2011 access cab overhaul

Ahhh k. For your 35s yea?

 

Yeah but with the Chevy springs I could have just not cut anything out of the rear but since I got the 35's first I did it. It will work out for 37's though

 

Whaaaaa!? haha

 

Don't get too excited. That's way down the road. After I go solid axle. Sooooo I'd say 5 years from now.

 

Pat.. thanks for the info. From your build pics it looks like the top shakle mount is flush with the bottom of the frame.. what size shackles? You dont botom out your shocks with campershell and fully loaded when tire in tucked in? How high is your front..3"? You have my kind of plans! Two different times I came across good deals on axles and thought of doin a sas.. first a 79hp 44 which I sold then a 92-93 hp 60 and figured I didnt wanna dump 7-8k in my taco and do my daily driving with it. At least you use yours where it belongs.. off the pavement, im not a fan a pretty tucks with huge tires that at best clim a 5" curb at the mall parking lot

 

Heres a couple of pix of the rear shoks.. nothing fancy but they do the job and they ride super smooth compared to stock

 

If I'm on the freeway and hit a big dip I will bottom out. My shell weigh around 200# and I am always loaded with around 500# of tools. It was painful to listen to the knocking of my shocks bottoming out on themselves before I added the bumpstop extensions. Since I put them on it hits the poly bumpstops on the the extension. As far as the front goes, I bought my truck with a procomp 3" from the dealer. I'm not sure what the actual height from stock is. I had to cut 3" out of the front, bash the shit out of my pinch welds and cut and plate my cab mounts to fit 35's. I have 5" shackles in the rear. Yeah, you know you want to dump 7-8k but damn. That's a shit ton of money. I will get there some day. I'm sure you will too. It's just a matter if making irrational decisions. Hahaah. This crap is expensive. That's great that you've been able to do your own welding. I don't have the skills to do that myself or the equipment.....yet. It's great to see more 05+ with the 63 swap. Cheers!

 

Pat: are you able to steer mad still hae upward travel while steering?
I have a q for you and other guys on this trend running 35"s im thinking of investing time to make some custom fender flares cut down like you guys are running but also with the inner section plastic welded back on to support the weakened cut upp fender. I was thinking of making a prototype and if it comes out nice to maybe duplicated in fiberglass... im not a big fan for the glass fenders for a mild built truck, I prefer a stock look! If it happens I was gonna cut 2.5-3" ( maybe raise it 1" possibly for better tire clerance) and last of all have it mount with bolts instead of the facory clips (not bolte from the front side) I dont like the bushwaker look.
what do you think?

 

Nobody out there make a 2nd gen Taco real cut out flares to give a better wheel opening, id even sacrifice the ugly bolts (in my opinion) of the aftermarked if they had a bigger oppening
I like the look of your truck and its the same look im going for but I heard that if you cut the fender and the flare its pretty weak

 

Oh for your build if you haul a lot of tools you should build some quick release brakets and airbags on the rear! then when you go off road just pull the pins and pull put the airbags. Sounds like a good idea to me! Next step is time to design them I love fabrication and if money wasnt an issue id cut up my truck and do all kind of mods.. next mod for me is the firewall chop I just need to get my welder repaired or get a new one. Im sure you can weld too.. I learned on my own by taking advice and lots of practice and now weld better in my opinion than some buds of mine that are "certified welders"

 

That's not a bad idea. Air bags would help out. I'm going to switch out my springs with a pair from my buddy which might help out a bit. I don't have the keepers on my set. With the keepers on it will help the leafs from spreading.

That sounds good as a do it yourself mod. For me personally I don't like fiberglass and I like the stock flares cause they don't stick out too much. They are floppy if you wiggle them though. But it is nice to have an inner liner too. The good thing about the factory clips is if it catches on something it will be more likely to pop off without breaking. I didn't understand your first question though. I think you asked if I can turn my wheel to full lock and still have upward travel. For regular road driving I can crank my wheel fully no prob. On the trail I can crank it fully and when I stuff my tire it has a little contact. More so when turning left than right due to less cab mount chopped on the left.

 

badass build, def considering the 63 chevy swap

 

Thanks. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It's not for everybody though.

 

Trying to stay dry today.

 

Subbed for 63's

 

Subd

 

Found your build while searching for 2nd gens that have done the 63 swap. Your build looks great, and it's good to see that you actually get out and use it. I have my parts on order to do the 63 swap on mine. I saved several of your swap pictures for future reference as well.

Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks. It great to see more people going this route.

 

Got a question for you Patrick. What did you do about the rivet in the frame under the front shackle hanger? It holds the bottom of one of the rear cross members.

My options are grind it flush, or drill a hole in the new front hanger. Just curious as to what you did.

 

I take pics in the morn.