2000 Turbo Taco - Race Truck Edition, to include wannabe fabricator and machinist stuff(PIC HEAVY!!)

Funny enough I had a few friends that also wanted to get their cars (Miata, BMW, C-10 Chevy) ready and join me for autocrossing right along with me when I started... once they heard I was beating all kinds of sports cars with the little pickup truck they seemed to lose all interest and never showed up!!

I was out there this weekend finally, had a blast and was within 2 seconds of the fastest cars out there. It was the new venue so it was a smaller 40 second course vs a minute bringing me closer to the top runners. The asphalt was smoother and grippier which made for some faster turns and and as a bonus was light on wear even though it was melting hot this weekend.

I had a new group of folks admiring the truck in the lot first thing in the morning, then after seeing it run asking for ride alongs and what the heck I did to the Tacoma to get it going so "fast"! Let me see what I captured on the gopro, it was an afterthought mostly with all the fun going on, but I think I got some footage to share..

 

Hell yeah! That's what it's all about!

It does frustrate me when I meet people with sports cars of pretty much any type and I can't convince them to actually enjoy them how they were meant. Especially when their excuse is "I don't wanna break anything" a bunch of parking lot princesses, the whole lot of 'em!

 

Hahhaa, amen! You just reminded me of an instance this weekend along these lines.. a ride along tells me he is "a broke college kid and cant afford to even try autocross now", but when I asked what he drove he tells me he drives a brand new GT86 and that would need protective film before trying anything?!!

Then believe it or not he actually goes on to say something about some new 2300 pound Lamborghini I never even heard of would be fun... needless to say I didnt even know how to respond to the guy while we were about to take off racing in my truck that cost just a fraction of his "broke college kid" machine!!

 

I had a college kid say a very similar thing. I think I might have convinced him that it isn't hard on cars really at all, but idk. I think he drove some mid 2000s Lexus sedan.

 

Got the bed clearanced some more. It fits real nice, with plenty of clearance for the upper links to travel. I was also pleasantly surprised to see how rigid the parts of the bed I cut still are. They may not need any bracing or anything.

Anybody got any decent ideas on what to line the edge of all the cuts with? I plan on grinding them all smooth, but still would like to not have sharp edges if possible. I thought about that push on black trim but with the ridges or whatever they're called in the bed floor it may not contour properly and stay in place...

 

Maybe something like door seal?

 

For me I'd probably square off the opening and then weld some square tube or bar stock that is thick enough to cover the ridge edges. Bonus, it'll give a more finished look and add some rigidity just in case.

 

I'm really digging the "only necessary for important clearance" look. I'd also not like to add additional weight if I don't have to.

I like @BananaMan 's idea, which to my own credit, I did kind of think about before asking...

I'm gonna see if I can find some cheap door trim to see if I like it or not.

Edit: That wasn't hard...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134105876823

32 feet for 8 bucks!!! lol


I keep going back and forth on fuel tank size. I definitely don't want the factory 15 gallons. Now that all the important stuff is done, it's time to start thinking about weight savings.

I'm torn between 5 gallons and 8 gallons. The only reason I'm between those is that both of those sizes are readily available and plentiful on the 'ol fleabay for basic aluminum fuel cells with anti-slosh foam and a built in sending unit...it's just an aluminum box with -an threaded outlets, surely a cheap one will perform just as well as an expensive one, right?

 

I'd go with 8 gallons. Feeding a fuel hungry turbo engine and still being able to putt around on the street occasionally is fun.

 

I'm thinking that as well. Plus the price is almost the same. Lol

 

Nice progress as usual, I was going to suggest the door trim too but see @BananaMan was quick to the draw.

For the fuel tank size definitely also consider the dimensions a major factor and where you can place the weight on the vehicle being this is your race truck! For the best weight distribution of course try to keep that the tank as centered within your wheel wells and low as feasible. It would not be as convenient to have to bring fuel and refill during an event though, do you know how much gas you burn in a day roughly?

On this note are you relocating the battery towards the rear too "while youre there"?! Again for dimensions and packaging, and also for shedding a ton of weight, and adding voltage, AND no need to charge ever for a vehicle that sits around a bunch.. I would check out this beauty I am running in Trudy, it weighs under 8 pounds!!

Note: Case Size: 6.5 x 5 x 6.8 inches (LxWxH)

 

What sucks is I really can't get it any lower than the bed floor unless I want to mount it behind the rear axle. I think I'm gunna see how it goes with it right behind the cab (something you recommended a while back) and slightly offset to the passenger side (to try and counter driver weight a smidge) . I have also thought about relocating the battery back there as well. Trying to dial in (or get a rough idea) for ride height, pushrod length, and coil preload has got me a tad bit frustrated at just how bad the "Taco Lean" really is. I really do need an inch or more of longer pushrod on the driver's side than the passenger side and the spring still compresses almost an inch more even though they are preloaded to the same dimensions.

The more and more that I think about it, I did get rear ended back in 2014...it could have a slightly tweaked frame. Even though I measured and made sure the frame was the same as it was from the beginning, start to finish, my driver side frame rail seems to sit a tad bit lower, requiring more suspension to adjust and make it even left to right. I never had any issues with handling or driveability before, so I never really gave my severe Taco Lean a second thought, because every ody complains about it. I even had uneven blocks made by a customtacos member from way back in the day that made the bed\frame sit more level.

I think 5 gallons will be more than enough for a single event. I trailer it to the events anyway, and have several VP gas jugs that I use routinely. So keeping it fueled shouldn't be an issue. I've seen guys in the grid refuel after each run, so that's not a concern. Those guys are usually running race gas and probably smaller (2ish gallons) fuel cells... #becauseracecar

 

Great to hear you are ready to bring extra fuel for the sake of increased performance!

I see what you mean about the packaging for your fuel cell, is there any space to justify a custom fabricated tank that can squeeze between your cab and the new suspension mounting points with clearance for the driveshaft? The bottom of the tank could be flush with your frame rails, and potentially clearance the bed for the tank much like you already did for your suspension if you need the tank to come upwards for more volume!

This may be quite a bit of effort, but weight distribution plays a huge part of the overall setup and this may be a good time to consider all your options.. or maybe the battery could relocate to this central spot. Just some thoughts, hope some of this helps you out!

 

I'm wearing the perfect shirt today for this conversation... (courtesy of my loving wife)

 

Bit of an update...it seems that my ADHD is working in overdrive right now. Lol

I've managed to trim the bedsides for more clearance, which it may need more. Measure twice cut once amiright? Haha



I also was gunna go ahead and throw the new double adjustables in the front end but got distracted... severely. How can I do all that work in the back and then leave the front with stock rubber bushing?!?!











Btw, I DO NOT think the stock control arm bushings are meant to be replaced. Holy crap what a bitch it is to get them out. I'm having to re-engineer a way to get my own bushing in the upper arms. Still pondering this one for sure. Lowers will be really easy.

 

Put in some work today on bushings for the lower control arms. Long and tedious when you're trying to repeat measurements 4 times. I got 2 1\2 bushings done before I decided to call it a night. One control arm test fit to make sure they fit properly.

 

Both lower control arms mounted. I put one of the blown QA1 shocks in to measure travel. I currently have the lower ball joint flipped to see if I wanna go that route again. The slim bump stops that were on the truck when I got it do not make contact at full flex. I made a small spacer out of delrin to make it the proper height. Hopefully it saves my new QA1s. Lol


I think I'm going to also try to run the tie rods flipped as well in hopes to eliminate bumpsteer which is known to occur with the BJ flip and stock oriented tie rods.

Next is figuring out the upper control arms

 

Been super slacking on making any real progress on the front suspension. But I promise it's not because I haven't been researching stuff day and night. I finally quit pussy-footin around today and started making some bushings for the stock cross shafts. I was trying like hell to find a fully adjustable upper control arm that would be damn near bolt in. While there are options that would be really good, it's the cross shaft bolt spacing that throws everything off. Toyota uses a super narrow bolt spacing. I measured 4 3/16". Typical cross shaft bolt spacing is 6" (American stuff) and I've found a couple as narrow as 5"(Mopar I think). I just couldn't commit to a solid idea. So it's back to modifying the stock arms. Another thing I'm trying to plan for is cross shaft install and removal after fabbing everything, to include future bushing replacements. It's a real conundrum, lol.

 

Wonder if you could source some universal parts from SPC to build your own, something like below, but adjusting the bushings diameter and turnbuckle lengths for the Tacoma.. maybe give em a call and see what they got? Hope this helps a bit..

 

Yep. Looked at them and called them. I was hoping to get their version that has heim joints pivoting on the cross shaft, but Toyota has an oddball diameter for the cross shaft as well. I looked at just about every combination of parts I could find in countless Google searches.

That arm specifically "would" work. But if I'm just gunna use delrin and sleeves then I'd rather save the dough and mod the stock arms. It's still on the table though. We'll see how well the ones I'm modding now turn out. If I don't have the skills to make this work then that is a great alternative. Only caveat is I would STILL have to make custom bushings since I can't use their cross shaft and their bushings are only available in the size needed for their cross shaft as far as I can find.

This is what I was trying to make work...