Thread: 4x4 dbl cab tacoma build

I have this on TTORA but figured I'll put it on here too for more input.

11/16/09

my new truck

I had orginally bought a tacoma xtra cab prerunner (my first truck) thinking I'd never really drive offroad and would never need 4wd. After getting the truck I actually took it offroad and loved it. I built a pretty ghetto bolt on bumper for it and made it mid travel up front but the 2wd wasn't cutting it rock crawling. I traded that truck in and got a 4wd double cab. I got a double cab because I always read about people selling their 2 door trucks when they had a family and need to fit a child seat in and what not, plus its cool having friends along.

My goal is to have a sweet ass truck that I can offroad on trails and in the dunes but still be functional because it is my DD and I use the bed frequently for work. This is my first build and I'm going to try and make this thread someone else on their first build can use. Anyway, here are my plans for the truck...


Suspension-
Front:
Camburg LT kit , Custom Upper Arm
Fox 10" Dual Rate Coilovers
Fox 10" Triple Bypass
Fox Bumps 2.5" shortened to 2"

Rear:
Ford 9" Full Floater. Cone Hubs
(31 spline, detroit locker, 5.29 gears,seal #417349, o-ring 2-223 2-243)
Willwood Ulta-Lite calipers, .81 x 12.188 Rotors
All Pro 50T PAck w/ 12" Richer Racing shackles
Outboard 16" triple bypass
Fox Bumps 4"- shortened to 3"

Fabrication-
Bumper
Front Diff Mount Protective Crossmember
Hitch
Front diff Skid
Engine Cage
Roll Cage
Boxed in Frame
Spare Tire Carrier

Other
Glassworks 6.5" Front fenders
Glassworks 6" Rear Fenders
Magnaflow Muffler
Mickey Thompson Classic II powdercoated Black
Sliders
Front Tundra Brake Upgrade
Supercharger
2 Kragen HIDs
Remote Tranny Cooler
Ammo Cans


Here is a list of some links I used as reference on my build
Front LT installation
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/ar....jsp?id=186292
Rear Suspension:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/viewarticle.php?id=37
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=85240
Manual Proportioning Valve:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/ar...removing-lspv/
Service Manual:
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/index.html
Mounting shocks outside of frame:
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=88249
OBD Codes:
http://www.ttora.com/wiki/index.php/OBDII_Trouble_Codes
Rear shock angle:
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64624
Steering rack bushing replacement:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/mainte...ering_bushing/
Tundra brake conversion:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthrea...ake+conversion
Tire Carrier:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthrea...light=TIREGATE
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum...carrier&page=2

Notes:
Front Coilover
500/650
70 compression, 50 Rebound

Front Bypass
100 compression, 70 Rebound

Rear Bypass
90 compression, 70 Rebound

7/11/09
Here's a few pics of my bumper build. Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics. I wanted to tie my skid plate to the diff skid but I would have lost some clearance the way I was planning on doing it so I'm just going to do them seperate. The tube that protects the radiator is .120 DOM and the rest is thin wall chromoly. I wanted the bumper to be able to crunch if I get in an accident for saftey reasons and also because I'd rather have my bumper give than my frame.

11/7/09
I mounted 6.5" Glassworks fenders this weekend in preparation for LT next weekend and the came out pretty good however it was a lot more shaping and sanding than I had imagined. I couldn't get the stock mounting for the turn signal to work in the new ones. It only mounts using that screw from the top of the headlight and a bracket that comes off the side of the headlight. How are you guys doing it? i also put in a magna flow exhaust and it sounds pretty good


pretty goofy looking w/ stock width


from this


to this


welds came out pretty good but Im not baller enough to weld while I walk around it so I had to start and stop a bunch of times

11/13/09
I got all my parts in for LT (thank you poly pro). I got the Camburg LT kit and was originally going to go w/ SAW shocks but I couldn't get them in by friday so I switched to FOX (Im inpatient). I also got the total chaos spindle gussets. I started the install friday afternoon and worked til about midnight but only got this far:

I didn't have the correct size socket to take out my CV's or get the lower ball joint back in. Also, the upper arms weren't tapped for the zerk fittings so I thought I had to tap them before I could move on. I ran around all of saturday morning searching for the right tap only to find out the fittings go in without having to tap the holes. There were absolutely no instructions for the camburg kit so I didn't know. I worked all of Sat and half of sunday and limped my way to an alignment shop. The tires were squealing everytime my wheel wasnt completely straight. here are some pics from the install:



ball joint tool haha

I got tired of the ball joint moving while I was trying to press it out

spindle gusset

LT vs stock

bump

droop

Poser pic

I also Upgraded my brakes to the tundra S13WL. I had to grind my lower are because the rotors were hitting them. I painted blue with duplicolor caliper paint. It actually matches my rings pretty close

clearance after grinding


Booya

11/28/10
This week I trimmed my fenders so they wouldnt rub at bump. I relocated my windshield wiper fluid pump higher so it wouldn't get destroyed and put my stock bumps on the frame until I got actual bumps stops. Lastly, I made gussets to go on the outside of my spindle. I heard they were weak so I decided to reinforce it before I broke it.

Before:


After:



Bump stops:

I drilled and tapped the frame and they screwed right in. M10-1.25

Spindle Gussets

templates


plasma cut then grinded


Welded on and painted


There's just enough room to get an end wrench in there

1/4/10
I received some parts. still waiting on the bypasses and steering rack bushing kit

I found the shocks I need on dezertrangers today used and a bunch cheaper than the ones I just ordered so I canceled my order and picked them up after work. Since I am putting the shocks on the outside of the frame I was a little worried that they were piggyback and not resi because the overall width is bigger. The width of the shock in the orientation I need it is just under 5", the gap between my frame and tire is just under 4", and I am adding 3" per side with the tundra axle. That leaves about 2" extra. I will probably favor the frame side since the tire will move closer on articulation. Here are the shocks


I also took off my bed and made some sweet temporary mud flaps to make the popos happy.



Here is the clearance on the stock axle so imagine this but with 3 extra inches

1/11/10
I did a ton of work this weekend. My parents let me borrow their car for a week so I took that oppurtunity to decommision my truck. I started off by welding in a temporary crossmember,taking out my spare tire crossmember, and pulling the gas tank. From there I started boxing the frame. I ended up doing in three pieces because it made it a ton easier. I've only done 2/3 of each side because I have to wait to take out the gas tank crossmember to keep my frame from springing. I made cardboard templates and got the CNC plasma cut out of 1/8" plate. Here's a few pics

I tacked it in place then ground the edges to make it flush with the frame before I welded

One section welded up


After that I had to cut off stock brackets and I ended up having to cut off my sliders because they mounted right were the front spring hanger needed to go. Im going to tuck them in tighter when I put them back on

Cutting out brackets


From there I started locating the spring hangers and shackle mount. I took the length of the spring from the hole where the axle mounts to the front eye to get a rough locating measurement (something like 28" i think). I took that measurement to go from the stock bump bracket on the frame to the eye of the hanger. I tacked the front hanger then used the magic 52.5" to located the rear. I have F67's and a 12" TC shackle FYI. I cycled the leaf to see where the axle mount would be at bump. It ended up being .25" too far forward so I moved it back. I also remounted the rear shackle at 52.5625 to give a little more clearance between the leaf and the bottom of the frame at bump. To get the location of the other front hanger I copied the measurements from the back of the frame and also from a random hole towards the front of the frame. I got it to within a 1/32", I think that should be okay. I tried using the cab mount to locate it but I found out that they were actually 1/16th off of each other. Everything cycles really good but I ended up forgetting to get the travel numbers after all that haha. Here's a few pics

Spring at bump

Spring under its own weight (the frame sprung in a little after I removed the bumper and hitch) The shackle will be centered once I get a crossmember back in there

Shackle at bump (I think the bottom of my frame is bent a little)

Both springs in



I'm pretty happy with all the progress I made this week. I only ran into a few minor problems. I didn't know that the shackles didn't run parallel to each other. The mount to the frame is wider than the leafs and the shackles were on upside down so there were massive gaps at the bushings. I also wasn't expecting to have to cut off the sliders. I'm picking up my rear axle from getting a trusset at the Truck Shop today so I'll be able to cycle it with an axle and check my clearance for the shocks. I also need to get a new welder to weld all the thicker stuff. Everything is just tacked now.

1/11-1/17
I did a ton of work over the last week. I was hoping to be done by today but I'll definitely have to carpool this week. Here are some pics of the progress

Center crossmember added. I plated the frame with 3/16" where they meet. I'm going to add some gussets soon

The end of the frame sprung in when I took off the bumper so I straightened it using a bottle jack

Crossmembers in and painted. The back crossmember is just a temporary one until I figure out what I want to do for the rear bumper and spare tire carrier

I decided to notch the frame to make a little extra room for the shock. I used 3/16" on the outside, top, and bottom, and then 1/8" on the inside. I took out about 1"




To find out where I needed to mount my shock I drew two arcs on a board by putting a sharpie through the eye of the shock. The blue arc is the compressed length of the shock (+.5" so it wouldn't bottom out) drawn with the axle at bump and the red arc is the extended length (-.5" so the shock would over extend) drawn with the axle at full droop. the green arrow indicates where they intersect and where I need to mount the shock

Checking for clearance on articulation



There is a ton of room which sucks because I ordered custom shocks last week

I made the shock hoop from 1.75" .120 wall DOM. I plated the frame where they meet with 3/16" plate. I plan for the shock to come up directly under the hoop and plate the sides



I got the limit straps mounted as well




I still have a lot to do before it's drivable but I'm hoping to have it there by this weekend.

1/25/10
my new shocks:

I wanted to have the resi come out of the top cap but FOX said they didn't perform as well

2/01/10
My truck is driveable again!
I decided to regear the front right away so my truck was an entire mess from front to back haha. It was completely on cinder blocks.


The powdercoat load came out pretty good. its pretty close to the fox blue, just a hair darker


While I had the front apart I also did the bumps and straps. It came out alright but I'm definitely going to have to shorten the stroke from 2.5 to ~1.75 because the bumps hit way too early




I finished my bedcage. It should tuck up pretty tight once my bed is back on and it shouldn't stick past my wheel wells


I decided to change up the crossmembers a bit haha


for those wondering how Im gonna get my bed back on my plan is to have the front seperate from the bottom and sides so I can slide the front section in between the cage and cab and the other section will slide in from the back. If I do it this way I'll be able to take my bed on and off fairly easy

Here's a pick of my pinion angle with the shortened dshaft. Im glad after all the work it took me to find it it actually lines up

Rear bump

Rear end finally getting put back together


I got it all put back together at about 3am sunday morning but the brakes were super soft and I couldn't make it better by bleeding it. I took it to express tire and they just kept bleeding the rear a load and it finally got better. It still doesn't feel 100% so I may try some more. I got to do some test driving and the truck feels amazing. The rear shocks are tuned for a buggy and they are super soft so I'm really only feeling the travel numbers but just that makes a world of difference. On the freeway it drives awesome, absolutely no vibrations. The amount of body roll is ridiculous and I think it is because of the shock valving being off but I dont want to deal with that until I get my new shocks. The ride hieght is also really low, I only have about 8" of uptravel with 9" droop. I'd like to have my truck sit about an inch higher in the rear so i guess the solution is to get the leafs rearched. All in all I am extremely happy with how the rear turned out

2/7/10

2/22/10
Added Lights with a ridiculous switch. I put it where my diff locker switch used to be. They're semi-temporary until I make a light rack above the windshield




I got the bed mounted. Still have almost all my bed space which is exaclty what I was aiming for.




Looks goofy without bedsides but they are supposedly going to be finished by 1st week of march

Now that the bed is mounted I can have a better idea of how the tire carrier is going to mounted. I'm gonna start that this weekend.

2/23/10
Received some parts today

3/04/10
I got my shocks in last week. They look like theyre going to work great but the only thing is the resi's are massive. I'm going to put them in this weekend and I also want to move my lower mounting points outwards to give more clearance at the frame

side view


I got my sliders back on last week as well as my remote tranny cooler and filter. It actually ended up fitting in my bedcage perfect


Tranny Cooler

Here's a quick write-up on what I did.



From the tranny to the radiator is just a stock line with no modification except adding a sending unit. I used a tee with 3/8" barb fittings to adapt to the 10mm hose.
From the radiator to the filter I used a 3/8" tranny oil hose. It went right on to the 10mm nipple coming out of the radiator and I had a 3/8" barb coming out of the filter.
From the filter to the cooler is just hose and the auto switch just taps into a fitting
From the cooler to the tranny I basically flipped the old line that went from the tranny to the radiator and added more hose. it wasn't the cleanest way but definitely the easiest
That sums up the plumbing. I pretty much used barb fittings and hose clamps everywhere. Pics below

Mounting of the Cooler

Filter

Sending Unit

I wanted an Ignition on so I couldn't forget any of my accesories on. Here's how I did it
I did the Cig lighter mod to always keep them one which left and ignition on power source open. The blue wire is for the cig mod and the red is my power source. I ran the wire from there to inside my cab to a relay


Here is the relay. It has two switches so I put my lights on one and use the other to run everything else


From the relay I added this terminal strip to add my fan, gauges, and whatever else from

3/28/10
I got my gauges mounted with a pillar pod from lotek. I accidentally ordered the wrong color but I just spray painted it and it came out pretty good


I got my bedsides from glassworks. I'm very happy with the fit but I'll have to trim them to get a better departure angle



Had a little too much fun and tore up two of my rims. hopefully I can just replace the rings and they will look new again

5/12/10
I got a few small updates. I added a barrier for the shocks so stuff if the bed wont hit them. It's thinner gauge but I reinforced it with some round stock. I also added a few attachement points for tie downs.




Best mod I did to my truck



After I went through 2 sunpro guages I went with autometer and its been going strong


And a few pics from my trip down to baja




I'm hoping to paint and start my tire carrier in June

6/1/10
I got some more updates. I rebuilt my leaf springs (cleaned, painted, and replaced pads and center bolt), replaced my shackle bushings, put in a disconnect switch for the battery, cut my bedsides cause they were dragging all the time, and built a rear bumper. Here are some pics.










I got all the pieces cnc plasma cut out of 3/16", soo much more convenient. The holes were originally going to be for dimple dies but it was too thick so I just plugged it up. I still need to trim the width of the bent tube and I'm going to throw a hitch down there and add a bunch of tube diagonals. I'm still planning on doing the spare tire deal but I'm not going to have enough time before the weekend. It makes me want to redo my front now with the horn style

6/30/10
I finally have some updates!
First off, I've been feeling some weird vibrations drving around and I tried telling myself that it's just because I have an offroad truck but yesterday it was pretty bad so I decided to take a look under and found this

one bolt missing, two over half way out, and the last hand tight. Yikes. I replaced the bolt and loctited the crap out of them and now it drives fine

Now to updates. I got my tire carrier built. It's a little different than my previous concepts but I like it and it should work well




It's just resting on my bed as of now but it will eventually sit on a crossmember once I cut the bed. After that the tires will sit much lower. It definitely makes a huge difference having that weight back there.

I made a skid for the jack which mates up with the tire carrier. I made a spinner (super cheap) to hold it down. There's a teather with a lock that keeps anyone from stealing it and also keeps the spinner from coming loose



Lastly, I added some ammo cans. They just mount to the hoops. I modified the closing mech so I could use this part to lock it: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053
It's pretty nice not having my tool box at the feet of the passenger seats

9/1/10
I'm finally getting around to post my updates

I made a crossmember to protect my dif mounts. It got bashed on the passenger side the first time I went out and it held up fine. you can see where the tube is smashed in


I put some holes in my front skid plate and my trannys running a lot cooler now


And for the two big finales
paint

and all pro 50t's


all pro's vs my beat up F67's


I have 9" of uptravel now vs sitting on my bumpstops. It rides soo much better
I also changed my front springs to 700's and revalved my shocks to make the compression stiffer. That also makes a world of difference. I'm going to baja this weekend to test it all out

9/10/10
Converted my drums to discs using my front calipers
Here's the Bracket I used
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...ers-p-413.html

I ran into a few problems. When I turned down the axle flange I used a tundra rotor to mock it up so when I went to put it together there wasn't enough material taken off so I had to take it back. The holes for the calipers on the bracket were off so I had to drill out the caliper holes a little bigger. I had to grind down the back of the axle housing flange because it had ridges that hit the bracket. I used all my stock brake lines and just put some loops in the hardlines to squeeze it all in


Here is what needs to be turned down. This is an after shot


I removed the dust shield cause it wouldn't fit in the lathe otherwise. I had to replace the wheel bearings anyway so that wasn't a big deal


These are the ridges that had it be ground down. they were pretty small but it made the bracket sit crooked if I left them


I ground a fillet to avoid the ridges too


Bracket sitting in place

My camera died so there are a few steps I skipped

Installed




My pedal feels soft but I can still lock brakes. I have a tundra brakes up front so maybe the master cylinder is underpowered? It's not really a problem right now so I wont worry about it until later

PS the caliper is were it is because the housing has a boss for the ABS at the top

I also made a switch to disable ABS when I offroad. I don't have an elocker anymore since I swapped to a tundra axle with LSD. To do it I wired the switch between the red/black and black/red wires on the locker connector


These guys

I finally got around to wiring my tranny gauge to the dash lights. My gauge is an autometer one and it only had one wire to connect for the dimmer. I connected it to the white/green wire that comes off the dimmer switch connector. sorry no pics on this one

9/13/10
I added a 2 lb residual vavle this weekend and my brakes feel almost 100%. I have my prop valve fully closed (less brake in the rear) and they lock just a hair before the front but theres not much I can do about that. Its pretty crazy that the vavle was fully open when I had the drums


Here is the residual vavle connected to the proportional valve

Here are my brake lines. It's not pretty but it works until I get some custom ones made

The tee

you can see the stock flex line going to the stock hard line.

Links to hardware
http://polyperformance.com/shop/Resi...e-p-18853.html

http://polyperformance.com/shop/Wilw...alve-p-72.html

Here's what my truck looks like with 800lbs in the back not counting spares and jack. This was the first time I tried to load a pallet in my truck with a forklift. It was a PITA but it worked...

it was still 1" from hitting my 3" long bumps

Thats $17k worth of inconel 625. That material is legit. It literally doesn't corrode in the ocean.

I spent almost 12 hrs on saturday making a hitch and making some supports for my tire carrier but its not finished. I just need to add two small tube gussets and a connector mount for the hitch. Here's a teaser


Here is the tire carrier which is pretty much done. It looks so much better with the tires down farther than sitting on top of my bed. It freakin heavy so I'm going to add some air shocks

Awesome and really well detailed build!
-dave

Very unique build all the time to do it and effort....its koo when somone does something like this it makes it easier for someone thats in the same line as youre build .....congrats and looks smooth as hell!!!

your build is rad, i like all the detail too, instead of just posting before and after pics. your spare set up is pretty trick too.

Oh wow. I had no idea allt he work into this, boxed frame, notched for the shocks, etc! Looks awesome man!

are those cup holders in the bedsides?

love the cup holders in the bedsides. Truck looks good all around.

Did you take out any of the leaves in the 50T pack. Looks like they are in there and how do you like it.

thanks for all the comments guys. Yeah they are cup holders. Im still in search of ones that can fit a 40oz.

I never took out any of the leaves and it sits perfect right now. I like that pack soo far, absolutely no complaints. I was literally sitting on my bumps though before this so its not much to compare to but it rides awesome. My rear definitely out performs my front but I'm going to revalve my coilovers soon so hopefully that will help

sick man.. coming aloung great ...

9/21/10
I finished my hitch. It should be pretty stout, at least as strong as a normal hitch. The two tubes that go left-right are 2x3x3/16" and the one that connects the two is .25" thick. All the plating is 3/16" except where the chain connects which is .25". I made a cardboard template for the chain/connector mount and got it plasma cut, so convenient.






for now the tires just sit on this notched tube. not sure if I like it. I just have a ratchet strap holding the tires down now but I want some kind of lever/lock like on the ammo cans


I also mounted my license plate after 6 months of being zip tied



looks pretty sweet with the LED bolts

lastly, i made some supports for my bedsides. long overdue. I don't really like the diagonal ones cause it kind of blocks the bed

awesome write up on your truck..Love the detail and rear tire carrier is nice! as well as the whole shabang

truck is awesome. love the attention to detail. gives a ton of inspiration! whats the future plans for the truck?

looks good man. Looks more thought out then my setup. Learn from our mistakes and redesign in the future. keep it up.

Originally Posted by 93TCYOTA

truck is awesome. love the attention to detail. gives a ton of inspiration! whats the future plans for the truck?

Well its been less than a year since I bought the truck and I never really had anything saved up when I started so I think I'm going to lay low for awhile and then cage and supercharge it around christmas. I'm probably going to get another car so this doesn't have to be my DD and I won't have to worry about getting it back together in time to drive to work. I've never had the luxury of taking my time on this build. I'll probably revalve coilovers, redo the front bumper, and make full heim steering between now and then but those will be relatively cheap to do. Long term I plan to make my own kit that is somewhere around 4.5 over keeping 4wd and also making my own links but those are probably a few years away.

Redoing my heim steering. Should be a lot better than how i have it now. I'm going to hold off on changing out the inner ball joint


Hopefully I'll have it in by sunday

how much $$$ did you spend on the front suspension alone? I want to do just what you did up front for now, I got a 2003 4x4 double cab tacoma.

Originally Posted by roby316

how much $$$ did you spend on the front suspension alone? I want to do just what you did up front for now, I got a 2003 4x4 double cab tacoma.

A lot...

---------- Post added at 01:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------

Got one side done. It took me a few hours just to drill out the damn spindle to put in the sleeve. I went through a few drills. Not sure what the problem was anyway here are a few pics

Before:


After:



Pretty scary that it was actually bent.


the old one was made from 1.25 OD A36 steel and it was necked down to 1" where it was hitting the secondary shock tab and there was a 18mm thread which left about a 1/8" wall thickness. The new one is 1.25 OD 1018 steel (just a hair better than A36) but the threaded hole doesn't go into the necked down part. plus the heim is a lot better and its in double shear

Dude, Legit. I see this truck everyday. Only because you live right behind my house.