Manny: A Taco Build

I was skipping through all the text at first but now I'm reading everything because it's so interesting

Love looking through serious builds like his. Similar to when I read through this one: http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/evolution-of-a-land-cruiser-my-80s-build-thread.711362/

Matt

 

factory suspension?!?!? looks awesome!!

 

Just finished reading through "Vandiana." Awesome build, sorry you had to let a project like that go. Excited to see that same dedication go towards your Tacoma though!

Matt

 

Yup!

 

Thx Matt. I am sure you could tell from my posts that the decision to move on did not come easily. Fortunately, every time I drive the Taco, I know that I made the right decision.

 

Sweeeeet!
Those fj wheels are 16x7.5 +15?
What's the back spacing?

 

It seems like they are in the 4.5" range. I have not seen the official specs tho.

 

Also another fellow washingtonian. with a pyrite 13' OR double cab. I got my color matching grill at Camelback parts. $183 http://parts.camelbacktoyota.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=214329.

Love the build.

 

Thx for the link. Looks like they have some good prices on bed mats.

 

Have some Light Racing UCA's and an Icon Sway Bar relocate kit on the way. OME lift not here yet, but I have to empty my entire garage in two weeks to have the floor ground down. So... it doesn't matter at this point.

 

Sway bars are over rated lol.

 

De-badged and washed.

 

Parts showing up...

 

More parts...

 

Full Write-up in Progress

The front end is completely torn down and ready for assembly. Took me less than 2 hours. Really very basic when compared to my last project. More pics and more details later. (Please excuse the mess in the garage. I have a bunch of stuff that needs a new home taking up space along the sides.)

 

Full Write-up in Progress

 

Full Write-up in Progress













OME strut assemblies and Light Racing upper controls arms are installed. Gonna stop here for today.

 

Full Write-up in Progress

Backed in and ready for the front suspension removal.



Safety first!



OK. Here's what we're working with. The brake line bracket on the UCA needs to be removed, and the sway bar needs to come out.



First, I removed the flimsy OEM skid thingy and associated mounting brackets. Then I pulled the sway bar.



Some write-ups say to remove the tie rod ends, but I didn't find it necessary. There was plenty of room to get the strut assembly out once the upper ball joint was free.



Just a tip: when freeing up the ball joint stud, loosen the nut to the end of the threads, but don't remove it. This will keep the whole thing from falling apart when you pop that sucker loose.



I used a 6lb. sledge since mine was new and free of rust. A puller may be needed if it is corroded.



This is the bungee configuration I used to hold the brake assembly from falling over while was working on that side. On the other side, I just left the UCA and ball joint in place.



OK. This next step is apparently a controversial one over here on TW forums. There are the guys who think you are a wimp if you don't bend up your sheet metal and pull the UCA bolts out the stock direction, and then there are the guys like me who can't understand why you would bend sheet metal when $30 in new bolts, 8 minutes of your time and a 4 inch cutoff wheel does the trick. I never opened my hood once during this entire process.

First, I loosened the UCA nut to the end and knocked it to the right, so the other end would come out like....



...this.



A quick buzz cut with my cutoff wheel and done.



I slid the bolt out the other end and was done. Total time was 3 minutes.



Ready for new parts.



Here, the head of the UCA bolt has been cut off and the UCA is just in place to hold the brakes up.



This side took a couple of minutes longer because the UCA bolt hit the hard lines. I just had to pull the lines over with my hand to create the room to remove the bolt.

 

Here are the Light Racing UCA's and new OEM UCA bolts.



First thing to do is apply grease to the inside of the bushings. That waffle pattern needs to be smoothed out with grease so the sleeves will slide in.



The instructions say to start with the ball joint in this position. Ultimately, I ended up rotating it so that it provided +3 degrees of caster (ball joint + UCA). The instructions are pretty well written.



I installed the new UCA bolt from the opposite end. Just make sure to place the large washer up against the bushing rather than down by the bolt head, otherwise the washer won't fit past the hard brake lines.



Before I attached the ball joint, I installed the OME strut assembly. I loosely tightened the upper bolts, and placed the lower mount on the LCA.



I used a spring compressor to create the room to mount the lower end of the strut. Some folks pry real hard on the LCA to make it fit, and end up damaging the cam bolts or indexing tabs.



OME strut assemblies and Light Racing upper controls arms are installed. I repeated the same for the other side. Those hard brake lines needed to be pulled out of the way to facilitate installation of the new UCA bolt, but it was not difficult.



I decided to install an Icon sway bar relocation kit. It's pretty cheap, and creates room for the bigger 886 coils.



Real simple install. Stock bolts hold the spacer to the frame and the provide bolts hold the sway bar bushing mounts.



Here you can see how the spacer drops the sway bar down and forward.



Back on the ground all pre-runner style.



Fills up the garage a little better.



Always chock the tires when lifting the back end off the ground. I suppose you could put it in 4wd, but I have had a rig try to roll off on me, so....



Lift the rig and place it on jack stands so that there is enough room to drop the rear axle on the floor jack low enough to put the tall Dakar's in. I did one side at a time to prevent the pinion from over rotating.



The emergency brake cable mounting clip needs to be removed from the stock leafs.



Loosening the leaf to shackle bolt while on truck is way easier than if the leaf is on the ground.



These bushing need to be installed in the Dakars. I coated them with anti-seize and popped them in with just a little tap from a rubber mallet. No need for a press.



I then set the new and old leaf down side by side and swapped the shackle over.



Sorry for the dark pic, but it's just a new leaf loosely installed. Everything is finger tight and was torqued when the truck was back on its wheels.



I reinstalled the OEM bumpstops, but will be replacing them soon with either Wheeler's or Timbrens from All Pro when I do their u-bolt flip. The OME shocks are pretty fat at the bottom, and the clearance between the lower shock body and the axle side mount is not great. I will have to keep and eye on it to see if there is any contact.



Done.



Well... Here's the finished product. I figured that I would post all the pics first, then go back and fill in the details. Total time to install was a little less than 6 hours. I split it up over two days due to my work schedule. It rides like a truck now, and even though it is a bit stiff, it is way better than the mushy stock ride. I have a tiny shudder off the line, but no other driveline vibes up to 60mph. I did not install the carrier bearing drop. Anyway, give me some time tomorrow afternoon to go back and add a description to each pic. Thx for looking!

Brad

 

Day 1 Pics

6 yards of Ensolite and 75 sq.ft. of Raamat. I choose this stuff over the FatMat that I used on my last project for a couple reasons; First of all, the Tacoma is way smaller than the van, so cost isn't as much of a concern. Secondly, being a true butyl based product, it does not have any asphalt smell. I went with the Ensolite to bring it to that next level. While the Raamat reduces resonance, it does not reduce airborne sound waves well. The Ensolite does a good job of this. If you really wanted to go big, you could add a layer of mass loaded vinyl too, but that would start to cause some fitment issues and added weight.



I started of laying strips of the Raamat along the roof in hopes of eventually dampening the resonance. However, the roof is such a ridiculously thin sheet of metal that I eventually resorted to adding a bunch of mass via larger sheets layer perpendicular to the strips. **Note the side curtain air bags. Be very careful not to interfere with these.



I rolled up strips of Raamat sticky side out, and I stuffed them into all kinds of crevices where panels could resonate against each other. Worked the same as butyl rope, but has a rigidity to it due to the aluminum skin.



I then covered the entire roof in Ensolite. This stuff is really light and fairly easy to work with, but it does not stretch very much. It's about 1/8" think, so you could layer it in high noise areas, as long as there isn't a clearance fitment issue with a trim panel. I added some to the mounting point for the dome light, as almost every vehicle I have been in, eventual develops a rattle there.



I did not fully remove the headliner from the vehicle, as I did not want to chance damaging it. This made it a little difficult to do the very front, but I just took my time and it worked out well.



After I got the headliner reinstalled, I turned my attention to the back wall. This is the main culprit for sound intrusion into the cabin. Because of the rear storage trays, I was careful not to build up the Raamat or Ensolite too much. Here, you can also see Toyota's version of sound control on the floor. It's not all that bad, and I wish that they would just line the entire interior with this stuff from the factory.



This is the passenger side rear outer seatbelt. Behind it is the vent for the cabin. This is a source of road noise, but you cannot just cover it up. I lined the interior of the void with Ensolite to try and absorb the noise. Also, the Tacoma floorboard has more access covers to the underbelly than I have ever seen. I tried to leave the ones I envisioned ever using uncovered.



Sorry for the weird lighting. I added a big layer of Raamat on the open areas and down in the storage tray cubby. I rapped my fingers on the cubby and stuck rolled up Raamat in any joints or crevices that rattled.



Then came the Ensolite. If you do this, makes sure to pop a screwdriver through the holes in the back wall and floorboard where seat mounts and cubby trim fasteners go.



Day 2 pics

I then removed a couple mounting brackets for the aluminum shield that protects the inverter wiring. This allowed me to slide Raamat and Ensolite underneath. I also removed the ducts that run under the front seats to the rear. The front has a pretty decent layer of dampener from the factory, so I did not feel the need to go overboard here. I did pay attention to the transmission tunnel though. When in doubt, rap your finger against the panel and see if it sings.



All the Ensolite is in, and I stuck Raamat on anything that I thought might develop a rattle.



Overall shot. I did not add anything to the B-Pillars in the truck, but I did add a layer of Ensolite to the inside of the trim panels before reinstalling them. Also, I added a bunch of Raamat to the back side of the cup holders. Plastic resonates too, so don't forget to add dampener where you can. I lined the back of the kick panels as well.