Gear Head's Solid Axle Turbo Tacoma Build

Making some progress. Got the eliminators welded up and axle painted, hung, and started assembly.



Only obstacle to conquer now is to redrill the fj80 flange to accept the tacoma pattern yolk on the driveshaft.

 

Dad gave me a drill press with a broken table so after welding it back together I rigged some things up to get my flanged drilled out

 

Wrapped everything up today! All that's left is shocks. I want to move the 14's that I have up front to the back and go through the bed with them then pick up some 12's for the front but for now I'll just re-use the 10's triangulated in like before.



I set the pinion at the same angle I had on the tacoma axle (~23*).... Idk what went wrong but it's done now. I drove it around the block and got it up to 60 mph and it's actually smooth as glass so as long as I don't put too much weight in the bed I should be good. I have some sick driveshaft clearance now



Obligatory ass shot

 

A little comparison pic of the taco vs land cruiser axle

 

Did you upgrade the hub studs or anything? Looks like you didn't account for the higher pinion on the 80 axle when setting the angle.

 

I'm ordering ARP studs and you're dead on the money with the difference in pinion height. After I put it all together I noticed that the fj80 is almost like a mid pinion instead of a low pinion. Oh well... like I said I have no vibes right now so as long as u-joints survive at that angle I'm going to run it. I will fix it when I go to a diamond rear eventually

 

Could always go ruffstuff, cheaper than a diamond.

 

Ruffstuffs look good but every picture I have ever seen the thirds look ridiculously massive. I want to go diamonds to keep my ground clearance. I'd be interested to see actual measurements though.

 

Yeah the center section is rather large, not a big concern in the rear though. Up front it would be a problem with the axle and oil pan trying to occupy the same space at certain times. You eventually going to do a diamond front?

 

Yes that's the plan. Will probably go full width diamonds front and rear and 3 link front

 

I would not even waste money on a diamond rear. Truss the 80 axle if you are worried about it bending. The diamonds and ruff stuff will be using stock 80 outers anyway so there no strength gain there. Pocket the money and wheel!!

I think I'm going to drill mine out to 10mm studs and run those. I have not had a problem with the studs yet, but I think 37s are going to change that. Plus my spare shafts are already drilled out for them.

 

Not worries about mine bending, I would like to go back to a centered diff and the extra width would be nice. Have a link to the studs? I haven't ordered arp's yet so I might as well consider going straight to bigger studs.

 

You can do 7/16 cap heads as well. That's what I've got on my front hubs. Easier to find in a pinch if you need one (s)

 

Ih8 mud has write-ups for both in the 80 forum.

 

One of my TG "bomb proof" t case mounts started sagging to the point where my rear tail housing and front driveshaft were contacting the crossmember. It didn't even last a year.. and the bushings aren't sleeved. Ordered a 4xinnovations mount to replace it.

 

Oh yeah....

 

I have one of the first batches of the 4xinnovations mount and the bushings are still great after 5 years of dd and wheeling with a crawler. Good stuff! Wtf is going on with that bushing on the trail gear mount? At least the 4x one you can replace it with a spring bushing.

 

That was one of the things that sold me on the 4x mount, that and it's actually sleeved. But that's good to hear; I have a few buddies running them too with no failures or complaints.

 

TG blows!
"Nuff said 'bout that!