Long Travel BS Thread

For adults it's not comfy at all. But get one of those little mini Corbeu suspension bench seats and throw the kids back there. That's my plan for the XJ

 

Anyone know how much abuse the rubber shaft stop on Fox coilovers can take? Maybe @AccuTune Offroad ? Debating rushing to add bumps before a wheeling trip are just letting it ride. I’ve wheeled it without bumps a few times, but not at a park and I’ll be harder on them there. Slow speed but still.

 

You’ll be fine. High speed is where I’d really be concerned.

 

My thoughts as well. I’m strapped and bumped up front where things really matter. Hell I just set up straps on the rear last night. That was probably more dangerous to do without than bumps. Might try to add bumps if time allows, but I’ve got to get it on the trailer tonight.

 

So my blue Tacoma is on the verge of basically being totalled due to frame rot. I bought a silver 2005 access cab Tacoma that has 500k on it for cheap. Pretty sure that the transmission and engine are done, but it has a new frame.

My current plan is to strip the Silver truck down to cab and frame, box the frame, and do an internal cage. Once that's all done, I'll just swap everything from the blue truck over to the Silver truck after the camping season.

Just trying to figure out what direction I go, because I know it will be super tempting to go a lot deeper on this build if I'm stripping it bare, but at the same time, I don't want to be working on it for the next 3 years.

My blue truck is running JD's 2.25 front kit and sua rear kit with bed cage and 16" shocks, as well as being locked and on 37s etc. It has 934 cv's but stock rear end. I also have glass here for it that I probably won't install until the Silver truck.

The truck won't be for racing, but it also won't be a daily. The goal is to use it for local wheeling and camping trips, within 8hours drive or so, depending on just how uncomfortable it is. Might even drive it down to California or Utah for some wheeling and camping.

With that in mind, I'm looking for some cage inspiration that doesn't make the rear of the cab behind the seats completely useless. I will be ditching the bed and building something more custom to what I bring on trips, mainly camping gear, a fridge, and mountain bikes, me, my wife, and our dog.

I really want to link it, but then I should do a bigger rear end at the same time, and if I do that, then the 2.25 kit won't be enough, so I'd want to change that, and if I do all that I'll want more power etc etc, so I'm trying to find a balance where I don't go too deep down the rabbit hole. This truck will be used for crawling as much as it will be for high speed stuff.

Basically, I have the opportunity to start completely fresh, and I want to take advantage of it

 

The rabbit hole goes DEEP. Do it.

 

I’m pulling 16” out of the linked rear and 13” out of the JD kit and it doesn’t seem mismatched. It feels like the rear caught up with the front finally. If I SAS I would likely only be able to fit 14” coilovers anyways. Whole lot of extra work for an extra inch. The truck rides better on and offroad than it ever has on 35s since I linked it, but I would much rather haul it if driving over and hour. Having an unmolested DD has been a huge giant improvement in my every day life.

don’t know if I’d go through the trouble to link a truck that you’d camp in. I fantasize about building a camping rig, but links aren’t part of it haha maybe do some soul searching and really pin point what you want out of the rig. Then it’ll all come together, because you already know how to accomplish it. You know what it takes to make a true off-roader or a true overlander. Hard to have your cake and eat it too with these trucks though.

 

That's a tricky one. I would say that with it down to the frame the obvious thing is to box it as you said. Since you're ditching the bed and going custom it really only makes sense to four link it because I feel like half the work is done. You don't want to kick yourself down the road for not linking it and being able to incorporate it all together nicely. Who cares if you keep the stock axle back there, that can always be upgraded later. Or go budget rear axle from a Tundra or something. That's my thoughts on it anyways.

edit: You could also look to WheelEveryWeekends truck for some inspiration as he nailed the build to be able to do it all. You'll just be IFS obviously.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9w7GyGlvIf/

 

That would do it haha

 

It's pretty freaking sweet. It's what I would consider the ultimate goal for what I would want out of a truck.

 

And now that truck sits in his back yard half taken apart, with no plans to put it back together. Instead of fixing it, he decided to buy a newer tundra and do a simple overland build on it.
Custom parts and suspension are awesome, but there are alot of downsides that people dont think about till its too late.

 

He just spreads himself too thin is what it boils down too. That's a "him" problem, not a "that style truck build" problem, unless there's something else I'm missing.

 

Yeah most people dont want to work on their truck constantly. Most people spread themselves too thin. One of the downsides to having a vehicle like that is it takes a ton of time and maintenance to keep up with it. Thats why you dont see them being daily driven everywhere. When you get to that level theres alot that goes into it.

 

Do the c pillar outside of the cab

 

You're running the coilovers on the axle right? I was thinking if I was going to link it I would go with trailing arms, but maybe coilovers on the axle would be a good in-between setup that would match the front end better while doing everything I want. I would definitely add a swaybar though. The problem would be having the coilovers right in the center of the bed, rather than closer to the cab.

That's kind of where my debate is with linking it. already have everything off and bare, so it's mostly done. Would be nice to tie it all together. I do think that if I went trailing arms, the front wouldn't be able to keep up, but maybe it would work just fine. WEW's truck is definitely a big inspiration for me, but I do want to actually use the truck more than work on it haha. I don't plan to go quite as hardcore wheeling with it as him either.

Like @Dayman Karate said, it's hard to have the best of all the worlds. As trendy as the "overland" thing is, that is realistically what I do more, with long off road trips, lots of mountain biking and surfing. I just also love smashing my truck on hard obstacles and going fast when the opportunity presents itself.

I hadn't thought of that. That's a really good idea. I've been searching for days for cage builds, and have only come up with a few. Have you seen any that have done that?

 

I think @81Trekker was going to scan and CAD the cage he did in the silver double cab, that cage nearly fits behind all interior panels

 

Would be sick, but I'm switching to the access cab. Though I'm sure it could be modified. Bummed I'm going to have to buy the front kit and all the JD gussets a second time, but is what it is! My current frame is so bad it's not worth trying to save.

 

Alrighty boys when’s the group buy for the internal cage.