02 Tacoma doublecab 3-Link on FJ80 axles

I hear you man, when I get further along in the build. Ill figure out a number and if you like it we'll move on from there if not it will roll into the classifieds. Building your truck is and should be totally based off of your needs and where you want to go, its an evolution that doesn't happen overnight. Do I really need to get rid of my IFS probably not I could keep replacing parts like steering racks and suspension components but its to the point where I'm done with that. If I hadn't been planning this for years It wouldn't be a reality either I hear you on the budget thing.

 

I usually have Sundays off.

 

Pics from yesterday. The dewalt impact is the best investment ive made, I have a decent size compressor and was used to air tools for years but its way better and It comes with me on wheeling trips.


I've always found that putting anti-seize and using a brass bar gets the cone washers off no problem, I've seen people try to get them off with pliers and hammering on the hub body and all kinds of non-sense.


Front diff fluid looked brand new.


Black stuff is the gear coating


One side always goes way faster, it's always the passenger side


Grill is off to put in the auto trans cooler, try to find a place for my winch solenoid box (warn m8000) and doing my own satoshi grill. I've been running the 18 inch radiator out of a 4cly Tacoma for almost 2 years now, and need to get more airflow to it. The nice part is that it is flush with the bottom of the frame being 4 inches shorter than the v6. Between getting rid of the abs and getting the brakes in order and the radiator I've made alot of steps moving towards the solid axle conversion that I think will save me a little bit of time.


Biggest bitch is always the clean up and putting the tools away.

 

Made and Arb pressure test fixture too, going to test the old front and rear over night to make sure the seals are still good before they hit the market, and to also check the status of the Landcruiser diffs from time to time and troubleshoot any problems.

 

I need to figure out what the tie rod and draglink lengths are. This is what I have off the pirate hellfire thread from Billy. The tie rod should be good, but his drag link number is for his 79-83 with a fj80 axle under it. Pitman arm to passenger steering arm distance is going to be different because of the frame width unless my thinking is incorrect. obviously not going to be leaf sprung so the tie-rod will be underneath the arms to maximize uptravel.

"center to center my tie rod is 50" and drag link is 41"
subtract 4.5" for heims and bungs to get tube length.
i use ruffstuff heims and 1-1/4" DOM."

 

FROR will make custom length pre threaded draglinks and he may already have numbers for you with your setup. looks good so far man! i worried alot about steering links (overthinking actually) and ended up using stock marlin links and adjusting the pitman arm on the steering gear and it all worked out.... moral of the story, dont overthink it and start bolting and welding stuff together and it will all eventually workout.

 

More parts showed up today. 4.88's, master install, empty high-pinion housing and 29 spline pinion fit kit from Nitro gear. Bought it off a pirate vendor called barefoot offroad, they gave me a price that I couldn't pass up, they beat Just-differentials by over a hundred dollars and I got my order in 3 business days. Also picked up a super set of longfields from lowrangeoffroad, they were running a sale. I need to get a few more things from them, like front wheel bearings, oil slinger and solid pinion spacer.




The third member fits which is a bonus and I got all the button heads installed and locktite'd in the housing, even with a mini ratchet, it took F'n forever but now I wont have to worry about them at grade 10.9

 

Flip the bottom 2 studs around for extra drain plugs (for when your normal drain plug gets too smashed to get a socket on)

Ask me how I know lol

 

I had to go through that with my rear 8.4 axle that's in my truck now. Used a die grinder to shave the caved in ring around the plug and then square the sides of the nut to get it out. If i flip the 2 bottom ones around then I have to shorten them up, ill save that for another day took forever to get all of them in there. I have a transfer pump I can just pump out all the old fluid too when I need to change it. I only put about 10k mi on my truck a year. even less now that its not my daily driver, so I have a few years before the 30k service interval. But I hear you loud and clear.

 

Are you just cutting the tube to length, sliding the threaded inserts in and welding it? If so this is the least of your worries, lol. They are whatever they wind up being. Placement of the steering box and axle will affect those, don't got cutting for precision this soon. Remember you have like 2-3" of shank on most heims too. Gives you some wiggle room. Just cut long, slide inserts in and tack it. Remove inserts and Trim if needed.

 

Barefoot offroad is the shit, thats where i got my gears and install kits from. i agree, shave that drain plug!

 

Like I said earlier tie-rod should be the same regardless. I want to get that done so when I get the axle underneath it I'll know whats in the way of the steering arms and where the link brackets and coilover mounts are going to sit on the axle. I'll figure out the drag link when I get the box mounted and things in their relative final spot, Im not worried about that. The Panhard in the 4WU kit is already cut so as long as I keep the drag link as parallel to that as possible I should be fine.

 

Is there a write up for removing the abs?

 

I took all that stuff out years ago, I could take some pictures. Somewhere I have all the factory non-abs hardline part #'s from toyota written down. I think there were 4 or 5 total. you will have to switch to a non abs master cylinder and a manual proportioning valve in the rear, the return lines from the rear prop valve will have to come off the frame etc. There's probably something on TTORA but my login/profile got deleted over there so I'm not going to bother creating a new one. If there's enough interest I'll create a separate thread for that later.

 

still need to line up a fabricator/shop for the build. I've dealt with yotamasters in the past and going to get an estimate from them (im hoping it isn't going to be what I think it is), I want to be involved with the build as much as possible, I have mondays and wednesdays off so I can put in some decent hours, like I said ill build the axles and do must of the labor. I'm seriously debating on doing the teardown of the Ifs and the grinding on the frame ( not only am I trying to cut as much cost as possible, but I actually enjoy doing the work) If I go that route I'm pretty much stuck doing a driveway build at that point, It would be hard to trailer a truck with a bare front frame, and that's if my buddy could even do it. Anybody has any suggestions on shops or friends that can stack dimes in so cal that would be cool.

 

The guy who came and did most of the welding on my truck in my driveway is a buddy of mine. If you get everything tacked up in place and just point where you want it welded I'm sure he'd help you out. And he doesn't charge an arm and a leg.

 

Buying a welder and a pile of scrap metal to practice on would be the cheapest route. Then you have a welder and skills and can build/repair anything.

 

that's the goal, a local shop has welding classes and shop time available. Going to take their mig course next wednesday. Still don't feel comfortable having this be my first real job. I've made brackets and racks and things with a small hobart 140 110v mig and they weren't pretty by any means but they've held up so far. @Jimmynolife is your buddy that's running the 4WU kit local or does he have a build thread.

 

Slander style is to cut the front of your truck off and then remember that you neither own a welder or know how to weld. Followed by buying one and learning as the swap went

 

@Snowy yeah I'll take a hard pass on that, no offense @slander I ran across your build thread and it was one of the first ones that made me believe that the full float rear was possible. I've always wanted to be able to get my welding skills up to fabricator level and have a huge desire to start tigging, however this I genuinely feel is not the time for figuring it out as i go.