Arcticelf's sold his truck BS thread

Just a little different

 

And a big, hearty, FUCK YOU to the engineering department at Toyota.

The holes are 1/2" wider on the Tundra rack. There is no reason for that.

 

or make some adapter brackets?

 

i thought he meant the mounting distance between the two holes was 1/2in more

probably could make new bushing with each one having an offset hole too

 

It's in. It works.

Now I just have to put everything else back together.

 

It's about an inch difference in piston diameter.

 

There's no room for adapters, you get the grinder out and cut the bungs out of the frame, then re-mount them 1/2" farther apart. Really not that bad a project, especially since I'd already cut the front crash bar out, so there was plenty of room to work.

 

rewelded them? so you just had to buy the clevis/tie. rods/heims from solo and supply your own rack?

not many people have done it

 

No, they cut down and rebuild the tundra rack, to make it the correct width for our trucks. So it a fully rebuilt rack, and they make sure it didn't come out of a truck with front end damage.

Then you have to cut and weld for the install. I did the heim joint tie rod upgrade too so I don't have to worry about bending an OE one.

The weak point is now the spindle.

It's not a cheap part, but I'd charge the same to install a solo rack as an OE rack.

 

hopefully mine lasts a while (*knock on wood*)

 

One hopes.

 

Do you think that joint that bolts to the spindle adds any more leverage to the arm that comes off the spindle?

Looks like the factory ball joint mounts closer to the arm.

I could be totaly wrong.

Looks real real nice. Good job.

 

It's within a 1/4" of the original mount. Comparing the center of rotation between the heim and the ball joint.

That said, a 3/4" hiem, secured with a 5/8 grade 8 bolt is substantially stronger than an OE tierod, so the spindle is now the weak link, not the tie rod. I'll add a double shear mount later, but I don't plan to jump the truck with this susosuspen, so I'm not super worried.

ETA, without the spindle gussets I'd be worried.

 

By double shear you mean a mount to the bottom of that hiem joint?

 

Yes, what's there now is a single shear.

 

Kinda thought that was the plan from the length of the bolt.

Looking good.

Has anyone looked into a tundra spindle swap.

 

Thanks.

Not that I know of, youd have to deal with hubs too if you did.

 

15 minutes down the road and we've stopped for a parking lot repair (new zip ties on the rack boots).

 

Subbed for info.

 

Thoughts on the Solo Rack after two trips and 500 highway miles.

TL;DR: If you have power steering issues, go buy it, and stop suffering.

The long version:

The install is not a small project, you have to move the mounting locations, and clearance the frame (notch and weld) for the driver's side inner tie rod. It took me about a full day of work, although not rushing, to do the install, excluding removing and installing the armor. You'll be cutting, grinding and welding the frame, but it's not a complicated fab job. Enough said.

Otherwise, it's a normal rack install, I did the power steering pump and lines at the same time, just to start everything known good. Getting the boots over the rack is a PITA, I'll be upgrading the zip ties to hose clamps at some point soon.

My alignment shop was confused by the double heim joint tie rods, but figured it out. Converting the spindle to heim joints is easy, I'll do a double shear tab later to make it stronger. That will require removing the hub and small parts to avoid cooking anything.

Driving is a different experience, even on 33s the OE rack is working to drive around town, never mind offroad. The Solo feels much (10%? 15%?, total butt-dyno WAG) easier to turn and steer. It's also sharp, unlike the beat to shit OE rack that came out, and I think better than the OE rack when it went in. Certainly better than the OE rack after it's first hard wheeling trip.

I'd rather install one of these than a OEM rack, just because I'm pretty sure it won't be an annual project.