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

Well he said he lowered this lift to relieve his angle on his CV. Which is what diff drop also do right?

 

when I put a diff drop in on my truck, I noticed next to no difference in CV angles...wasn't worth the trouble at all

 

x2

 

Makes little to no difference. All a diff drop does is lowers the front two mounting points 1''. Which nets you maybe 1/4'' if that even at the CVs. More like 1/8" or less. All it does it tip the front diff forward. Its more useful in aligning the driveshaft than fixing CV angles.

about 1'' of lift is idea Up and down travel numbers anyways. Really around 1.5''.

Lift does not help clear tires if you offroad. All it does is change your ride height. To make tires clear, cutting and hammering are your only options.

 

Well then Im glad I never got around to installing mine lol

 

Like Monte said, all it really succeeded in doing was tilting the diff forward a bit. Some people stack washers to create more of a drop and see more of an effect on the CVs, but then your tilting your diff even more and that's likely to present other problems. I just don't think they're worth the trouble, if your CVs have compromising angles then lowering your lift is about the best thing you can do. Or maybe the boot slide mod, I haven't tried that one yet. I've got mine to where the fins barely rub in certain situations, I've broken a couple boots but it doesn't happen often enough for me to think of it as a big issue anymore.

 

Lurking and saw these. Sweet rig!

 

Thanks man. I bought it brand new when I was a teenager and it's been an amazing little truck ever since.

 

I've owned my 15 for a year so far. Nothing special going on yet. Maybe some day I'll pick up a 1st gen and kit it out, if I don't kit out my dd.

 

sounds like its bad.Disconnect it and take it for a ride.

 

Diff drop is most useful for ruining your front diff mount bushings.

 

Well, I scrimped and saved every penny I could find this year for Black Friday and got my lift. Just need a couple odds and ends like extended brake line, BPV bracket etc...

UPS knocked a lot of paint off these leaf springs. Figure I better hit them with paint before I put them on.

 

Makes it so the bushings aren't sitting neutral to have the bolt pass through, they're always being stretched, especially the rear mount

 

Nice!! That's a pretty spectacular job by you.

When do they go on?

 

I’ve got the week of Christmas off so probably then. I figure if I hit any snags and the truck’s in pieces I won’t need it.

This is my first go at suspension work so I’m gonna take my time.

Edit: and I’ll take any last minute pointers anyone wants to give me from their experience.

 

After having my leafs out 3 times, this is the best advice I can give:
Use 6 ton jackstands if you have them, 3 ton stands sitting on some 2x10's is what I use.

Have a sawzall and carbide blades on hand. Unless your truck is totally rust free, those front leaf bolts will most likely be siezed in the bushings. May wanna stop by your dealer and get an extra pair to have on hand. Also, re lube all hardware with a synthetic grease such as super lube. Be prepared to cut your ubolts too, unless you got an impact gun with enough beans in it.

Install your rear extended brake line before you do the leafs. It will make dropping the axle down that much easier. Unbolt the abs wire bracket on the axle to make it so that doesnt stretch too.

Nows a great time to paint your axle, drums, and calipers. May as well make it look shiny before throwing mud on it.

Edit: Axle Shims!!!!!! At least 3 degrees with those expos. You dont wanna take them back off to instal them later. Learn from my mistake.

 

It's all fairly straight forward. Read the write ups multiple times, take your time, do one side/part at a time and buy lots of beer. You're going to have a blast

The worst part will be if you run into seized bolts or bushings. Have some cutting tools and a torch on stand by if you don't have access to another vehicle for unexpected trips to the auto store.

I'm about 2 hours away from you.... Let me know if you get yourself into a bind.

Too bad uwharrie shuts down next week or we could get those new shinny parts nice and dirty.

 

Awesome, good advice thank you both. It’s mostly rust-free but it’s got 170,000 miles so I expect a fight with a couple of these bolts. Everything is original.

Yeah I missed it this year but looking to get out there in spring when it reopens. I’ll hit you up, wouldn’t mind going with someone who’s been there before.

 

Get some good grease on the Uca bushings and the leaf bushing. A lot! Those poly bushing make a ton of noise without it. I literally had to take my leafs off to add more. Get a ball joint kit from your local auto store. Old bolts like to shear, so go easy on them if you can.

That’s all I can add from my experience of doing my lift.

 

Anyone want to split the cost with me ?
I need an ATSG automatic transmission overhaul manual for the auto transmission in your trucks
This is your 4 speed automatic A340 series transmission
Top notch manual right here .Send me a PM if you want to help .
Once I am in ownership of the ATSG manual , I will send it to whoever needs it in PDF
https://www.atsg.us/atsg/manual-download-1/toyota-a340-dl.html