Windigo build thread

Good job buddy. glad to see it on the ground . You should be proud. Most people pay big bucks to sas these trucks or ended up being parted out good job not giving up. Can’t wait to see it.

 

thank you. I appreciate you comment, and still working on it, still needs things to be complete. thanks.

 

Found a sway bar infinity g37 2008-13 that I'm going to try to make work.

 

Getting started on a front sway bar link mount.

 

Bigger tires

 

no can do anymore. the truck is too tall as it is.

 

So cool to see it on the ground. Great work so far!

 

thanks.

well a bit of bad news.
the truck rides horrible, so bad there is no way i'd take it on the highway.
even after putting a front and rear sway bar on its still super scary to drive
swaying side to side non stop which also effects the steering

so options
1. junk the whole thing Just dose not seem like the right thing to do
2. sell the whole thing I'll need to get at least 10k for it, so doubt that will happen
3. send it to a shop to get it fixed properly maybe
4.change the leaf springs and make it even higher
5.drive it the way it is and take the back roads to parry sound. maybe a 10hour tour to get there
6.get a trailer and it becomes a trailer queen can't no parking
7.change my name and get a kia trail-trd-rated-wilderness kiabecon edition.
8. pour a concrete pad on the side of the driveway and permenatly bolt it to the ground. use it as a mail box

of course i'm just running my options I have to figure this out . I'll start by changing leaf springs.

any ideas come to mind let me know thanks.

 

Front sway bar made no diffrence

 

Another set of leaf springs to go in lots of work to remove bushings.

 

Don’t give up. If you want you can bring it to my work and I can get it on the alignment machine so you can get some readings before you start cutting stuff up to see where your at and what you might need to change or what went wrong .

 

thank you for that offer. let me change the leafs out ( i think you or someone mentioned that my leafs were no good ) and I'll see from there, thank you

 

You're doing something truly special. I know it feels like the truck is fighting you, but that's exactly what happens when you're pioneering new territory.

I bought your stock axles - you literally burnt the boats. There's no going back now, which is exactly the mindset that separates pioneers from everyone else. That's the difference between someone who follows instructions and someone who creates the instructions others will follow.

Your approach is unique, which means the solution might be unique too. When you crack this code, you'll have knowledge that nobody else has. We're genuinely rooting for you to succeed.

If there's anything I can do to help - whether it's an extra set of hands, brainstorming, or just moral support - I'm here for you, brother.

Keep pushing. This is just the part of the story that makes the victory sweeter.

 

What were your caster readings on the c portion of the front axle? I think you should be around 6 degrees caster? You might have to cut and re weld where the leafs bolt to achieve the desired caster or re cut and weld the axle tubes if the were shorted to fit the Tacoma .

 

Well said!

keep it going @Windigo

holler if you need a hand. Got lots rallying behind ya here

 

thank you guys very much for the support and the words. Your last posts mean a lot to me.

Because of what is happening with the build I have contacted Staangsfab about my build. After Eric the owner looked at pictures I sent him, he gave me the same advise ( change those leaf springs ). His professional opinion: "if you want a truck with less height you have to link the front. Then I brought up the diff pumpkin being right under the oil pan.
so long story short If i want a shorter truck ditch the front axle for a ford dana 60, see if the transfer case dana 300 can be flipped to the left side with the eco crawler or go back to a toyota case and he suggests radius arm suspension not 3link or 4 link for a daily driver/weekend wheeler.

so with all that lots to think about, I'll keep going with the build and see what comes out.
I've already told my wife we might need to get another vehicle before winter comes. those are fun conversations

for now its leaf springs , some sort of parking brakes ( i have a hydraulic valve for that) and the big one the front driveshaft leaving that to the end also fingers crossed that I will have no drive line vibrations.
thank's everyone.

 

the castor on the c i don't remember.
the passanger side spring pad is part of the diff housing, so only cutting c's and turning them will give me proper castor but I'm also looking into moving the rear shackles to the front which would lift the axle up at the pinion because its still bolted to the spring and lifting the rear of the spring and making it the fixed end would tilt the axle towards the front reducing castor. decreasing drive shaft angle.
but I'm not sure if i do that the axle might physically move to the rear.

the old leaf springs, i had put a castor shim under the spring
l its all confusing, I'll keep everyone in the know. thanks

 

This thing is like 35 bucks on Amazon. Get some readings how the truck is set up now before you go balls deep to see roughly where your at so when you put the new spring set up you can see whats going on. With this drive line axle/caster etc the truck didn’t like it.

 

Thank you your absolutely right.