Long Travel BS Thread

To each their own. Depends on how they’re using their trucks again - if they’re mobbing through rock gardens and blowing them it’s one of those things that should have been thrown out with the rest of the ifs.

 

If we’re being real here. Nothing is harder on steering components than smashing stuff at decent speed. And that statement really goes for all components.

When it comes to steering the only real solution is swingset. But, I sat down the other day and crunched numbers. The expense of it is astronomical. Just the development phase of mine was near 100k once parts and labor are factored.

I’m curious to see what 74weld comes up with, if it ever actually happens.

But until you’re in a box with assist, steering is going to be a problem if you drive your stuff hard.

 

I’d wager those trucks breaking tundra racks weren’t even shock tuned so they wouldn't have been able to be hitting stuff at speed - at least correctly or well. There were two double cabs on here circa 2016 that were linked and caged on Solo XLT’s with their Tundra racks that would hit street gaps and float through whoops in Barstow. @snowsk8air2 hucks his rig and does all kind of wheeling but is bumped and strapped correctly and his shocks are tuned properly also.

Back then a lot of guys were running stock racks and 35’s and not blowing them while tuning their shocks, bumping, and strapping them and doing regular sized whoops and Mojave road style runs. The Tundra rack upgrade somewhat came around the same time 37’s were starting to appear more on 2nd gens.

Four things have changed since then imo.

1. Vehicle weight. Back then guys would run a bed cage and a single spare with maybe a floor jack and some tools. Not 6-7k lb overlanding glampers.

2. Shock tuning

3. Tire size. Around the time the RCLT hype came out, everyone wanted 37,38,39,40. If @Basikbiker and @snowsk8air2 can run 37’s and huck their trucks, anything below a 37 should be fine until we get to the last point I’ll make. Trucks that actually run 39-40’s won’t even run 2.0” race hubs or 35 spline axles while guys on here think they should be able run them on stock hubs and shafts.

4. Terrain style. All of these kits were originally or eventually based off a design for going fast in the desert. Big heavy overlanding rigs going through rock gardens were never the use case these long travel parts were designed for. A coilover solid axle is way better for that stuff unless like you said, you have a huge budget. For the $10k most guys are dumping in their front ends these days, you could have a sweet sas setup.

 

Knowing this is 99% of the reason I’m selling my build list LOL

 

Just watching Towmater idle through crap with no lockers, no crazy short gearing, and a manual transmission that people are breaking their $80k rigs on opened my eyes to it’s all about the purpose you’re building a rig to be proficient at and selecting the best approach through your design. Punching an expensive square peg into a round hole leaves an expensive square mark on the hole, that’s it.

 

Entirely this
If you keep trying to force a taco to do trophy truck shit
You’re either rich
Or you like fixing stuff lol

 

AMR is doing trophy truck stuff with a pretty simple SUA and front kit. Don’t really hear much about issues from that truck.

 

Happy for him

 

Unless the AMR truck is running 40’s it won’t be able to do trophy truck level stuff down in SF and other places where Solo’s ranger can’t even make it on beams and links on 37’s - the ruts are just too deep and holes are that much bigger than they were.

 

Fact of the matter is it’s still a race truck, he still does well with it and rarely seems to have issues.

 

The other factor of course is the driver and what they're trying to do. I spend most of my time in the rocks but the fact of the matter is that you very rarely, if ever, need to go fast in the rocks. It's sometimes fun to do it but if you're running an LT IFS set-up then you have to understand your limitations and sometimes pushing those limits and breaking shit is still fun.

All part of the game. This pretense that there is "the one best" build for everyone based on whether they're in the rocks or in the dirt is always going to be a joke unless you're literally sponsored and competing in races which almost nobody here actually is. For the rest of us it's just a matter of tradeoffs and having fun. There's a phrase we use often at work and I think it applies here: perfect is the enemy of good.

I acknowledge that for a lot of people, though, the most fun they have with their trucks is when they're on the jack stands or when they're posting about them. That's totally valid, too.

This copium brought to you by my LT setup that goes fast in the rocks with a stock Tacoma steering rack that's currently skipping teeth.

 

also, let’s face it, if you own a Tacoma and you’ve spent any $$ at all on it, you’ve already decided that trying to force square pegs through round holes is fun for you because there’s a better vehicle for every purpose we use these trucks for

 

Truthfully I have to disagree. I think the Tacoma is an amazing entry level truck. Reliability that is unmatched from any other platform, support for everything across the board etc. Really I’m not sure a better “entry level” truck exists to begin building and learning.

But when you start talking links and big power etc. The Tacoma is about the worst.

 

Totally agree. I'm talking about this pretense that if you rock crawl, you should SAS it or you're doing it wrong, etc. Perfect is the enemy of good.

These trucks are fantastic at the "good" end of the spectrum. That's why we're all here. But if we wanted to pretend that we're trying to achieve the scientifically/engineering "perfect" solution to the problem, we've already failed by picking a Tacoma.

Why would I SAS a Tacoma for the rocks when I could just buy a TJ for cheaper and be more capable? Because I wanna. That's why.

 

Perfect doesn’t even exist in a million dollar truck. If it did, 50%+ of racers wouldn’t be getting DNF’s during the big races.

Drive it with the understanding it’s a Tacoma on 35’s or 37’s, correct the issues that come up and you can have a dang good time. Learn a ton and apply it to something down the road.

There’s all kinds of false narratives out there about what should and should not be done. All based off of old school mentality. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to do something that opposes this way of thinking.

20 years ago, people would have laughed in your face if you said you were going to build an IFS ultra 4. Now they’ve taken the entire sport over.

 

Yup. I live right by the Rubicon and it's always great watching people eat humble pie. "You need a Wrangler on 42's with a Dana 60!" and meanwhile there's a Tacoma with some Accutune midtravel set-up sliding right up on alongside them.

A lot folks get too caught up in the reading and building and don't spend enough time driving.

 

Progression is 100% not following things by the book, thinking outside the box and doing new things. Probably going to piss off a bunch of people in the process. But all you’re doing is finding the ones stuck in their ways.

Either way. These trucks ARE a very impressive platform and they will teach you a ton if you want to learn it. Just need to keep an open mind.

 

You can bring that notion even further, too. Majority of people who buy a truck in the first place (not Tacoma specific) would be better suited by purchasing a smaller sedan and renting a truck for the infrequent times they really "need" a truck.

Fact is 99% of the use for these is just commuting between work/school/grocery/etc.

But like everything else in this discussion, we do it because we want to - and there's nothing at all wrong with that.

 

Buffing my mall runner out today and had to share…. Wheeewwww

 

Damn that exhaust makes me want to ditch the mbrp and run it out the side