12TRDTacoma's Supercharged M/T "Accidental" build

I do all the work on the truck myself bud. Any fabricating that I have needed done thus far I took over to Jerry at BAMF or have bought from Total Chaos, Dirt King, or similar.

 

Looks good. I wanted to go almost the same route you are going. Have you noticed a significant change in ride/performance with the LCA's for your M/T set up? I'm not sure if I want to get some or just stay with the OEM LCA's.

 

Get some. If you romp on your truck at all, sooner or later thise LCAs can bend. OEM stuff sucks

 

OEM suspension does suck if you like to off road. If you are a mild camping trail rider or something like that it is good for what it does, but if you like to rock crawl or desert run (like I do) then aftermarket the hell out of your front. It's well worth it. Not only that. If you want to run hydro bumps you can't do it for long on stock arms or else you will bend them in half. Lol.

 

Rock crawlin ifs you don't need fancy lower arms

 

Eh, not so much, just the skid plates that Icon or BAMF makes. Should be good to go with those.

 

I did want to get some LCA's. Is installation for the average person doable? I would imagine it is, but ya never know. I've noticed that when I use the floor jack on the truck and raise the front end, the UCA's make contact with the coil over at full extension. I'm pretty sure the LCA's won't help with this, but while we are on the subject...what is the best option for front and back? I've seen straps, and bump stops. I would like to hit some washes (whoops, like the ones at Pismo or equal to it) at a decent speed but afraid of damage or something worse. I've got the stage 5 kit from ICON installed right now (Ext Coilovers, Billet UCA's, and 2.5's, front and back both have resi's, no CDC's though). Ideas?

 

Get sum limit straps and the mount clevises, have a buddy weld em on and adjust soo droop stops before you get contact/binding, you can look on my build how mine is strapped

 

If you want to be hitting whoops out in Pismo of size you should strongly consider relocating the battery to the bed or below it on the frame you will cause damage to your radiator support and thats order of business number one. Two. Depending how fast you want to go some of the whoops are no joke, so you MAY and thats a big one MAY want to consider a partial engine cage which is basically a shock tower crossmember built over at DTF. Upgrade those radiator core support bushings because the stock ones are entirely shit.

Now onto the suspension, I am suggesting this only because I am biased, but get air bumps. They help immensely, but like I said do the control arms if you want to do air bumps because the air bumps when being struck on can and will act like a mini jack hammer due to its surface area of contact being somewhat similar to a point per se. Next, I dont know how you would valve the Icon's but I would not suggest CDC if you plan on running them through their paces for an extended period of time. They will fade out your shocks than just with a regular reservoir. My suggestion is to valve them to a spec that feels good to you, then get the CDC's if you'd like and do not crank them at all. They will act as an anti-cavitation valve to keep your shock oil from frothing up.

Get the Dirt King arms man. You get a whole lot of value for them for cheaper that you don't get with TC. It is a relatively simple job to do, but if you have never turned a wrench before I would possibly not recommend doing control arms as your first mod. There are several factors that could pose a risk of your truck failing, leaving you stranded, or crashing if you don't do them right. If you are familiar with a car I would say go ahead and do them yourself.

I'll tell you, with what I got right now, I have no problem tossing this thing around wherever I take it because I know it will not leave me stranded. I am that confident in the build at this juncture.

 

You strap your front dude?

 

Did I? Yes I did good sir. Running a 19" strap, which has now stretched to 20, and still has a little bit more growth left on it. I'm good up until 21.5" at the most before bind.

I strapped in a rather unconventional way compared to how everyone else does theirs, but it works and it works great at that.

 

Hey strapped is strapped, get the trail gear straps next time... I swear they don't stretch

 

I almost did get them but they are a bit too thick for my application I believe. They are also only offered in 20-22" applications they didn't offer 19" like PRP did. The only reason why I went with PRP over Kartek or PP straps was because the webbing on these is supposed to be military rated, and there is more sutures built into them over the other brands. Good enough for me. strapping them this way also made it very simple to install.

 

Too thick? Cause they touch your shock? Trail gear straps are beef set it and forget it

 

Yeah they would rub the hell out of the shock. Honestly I dont think they would even fit in there. It was a wicked tight fit as it was. Like I said though trail gear only has 20 and 22" straps, nothing in between that.

 

Yea I was lookin how yours is strapped, bummer U can't adjust em, but you do have a bunch of shit goin on in that area lol

 

Yeah the setup is about as complex as a kniving backstabbing woman who also happens to be on her menstrual.

Definitely didn't think it would work as it sits, but cycling proved it works great.

 

Yea I feel ya, I'm workin onaking my own LT, talk about frying your brain, next month or so I'll have a kit setup on my truck should be fun, talk about faith in my welds haha

 

Hey man as long as you have proper penetration its all good. And that's what she said! If your kit follows through well proven I may be interested myself in one of your DIY kits.

 

Cool, I'll do some research on all that. Appriciate the help. I've turned a few wrenches here and there, and have a basic knowledge for vehicles. Just haven't done anything too exstensive. Ive always wanted to do a build, but either never had the $$$ or the time due to being deployed. I'm sure you know what I mean being in the service. Now I got both so, why not.

What about spindles? I noticed some guys do and some don't. Just askin for a personal knowledge. Thoughts?