Tacoma J-arm kit & swingset steering

Thats the way I am leaning on things currently.

 

I was die hard on that OV tune twin turbo kit for a LONG ASS time

was gonna be the only 3rd gen caged, long travel, and boosted

And man, after that kit finally made it to production
It wasn’t useful for anyone

and I say that to point out
No matter how many people are interested
They’re all tire kickers til the kit is for sale

if you build it
And it ends up being the dream setup you have in mind

you can sell the cut files to customers that actually have wallets
And the rest won’t matter

 

Selling cut files could be a thing. Even for the swingset. However the concern is people sharing the file. And that’s a problem.

 

yeah I wonder how diy off-road deals with that.

 

The files are read only
And can’t be copied or edited and some have keys on them

you could also just sell the file already cut and send it through send cut send or whoever

ultimately irrelevant until you have a working prototype or completed design


Just get back to the grind and update us with pictures

we will add advice where relevant

and keep it off IG unless you wanna be copied

 

In your mind, what's the difference between obtainable for most and out of reach for most? I'm kind of in the camp of if it's compromising the kit in a way that makes it palatable for the median consumer, then don't do that and just build the kit that you think is the real solution. Does that brickwall a huge customer base? Yeah, but this is already something that is assuming you and your truck are at a certain level going in. That being said, I'm assuming this is directed at go fast applications over something like rock crawling? I'm not quite at LT territory but I'm always looking ahead at what I want done and the JD kit has been on my radar because of the 934 CVs and how they tuck into the LCA. I live in the northeast so 95% my potential wheeling is gonna be tight, rocky, and slow...I guess what I'm asking is why would I choose to build towards this setup over a tried and true LT kit in my application? Or would I just not, which is fine as well haha

 

j arm allows for a unlimited size shock package
And more droop/compression (in most cases)

but is definitely made for go fast people
Has 0 gained advantage for rock crawling as a sole task


Edit:
It also allows for proper bump stop setup bumping off the spindle or a flapper UCA

 

The thing that piqued my interest was possibly getting a 12" c/o in and running dual rate springs, the front end is basically a brick and from what I can tell solving one problem just leads to a bunch of other issues. In my mind, dual rate springs might let you coax some willingness to actually travel in the rocks

 

@Mynameisbrandin /4LoFab just did hydro steering, portals, and 40's on stock width suspension. Looks like he took it into the rocks this weekend. Definitely different than go-fast, but if you want to stay narrow it's an idea.

...and when you're looking at [unpriced] swing set and [unpriced] j-arm, portals aren't that expensive.

 

Say goodbye to inner fenders
Say goodbye stock air filters of any configuration
Say goodbye to your battery, ABS and fuse box location

and potentially your stock headlights

 

Assume 10ish K for a swing set
And another 15ish for a full J arm kit

if that makes you squeamish then the actual price higher or lower will still be a turn off ( for most)

If 25k in suspension alone; not including shock package or additional needed fab sounds good?

then
Yes, J arms are the way

stock width on 40’s even with portals
Is gonna wipe out the stock rack and likely a tundra rack too

So something to consider since tacos seem to not survive steering anything larger than a 37 for more than a season

 

The 74weld portals do still add I think 7” of width overall.. just no added travel. But the ground clearance is nice for crawling for sure.

 

Yeah, portals add about as much width as a 4” kit. Idk why the misconception is they keep a truck narrow.

 

Yeah, this kit definitely won’t be designed around not having an engine cage. But there comes a point where not having a cage is dumb anyways. So it’s just something to grow into.

 

And I should clarify my last statement a little. It will be able to be ran without an engine cage. But will be limited in its ability until an engine cage were added.

In other words, if you want it optimal out of the gate with 12” shocks instead of 10” it’s going to require at minimum an engine cage.

 

The portals push the width out 3.5” per side. Got +35mm offset wheels to bring it back in 1.38” for overall slightly less than 2.25” per side.

 

The full hydro set me back $3k and about a total of a full weekend of fabrication to make it work. This last weekend was the shakedown and it performed flawlessly in the rocks at slow speed. I was able to move my whole truck side-side with 2 fingers steering when I put the front tires mashed on a rock wall straight ahead and full weight on it. Was very happy with the setup and had zero issues. Not arguing costs at all because this shit wasn’t cheap even being a dealer for them lol

 

Show me a good set of off-road wheels in +35. In particular, bead locks. I’ll wait.

 

KMC makes a few +35 offset wheels in beadlocks. I decided on these method bead grips 703s simply because I didn’t want to wait 2 months to get them. Had a tire fully folded over back onto the wheel at 8psi at one point and never had an issue

 

KMC makes zero +35 bead locks.

Moral of the story, sure you can run some ugly ass +35’s. But you basically just axed your ability to stay narrow and run bead locks.