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

Although I love the look of the classic 5 spoke design, the rotational asymmetry drives me nuts. I'm surprised these and the 3g 4runner 5spokes are so popular on our trucks when you could get a 6 spoke wheel with perfect rotational symmetry.



VS

 

It's simple really, five spoke looks better (also the stock and TRD wheels are too damn skinny for large tires)... thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

 

Don't you have knock off TEs?

 

Not a gimmick. Overlanders don't weld shit on their trucks.

Your shit's probably already bent.

They're really not that bad. Especially if you're already in the middle of a project like LCA bushings or something.

Assuming you have the front suspension out of the way, it probably only takes a couple hours. I've done it on both my trucks and a buddies though, so it gets easier every time. A good spot weld drill bit helps.

 

Yeah lol the one above is my old truck though, the TEs lugs are in center circle, im not even sure if they line up with the spokes... I had a car with three spoke wheels and 5 lugs too, weirdly it doesn't affect strength.



Huh look at that they do, never looked before. Not bad for $100 wheels haha

But I was never anal enough to look and see if my D window steelies on my other tacoma had lug holes that corresponded with D window holes or to see if my land cruiser OEM 5 spokes had any lug hole alignment. You'll give yourself brain cancer doing shit like that.

 

Taking the suspension off isn't bad, it was busting those old ones off and getting the new tabs welded (so that they didn't pull in and get too small for the alignment cam) that was a pain. I used an air chisel and center drill.

 

So if your tabs are not flattened already I highly recommend using this method I stole from @SilverGhost which is buying 1/4" steel stock and welding them right behind the current tabs. Not sure why more people don't do this but it's been strong enough for me and I see no reason to go the TC kit if you don't need to. Plus sides is you don't have to do anything but take your skids off to do it, and loosen the steering rack to get the back of the one. Then you don't have all the drama mentioned above ^^^

 

Easy solution: all cars should have centerlocks

 

I kinda like that option actually, would make wheels way easier to fit up on different platforms. Reminds me of Daytons haha

 

I never had an issue with the factory ones but I figured when I was doing the whiteline bushings it would be a wise time to do them. Get some spot weld drill bits. It wasn't fun removing them.

What's wrong with flux?

TC will be a little stronger with the tab and slot design but since it doesn't seem like it's very common to flatten them just a bit more strength over stock seems fine.

 

Uh oh, I've angered a flux core apologist. Lol, he could probably use it, I wouldn't want to on the cam tabs because they're 4130 Chromoly not to mention they'll need cleanup after cause it has to be flat back there and flux core is a spatter mess maker. Would actually be an excellent candidate for dual shield though. That stuff lays in so nice and flat.


Depending on the flux core you chose, you could use it for the spindles. Have to run that shit hot though so stopping more is gonna be necessary. I dunno, maybe it's worth bothering with for some.

 

Here's a dumb question. Could you brush on a little regular soldering flux before welding?

 

Uh, I don't have an answer for that haha. I wouldn't try it tho. When I still did flux core I just started with an Uber clean surface

 

I'm already feeling a little addicted I've been looking at some nice helmets today and eyeing all sorts metal things in the back yard. I've got an old lawnmower that's heading for the dump that might have tiger strikes by the time I get rid of it

 

Just be careful what you weld on, some metals with coatings like galvanized steel and whatnot produce phosgene and other awful gases when welded on that will seriously mess you up.

 

Just let those cams rust into place and you'll never lose your alignment again. Give it a good salt water rinse.
Mine were rusted, and pretty close to aligned. Been that way for 20 years. Drives straight, tires wear evenly.

 

I'll stick with iron scraps, I know not to mess with galvanized too but thanks for having my back.

 

You are talking completely different temperature ranges. Lead free solder fluxes activate around 125C and work up to 280C which is no where near the temperature of welding steel of over 1100C. It would evaporated away almost immediately I'm sure and offer no protection after that.

 

yes worth it.

Don't get the TC ones though. The Allpro ones are cut to fit much better. You'll spend way too much time grinding the TC to fit right.

 

I was all about the F5’s until the BR6’s came out. The F5’s still look great, don’t get me wrong. But the BR6 has that perfect symmetry, and the more angular lines match my truck better imo.

Matte gunmetal with flat black OMF beadlocks and custom center bore.