Dakota's Yota Build (Long Travel, Chevy 63s, and BS)

How hard was it to find your chevy 63's? My leafs are flat and I'd rather get 63's now than buy Dakars and switch those out in like 4 years

 

What about a custom pack from Deaver?

 

I didn't know they did custom, I thought that was an alcan thing...I'll look into it

 

I went down to the one junk yard in ellensburg and they had 5 trucks to choose from lol

 

Yeah dude any advice? We're about to do it this weekend @Evenflow

 

Bending the rails back up is a tough one because you have to anchor to the floor and pull up from something overhead. I had a friend do it once in a buddies shop that had a lift, he raised the lift and drove under it and was able to anchor to the base of the lift and the arms of the lift up above so it gave him something to winch from. If you don't have that type of facility available I can't imagine how else you could possibly do it ? I told another guy last week I bet if you strip the bed off yourself and bring the truck into a body shop they could do it in a hour using the proper machinery for minimal $.

If you don't already have your rear frame boxed you should buy a set of frame plates from @jeffz0rz or at least weld in a couple of ribs and box at least that 12" chunk around the bumps. Sorry this is a shitty sketch on my tablet but simple fill plates or "ribs" like this inside the C of the frame right above the bump pad help a ton too.

 

Fuck me... I have the frame plates from @jeffz0rz

We were gonna pull the bed today and use them as a template to see how far its off... thought maybe we could weld and pound it straight along the way. Guess not. Fuck

Thanks for the info man! I better call some shops. Body shops are capable of this?

 

Yeah, body shops pull frames all day every day fixing cars after accidents. Give it a shot yourself first, the frame plates will show you how f'd you are...

 

Alright sweet. Thanks dude

Wonder if they'd just weld the plates for me lol

 

@dakotasyota

Can you do me a huge favor if you have a second, and measure your tie-rod extension?

Kind of a weird request I know, Im having troubles with my alignment on my +2 kit and wondering if the spacer is the right size.

 

I'm in Vegas right now but I will when I get home. I can tell you I did have to cut down my extensions to get it in alignment.

 

I have everything except the leaf springs and a welder

 

Thats interesting... I guess the guy that I got the lift from had to do lengthen his to get his alignment numbers correct

 

Huh? Haha

 

Whaaat. That doesn't make sense. Well what's your numbers? Are you toed out or in?

 

Toed out, can't even get it close really.. hoping the appropriate tie rod spacer will fix that.. When you cut yours do you remember about how much you took off? Did you have to tap new threads at all? I can't shorten mine unless I tap some new threads or it wouldnt make a difference because the tie rod already bottoms out in the spacer.

 

I believe I took 1/2" off each one. I don't think I needed to... BUT for some reason I remember thinking mine had that same issue tho too.... I suppose you could always lope off some of the tie rods before putting it back together.

 

Just wanted to do a quick update here. I'm prepping the tacoma for a big camping trip next weekend so I thought I'd update on some life here.

SO:
Memorial day, I fucked up my frame. I simply don't have enough uptravel and my shackle angle is wrong and I just was being a dumbass jumping it all night. You can see in the pic how the bumper body gap is very crooked lol. The metal bedside is curled up under the flare which is broken all the way off now. We also have an ugly gap at the bed to the back of the cab.
IMG_6408 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
So good news! I finally found a shop to fix it though! After labor day weekend I gotta pull the bed and stuff and bring it down to them. After they bend it straight, we'll be plating the frame, moving the shackle mount back, and redoing the bumpstops with some airbumps. I'd love to re do the shock relocation with a 14" bypass before Rock Therapy but I don't think I'll be able to swing the funds tbh. I'm sure throwing a new valve stack with a flutter in my current 12s will be loads better anyways.

But anyways life goes on... I also impulse bought a ridiculous diesel a few months back. It's a 2014 Ram 2500 Mega Cab, 6.7 Cummins, and the Laramie Package. Only thing I've done is the windows and brow.
IMG_5708 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
IMG_6083 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
IMG_6628 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
It's pretty nice, but I already wish I didn't buy one already modded. There's a lot of minor irritations with it. I haven't been able to do anything because I still had my old daily that I just finally sold last week! It's the small white half ton here.
IMG_5918 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
So yeah that's where my money has gone

Anyways, still using the truck like normal. Fuck it right!
IMG_6463 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
IMG_6677 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr
I'm fighting it running a little hot lately. Hitting like 220 on the freeway in 90 degrees with the AC on. I cleaned a bunch of mud out of the fan and radiator. Still hit 205 tho going 60 slightly uphill. Fan clutch is good, has a new OEM Thermostat and water pump along with new coolant of course. I think I'm gonna try a TRD radiator cap.

I also gotta replace my tie rods, and pull my freaking headlights apart! I broke both of my blinker reflectors in half! So they're just bouncing around in the headlight bowl now. Anyways.... yeah thats life.

Hey I made a new signature! lol
IMG_5200 by Dakota Hamlin, on Flickr

 

Here's how the truck looked as of yesterday:

 

Overpriced radiator cap = ORDERED