Brice's NA V6 Build

Alright so the truck is having problems. Problems that are 100% my fault. I'm gonna make a video explaining everything as best I can here in a few days.

Anyway I was thinking. The way I'm approaching this truck at the moment is I basically take a little money out of my normal income and when it hits a decent number I do something. So what I'm thinking at the moment is rear suspension. I can turbo it and I can have it run on a standalone, but what good is all that if I cant actually go fast?

So I did some digging and a 1968-1972 chevy c10 2wd and a 1995.5-2004 Tacoma have frame widths that are within like an inch (the wheelbases are also pretty close). This is relevant due to the suspension used on c10 trucks of the era. Basically they used a swing arm like a motorcycle or go-kart. One pivot on the frame, with 2 control arms, no axle mounted pivots and a track bar.



Really I got this idea because I have 2000 4Runner rear springs and I just (relatively speaking) replaced the shocks on the 99 with 4600's that'd id like to get some milage out of and the more parts I can use from around the shop the more money I can save.

So My plan is to buy this kit (or something like it): https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/640...DoI-F-1A0CmB3rLj8esKBmfnctP10fNHqHYeYlIgfri91
and bolt it to the frame of the 99.

The gas tank will be in the way so my plan for that is to relocate to the bed of the truck with like a 25 gallon aluminum tank or something similar.

In the end I should end up with stiffer rear suspension free of axle hop that I can raise lower and adjust relatively easily.

What do Y'all think?

 

I've never once seen anyone put truck arms on something. Even Chevy stop doing it cuz they're a pain in the ass and they require you to put a massive axle plate on

 

Should be pretty easy, just a few welds I think.

Idk man apparently nascar used it for like 30 years soooooo its gotta be good right??

 

a track bar and some good leafs would go a long way. Just sayin....

 

I should add, I'm also thinking time, to level of thought needed to accomplish. So I can, on paper atleast, bolt this in with a kind of low time investment and have much better that stock suspension (for traction unloaded), vs doing something like a custom 4 link, 3 or 5 link.

 

You need a pretty significant welder to join the actual bracket to the axle because the truck arms also basically act as a torque arm. They only bolt down with two bolts.

 

True, but at some point I wanna a lower the whole truck and have competent handling capabilities leafs are good but my stock leafs are old and soft. A track bar would work but would only be masking the problem of old worn out leaves.

 

Good leaves and a solid sway bar setup are going to be better than truck arms. My truck is set up for over landing really but it can really boogie with the Chevy 63 leafs. They resist wrapping pretty well too

 

I have thought about this quite a bit. There are certainly weird dynamics with this sort of suspension. I Have a 180amp mig machine that should perform that duty just fine? The stock toyota 8.4 will just be a test dummy, if it blows, my plan is a for 8.8 from a early explorer as they literally bolt right in to a stock Tacoma leaf pack and the track width is the same (or super close)

 

if you wanna convert to a low-body stance... it might just be worth getting a 5-lug and swapping the motor

 

That may be true and more efficient but I like this one

 

https://youtu.be/5qdTHbZ78LI?si=7tTRyXf3yjggrsyr

 

Got to be a module or board, that has burnt pathways or something like that. A board where multiple circuits are all plugged together.

 

I've elected to replace all of the relays and see where that gets me. The only "circuit" board is the dash itself and the ECU. The ECU looks fine and it runs great, just no headlights allowed.

Everything is basically wires, relays and fuses. Some of the relays seem to have little circuit boards in them that may be damaged, that's how I figured out the flasher relay was toast, it had a little circuit board inside that cooked itself.

 

This is one of those moments where we admit to ourselves, "I won't do that again." Just think of how much more knowledge you're getting because of something you never thought you needed to learn.

 

Ah yes need vs want

 

So the truck runs and drives fine-ish.

Basically all I did was remove all the relays and take them apart to see what was going on. I found nothing obvious, but for shits and giggles, I sanded the contacts on the headlight relay since that was the circuit that, when activated, killed the truck.
I also mounted all the components of the HIDs and organized the wires and completely disconnected the Hi-beam wiring I had tried to make work a few years back.
Oh and I added a ground to the driver side fender area which is normally present on a stock truck but I had removed from mine for some reason at some point.
The alternator was also replaced but I have a feeling the other one was fine as it was charging at like 14.5 on startup and like 14.0 at idle and the battery didn't die while sitting.

My battery light and low gas light are still on and the "OD off" light still doesn't work, but my AC started working again and the clock works again and the headlights no longer kill the truck. I'm not sure what I did but something fixed something.

So that's all good I think.

 

Well done!

 

Another minor update. I fixed the wheel hop!

I made a weird looking traction bar loosely based off of this: https://www.customtacos.com/threads/axle-wrap-bye-bye.137140/

I installed it at full droop and tightened everything once weight was on the rear-end. I also added back the 3 leaf add a leaf kit that i bought a few years ago as the stock spring were so pitiful. I put ~250lbs in the back and had way too much lean imo. I'm going camping this weekend as well so I wanted a bit more load capacity without squatting the truck lol.

Looks a bit wonky but this is .250 wall 1 something inch tubing, something else will break before it bends lol


coat of red paint (makes you faster)


I welded a stud to the shock bolt, I believe this will be a failure point, but at stock power I think it'll hold


Here it is installed. A longer leaf eyelet bolt was used. I'll be replacing the hard plastic bushings in the rod ends with 95a TPU to allow more compliance but from the tests I did I still have full range of motion for a stock truck.


This was my bind test. This trailer fully loaded with chems and water is around 12,000lbs. The water was only maybe 100lbs with 500lbs of motors and pumps and 450lbs of bleach plus a couple thousand for equipment and misc, I figure it probably weighs 8000-9000lbs in the picture with a pretty constant tongue weight of 1000-1200. It's normally towed by a '24 GMC 2500, but it worked well to stress the new suspension setup. (I only drove a few hundred feet, the Tacoma has no trailer brake controller and my rear frame section probably didn't love that much weight)


Nothing broke in the short test and I can launch the truck on the converter and actually spin the tires instead of the truck doing its best impression of a paint can shaker.

 

nice! could you possibly double shear that traction bar mount to the axle tube?

also.. I am in need of your Paver Makeover.. lol Wind blew over a container of diff and brake fluid all over my pavers. Been trying the blowtorch technique.. slow but working. lol