welds and shifting components a hair over and over. Gotta be done though.

I moved the panhard bracket forward a tiny bit and tacked it yet again.

After seeing where the spring was in relation to the bump can and that end of the bracket, I marked a couple spots to hit with the grinder.

Rechecked clearance between the bolt head and drag link at max left turn. It's tight but it doesn't hit and it helped me on the other side near the spring.

 

[aztoyman]

I set the bump stop and tacked the can so it aligns with the shock and the spine of the tower. That and the tiny bit I ground off the bracket gives me clearance between the spring and the bump at max articulation. Finally! I was starting to get flustered.

 

[aztoyman]

I tacked the tower as close as possible to the brake booster. It takes some work to maneuver the booster just the right way to get it through the available space. It's tight. Fortunately a booster isn't typically a high maintenance item.

You can see how close the tower is to the bottom of the master cylinder.

I cut the hell out of the wheel wells based on the pictures I saw of the shock towers leaning out. It is great for access and definitely let's heat escape. I might make some rubber covers or something later?? Nothing I need to worry about now.

You can see the challenge I'm going to have running the steering shaft. Either through the tower if I have room or more u-joints around it. I have to get the other shock tower on before I tackle that.

 

[aztoyman]

I'm going to recheck the spring to tire clearance hopefully tomorrow. If it still hits, a thicker wheel spacer or a different offset wheel is the only fix. I can't get any tighter to the frame.

At least I'm starting to get somewhere.

 

[aztoyman]

I got the passenger side shock tower cut to fit and mirror the driver side tower.

It takes a while to whittle it down to size and to compensate for the slope in the frame rail. Also have to get the correct angle away from the engine and trim to match the angle on the bump can mount.

I used a bunch of my tools. 4 1/2" grinder with cut off wheels, grinding disc and sanding disk.

Air die grinders with cut off wheels and carbide burrs. Both straight and 90 degree grinders.

My air saw that I used regular hack saw blades in. The Chinese ones SUCK. I found a bunch of blades cleaning out my father's house. Made in USA in the 60's and 70's. Good stuff.

And a huge time saver is my belt sander attachment for my bench grinder.

It's a lot of angled surfaces to get right for the weld joints.

I measured from the radiator support back and from the side in to locate it the same as the driver side. Of course measured from frame up, front and rear of tower. Also used a digital angle finder app on my phone and matched it exactly front to back and tilt out.

You can see I'm going to have to make custom A/C hoses and/or hard lines to get around the tower. No biggie. I had to do it to put the 3.4 in the 88.

Hooked up the shock with one spring for a clearance check. I had to use a die grinder with a carbide burr on the bracket to get the bump can to sit at the proper angle before tacking it on.

Articulated the axle and everything looks good.

 

[aztoyman]

You've all heard me crying about having to cut my tack welds a lot just to move things a tiny bit. One of the first things the instruction says is to slow down and DON'T WELD ANYTHING until everything is tacked in place and you cycle everything and make sure all is well. What sucks is I can't finish weld the panhard bracket unless I cut off the bump cans to get to the back side. And I have to get the towers off to get to the back side of the bump cans. AND...I cant weld the driver side tower on until I get the steering shaft through it. Before I get the steering shaft on it I have to mount the steering box.

I know.............quit yer cryin Scott and keep moving along!!!

 

[aztoyman]

So I ran the axle up to the bottomed out bumps and then let it droop until I had 5" of shaft showing. Based on a 35" tire that puts my ride height at 26".

6" of shock (up-travel) would put me where my 88 is now. 27" from floor to bottom of frame below the cab. I'd like to be lower. Kind of tough for my old a$$ to be getting in and out. I have to put a milk crate down for my wife to get in and out. I know I know, quit yer cryin again.

How much up-travel is recommended? I street drive to to local trails. I trailer it on the longer trips. Not a jump truck, mainly a crawler.

 

[aztoyman]

So while I'm trying to decide on a ride height my next step is to put the axle up to the bumps and fabricate my engine mounts. I'm going to get it lower if possible. Maybe I can close the hood.

I took some measurements so I can get the drag link parallel to the panhard bar. I might have to cut the body mount to get the steering box forward enough. It's so close I might be able to "massage it" with a hammer for the room I need.

Once the engine mounts are welded in I'll get the steering box in and figure out the steering shaft through the tower.

After that I need to gusset the huge notch in the passenger frame rail.

Then cut all my tack welds so I can finish welding everything.

 

[gnob]

If it was easy everybody would be doing it.


In hindsight do you think doing a custom front frame section would have made any difference?
Although I can appreciate the packaging, it just seems to make it a little more of a pita than necessary?

 

[aztoyman]

gnob, doing a custom front frame section would have made it easier for the lower links to clear the bottom of the frame for sure. However, it does not solve the clearance to the oil pan, starter or slave cylinder. I can't go higher. My goal was to link my truck and keep it looking like a Toyota Pickup as much as possible. And save me all the pitfalls of designing my own link suspension. This is as "kit" as it gets.

I think fabbing a custom front frame section would have snowballed into a buggy build. I would have to cut the firewall to move the engine back. No firewall, no A/C or heater. I have to reel myself in enough on my projects. It's easy for a guy like me to get out of control if I don't. I'm older and wiser. Kinda....... Depends on who you ask.

 

[hiluxjeremy]

Sick build..."Just link it" they said...

 

[aztoyman]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I had kids and grandkids over so that was my priority. Today I just got out and tinkered a bit. Put tires on and cycled everything and just kinda looked things over. I did start making cardboard templates for the motor mounts. Maybe I'll get going on the mounts tomorrow.

I think I mentioned in the beginning that I would post up details of my 3 link install to hopefully help others that decide to link their truck. There just isn't much out there on the forums to fall back on. The instructions mention notching the passenger frame rail for more up travel which will allow a lower ride height. Brian also said he's trimmed the bottom hump off the lower frame rail so the lower links have more up travel as well. Other's mentioned having to cut the oil pan and modify it for more clearance or bend the upper link to clear the slave cylinder. So here's a couple things I found on my particular build. At least for a 2nd Gen pickup/1st Gen 4Runner using the OEM straight axle.

All these things DO work to gain up travel and a lower ride height. However, at least on my truck the brake booster and master cylinder end up being the limiting factor. I had to trim some height off the shock tower to fit under the master cylinder. So now the shock hits it's own bumps just about the same time the air bumps are starting to bottom. If the bumpers weren't on the shock shafts, the shock travel would stop about where the bumps bottom.

So I'm about as good as I can get. Cutting my oil pan and/or raising my engine and trimming the bottom of the frame WILL provide more clearance for the lower suspension components BUT........I can't take advantage of that room because as soon as I put my shocks on, the up travel is limited by the shocks. And that's because of the shock tower position on MY truck. I don't think I can get a wheel offset that would give me enough room to get the towers leaning out far enough to clear the M/C and booster. I'd like a lower ride height but, there's too much work for too little gained. An inch or so more? I've done as much as I'm willing to do with the parts I have and the look I'm trying to achieve. It's going to be a HUGE improvement over my leaf springs.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere but, maybe a wider axle is the answer for a lower ride height??? A wider axle should allow the upper shock mounting position to be tilted out away from the master cylinder and booster. Tilting it out should allow a higher mount position for the shock. More shock up travel lets you take advantage of all the trimming you did. I would think the wider axle would keep the tires off the springs. Notice that I said "should" I can't verify this without trying it out myself. Just something to consider if any of you are thinking about this kit. 1st Gen Tacoma width maybe?

Also with the OEM axle my tires hit the lower links at full turn. I have 1.5" wheel spacers to match the IFS width rear axle and 15" x 8" width steel wheels with 4" back spacing. (35/12.50-15 BFG KM3 tires)

My next set of wheels will be 3.5" backspacing.

 

[aztoyman]

I didn't get much time to work on it today. I did manage to cut out my motor mount pieces from some 1/4" flat bar. Tacked them together and bolted them to the engine mounts. I guess they're actually pedestals for the mounts. I didn't weld them to the frame yet. If I have room to lower the engine at all, I will. I can just trim them to size.

 

[aztoyman]

I didn't get much time on it today. I did accomplish getting my steering box in position and the outside bolt holes drilled. I'm going to reinforce the inside corner of the frame rail so I'll drill the inside holes and sleeve them another time. I'll have better access when the engine is out and I finish weld everything.

Just for reference. At ride height, looking from front to rear, the drag link MUST be parallel to the panhard bar.

Looking from the top down, the drag link should be parallel to the tie rod with wheels pointed straight ahead and steering box centered.

Once I got it I clamped it to the frame and cycled the suspension. Max up both sides, max articulation left and right and full turns both directions. Nothing should touch that isn't supposed to.

I put the steering column in place so I can figure out how I'm going to get a steering shaft in. Looks like my best option is to route it through the shock tower. I'll do that when the engine is out for better access.

I can't have these long winded posts without pics so here's a pic.

 

[aztoyman]

Another day with not much time to work on Frankenstein. I decided to see if I can trim the motor mount pedestals and lower the engine enough to avoid cutting the hood.

So I cut the bracing under the hood first. It's got to come out hood scoop or not.

 

[aztoyman]

I had the engine sitting on a piece of angle that was tack welded across the frame rails. I fabricated the pedestals at this position. They had no weight on the rubber mounts yet so I rigged the engine crane, cut the tacks and pulled the angle. I set the engine down on the mounts and no change. I thought it might compress the rubber. Good thing it didn't. At max stuff I only have 1/4" between the panhard bar and the oil pan. It's perfect where it is.

Here's how close the hood is to closing.

 

[aztoyman]

So my options are body lift, no thanks.

Trim oil pan to lower engine. Nope, Too much work and I'd have to also bend the upper link to clear the slave cylinder.

Hood scoop is my choice. Now I have to decide on what scoop.

 

[gnob]

The little BL sure makes those upper bell bolts easy