What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

I've got 650 on mine and haven't had a problem. No winch but front bumper and skid. Down the road I'll have full skids and a winch. Just food for thought

 

My thoughts now are that I'm happy with the ride height of the 500# 881 with a bumper, sliders, ifs skid, and trans skid. Surely the addition of a winch and moving up 100# on the coils will be sufficient. Remember, 4 banger.

 

Mmm forgot about that. Yeah 600# will be plenty then. Thought it was just the bumper and ifs skid on right now

 

I'd be careful. Doesn't look like that topper was made for our trucks. The lines aren't really matching up. I'd pull that back a bit for sure. There's a pretty good amount of movement between the cab and bed even just driving down the road.

 

Oh yeah. the LT didn't interfer with Frank's street manners at all. I guess the only bad thing is when it rains as the tires stick out far enough that the rooster tails make it impossible to see out the side haha but only in heavy rain.

Otherwise..smooth as butter.

I love it.

Hard to go back to a normal front end. Im constantly slamming on the brakes in Igor because i want to go Frankenstein fast on stuff then remember..oh yeaaaahhh...no LT..haha

 

I may be late to the party but This is what I did for mine. I ordered the alernator p/n#RMMAL00149 from the Dodge dealer I work at. Its a reman unit by Magneti Marreli. List price is $126.00 Dollhairs. I got the pigtail from my local NAPA for like 12 bucks. Used 94 Cadillac El Dorado for look up information. I did have to seperate the case halves & clock the rear 180* to have clearance for the plug. And it was a bastard to actually stuff past my battery and fan shroud and everything. I also found the information of needing to get a second power steering belt to drive the new alternator due to a larger pulley accurate. Been running this setup for about 5 months now without any hiccups whatsoever. To give credit where credit is due I used the write-up from @Blackdawg with some minor variations, but was quite simple. So thanks for that info @Blackdawg .

 

Man it's terrifying to drive my truck in the rain. I would be getting on the highway on-ramp and stop at the metering light, hit the gas, and the rear wheels would just spin for a while before getting traction. Just noticed today it happens when I'm turning too. Maybe I'm just a bad driver. Ha. Can't say it's not fun though. Just unexpected.

I should keep the rear diff. lock on ALL THE TIME NOW! jkjk

 

I ended up picking up the alternator suggested by @Blackdawg yesterday. I have the belt on order as well. I'll take his word for it since he has a damn good writeup and pics . They were not a lot of help at the store with finding the correct pigtail. The one I found online that was compatible, they didn't have in stock. I'm waiting on the belt anyway so I just went ahead and ordered the pig tail adapter previously mentioned. I was tired of driving to different stores yesterday to track stuff down. hopefully with the adapter, it will reach the bottom connection point of the alternator fine. Everything should be here by this Friday, then I can go tear stuff apart again.

 

@Blackdawg @cynicalrider
@jubei777
@Squeaky Penguin

What are your takes on a 35x10.5 spare rather than 12.5. Stupid?

 

Makes sense if you don't rotate the spare in. I have a 235/85/16 spare and 265/75/16 normal. Same diameter though

 

I usually do but its kind of a pain so i was thinking of not introducing it when i step up to 35s

 

Any reason you guys don't just run with skinnies to start? Just curious to your preferences to picking a wide tire.

 

100% guarantee the answers will be about feel and comfort not traction. They do feel a lot better though and that's enough to convince me.

 

Still waiting for a 285/85/16...

That would be the only way I would jump to a larger tire.

 

When I switched from 295D to 255E I liked everything about them better. Could be because the 295s were worn but they road rougher at the same psi as the 255. I'd attribute this to the new tires having lugs and not being bald.

 

I THINK perhaps that alt you ordered will work with the stock alt belt. CS144s come with two pulley sizes..i can't remember which one that one has. But just be ready for that FYI.

Hopefully the install goes smooth!

ehh..i mean yeah like people said..not a big deal.

But the only times i have gotten flats i swapped the spare on and drove on it for either another week offroad on the trip or still am driving on it.

I like not having to worry about it. I'm a fan of full size matching spares. Whole point of having a spare IMO.

The grip is not the same between the two tires and the feel is VERY different.

That said, they still both perform great. Just personal preference.

Fat tires tend to "float" more. By this i mean you don't feel a lot of the annoying lil rocks and bumps nearly as much compared to a skinny tire.

Skinny tires however turn in much better do to the shape of the grip pattern.

When comparing the contact pattern of a skinny vs a wide tire, they coverage is almost equal. So close infact that that is a negligible difference.

What IS different is how the patterns touch the ground. They both make a rectangle but the long side and short side are flipped.

so a wide tire the short side is on the outer edges and long side perpendicular to the truck frame. ITs the opposite on skinnys.

So really its just how the weight is distributed over the tire. This change how the truck handles and feels a lot.

@m3bassman..were is it that we did the math on all this?? the old BS thread?



I have run both. Fat tires ALL day offroad for me. Others hate the way the steering feels and like the skinny tires...that and they are easier to fit.

 

Found it.

Was Brady who did the math:

 

Sounds like you just need better tires or sipe the ones you have

 

What about the rating of tire? A C rated tire deflects much more at 15psi than an E rated tire.

I did some researching this winter and found an article that claimed that the skinny contact patch is more linear to the direction of travel supposedly giving it better traction.

Race car tires are wide to dissipate heat

Not trying to start the skinny/wide debate and which has better traction. We all know how that ends. Just curious why you guys chose them.

 

Not sure we got into the tire ratings that far for that. You are right though a C deflects much more then an E. Also contributes to ride feel.

And skinny tires have more lateral vs the front face of the wider tire. That is why they turn in much better then the fat tires and that is why fat tires feel floaty.

I originally went for fat tires...because i was young and loved the look.

Now i totally go for the wide tires for the feel. Its like a big pillow to drive on. Add some nice suspension and it's heaven.

I tried the skinnies on Igor because they get better MPGs too on the hwy and that is where Igor gets the most use and wanted them to fit better but still be tall for the occasional offroading. But i hate how they feel offroad. Lots more feed back in the steering wheel. More bumps are felt..

There are tons of reasons to pick the tire you pick. Just have to prioritize which reasons are more important to you.