Hammer Hangers® by Archive Garage 2005-2023 Tacoma Shackle Hangers

Thank you

 

got a compliment on the hangers today from a heavy machine repair/fab guy. he thought it was super clean and said they deserved a better frame to be mounted on. Tacoma burn!

 

Although a fully boxed frame would increase weight significantly, I couldn't help but agree. That's why I went ahead and did the cross bar too. Tightens up the rear end a bit. Don't think on that last sentence too much.

@ARCHIVE what do you think about sketching up a frame boxing kit for the rear? I know DMZ has made one, not sure who else or if it's even necessary.

 

I hope the 4th gen Tacoma gets a fully boxed frame like Ranger and Colorado, but keeps the 1/8" thickness. The weight to fully box is only 100lbs or less, when you remove the riveted in strength plates (which cause corrosion), totally worth the weight. However, my 2005 DCSB Tacoma feels pretty decent unloaded, with my Hh cross tube and the shock tower cross tube I have. I feel like I can confidently throw it at turns, handles well.
Probably the guys who load them up as an expo rig, then rock crawl with them notice the frame flex more.

Only boxing the rear behind the fuel tank kinda bothers me as I bet a lot of bending from weight happens between the wheels. (Sliders should reduce that?) Boxing rear certainly helps reduce twist and so frame doesn't bend around air bumps, and when dragging a hanger. DMZ does it to since they notch frame for caged shocks and air bumps.

I have a 2005 Sequoia which is fully boxed, and so are the 4runners, and it feels like a solid foundation.
I also have a 2000 Tundra with an open channel frame and a shot rear body mount, you can feel the frame doing a jig, I have been thinking of fully boxing that frame if it becomes more than a mild build.

 

+1 remove the frame plates and swap those channel frame rails into a museum exhibit of what not to use on a truck. how much really does it cost. makes me think of 60minutes back in the 90s shaming the domestic manfs for skimping out on less than $100 in material to reinforce the doors and roof like Volvo was already doing.

 

Sick, I suppose it does sound a little labor intensive to box the entire frame. I'd imagine the bed, fuel tank, those riveted cross members, and a lot of front bits and brake/electrical lines would have to be moved to to weld all those plates in.

I hope the 4th gen does get the boxed frame too. The tacoma is going to have to become more heavy-duty in the midsized truck market to stay competitive, what with every manufacturer beating it in almost every statistic minus sales. The weak 3.5L will have to go too. Great plateform Toyota has built, but they need to take it to the next level.

 

I completely agree, I think the 3rd gen is lagging behind in chassis design since the frame is now 15 model years old. It's time for Tacoma to take a solid step forward. I'd like to see it get a couple inches wider, and cab interior 4" longer, increase suspension travel, do it all and nail it!

 

So I have a random leaf spring question. I have the u bolts torqued down but still get small amounts of rotation of the leaf pack. I thought of adding some kind of shim to the u bolts. This would make the leaf pack tighter in between the u bolts.
I found some steel 1/16” thick spacers/tube. The ID is 1/2” which fits on u bolts nicely.
Any reason this is not recommended?

 

@Shmellmopwho burned in my shock towers & HH yesterday. Only drove it a couple miles when we finished, not enough to get any impressions. This morning was a 25 mile drive on the freeway & my butt-gyroscope says it's a much smoover ride! I can best compare it to how it used to feel with a few hundred pounds in the bed. No pogo stick, no chattering, nada. It just. Feels. Planted. Look closely & you'll see the uber custom reservoir mounts we used to get me by until I can get the real McCoys.

Next up: UBolt flip kit, ressi mounts & Spidertrax wheel spacers (Wednesday after work)

 

Ya the leaf rotation is really just the overload on the bottom twisting slightly. I torqued the four u bolts to 80ft lbs. While tightening in a pattern like lug nuts. Basically the leaf pack I have is not held together with the same detailed C shapes the stock leafs use.

 

I've had this same idea, and I see no problems, except I recommend using a plastic or Delrin tube from McMaster.com.

This is also why the Archive Stealth HD U-bolt flip is designed with proper hole spacing to keep the U-bolts tight to 60mm (2.375") leaf packs. You still have to ensure you pinch the ubolts tight to the springs from below the axle before you tigten.

https://archivegarage.com/products?olsPage=products/stealth-toyota-u-bolt-flip&page=2

 

Instead of the sleeves, have you considered using a larger diameter u-bolt?

I have upgraded to 5/8" bolts for strength. Not that I have looked for it specifically, but I have never noticed any rotation of my leaf pack.

EDIT: And, I clamp mine way tighter than 80 ft-lbs.

 

I’d be leery about going too tight. Someone else said they over tightened theirs and it crushed the axle tube because all that Force was concentrated on the thin u bolt, as opposed to the large plate to distribute the load. He may have mentioned it wasn’t a tacoma, but same concept applies.

 

I have never heard of crushing an axle tube with too tight u-bolts. The u-bolt stretches, and should fail long before the axle tube crushes. And/or, the ears on the plate should bend.

I run the same setup in my Tacoma that I ran in both of my Rangers (with 8.8 axles).

I just looked up Toyota's spec. For the factory, non-flipped u-bolts, they specify 37 ft-lbs.

 

Crushing a mini truck axle tube isn't that hard, 80-90 lb-ft is appropriate. 37 is stupid low, and could easily come loose and Im sure contributes to clunking and excessive movement.

 

I remember looking at your u bolt flip kit for air bumps and thought there was an extra high pedestal somewhere that was going to eat up bump travel. Looks like this has been fixed
Is the plastic recommended to reduce rusting/squeaking? Or is the plastic more slippery than my steel tubing?

Another interesting idea. This would tighten up both sides.
When I measured for shock/bump travel the plate thickness was just about perfect.

 

Hey @ARCHIVE correct me if I’m wrong but your U bolt flip kit is compatible with the Deaver U402 stage III springs correct?

 

Yes, but should fit all available springs up to about 3.5" pack thickness

 

I spoke with Jeff at Deaver this week and ordered the U402 stage III custom 4” to replace my block on my OEM leafs. I
let him know my time crunch. I hope they can pull through on those custom leaf packs for my honeymoon road trip in October!

 

So hands down, these will get you more articulations than the flip kit? I have the shackle flip but never got around to installing it yet. Now I’m getting that itch, but dont want to do it twice. I have the Alcan HD pack