Beefing up the rear frame and a winch mount

Wondering if anyone would like to share their pics of how you beefed up the frame and some shots of how you laid the foundation for winch mounting on those tiny front frame horns. I plan to fab some DOM tube bumpers and also need to incorporate a hitch so I need ideas. I need to weld any steel now before I sandblast and epoxy the frame.

thanks.

 

I think I have chosen to do some boxing of the frame above the axle leaving plenty of room for material to fall out from behind. I don't think I need all that much more stiffening for what I'm doing with the truck. pics are just motivating.
ugh I can't wait to get this damn frame finished!

 

A few folks sell kits that you weld on to the outside of the rear frame. For sure couldn't hurt if you're going through the effort it looks that you're going through. But yeah, box the rear sections, and consider adding another cross member or two.

For my rear swing out, I did the frame plates, cross bar near the back of the frame. I also relocated my shocks, so I have a cross bar a few inches forward of the factory cross member for the shock tabs and resis (those shocks have since been removed, but the bar is still there).

 

Well that's the thing. I can see myself wanting to mod a lot of things in the future. The shock relocation seems like a for sure one. But being realistic with my goals at this point is tricky. I'm not wealthy so I can't do it all. Just restoring this thing to stock is setting me back enough for now. But then again, if go thru all this trouble and get the frame coated well, it'll be a shame to have to cut into that down the road. I think I need to let go of that thought.

For now I have the metal sitting here. I can weld it up till it's gone, then it's time to build the sucker.

Thanks for taking time to post

 

I have put winches and Flatland front bumper kits on both my 96 4X4 and my 98 Prerunner. One thing your will have to figure out before you start modifying is exactly how or which front bumper you are going to use. The 98 presented the largest problem because the front bumper mounted on crush boxes whereas 96 was a direct bolt on. You will have to be carefull in your pulls, like you said the frame is tiny, you can twist it in an off angle pull.

While a tube bumper is easy it does not have the same physcological affect as a large hunk of steel projecting from the front of the truck... people do not pull out in front of you. The other issues are possible front skid plate interferance... this plate protects the bottom of the radiator and the bumper also covers the windsheild washer bottle. The third issue is turn signals... they are in the stock bumper and you will have to come up with a way to mount front turn signals.

The white truck is the 96 that lives in Cabo... there are wild horses, cows, deer and burrow's that run onto the road at night. The off road lights are angled and project far enough into the desert to illuminate these guys before they become a problem. I handeled the turn signals one way on the 96 and a different way on the 98.

I dont know how you are going to finish the frame first and expect everything to bolt on after without any fitment issues.

The cross bar on the 98 is bolted on using the stock crushbox loaction and then cross bolted throught the frame via a small box section that isnt shown.

My Tacomas are mostly work trucks, when something relativley light needs to be manuvered or pulled it works out just fine. There just isnt enough weight in these trucks to do any dragging via the tires, they never get enough traction even on asphault. I keep 4 - 6X6 blocks to put in front the tires when pulling, I discovered that 4x4's are too small, the winch will pull the truck over all 4 of them in park and with the parking brake engaged.

The final peice of advice is get a constant duty solinoid, 100 amp minimum and power your winch through that rather than directly to the battery. The 96 has an auxiullary relay/fuse center that is powered up when the key is in the ON position so that if you forget to turn something off, the relays will open as soon as you turn the truck off. I have been running a stock alternator for years with no issues but I put the best battery I can buy in the trucks.

 

NICE WORK!!

 

Thanks for your input. Good stuff.
Just to clarify, I don't intend to buy things to mount on my truck. If it can be made, I make it. That's part of the fun for me. So whatever becomes of the front end, I will work with it.

I was just reading about those little crush things on the ends of the frame and it's interesting. My truck was involved in a rear end collision. A collision strong enough to pucker the frame on one side right behind the motor area. THe crushies look unmolested. little bastards! I'm chopping them off and plate will be welded across connecting them both from which I will continue to weld both a custom winch mount and a bumper.

I hear ya about the advantage of a big bumper, but I already have one garage hog, my wife's 07 LBZ crew cab. This truck will be less about practicality or work and more about fun driving. I will try to tow once in awhile. Like a dirtbike or the harley. I won't be using it to fill the bed with lumber every other day or for interstate drives. If I wanted a tank I'd start with something like the wife's LBZ instead.

I know the 12klb winch I'm putting on it is way too big.

 

No such thing as too big, too heavy, yes, too big no. A couple of snatch blocks and enough cable and you are set for almost anything.

 

For the rear here is how I did my hitch

For the front on my other truck I welded the end caps in fully then removed the front crossmember and ran a piece of angle down the inside of the frame past the factory tow point holes

 

By crossmember are you referring to that chincy piece that connects the frame horns just ahead of the bottom of the radiator.

I was studying your pics quite intently and realized there are some places I probably would have boxed in that needed to be left open for things like the brake module above the axle. It's been a year since I took this apart and I need to study pictures so I don't regret anything and screw myself for later.

I think I'd like to remove the spare tire carrier and clean up all that unneccessary crap under there. I want a bumper style similar to yours. I wish I could see more detail in your pics. Looks like you have a winch on the back? Is that a better spot?

 

Heres some more inspiration, at least on rear bumper mounting



Frame reinforcement plates are common, especially among people with heavy rear bumpers and tire swings. I have some sitting in a box I should have welded on a year ago...
Couple options I know of, trail gear has 3/16" plates, and FROR has longer 1/8" plates
https://trail-gear.com/tacoma-rear-frame-reinforcement-plates.html
https://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/tacoma-frame-plates/
CBI used to make some 3/16", don't believe they're available anymore. Best picture of these I could find was CBI though.


If you do an extra crossmember, which is probably a good idea while you've got it torn down like this, I'd make sure its in a location that would accomodate a future shock relocation. Heres a couple examples, not sure on what math you'd need to do to find the location without having said relocated shocks already in mind though.





For front/winch mounting, I'd take some inspiration from the trail gear front bumper mount plate
https://trail-gear.com/armor/bumper...fense-tacoma-front-bumper-mounting-plate.html
They sell it on its own and you could build the bumper off it if you're into that sort of thing as well

Pretty sure if its a 98-00 frame you have to cut off some of the front horns or something

 

For the cross member yes the really light one that mounts the skid pan. I replaced it with a piece of angle iron.

I have a winch on the front of that truck as well. If I was only going to have one winch I would put it on the front but the rear gets more use when recovering other things.
I can take some more pictures tonight if you have particular things you want to look at.

 

Thanks guys. Is adventure taco on my thread?? I've been going through some of his/your write-ups last couple days