Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

We do what we can!!

 

Look on the bright side.
Everything probably came apart easily. No seized nuts or bolts.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-front-wheel-bearing.846601/

 

The SxS is what I'm concerned about

SRT anything is fun.... Until about 10,000 miles in and it's become a total POS. Not worth it.

 

Pat, you do such a good job that you're invited to help me when I need it. I can offer in return a warm bed, a hot meal, and hot coffee.

 

Sounds like a hot date!

 

Dan, if your over 100k and have a lift... only a matter of time on the boots. If you over 100k on the original wheel bearings... your due. I know where you play, surprised you haven't had an issue yet. Same for Dean, Jonathon and everyone else on here. Between Twark, the holes at Tigerton and everywhere else we play your coming due... Just a friendly maintenance and cash depletion reminder.

 

That is in my opinion a problem that will never solve itself. I let the experts press my bearings as my track record is 0 for 2 (on my CRV's.) It costs more, but its quick and easy.

 

And what is the name of your camper?

I like that term.

You are correct on the maintenance.
138k miles, it's just a matter of time.

 

Am I misremembering, or did you already replace the boots not too long ago?

 

Hey, I traded that one in!

 

I did the Passenger side and... a week later the driver side burst. Couldn't find a good time to do it until this weekend. Know how to do it well now.

 

Finished up the hangers with a top coat.....
Got carried away with the woolwax and kept on going.
LCA's, Cab mounts, cross members, side frame back to rear cab mount and bed mount by the front shackle hanger. (both sides)

 

Agreed. I keep an eye on my boots pretty regularly. With the addition of the winch the front has dropped down a bit and I'm not as concerned with the boots rubbing.

 

Hoping I can get the shackle flip on this week.
Heading a fair 3 hr ride to the hunting shack, Friday.
Would be a good chance to get a feel for it.

 

So my son brought his new scanner over today for me to try out. I started scanning some negatives that my brother shot (he passed away from a heart attack in 2010). I may have mentioned in the past how well he would have fit into our group.
I came across this shot he took of his VW Vanogan Synchro with full lockers that he drove from Madison to Prudhoe Bay Alaska. Here he is in Alaska...
He was pretty badass.

 

In 97 when I came back from Prudhoe Bay it rained the last half of the haul road. My ranger must have had 500 extra pounds of mud on it. Took almost $40 in quarters to get back to a red truck and the wheels were so out of balance I had to jack it up, take them off and blast them individually. Good times.

 

All you big tire guys lurking on here (@Snowy, @BEAR_KNIFE_FIGHT , @Supr4Lo, et al ) I am thinking about my lower ball joints a lot lately. Got any suggestions for LCA's? I will probably go up to 37's in a year or two so any help I can get moving the mess forward would be appreciated. Not looking for the wide track long travel look. Inform me please.

 

You and him are two peas in a pod!
Btw, his name was Pat.

oh, and damn! You should have seen that VW on Super Swampers! It was freakin glorious!

 

I’ve had 35s on stock width and stock LCAs but very severely limited my uptravel with it. I went with 2.25 LT because I’m hitting my fenders [outer and inners] on bump with the 35s. I also didn’t love the super wide desert truck look, but I don’t really feel like the 2/2.25 kits are that much wider than stock. I can post a pic of my truck for reference. I also have the JDF lower pivot kit which moves the LCAs forward which is nice. You can run that on stock width as well, but I think the benefit of both the pivot kit AND LT kit that moves the wheel forward has clearance advantage. Now I will say, I think some of my steering issues [sensitive steering and a bit more bump steer than I’d like] comes from having the wheels moved so far forward since it throws the caster so positive.

I will say, to really run >35s, you’re gonna have to cut into the cab for real clearance. Look at the guys out west who are running 37s, all of them are running custom inner fenders/bracing since you get so much wheel stuffed up with full bump.

At the end of the day, 37s [and really running them] are gonna take some work. I know you’re good for the work, but it’s a ton to do to make sure you’re not limiting travel. Running big ol tires and having any shock shaft left on the table feels like the wrong way to do it. The static ground clearance gains vs the dynamic travel gains of good shock work is more appealing to me.

I know there are few companies that make stock width LCAs that are an upgrade: better shape, uniballs/etc, provisions for dual shock. All of those have benefit, especially for you.

https://www.chaosfab.com/product/20...ies-Stock-Length-Lower-Control-Arms-86555-E-T

https://dirtking.com/collections/15-tacoma/products/performance-lower-control-arms-dk-811704

Uniballs are a wear item, but they’ll tighten up the suspension so well. Dual shock means you can run coilovers and bypasses, giving you more specific low and high speed [shaft speed, to be clear] damping control.

If you want to jump to big rubbers, I think you should start with a rock solid foundation. Look at the JDF Lower pivots — it’s a high clearance skid plate AND LCA mount that’s stronger AND more positional. After that, clearance your fenders. I know you’re rocking fiberglass outers, but you’re gonna need to see where your inners are going to hit the tire [even at 35s], which is probably going to be passenger/driver footwell firewall and headlight area and trim that as you see fit. Then, probably some solid coilovers [+bypasses] so you can maximize all of your wheel travel. Don’t be losing inches because your shocks are too short, or because the rod ends are too long. That’s really where the benefit of LT is going to come in — your shocks are a bit more outboard and angled so you get to rock a longer coilover [most kits are running an 8” shock shaft, gives you a better motion ratio]. Hydrobumps will let you squeeze out maximum uptravel while maintaining the protection for your stuff, which is great.


Anyway, thanks for coming to my ted talk. Anyone can hit me up with questions if this is helpful, or tell me to shut it

 

Pat, have you checked out Jason's build page? He did a pretty good job of documenting what he did.