The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Ouch, welcome to regular maintenance hell, GM gave no consideration to servicing the cavalier at all. my 99 that i have for rallycross was a bitch to get tuned up and ready, and the engine is still covered in 1/4" of oily gunk. also, now i can watch the master at work with cavalier mods and apply them to the rally car.

 

Don't go to the dark side!
I just got back my 2003 Mazda Protege back from my daughter. Really enjoying not putting miles on the Taco.

 

I'm trying to retire my '15 from DD status...and go back to my '98 2.7L, has 107K, which I retired from DD status in '07

 

Thanks!

Indeed!

Thanks for the complement.

For the ten years we've owned it, maintenance hasn't been a problem, and no major repairs, except fuel pump.

The '04 Cavalier has been properly maintained by my wife's mechanics shop, called Tune Craft, family owned and operated since 1977. They have always done right for us at reasonable cost. They also have advised me on best course of action when I decided to fix things myself on it. This relationship will continue; I already have an appointment scheduled. I'm glad to trade money for service as it saves me valuable time, as long as it's not stealership prices The exception is if it's a small repair, that's not dirty work, and under an hour, then I'll do it. For example, I'm going to throw in a new starter over the weekend, for good measure, 'cause it's easy, and I think the original is on it's way out, and not expensive part...

Other than regular maintenance, and a few interior mods, the vehicle will stay stock. If the motor or trans goes, then the car will go with it. lol It has 118K miles. I hope to get another 30-50K out of it which would be 3-5 years. Maybe I get tired of it at some point, but for now I'm really digging having it.

I think commuter cars are great.

My daily round trip commute for work and pick/drop off kids at school is under 10 miles.

Congrats!

Nice. I think Bruce @Bman4X5 did something like that too for his '15.

 

Indeed. Driving a hand-me-down '06 Camry. I anticipate putting not much more than 3K yearly on the truck. At that rate, I'll be dead before it turns over 100K.

 

Dibs!

 

@Crom Hey Nick, I'm working pretty hard to nail down my lift details, and I am hitting a little wall on the rears. How is your rear modified Dakar/Bilstein RCD/BE5-B110-T5 shocks setup working out? Any mechanical problems or issues with articulation/bottoming/topping/unforeseen contact since you've been working them out?

I ask specifically because I may request a custom shock build based on achieving your numbers.
extended length: 27.28
collapsed length: 16.34

If I hand someone those specs—and pay extra for it—I need to have my shit together. Your poop-alignment services are appreciated.

Yes, I am all over Dakar, one overload removed, AAL in, 3-degree shim, U-bolt flips, and Superbumps.

 

Everything is working great. I'm very pleased with it all. I have no plans to change shock or leaf springs.

I would only do two things different today, which are relatively minor changes.

First is I would have a spring shop install leaf spring isolators in the Dakars. I beat that drum for a while, and at least two TW members have done it now... See @IronPeak4x4 's pics over here.

Secondly I would remove the Dakar rubber bushing from the leaf packs, and use a quality poly bushings in both leaf spring eyes, and in the shackle eye. Tim, @Sandman614 just got done doing this procedure on a factory shackle. A TW first perhaps, the only post on the site with pics of how to remove the steel sleeved bushing from the shackle.

If you do poly, I recommend Prothane Super Grease. Expensive! But incredible stuff, and nothing else like it.

Lastly, while I have no unwanted vibes at any speed, my truck does have some minor take off shudder (0-5mph), which is seems normal based on others' reports. That said, I plan on acquiring a digital angle finder and finding out what to correct if anything, related to drive line angles. This has risen in my priority list as I've discovered that my center support bearing (rubber part) has a lot of play in it, like 8mm or so, and it used to be a lot tighter...

It's unclear to me if modified suspension accelerated wear, or normal. My u-joints are in great shape, zero movement from them...

https://youtu.be/S1vcpu63zrQ

 

Thanks, Nick.

Regarding your carrier/vibe, it looks as though you did not install the carrier drop?

Interesting on the bushings/shackles. On my old Wheeler leaf pack (1st gen), the front bushing was poly, and was also the source of squeaking (which is common with poly bushings). When I got the Dakar pack (including as-provided front rubber bushing), I opted for the greaseable OME rear shackle. I only had that setup for about 2 years before I sold the truck, but never had a problem or squeak out of them (but you know all the other prefurbishing work I did too).

The 2nd gen rear shackle is quite different and I hadn't planned on modifying any of that. I'll look at Tim's posts as soon as I have time.

I'm about to ask DSM if they can build me a King 2.5 rear setup that achieves the B100-T5 numbers, or as close as possible to the nearest 1/4 inch.

 

Keep in mind that everything I do for the truck, from this point forward is strictly for performance.

I'd like to take the stock shackle off the truck and put a poly bushing in and drill a hole for a zerk grease fitting. Easy to do and will make it serviceable. The rubber one is fine, but will eventually wear out...

I don't know why Dakar ships their springs with only one rubber bushing in the front... Poly bushings are non-binding and will allow for more degree of rotation, so in theory, if I went to poly in the front, I *may* be able to get a little bit more travel out of the leaf pack... I don't know yet, but I think it's possible.

Also the Bilstein I'm running is an 11" stroke shock and as it stands, there is some travel in the shock that is unusable... I can't quantify it, unless I measure the shock while Dakar is in full tension (drooped out), just something I've not done... If I was ever going to do a shackle flip ( I won't), then this would be mandatory to know...

The 2.5 shocks are beefy...

 

When torqued down, the metal sleeve in the front rubber bushings are completely captured/locked into the frame mount, with the rubber flexing torsionally around that just a small amount, and the front of the leaf deflects only a few degrees. Most of the movement and travel comes from the rear shackle and of course the spring steel.

I agree, they will wear out faster than poly, and if OME offers poly grease-able bushing for the rear, you think they would offer a similar option up front.

 

$147 Whiteline W53312 Front Control Arm Bushing, Black

Whiteline W53312 Front Control Arm Bushings fit in the Tacoma LCA!
I am super excited to report that Whiteline W53312 Front Control Arm Bushings fit in the Tacoma LCA!!!

I had these pressed in about two weeks ago by Jeff @jeffz0rz of JTA Metalworks, who is local to me. Thank you Jeff!

I also had him weld shut all the drain holes in the LCA and fill in / reinforce where the arm attaches to the bushing eye.

I'm so stoked! Finally way out of LCA maintenance hell!










After some ball joint pressing, I'm gonna slap them in!!!

Enormous thanks to @Milowilli who advised me on the bushings!

 

I like those bushings! I am curious to see how they do and how you like them. When the time comes for my truck, they look like a good upgrade.

However, I seem to missing something.

On my truck (a 2015 model) the lower ball joints are bolted to the LCA not pressed. Did Toyota change the design?

 

As far as I know the design has never changed. LBJ is pressed in, and steering stop bolted to LBJ, and steering stop bolts up to spindle. Take a picture of yours and post if you like...

 

The Moog UBJ grease /dust boot split on my passenger side, on the new Camburg arms. Moog sent me a new dust boot, but f*** what a pain.

Now switching topics to lower ball joints...

These LBJ pictured below have identical part numbers,

$24 Moog K80827 Front Lower Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

Moog K80827

The one on the left is of older design, newer one is on the right.

And the one on the right is complete, no more umbrella dust boot.


Moog

$27 K80827 Detroit Axle - 2 Front Lower Ball Joints for 2005-2019 Toyota Tacoma Lower Ball Joint 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Replacement

K80827 Ball Joint

 

I'm looking to purchase the same UCA's and on the Wheelers site they mention in the notes that they come with

$27 K80811 Front Upper Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

K80811 MOOG BJ.

 

That's right. The

$27 Moog K80811 Front Upper Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

Moog K80811 is the aftermarket replacement for the Toyota UBJ, and that's what Camburg is preinstalling in the arms for us. The boot splitting might have been partially my fault, but I very much feel that the boot design is just too large, which makes it wrinkle up and eventually it splits. I'm gonna ask for pics from other owners of the Camburg arm to see if there are any visual differences in the boot. AFAIK, I haven't heard of any troubles with them.

 

Understood.

 

Damn, you can't catch a break with UCA's.

 

Yeah no breaks, only hard times for me and UCA's. haha

Sam, Did you get a chance to watch that video above regarding the drive shaft center support bearing? I could not find anything useful when searching around for what is acceptable wear. I know you have some experience in this area. Thanks.