Builds Canguro Racing's Monica (1 Viewer)

[Tommy Dwyer]

We align the truck to OEM specs. When @onesprung60 was still in Utah he did the alignment at his training facility. Now we use a local tire shop that we have a relationship with do mount our tires and align the truck.

That’s interesting. Reason I ask, is when I installed my new suspension I stayed with the OEM upper control arms. The dealership here (who is actually pretty good) did my alignment. Truck drives great, but there’s enough of a positive camber that it’s noticeable by sight. When I asked, they “claimed” it was as close as they could get. I don’t have outrageous lift on the front...OME Nitrocharger Sport with 2702 coils....
Im sure you guys are running way more lift in the front, any ideas to get it closer? Different alignment shop maybe?

 

[dmc]

That’s interesting. Reason I ask, is when I installed my new suspension I stayed with the OEM upper control arms. The dealership here (who is actually pretty good) did my alignment. Truck drives great, but there’s enough of a positive camber that it’s noticeable by sight. When I asked, they “claimed” it was as close as they could get. I don’t have outrageous lift on the front...OME Nitrocharger Sport with 2702 coils....
Im sure you guys are running way more lift in the front, any ideas to get it closer? Different alignment shop maybe?

I'll see if I can get WIll to post up and talk specifics. Most of our height comes from the body lift. We are probably near the limit for acceptable positive camber but as we rarely drive on pavement we don't notice the squirrlyness of it very often.

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

I'll see if I can get WIll to post up and talk specifics. Most of our height comes from the body lift. We are probably near the limit for acceptable positive camber but as we rarely drive on pavement we don't notice the squirrlyness of it very often.

Thanks. Mine is ever so slight, and drives fine. When I read you used stock control arms I was just curious how you managed it.

 

[dmc]

Thanks. Mine is ever so slight, and drives fine. When I read you used stock control arms I was just curious how you managed it.

I sent a text to Will. He's going to try to respond today. I helped him do the alignment one time and I know it took some effort to get it right. Hopefully he he has some insights.

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

I sent a text to Will. He's going to try to respond today. I helped him do the alignment one time and I know it took some effort to get it right. Hopefully he he has some insights.

Great! Will be very interested to hear what was involved. Thanks!

 

[onesprung60]

Thanks. Mine is ever so slight, and drives fine. When I read you used stock control arms I was just curious how you managed it.

Hello Tommy,

I am willing to bet Monica's actual suspension lift is a similar height to yours. Obviously the springs/shocks are very different, but the control arm angle/position is likely close. With stock upper/lower control arms we have about 1 degree positive camber; which is slight but also noticeable by sight. Positive camber is not ideal, but as good as we can get it within the limitations of stock class racing.

When I have aligned it in the past I get camber as low as possible and then adjust caster to be the same on both sides, usually about a degree positive camber and a degree positive caster. If we could modify things further I would love to get about -1 degree camber and a couple degrees positive caster, which should be well within the adjustability of aftermarket upper control arms.

I would take a drive in a truck with adjustable upper control arms, you may be surprised how much of a difference it makes. Well worth the investment in my opinion.

Good luck, let me know if I can provide any additional clarification.

 

[Tommy Dwyer]

Hello Tommy,

I am willing to bet Monica's actual suspension lift is a similar height to yours. Obviously the springs/shocks are very different, but the control arm angle/position is likely close. With stock upper/lower control arms we have about 1 degree positive camber; which is slight but also noticeable by sight. Positive camber is not ideal, but as good as we can get it within the limitations of stock class racing.

When I have aligned it in the past I get camber as low as possible and then adjust caster to be the same on both sides, usually about a degree positive camber and a degree positive caster. If we could modify things further I would love to get about -1 degree camber and a couple degrees positive caster, which should be well within the adjustability of aftermarket upper control arms.

I would take a drive in a truck with adjustable upper control arms, you may be surprised how much of a difference it makes. Well worth the investment in my opinion.

Good luck, let me know if I can provide any additional clarification.

Thanks @onesprung60 , I appreciate the explanation. And yes, aftermarket UCA’s are probably in my future. When I installed the new suspension/ lift on my truck, I was after a low maintenance, no muss no fuss setup. No external reservoirs, rebuilding every 30k miles, or lubing UCA’s. My off-road travels are not aggressive, definitely not bombing through Baja endeavors. And if I’m honest with myself I was trying to save a few bucks as well. At any rate, I was just curious how you guys approached it, now I know! Thanks again for the input, and thanks @dmc for bringing @onesprung60 into the conversation. Much appreciated!

 

[dmc]

Another successful race today

 

[dmc]

odd. the photo didn't post. let me try again. Driving home from the race and have a week signal. We took 2nd this weekend against a dozen or so very fast vehicle. Toyota reliability once again gets it done.

 

[dmc]

odd. the photo didn't post. let me try again. Driving home from the race and have a week signal. We took 2nd this weekend against a dozen or so very fast vehicle. Toyota reliability once again gets it done.

 

[NickInTheValley]

Congratulations!

 

[Sandroad]

odd. the photo didn't post. let me try again. Driving home from the race and have a week signal. We took 2nd this weekend against a dozen or so very fast vehicle. Toyota reliability once again gets it done.

Well, yes reliability, but backed up by some of the best mechanics on the planet. You guys are pretty good.

 

[dmc]

Well, yes reliability, but backed up by some of the best mechanics on the planet. You guys are pretty good.

I think that might be some hyperbole. On the planet? That's saying a lot. I do think we race very aggressively within the limits of our vehicle and do so much better than other teams. The Jackpot course is a very fast one except for 2 extremely rough rocky sections. Our second ever race was at Jackpot and our confidence/ignorance got to us that race and we ripped the rear control arm off our Class 5. We've learned what Monica can do and all of the drivers know when to push and when to show patience. We haven't seen the official times yet but had we raced without pitting we might have won the overall. We had 3 drivers over the 7 laps and threw Marc's son in for the last lap so we made 3 pit stops when we probably could have gotten away with 1 to add a can of fuel. But the beauty of the small local races is that we can have a low stress race and put a teenager in as a co-driver.

 

[tabraha]

Awesome results again! Keep up the good work.

You guys seem to find success much in the way Porsche has dominated endurance racing. You don't have to be THE fastest, you have to fast but with reliability/durability.

 

[TeCKis300]

Still amazing that Monica is trucking along this many years after her build with durability and reliability.

What major components are still original? I think last I had understood, the motor is still original? What about transmission and transfer case? Axle housing?

 

[dmc]

Still amazing the Monica is trucking along this many years after her build with durability and reliability.

What major components are still original? I think last I had understood, the motor is still original? What about transmission and transfer case? Axle housing?

Motor, trans, tcase are original. We had to replace the rear axle housing a couple of years ago as it had bent and we couldn't get the rear diff to seal. We've replaced the radiator as well. We got a rolling chassis with the truck so we've had a lot of spare parts we can use. Front diff has been an issue. Lots of leaking and some teeth breaking off. We replaced the stock bushing mounts with solid mounts and we think that has fixed the issue. (we did solid motor mounts as well.) We've gone back and forth between 4:88s and stock gears. Right now we're running OEM gears and housings and had a nice long run with no issues. All suspension links front and rear have been replaced at least once a year. Usually as we prep for the 1000. Drivelines have been replaced once that I can remember after the splines got a little to much slop in them. @cruiseroutfit can probably add more insight. The only other thing I can think of us the unibearings. We've replaced the front and rear a couple of times.

 

[TeCKis300]

Original driveline. Impressive!

Interesting to hear that you've been going between stock 3.9 and 4.88 gears, running 37s? I just swapped in a Tundra front diff with 4.3s. Probably not anymore durable than the original cruise front diff as they look to be almost exactly the same. But perhaps that's a possibility of another optimization?

 

[dmc]

Original driveline. Impressive!

Interesting to hear that you've been going between stock 3.9 and 4.88 gears, running 37s? I just swapped in a Tundra front diff with 4.3s. Probably not anymore durable than the original cruise front diff as they look to be almost exactly the same. But perhaps that's a possibility of another optimization?

The truck performs much better with 4:88s but we had some reliability issues with them. Not sure if it was additional stress or the gears themselves but because of it we decided to go back to OEM. the 4:30s would be a great option. As more people start modding 16+ we might be able to find a used set to test them out.

 

[TeCKis300]

Any chance you have a pic of Monica's body chop to fit 37s?

Gotta think the clearances are pretty tight there with such a large tire.

 

[dmc]

Any chance you have a pic of Monica's body chop to fit 37s?

Gotta think the clearances are pretty tight there with such a large tire.

I won't see Monica for a couple of weeks but I'll see what I have for pics. Technically we aren't allowed to cut the body up. We have a 3" body lift and have trimmed 2" out of the front fender opening. Those are the limits allowed by class rules. However we've removed all fender liners, brackets, etc to give us as much room as possible. We do have to run a plate wheel spacer to keep the tires off the UCA ball joint.