East Coast Baja Build

Thanks Dave! There should be a whole new section up by the end of the week with some major changes in store





and thanks BeeRadd! I do try and ball-on-a-budget.. even though I'm now graduated I'm not exactly rollin in it.. if you have any questions though feel free to ask

 

Custom Rear leaf pack using stock tacoma leaves and ALL

DISCLAIMER: I'm doing this writeup to show what I did to MY truck and if you chose to copy it for whatever reason, I am in no way reliable for your work.. that being said:

1. start with a stock leaf pack (this was already cut before I got the pics but you get the idea)


2. cut off each end of each of the main leaves (I discarded the Overload as I don't wanna run two of those)



the way in which you ceut the ends of the leaves may not make a difference but I've seen this type of "diamond" cut on many other aftermarket leaf parks as well as the ALL that I threw into this pack so that's how I cut mine

3. you should end up with two leaves (out of each pack), one shorter than the other


I measured mine by taking apart my leave pack, setting the ALL on the bottom as I knew it'd be the shortest and dividing the distance between its' end and the end of the next largest leaf then dividing that into three parts, this got me the lengths needed of each of the leaves... if that makes sense

4. put the whole pack back together (this is a test fit showing the difference between new and old/stock)



5. re-install on the truck and enjoy




if my instructions aren't clear, the basic premises was the "chevy leaf swap" that many others have done I just happened to get these packs from a fellow member so they're what I used

EDIT
Deleted the ALL as it made the spring rate WAY too stiff.. it was like driving a slammed struck that still somehow sat 3" above stock, not fun!

 

Rear Bumper Build (work in progress)

DISCLAIMER: I'm doing this writeup to show what I did to MY truck and if you chose to copy it for whatever reason, I am in no way reliable for your work.. that being said:

I unfortunately didn't get any pics of the separate parts before the welding got started but the is the basic bumper before I get to do any more work on it:



the mounting plates will get cut and welded into a 90º to add lateral support

from under nether currently:


looking straight from behind:


shot of my brothers welding:


(my plan is to learn to weld then finish this build myself but time was critical here and I needed it done)

stress test:




yes, it got a little bowed during the welding but hopefully the rest of it that's left to be done will straighten that out, and if not, all it's done is left the corners a tough lower and I'm ok with that

current state:



that last pic makes it look very thin but it's actually two sections of 2x4 rectangle welded together, the bottom one is just hard to see.. it'll make more sense once I actually get this thing done

 

Subbed.... howd you end up with fiberglass up front? was that from the deer?

 

yup.. it was $400 for a PRIMED stock metal drivers side fender that id' have to get painted ($200+) so that was $600+ to go back to stock, these for $350 for the pair at the time and I'll paint them myself as soon as I get the chance

 

thats outrageous.. im guessing these are the 3/3 fenders from them?

 

3/3??

 

these, http://glassworksunlimited.com/prod...13-toyota-tacoma-front-fenders-4-flare-3-rise

I was wrong, 4 inch flare 3 inch rise, or 4/3 fenders

 

oh! yup, 4/3.. forgot it was that much flare, haha.. but ya, so far, they are a freak purchase that have turned out awesome! A LOT of work to get them to fit/look right but I'm happy with the end result and just need to get them painted..

 

Also, did you do anything with the stock intake in the fender? I've heard people have dust and water issues without having a fender liner covering the intake

 

any pics from the front of your truck with the flares? I've been throwing the idea of doing glass to stuff bigger tires

 

Gaunt: I actually took part of the stock bumper and made up a cover for it sense the deer pretty well destroyed that, I figured it'd be less $ to the trash guys to just use it.. I've still had some issues though and DO plan to custom snorkel it within the year..

Boogyman: I actually don't have any yet, haha.. kinda waiting till I've got em paintd but I'll try and remember to snap one tomorrow before leaving town and I'll PM it to ya.. I know that with the stock bumper, it'd look kinda funny IMO. I have an AllPro plate bumper (standard not APEX) and the fenders still stick out about 2-3" wider than the bumper. I plan on extending the bumper wings as soon as I get my welding down just to get everything protected and esthetically pleasing

 

Sounds awesome man, it would definetly make it unique, not many guys running glass and a snorkel together

 

no there really aren't... in fact so few that you HAVE to do it custom cuz no one makes it, lol.. but I knew when I bought em I'd be the unusual East Coast Baja truck and that would mean some custom stuff, which I like doing

 

I'm getting a sos concepts bumper in a week or two but gaunt made me remember i want a snorkel more lol decisions decisions ...

 

Yeah, you might look into intercooler piping, that seems to be what the ones that have them used, it comes in all sorts of sizes and bends, and if you use silicone couplers you don't even need to weld anything

 

After my lift and winch, the snorkel will probably be the next thing, it's cheap insurance to keep from hydro locking an engine... And if you get one, gut the airflow America one, it was designed for the second gens as compared to hacking up an arb for a sort of kind right fit

 

you like the baja tube look eh? I actually liked the aggressive look of the fenders but am really not into the tube bumpers, they just aren't made for the kinda wheelin/muddin that I do.


and Gaunt, I'll probably mock up my own entirely without buying one. I've done some fiberglass work as well as working with plastics before and I"m learning to weld now, so whatever route I go I know it'll A. be strong, and B. be truly custom..

 

Eddy has a plate option as well, it's unique, slightly overpriced IMO but its not bad and he does amazing work, and he dosent have a 6 month wait time either

 

thats the snorkel i want and do a head swap on it for the arb intake head I'm not a fan of the arb snorkel itself though. i feel like the more narrow arb snorkel is a bad idea

haha no. I'm far from a tube bumper fan. I'm getting his plate bumper with full hoops. he lives in the same town as me so I'm getting a lot of custom work added aswell. id mess too much up with a tube bumper anyway they don't offer enough protection.