Project DD moonlighting as trail rig

[Senor_Taylor]

Jeeps have a way shorter wheelbase than my truck, you can get away with way more.

I run good lines and have good spotters. I've never high center on rocks or anything, I high center on the mounds up in GWNF.

I don't see the issue in me upgrading my broken suspension with higher quality parts? I'm only lifting the rear 2 1/4" and the front 2 3/4"

I need better bumper clearance so I can actually approach half of the stuff I want to.

[Kaan]

are you longer than a JKU? (thats a stock rubicon btw)


maybe its different for toyotas... but spotting has nothing to do with high centering lol... that just means your wheelbase and/or lift werent enough. here is the JKU and how steep the "hill" is:


still cleared by he had to alter his line slightly at the end for the break over.


you dont want to bang stuff, hang up shock mounts, smash diff covers, etc. thats the stuff that will take you off trail (and put a hole in your skid plate and dents in your crossmember). here is an LJ with 3.5 inches of lift and 33s on pizza rock at RC... he's maybe an inch from getting up. he was spotted on and pulled off... zero damage (no the JKUs didnt try it lol)


its not that jeeps can get away with more, because the JKUs are long, the LJs are long... when you drive something with a long wheel base you need to be more aware of your break angles, but they all need to do that. you need to learn where all your tires are at all times... your lines need to take into account where your rear tires will be

also, what you did the trip before and what you can do this trip change... weather can really wear down a trail/obstacle... that LJ used to be able to get up pizza rock

[Kaan]

your 2.5ish inch lift... what tires will that allow you to run? 31s aired down turn into 28s lol

[Senor_Taylor]

More like 33s aired down to 31s as opposed to the 30s I'm running now.

Little confused on why you're against the lift.

My wheelbase is still like 10 inches longer than a 4dr rubicon. And on top of that, I have like 2 feet of bed that sticks out past it.

[Kaan]

i'm not against a lift, i'm just saying its not a huge need. it might help you not bang up so much stuff but i think you need a better skid plate! sylvia has put the weight of her whole jeep on her skid plate and it looks like a door ding lol.

the internet tells me the taco is 5ish inches longer. and with all that bed sticking out the back end there is no wonder guys remove the bed and tube it up. what you have hanging off the back hurts your dismounts mostly. it also explains why "most" toyota builds are more "overland" style and not "trail rigs"

[Senor_Taylor]

I was off on my guess-timate,

Yeah, the plan is eventually to get a RTT and make it an overland vehicle. I love camping, so it's perfect.

These parts needed to be fixed, so I bought upgraded parts.

The skids have worked for now, and are very expensive, but they're next after wheels and tires.

Too bad I just finished my freshmen year and have no money I'm working my ass off this summer to try and get money for wheels and tires and start the Miata fund.

[Maengelito]

Bilsteins in the front actually have an adjustable spring seat. So you can choose what amount of lift you want from 0 -3", so the front is handled...Later upgrading to Eibach lift springs

Wait wait wait... What's this deal about lifting with shocks.. but you're going to use stock springs? :dunno:

Is there a problem with this? It's a very common setup on Tacomas.

I'm not an offroad guy so maybe its different but on cars, the ride height is controlled by the springs. Shocks don't hold the weight of the car so its not possible to "lift" the car with shocks. I'm not sure how it'd be different on a truck. :dunno:

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah, it's different with these bilstiens. They actually called lift shocks. I'm putting everything on today. I'll post lots of pictures. You'll see.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Basically the adjustable spring seat is on the lower body of the shock which is directly connected to the LCA. So if you raise the seat up, it lifts the spring higher away from the LCA. I'll have some steep control arm angles, but I'll worry about that farther down the road.

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[Jake]

Basically the adjustable spring seat is on the lower body of the shock which is directly connected to the LCA. So if you raise the seat up, it lifts the spring higher away from the LCA.

I think I can visualize how this works. And you need shocks with longer travel because you're adjusting that perch, to make the same spring push the body higher, correct?

[Kaan]

so you are actually lifting with adjustable spring perches and not the shocks.

[V1GiLaNtE]

The skids have worked for now, and are very expensive, but they're next after wheels and tires.

I guess I'll add my 2cent but destroying a oil pan or transfer case on the trail and trying to get that bitch home is going to cost you a shiton more in time and money than those wheels and tires. You can cut corners on tires by picking up half tread from somebody upgrading.

BUT

You're gonna wish you're not running those junk stock skids the first time you think you can go run blacks with that lift and honestly.. You're probably gonna bang the fuck out of it even with a lift if you're not being guided or picking good lines.... That is personally, one of the scariest sounds on earth when you hear rock contact metal and you know you're running naked or shit stock protection...

[V1GiLaNtE]

Basically the adjustable spring seat is on the lower body of the shock which is directly connected to the LCA. So if you raise the seat up, it lifts the spring higher away from the LCA. I'll have some steep control arm angles, but I'll worry about that farther down the road.

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Please, correct me if I'm wrong but this setup sounds like you're down travel is going to be severely limited by CA's before you're ever able to fully utilize that delicious bilstein shock length?

Is this setup a focus on up travel since you CA mounts are now at a steeper angle?

Will the stock spring compress too much before you can even utilize the rest of the upward travel of the shock? I'm assuming that's why you need "lift" springs.

[Senor_Taylor]

Up travel is improved, down travel is lessened due to the control ams maxing out. Really no gain in suspension travel net, but it'll allow me to run larger tires.

None of this matters because this isn't why I'm putting these parts on. Everything was broken, so why not upgrade when I replace? The adjustable bilsteins are just to have me sitting level until I can get Eibach lift springs.

Met people today 45 minutes from my house to have a mod day. Got on Tacoma done, the second guy in line had to leave, so we started on mine.

EVERY. THING. WAS. RUSTED.

Ended up cutting so many bolts. Now I have to buy some bolts from Toyota tomorrow and hopefully drive out there and finish.

Got the front done, but not the rear, which is disassembled right now.







Just the front installed



Current disaster area

[Senor_Taylor]

Went to Toyota to get the new bolts and it turns out that I have to buy the entire shackle assembly to get it. Which will be $200 for both sides and won't be here until Tuesday.

So, it rained all day on Saturday. I didn't bother trying to get someone to drive me 45 minutes out to this dude's house so I could attempt to fix it. I hop on to TacomaWorld and look at the thread for our Central VA group at 4 AM and the guy said he had worked all day in the rain and managed to get everything back together! He sent this picture!



Holy balls, does it look good. But I still need to get new shackles. As you can see, it's pretty sketchy looking the way he got it together. I'm going to go pick this up and get it home at least. Order some aftermarket greasable shackles, which are half the price of OEM ones. Then I'll install them, along with my BPV bracket and extended brake line in the safety of my own driveway. I can't thank this guy enough. Doing leaves is AT LEAST a 2 man job and he did it himself. Crazy. What a great guy.

Here's some more pictures he posted.







Here's the shackles I'll probably buy. I don't plan on driving my truck at all until I get these installed. The stock ones look really unsafe. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://trdparts4u.toyotaofdallas.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=-8230">http://trdparts4u.toyotaofdallas.com/sc ... duct=-8230</a><!-- m -->

[Kaan]

it was probably his wife/mom telling him you cant have half busted trucks stuck on the lift!

you owe that guy a bottle of the finest booze... all day in the rain is never fun, especially when its not your rig.

The truck is looking good. i'd skip tires (unless they are crapping out) and go with armor next. at least in the jeep world armor makes the trail a lot more tolerable and forgiving.

[Senor_Taylor]

Very true.

The tires don't look as stupid as I thought they would, so yeah, I'll be looking at skids next. I guess the Miata fund is going to be non-existent this summer.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Lookin good! How's it ride?

[Senor_Taylor]

Just got home from picking it up from Brandon. I'm astounded by the ride quality. Amazing. So smooth. No axle wrap under accelerating and braking. Doesn't feel like it's going to flip in turns. Shifts are way smoother because of a more solid driveline. Amazing amazing amazing.

I can actually push the old shocks all the way in by hand, and also use my hands and bend the old leaves completely flat. This rides like a completely new truck!

I won't be driving it until I get the new shackles, and I'll go ahead put the extended brake line on, and the BPV bracket when I get it So happy. I can't believe I was actually driving around with a busted suspension that was as bad as that was. The difference is night and day. Best $1000 I've ever spent.

I'll post before and after pics later.

[Senor_Taylor]

Lookin good! How's it ride?

Amazing. Better than half of the car I've ever ridden in. Amazing amazing. I'm so happy.