My attempt @ a 2 to 3 drop ... ... more or less...

ALMOST made it the full year... last nights hit aftermath

 

well got an estimate from appraiser ... total came out to around $600 in damages as of now. Have to take it to a shop to see what they think about it. SMH ... if it comes out of MY pocket ... damn ... not really happy right now.

 

yeah I got another bumper cover. but this was used. going to do some plastic welding to the bumper. from there I "plan" on color matching it to the entire truck *crossing fingers on this one.

 

should be easy, just need to cut off both ends and then weld them to the bumper I got. even found this to help find my color code (it's in the BST forum in the color coded grill thread) ... thing is .. need to find the paint lol.

 

also going to be installing the air management for the rear set-up.

.5 gallon tank, 450 compressor, and 4 valves (two 1/2" and then two 3/8").

 

grrrrr, have to wait till I get some money for the wiring. my little pup needed some MUCH needed grooming along with some clothes, it's too cold for her right now

 

got bored last night, started to plumb some of the valves together, and get a rough idea of how the compressor and tank will be. have more parts, but they were in the shed outside (got too cold). Need to buy some black paint (repainting the tank, compressor, all mounting brackets).

 

trying to figure out how to get the bed fender off without having to take off the bed ...

 

got the air tank mocked up and fitted for install, measured some 8g wire for the compressor and pressure switch power (going to be running that off a dist. block). Putting Teflon on fittings I got for the 1/4" air line as well. Still need some butt connectors for the switch wires (and power wire for switches), 40a AGU fuse, and a ring terminal/connector for the grounds.

 

WOOOHOOOOO got my replacement airbag in today now I have to get the rest of the parts ASAP so I can get this bitshhhh going!!!

 

I'm not airbag expert, but I'm pretty sure the bags shouldn't look like this (i.e., the top shouldn't be all "squished" and folded-over):



I'm assuming the replacement bags you just put in fit better? By being all "squished" at the top, I'm guessing that over time, the rubber will crack and eventually leak air(?) I've been researching rear bags so I can actually haul things in my truck and I've seen quite a few posts suggesting that the bags shouldn't be deformed, even when not under load.

I'm also assuming you don't have a rear swaybar installed? Seems like many have had issues with the bags rubbing on the swaybar.

 

Yup, but there are aftermarket sway-bars available. I have front and rear sway-bars on my Gen 1 Taco and plan on putting them on my Gen 2 as well. My truck might not be fast, but it handles nice!

 

"I'm assuming the replacement bags you just put in fit better?"

Yes, the bag that was on that side, the bottom mounting plate is a lot taller than the 7076 bags (in turn, when deflated it starts to "pinch" the bag from the inside causing small pin hole leaks - they call them vampire bites or something when it happens on bicycles) so everything is basically resting on the bottom mounting plate, swapped it for a 7076 I had laying around. Same as the one on the other side,. But now I have 7076 bags all around.

"By being all "squished" at the top, I'm guessing that over time, the rubber will crack and eventually leak air(?)"

not that I see. Although it's like that when it's deflated, the bag still has "breathing" room. None of the mounting plates are rubbing, nor is there anything to cause damage around it. When the bag is aired up it is also aligned enough for it to function properly (kind of like how you see bagged front set-ups, sometimes the bag doesn't fully collapse correctly within the spring pocket, nor does it hold alignment when aired up BUT it's enough to keep the bag functioning as it should). In the image though ... again the main problem is that the bottom mounting plate is "pinching" the bag which is bad - Slam Specialties designed their bags to have an internal bump stop since many bagged riders like to cruise fully dropped, other companies did not do that. Air Lift basically had those bag plates so that when the convulted bag is deflated, the bag itself is not able to collapse fully like a Firestone bag does, the plates are designed to keep the rubber within an area and uses the bag as somewhat of a bump stop which keeps the mounting plates from rubbing.

Side note - when using front cups, the air bag folds over itself because there is room for the bag to do so, that is why some get either plate or purchase custom lca's that allow you to attach the bottom of the bag as is and not have to use a mounting cup. If you have ever heard someone air up the front of their truck and hear this odd "pop" noise, it's because the bag folded within itself and it's the bottom mounting plate coming out from within it. It's not bad BUT to a certain extent. There are many that still use front cups to this day.

"I've been researching rear bags so I can actually haul things in my truck and I've seen quite a few posts suggesting that the bags shouldn't be deformed, even when not under load."

in your case you are merely "aiding/helping" the rear keep itself up and not sag. So you shouldn't have it compressed as much as I do. Deformation comes from an EXTREME mis-alignment of the bag. Often referred to as "ballooning". With ALL bags, they should be airing up in a linear or AS CLOSE TO motion as possible. The more a bag is forced to air up in an angle, the more of an increase possibility of the "ballooning" effect can/will occur.

 

From AirBagIt.com:

Is this true? I don't think I've seen any bagged Taco's w/o the overload leafs. (But then again, it's not like I've seen many bagged Tacos.)

 

NO. the overload leaf is the last leaf in the leaf pack. that one is NEVER to be removed. You can remove the middle one(s) but NEVER the last one. It's called mono-leaf but it's not really something for those who like to hit their switches constantly ... not sure what the hell they are talking about (Airbagit.com is a VERY sketchy company with VERY sketchy products, PLEASE TO STAY AWAY - you can Google MANY horror stories of their products, I have had some exp. with their products ... NOT a happy camper)

this is the one on the 2nd gens.


With this type of set-up though you get some bad from it - it's just a cheaper way of lowering the rear - within time, IF you are constantly lifting/lowering the rear, you will get what is called "warping". This is when the main leaf starts to deform and wear out (no longer able to do it's job). In short, the smiley face leaf turns into this



hotrod riders do this to drop the back also BUT you also see them with "slapper" bars too, this is to prevent what is called "axle hop". If you have a heavy foot on the pedal, you will get this A LOT, but if your soft on the gas, you should be fine.
*NOT to be done with air suspension due to the leaf being in a "static" position when slapper bars are installed, ability to adjust ride height will become a problem.

Slapper bar

 

got some funding for my front bumper project. going to be posting pictures tomorrow ... need to figure out how to go about cutting it up.

 

SICK !!

 

awww they changed it ..

 

So I got myself a donor front bumper cover. The sides were cut off due to it being for a 6 lug Tacoma and not a 5 lug. The front is in fairly good shape, enough for me to use what I can except the sides.

this is where the main damage to my front bumper cover is (1st attached image/link is of actual damage)
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/at...my-attempt-2-3-drop-more-less-11262012248.jpg

I want to plastic weld a part of the donor bumper to the one I have (my stock one). Since the crack is in a corner, I doubt I will get it good enough to where it looks like the other side (this is also my first time), was thinking of taking a section off of the donor bumper and just welding it to the stock one I have... but not sure where to "take" from exactly. How would I go about saving myself time/headache with the project ... sorry if I am wording this oddly ... trying to think of what to say.

*2nd attached image is of FULL FRONT view of bumper cover

 

Rather than go through all the work of fixing and hacking a 4x4 bumper, might I suggest just getting a new one? On the RockAuto.com web site, a new bumper cover for a 2010 Tacoma is only $54.89 to $67.89, depending on the quality level. That's just a little more than a full tank of gas!