Are There 1st Gen Steering Upgrades? And other stuff...

MojaveMadman · Jul 9, 2014

Does anyone have any good links or info on custom or upgraded steering on 1st Gen's? I am in the beginning stages of planning an all out LT build on either a 1st Gen Tacoma DC or 1st Gen 4runner (I need room for kids and their crap). I know they are kind of polar opposits, but thats what I like, haha.

I like the suspension options better that the 1st Gen Tacomas have, but I can't get around how much I hate the steering. It is just a terrible design and I want to replace it instead of having naggin issues down the road. Does anyone make anything, or have you seen some good ways that people have corrected this?

For the 1st Gen 4runner, I love these older trucks, but I don't like the suspensions offered for them. 4wd is a must for me, getting stuck with kids sucks. I love what Chaos builds, but 12" is a little less than I want for wheel travel... Solo makes a nice kit that gets 16" but damn are 6" over arms wide. I have the ability and tools to build a kit, but I don't really want to spend all my energy on that when I can buy something tried and true... Plus I love doing tube work, thats what I want to spend my time on, haha.

jberry813 · Aug 4, 2014

What exactly are you looking to correct in the first gen tacoma steering?

The rack is on the back side of the suspension...which sucks. Hard hit on the tire and all the force goes right into the rack. You can do heims instead of outer tie rods and double sheer the mount to the lower ball joint to get rid of that weak point. TC makes a kit, or you can just build your own. Beyond that you're going to be in completely custom world.

I bent the passenger side rack mount beyond repair. Ended up just cutting the whole passenger mount out and built a new mount out of 1/4" plate.

And there's nothing wrong with 12" of suspension travel:

MojaveMadman · Aug 4, 2014

Very nice pics and rig!!!

I plan on doing all double sheer and hiemed tie rods, that is a requirement for sure. I just know when you throw 35" tired at these racks they don't seem to last long. At around $400 a pop to replace with another weak rack I figured there had to be a better way... I would like to ditch the factory rack for something better, or I I saw one picture a long while ago where someone added a secondary shaft of some sort to help take the load. Maybe the right thing to do is go Howe full hydro rack in front and call it a day...

And ya 12" travel with bypasses and bumps does good, but 14" travel with bypasses amd bumps can be better, haha. I am just being picky in the planning stages because I'm not stuck to one rig yet. Trying to figure out what sacrifices are worth making and what I can live with. 1st gen 4runner has less travel but a much better steering design to build from. 1st gen tacoma has better suspension options but needs a major steering overhaul...

jberry813 · Aug 4, 2014

The red truck is not mine. It's Bryan's (desert guy here on TW).

Howe hydro setup would do it, but that's $$$. I'm only on my second rack and beat the shit out of my truck. The seals were what eventually failed. There's a difference between quality rebuilt racks and the shitty ones from Autozone. That said, I've stuck with 33's. Never felt the need to go to 35's even with the crawling I do.

TC kit's are underrated. I'm pulling over 14" on mine on a claimed 12" kit and still have 4wd. My buddy Adam is at 14" with his TC kit on his second gen runner just by grinding down the CV cups a bit.

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