The Taco Project

Hey guys! My name is Martin and I've been a long time lurker for years and lately started posting a lot more. My build is a 2010 Tacoma TRD Sport that my wife and I bought used with some mods already done to it. This truck is being built as a camping/expedition rig. We have already taken it on many small trips in the province of Alberta and on a cross country trip to see family in Ontario. We want to eventually go on longer expeditions around northern Canada and the USA including Alaska. Here is a list of modifications and there is plenty more to come.


Exterior:

ARB Bumper (hit 3 deer and still standing)
Lightforce Blitz lights
10,000lb Superwinch
All Pro rock sliders
Bushwacker fender flares
Hood scoop painted with black plastidip to reduce glare from the sun
LED center tail light
LED Marker lights
18" American Racing ATX Thug wheels (discontinued)
Toyo Open Country AT2 Extreme 285/75/18 Tires (34.8X11.5 ish)


Interior:

Custom fit fabric seat covers (forget the brand) - need to upgrade to leather!
Aftermarket Alpine MP3 player
TRD Shifter
LED Lighting (on order)

Suspension:

6" BDS drop bracket lift
Toytec coilovers with bilstein 5100 shocks
BCC shackle reversal brackets
Extended and reinforced factory shackles
OME Dakar leaf packs
Air lift helper springs


Other mods:

Crown 6" extended steel braided brake lines
TRD greasable balljoints/tie rod ends
Toyota camber bolts (DIY greaseable)
MOOG lower control arm bushings
Modified factory exhaust to exit behind bumper

Engine:

Dual K&N air filter setup
Upgraded to lead battery contacts


The truck originally came with a spacer lift and AAL. Two years later I installed Toytec 3" coilovers in the front to get a better ride but kept the AAL. The truck performed good with them but I still wanted more lift and the ability to run 35" tires without cutting my fenders...So I opted to do a BDS 6" drop bracket lift and so this build thread was born and I will continue to update it as I go.

My buddy and previous owner, took these when he had the truck a while before I bought it. I still have no idea why he traded it in. He regrets it now.








This is pretty much how the truck looked since I took ownership. I bought it minus the rock sliders, and winch. I installed Toytec coilovers, a 10,000lb superwinch and the rock sliders. Its sitting on 32" Hankook Dynasport MT in that pic.

Time for a 6" BDS lift​

I started off by tearing down the whole front end. Everything was getting replaced. Balljoints, tierod ends, wheel bearings, seals, etc.




Subframe cut and capped then painted with POR15. I used silver because it was all I had from another project. The instructions did not call for welding in plates which is kind of stupid if you ask me. It looks much better and provides more strength. After the POR15 cured I went over it with gloss black rust paint.





Rivet nuts installed according to the instructions. I do question where they came up with their torque specifications though. At 90ft-lbs they were still slightly loose. So I went a bit more till the impact gun stopped spinning. Use caution if you are doing this!




The subframe will pull inwards a bit as soon as you cut it causing the brackets to not align. This is easily solved by a small bottle jack against the end caps that are welded in. Yet another reason to do it right and weld in the end caps!





Drop brackets installed and the diff secured. I did have a problem with one of the welds on the front passenger side diff mounting tab. See thread for issue and fix:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...sition-check-your-welds.374323/#post-10261208







New balljoints installed all around along with new tierod ends. I installed the Toytec coilovers back in as well. I'm hoping these work as they're only 1/2" longer than factory from mounting plate to the eye on the bottom of the shock. The coilovers rely on a set preload to achieve the advertised 2.5" lift and can be cranked up more to get 3" which is where I was before the BDS lift. I figure if I take all the preload out they will work like factory units but with a nicer ride. I can drop the truck and adjust them later if I need to go any higher.







That is it for now. I already tackled the rear end and will upload more pictures this weekend. I have been waiting on seals so I can do my wheel bearings so that is why I have not got my spindles on yet.

 

Great looking truck man! Nice to be able to buy it from a friend, hopefully you know what it's been through

 

Thanks! It was actually from the Toyota dealership he worked at lol. We became friends after the purchase.

 

My seals came in and I pulled an all nighter in the shop starting last night and managed to get the front end finished, apart from small stuff like zip tying the ABS wire to the spindle and painting my calipers red. I started off by installing the outer seals on the ball joint hub using an oil filter strap wrench. These work great in this application! Once the seal is on top of the hub you hit the clamp with a 2X4 around the perimeter. Using this method guarantees an even pressure all around and prevents damage to the rubber sealing surfaces.







Everything is assembled, torqued, and brakes installed. I opted out of using the brake line relocation brackets that came with the BDS kit which make you bend the steel hard line and got a 6" extended kit from Crown Performance. I'm also contemplating weather or not I want to run the sway bar with this kit. Once one hand I will have a safer on road rig, on the other hand I will get better performance out of the system with the sway bar removed.





I dismantled the rear end and started removing the factory shackle mount brackets to make room for the BCC shackle reversal brackets. I started by trying to grind/drill the rivets but it was a no go. I ended up using a grinder to cut the head off a rivet which made it thin enough to pierce with a plasma cutter and then I would use the plasma cutter to pierce through the rivet and work my way around till I had a 1/4" hole. I then punched the weakened rivet out. I cleaned up the rust with a buffing disk on my grinder and painted the bare metal with POR15 then bolted the BCC brackets on and painted everything black.




That is it for now. I'm going to be installing the leafs next. Hopefully I have this truck done within the next few days.

 

Very cool Tango71!

 

So week two is finally here and I'm finally done! It was a long road but it was worth it
After installing the OME springs I decided that I needed a bit more lift so I had to extend the shackles. I took the factory shackles and cut them in half then made a 3" extension using some 1/8" channel and plate. The shackles are reinforced and doubled up to get a 1/4" thickness in the high stress areas. There is also a brace/gusset inside the boxed channel.
when welding I kept the bushings in water for a few minutes after every few bead passes to keep them cool and the rubber from melting.








I had to re-route the exhaust to exit at the back of the bumper instead of at the side. The longer shackle and leaf spring are in the way now. I think it looks clean. I painted the tip black so its not as eye catching. You can see the shackle angle is not too bad either. This is what a 6" BDS lift looks like when you want to use OME Dakar leaf packs and not the blocks that come with the kit.





And finally the lift is done and this is how she sits! This is almost exactly 8" total with tires over a stock Tacoma. I actually had to put some preload back in to the Toytec coilovers because they sagged quite a bit with all of it taken out. Right now I think I have the preload ring turned 1" from the bottom.

 

I originally got the MOOG camber bolts and they were garbage, the bolts started to chew through the washer. I see that everyone else has been having the same issues. I returned the kit and decided to go with the factory Toyota ones and modify them myself. I turned them on the lathe and made a 7/64" grease channel into down the bolt. I then drilled a small hole in the side of the bolt so it meets the end of the channel. For the front bolts I also drilled two small holes in the sleeve that goes through the bushing. I expanded the hole in the head and tapped it to accommodate the grease nipple.

 

I just saw your post in the shackle flip thread,this is exactly what I was looking for. I have dakars that I want to run along with the ATO flip kit with my 6" lift. Could you give me your hub to fender measurement so I have an idea of how long of shackles I need to run? I'm trying to get rid of the lift blocks,I also might add a leaf to the dakars. Thanks for any help.