cbechtold's Long Travel IFS Crawler Tacoma Build and BS Thread

@otis24 my understanding is that 63s are more for flex and dont do well with weight. however, I sold my 63s to Mike and he has a drifter now. Not sure if he's still running them @916TacoTruck

 

I ran them without the overload before the drifter. Dearly needed them after the drifter with all the crap i now carry for trips. I went and got a set off a 2500HD which holds a lot weight really well and still flexes great.

 

3/4 ton leaves are normally 750+ lb/inch spring rate once you’re on a couple leaves.

 

the amount of coors light i travel with is staggering. I know my company when i camp.

 

When i empty my truck, the ride isn’t very pleasant. But the truck isn’t a truck anymore, and i keep all my gear inside, so it’s ready to go at anytime.

 

That’s like mine. It’s a dedicated camping rig. It’s never empty.

 

Fuck tubing is all I got!!! Those holes gave me flashbacks!

 

Coors light? What is this liquid you speak of?

 

That's what I ended up doing. Making a template worked pretty well for at least having the general shape. One of my dad's friends recommend that I use a blanket and hammer to form the sheet metal which worked pretty well to my surprise. Low and behold, I made it a 1/2 inch too big all the way around.

I got it tac'd in a few spots and then proceeded to shave metal off and press it into place with a BFH.

A-fucken-MEN!

 

Well, I got a good chunk of the work I wanted to do yesterday. Passenger side is completed. Driver side I want to re-do a few welds that I'm not happy with, so one would think that one more weekend should do it!



No fancy camera photos because it was 9PM and I just wanted to sleep.

 

Here's a link to a site that I found helpful.

https://www.roundforge.com/articles/guide-chevy-63-spring-swap-toyota-trucks-4runners-and-tacomas/

As for what I've read, flex is superb for a crawler. 14" shocks and Chevy 63s pair very nicely. As for desert stuff, they're okay. You'd probably be better off if you got some Deaver F67s and 12" shackles, but that's a lot more money especially since Chevy 63s can be less than 100 bucks at a junkyard to Pick-n-Pull.

The 3+1 leaf pack of out a 2wd 1500 seems to be the most popular for the first gen Tacos.

They're probably not as good at carrying weight as a custom leaf pack, but definitely on par or better than an aftermarket bolt in.

 

Throw a pic of inside the cab?
I haven't done one of these yet, and I've seen varying degrees of the interior pulled...

 

I pulled a lot out and pulled the carpet and most things flammable back a good 2 feet.

 

Here are some templates I've had for years:

1 of 2: C:/Users/16192/Desktop/Stuff/Templates/1%20of%202.pdf
2 of 2: C:/Users/16192/Desktop/Stuff/Templates/2%20of%202.pdf
Upper fender well: C:/Users/16192/Desktop/Stuff/Templates/Upper%20Fenderwell.pdf

Hope this helps somebody.

EDIT: Crap, the links won't work.

 

were you trying to link to files on your local computer? lol

 

Yes.

 

Here's my template
.

 

With all the sheet metal work finished up today, I've moved on to sealing everything inside and out. So far only got around to seam sealer and undercoating. Tomorrow the goal is to have the truck back on the ground. Only things left to do is cap the body mounts, trim the bedsides, flex seal everything, last coat of paint, then reassembly.


IMG_6462 by Cory Bechtold, on Flickr


IMG_6467 by Cory Bechtold, on Flickr

 

Nice work!

 

Ready for 42s when you solid axle it