Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Thank you!!

 

Happy birthday old man.

 

3rd gen shortbed Softopper for sale in the WI Toyota Tacoma Enthusiast Facebook group

 

Happy Birthday! Be sure to have a old fashioned or 2

 

Looks sweet in the daylight!

 

We were both getting up off the floor slower towards the end of the night. Thankfully it wasn't as cold last night when we were working on it.

 

Thank you, sir!

Thank you! Crap, now I want an old fashioned. I.. might.. have an orange in the kitchen, and possibly some cherries, bitters, Brandy, sugar cubes and soda. Hmmm...

 

Glad we finished up when we did. High of 31 tomorrow in these parts!

 

Well, I'll be... I guess it was meant to be.

 

When I installed my lift on the 4runner, I was about 1/2 inch higher than I wanted to be. Over the course of around 25,000 miles, they’ve settled to the advertised height. While my example isnt apples to apples since I have coil springs on all 4corners, and the springs are from Dobinsons, we both have essentially the same front end, and it’s a data point.

For something that’s advertised for 0-400lbs, the extra height in the back really seems like a lot. High enough that I’d start thinking about the driveshaft pinion angle being excessive, but maybe somebody that knows more about the taco leaf spring setup can chime in.

EDIT: assuming your pics are showing the truck after it’s been driven a bit after taken off the jacks:

The front also seems way too high. CV angles might be excessive because of it as well, although since they are only driven in 4wd, they arent going to start immediately wearing. The other issue like was already mentioned is downtravel. If you can get it up on a jack, you can measure the hub to fender distance fully extended and compare that to when it’s been settled on the ground. If the ironman has normal travel shocks, I bet you might be very close to maximum extension on the shock. From what I understand, you want the shock to be the limiting factor that stops extension, but if you are too close to fully extended, the shock is going to get hammered every time it gets fully extended on every bump. And five thousand miles of topping out your shocks cant bode well for their longevity. In fact, getting a downtravel measurement can help communicate it to Ironman how much of an issue you have.

This is on the paranoid end, but Another reason to jack it up and double check droop on the front suspension, is just to verify that your shocks truly are the limiting the extension. You dont want your ball joints doing the limiting, or the CV axles. Turn the front wheels with it jacked and listen/feel for clicking in the cv joints.

Also, one more thing, Do you remember if you did the final torquing of the control arms with full weight on the wheels? If they were torqued while wheels were off the ground, it would sit a bit higher, and the bushings will tear pretty quickly.

Hopefully ironman will help you sort this out.

If there is one thing that has made my time wrenching on the 4runner a pleasure, it’s using dense carpet padding to lay down on. I’ve got a bunch of 3x4 pieces cut up that I just throw down where I’ll be crawling underneath. Im not sure what type it is, but I use the white/cream colored pad with a type of mesh in the back (not the chopped-up type of carpet padding). Let me tell you, nothing beats wrenching in rich corinthian luxuriant comfort. . Also, It wipes clean pretty easily if I end up spilling a little oil on it.

For someone who has jumped right in to wrenching on your Taco, you owe it to yourself!!! I’m not kidding! Do it!!!!

 

Ding dong…that’s me at the door, open up it’s cold out here. Oh look! Old Fashioneds! Sure, I’ll have one!


Happy birthday

 

even if the cv's aren't driven they turn with the wheels

 

I'd gladly share! But, I'm in my Pajamas, which you might not want to see!

Then again, folks leave the house in pajamas all the time now. . I saw a whole family at Cabela's on Saturday in matching pajamas.

 

Depends on your idea of pj's,,,,,,,,,,,,, I sleep nekid!

 

Jammies already? I thought you’d be out getting shitfaced to celebrate another successful trip around sol!

 

TMI!

 

Maybe I'll be more energetic this weekend. Right now, I just want to finish my laundry and go to bed.

 

You know what will help that? Plate bumpers and a winch! Maybe a rack with a bunch of goodies hanging on it...