Long Travel information.

[mjp2]

Since the topic comes up more and more often, I'm creating this thread as a central location for information and questions regarding long travel. Post questions and comments in this thread and I'll update this first post as needed. Thanks to the mods for making this a sticky!


As with all modifications, the "best" option is dependent on how you'll use your truck, the region of the country you're in, your budget, relationships with vendors, personal technical expertise, etc. What's below is generally specific to the 05+ 6-lug Tacomas.


Generalities:
- Any long travel that works with 4wd will work with 2wd, but the inverse is not always the case
- Your coilovers will need to be replaced. Most LT kits are designed to work with 8" travel shocks.
- You'll want to reinforce your stock spindles on 4wd rigs. 2wd are well served upgrading to aftermarket spindles
- Self-installation of longer front 4wd axles in the stock CVs is possible but a major PITA. Save yourself the time and hassle and drop a couple of bucks to have a shop do it.
- All rigs should have their alignment cam tabs reinforced. You'll flatten them after 1 decent trip offroad
- Consider reinforcing your lower control arm frame mounts if you're gonna bash hard
- Pre-07 trucks must reinforce the engine mounts. All trucks should
- Don't bother getting a differential drop on an 05+ Tacoma (LT or mid-travel)
- Going front long-travel will get you pushing your truck. Expect the rear end to bounce up and come around on you if you don't be careful and/or upgrade it to something equally supple.
- Your already-upgraded upper control arms on your mid-travel setup will not work with a long-travel kit. All kits come with required new UCAs.
- If you're running big tires you'll want to trim and reinforce your body mounts to avoid rubbing


Popular front long travel options:
All Pro Offroad's kit uses 2" extended tube-style upper and lower arms on each side. Travel around 12" or so.
Pros: Maintain 4x4 with extended front axles, does not require front fiberglass fenders, narrower track width for crawling and tight trails, comes with a heavy-duty steering upgrade
Cons: No way of mounting a secondary shock
http://www.allprooffroad.com/fjfront...n/fjlongtravel

Total Chaos's kit widens the truck 3.5" on each side and pulls 13" of usable wheel travel.
Pros: Maintain 4x4 with extended front axles, secondary shock mount with optional shock hoop, option for heim joint UCAs, proven and popular kit with many installation shop options
Cons: Requires fiberglass fenders
I'm not sure if anybody races the TC kit so I won't say definitively one way or the other.
http://www.chaosfab.com/86000.html

Camburg Engineering's kit also widens the truck 3.5" on each side and pulls 14" of wheel travel on 4wd and 15" of travel on 2wd rigs. Offers a full-race 2wd kit for pre-2005 Tacomas pulling 19" of travel.
Pros: Maintain 4x4 with extended front axles, secondary shock mount with optional shock hoop, use of 1.25" uniballs to increase travel without binding, heavy gusseting around all joints, race-proven (Team Shark Attack), travel numbers, allows use of air bumps on 2wd vehicles
Cons: Requires fiberglass fenders
http://www.camburg.com/tacomaP05.html
*Disclaimer: I run Camburg's kit and am a bit biased. I went with them after going a lot of research. The breakage I suffered was my own fault as I installed the lower uniball housing upside down. It's easy to do so feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Engage Offroad has a race-proven kit that's recent been adopted by a lot of late-model Tacoma owners. Their kit for previous generation Tacoma is highly respected.
Pros: Price, maintain 4x4 with extended front axles, options for race upgrades, secondary shock mount with optional shock hoop
Cons: Requires fiberglass fenders
http://www.framtidgames.com/main.html

Richer Racing's kit is for pre-2005 Tacomas, widens the truck by 5" on each side, is 2wd only, and pulls 18+" of wheel travel.
Pros: Big travel numbers, race proven, extremely strong design, allows for secondary shock and air bump
Cons: 2wd only, requires fiberglass fenders, wide track width, no 05+ kit yet
http://www.richerracing.com/Pages/Pr...otaTacoma.html


Popular rear long travel options:
While the front long travel kits are mostly bolt-on and can be done in a garage with basic hand tools, rear long travel requires extensive fabrication, cutting, grinding, welding, etc. All rear long travel kits will require use of fiberglass bedsides, alterations to the driveshaft, shocks, and custom shock hoops. Expect to run wheel spacers or a wider rear axle to clear big shocks outside the framerails.

DMZ Fabrication 62" complete spring-under conversion kit. Race-proven and designed specifically for the 05+ Tacoma.
http://dmzfab.com/products.html

Giant Motorsports 64" complete spring-under conversion kit. Race-proven and seen primarily on Ford Rangers.
http://giantmotorsports.com/index.ph...d=41&Itemid=51
*Disclaimer: The Giant kit is my personal choice due to the shackle design and travel numbers. I'm running it with 18" travel, 3" 4-tube bypass Fox shocks with excellent results.

Engage Offroad cantilever kit. Shocks are mounted horizontally and maintains full use of the bed.
http://www.framtidgames.com/main.html

All-Pro Baja Leafs. Requires custom hangers, shackles, fabrication, etc. These springs have recently been introduced at a strong price point and have been tested with excellent reviews.
http://www.allprooffroad.com/tech-in...u-63/bajaleafs


There are always more options but that should be enough to get the discussion started.

[martie]

[jdmcq]

Good stuff Mike!

[Rollinn]

Didn't you say that this thread is for 05+ tacomas? Richer Racing doesn't have a kit for 05+ do they, please correct me if I'm wrong..

[mjp2]

Originally Posted by Rollinn

Didn't you say that this thread is for 05+ tacomas? Richer Racing doesn't have a kit for 05+ do they, please correct me if I'm wrong..

No reason to quote the whole first post. Eats up too much screen real estate and duplicates incorrect information after updates are made.

You're correct -- they only have a kit for the pre-05 Tacomas. My mistake. I updated the link and will update the information shortly.

[mjp2]

Fixed.

[Rollinn]

I edited my previous post.. Thx for the update

[mjp2]

Originally Posted by Rollinn

I edited my previous post.. Thx for the update

My pleasure. I'm glad the people around here keep me honest.

[Kenny650]

Thanks for the info Mike!

[leg killa]

good info..one question..is having LT dumb if its a DD?

[blackhawke88]

Good stuff!

Originally Posted by leg killa

good info..one question..is have LT dumb if its a DD?

if it is im screwed!

[jdkeller]

Very nice. Thanks

[mjp2]

Originally Posted by leg killa

good info..one question..is having LT dumb if its a DD?

Lots of folks do it. If you bash your truck from time to time you'll be amazed by how well it performs offroad.

For on-road handling, if you're running full LT front and rear, consider fabricating a custom rear sway bar to keep the lean to a minimum on turns. I've got no sway bars on my truck and, while I can make it lean to the point that it'll make the passenger uncomfortable, it's really predictable and stays planted on the road. Just don't try pulling any lateral G's on the skidpad.

[blackhawke88]

^ haha yea im still getting used to turning with only front LT, its pretty scary!

[mjp2]

Just wait until that rear has even more travel than your front! It's trippy!

[martie]

And by "passenger", he means me. It's sketchy.

[amaes]

Mjp2 why don't you run a cantilever setup on your rig? I've been wondering this for a while.

[blackhawke88]

cantilever setups are a little weaker and heavier than losing your bed for a fully build cage.

[mjp2]

Originally Posted by amaes

Mjp2 why don't you run a cantilever setup on your rig? I've been wondering this for a while.

I lose my bed no matter what due to the fuel cell and spare tire storage. The standard vertical shock orientation is easier to tune as there are less components that factor in. The cantilever system has all the standard parts (leaf springs, bumpstops, shocks) but adds the pivots and geometry to transfer the vertical axle movement to a horizontal plane.

I'm a believer in "simple is better." Since I'm already losing the bed with the fuel cell, I saw no reason to add complexity to the rear suspension setup. Of course, it would have allowed me to run the rear without wheel spacers since I'd have no shock clearance issues, so that was a compromise.

The other thing is that this truck will kind of always be under construction. If at some point I decide to go with a linked rear instead of running leaf springs the current shock hoops will still be usable.

[bkirkner78]

awesome post . even though i dont own a 05+ YET doesn't hurt reseachin ahead of time