BigMike’s Big Journey: New 2016 Tacoma

That same day at a different parking lot I found another magnetic gray DCSB, this time able to park next to a 3rd gen for my first comparison shot on 40s

If Drew is on here then my TacoBox-equipped '16 says Hi





Annotated difference. That yellow tire approach angle Whew lads





Forgot to mention I got our Marlin Crawler Hawse Fairlead fitted

 

1/23: Parked next to my friend's 1794 edition Tundra

Before you view these, know that my goal is not to have the tallest truck in town. In fact I'd like to lower the Tacoma nearly 2 inches. It will all depend on how much clearance work I can get done to the front inner fender walls...

Was still crazy to see the Tacoma nearly as large as a new Tundra. Dang.. the Taco is so massive. Looks like I won't be calling my '81 Hilux a "Beast" any longer







Couple more. Massive ground clearance difference yet about the same overall height lol

 

That bumper is just pure sex, wish you'd had it available a year ago.

Where are the lightbars going to go though?...

 

When the first images came out in 2015 of the new front that was the first thing I said I would do to create and fit an aftermarket bumper. Cut that way-too-big of a grille right in half. I wish you would have done it but what you came up with looks great too!

 

@BigMike I guess your not worried about the rear 8.8 with those 40’s either! You wouldn’t happen to know if that axle’s shafts are 32 spline would you?

 

Cant wait to see more progress on your build. Already looking at what things i can carry down on my 2nd Gen Taco...
Keep up the great work @BigMike

 

P4P best thread on TW.

 

I found this while researching for an upcoming trip which will include the rubicon and I've done something I have not done in years here. Read a build thread form beginning to end. Great story, great write ups!!!!


My wallet will not thank this post however as it's become increasingly clear to me that my overweight 09 2.7 needs a crawl box. Regardless great read. I look forward to more

 

I would suggest to add some additional gussets to the TRE ear and tie it in altogether, otherwise you're guaranteed to bend, crack or even break the spindles. You're on 40's with a tacobox I'm just barely on 35's. My first two sets had just the basic gusset before I got smart with the 3rd set.

Here's my homemade gussets as an example..



check out these 2 threads..
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/check-your-spindle-gussets-for-cracks-with-b-s-talk.474632/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/another-spindle-failure-backcountry-dv.473931/

 

That Front bumper is the best thing i have seen yet for a 3rd gen! The truck looks killer! Any chance those bumpers will be made for sale?

 

^^this^^

 

Nice.

 

Any updates on when this will be released to the public for 6speeds?

 

Had the smoke problem on my 17 OR at approximately 41 degrees incline. Did you ever figure out what it was or fix it?

 

Hey guys and gals!!

Very sorry for not being around to respond since my last post. I've been very busy having a great time wrench'n on the Tacoma and have a lot of catch-up to do

Huge thanks guys! I'd have to agree myself We have found a fabricator and have already begun production on body armor, however, to get the new fabricator rolling we are having him do what we know works and have full 3D for already and that is armor for the older Hilux Pickups and 4Runners. Once we've got a decent supply of those running, then we'll be starting mass production of my bumper. I'm sorry to have request to not get your hopes up however, it is going to take some time to get to that point. Maybe 2 years. This thread will be the first to hear about any updates on this for sure-

Thank you for the question. We know that good ol' trusty 8" rear ends hold up to 40s (with chromoly axles in lighter vehicles with less torque lol). The new Taco rear 3rd member is very impressive; It makes the 8.4" 2nd gen rear diff look small. I am not worried about it.

Regarding the spline count, I had it apart just last week and while I didn't count them, I do know that the axles are larger than 8.0 and 8.4 axle shafts. If I had to guess, the size of each spline looks about the same so with the larger diameter it's possible there are more than 32 splines.

Thank you TF! Something tells me pages from this year will be the best yet

Thank you for giving it a read! I love 1st gen 4cyl Tacos. Would you mind sharing some pics? What are your plans for the Rubicon? You could join our 17th annual Round Up event this September!

MonkeyProof, thank you very much for this info, really glad I stopped by here today. Earlier this week I modified my spindles for a different reason and did not add any gusseting where you've recommended. I have them partially reassembled currently and will remove them tonight to get both uprights strengthened. Thank you again for the tip!!

If you're referring to the TacoBox then it is already available and a few manual 3rd gens are already running them. Our initial run for the 6-speeds did have an over-oiling issue (oil was coming out the shifter hole) and we've made changes since to help remedy the situation. I am currently running our 2nd version front plate and will be monitoring it on a 3,400 mile round trip drive to Texas in 2 weeks.

Hello b3n412, wish I had the fancy digital clinometer that Toyota refused to sell me... I never looked into it but had multiple people tell me that newer synthetic oils burn white, not blue like old oils. Food for thought.

Hey KBOX!! Your '87 is also Supercharged? AWESOME!! Let's see some pics!! Here is my '87 with a SC14, 6-speed transaxle, and a few other mods

 

To get this thread back on track, I'll start by saying that by this time in the year I was supposed to have already done four wheel'n trips: One in Canada, one in California, one in Arizona, and one in Texas. I missed them all because the Tacoma hasn't been ready to go off-road again yet.

Currently, both differentials are out again for new prototype 5.29:1 R&P from our friends at NITRO, as well as changing my final drive ratio to a cool 580:1.

I've been working very hard on what I believe to be the strongest street-legal steering upgrade for the 3rd gen Tacoma (and hopefully also 2nd gen Taco, 4th gen 4R, and early FJ C, pending test-fit). To illustrate, my Tie Rod End threads have gone from their factory 15mm up to now 23mm (135% STRONGER!!!), the diameter of the inner tie rod where it commonly fails has gone from 13.97mm to 21.75mm (142% STRONGER!!!).........guys that is over 2.4 times stronger than stock, and my new steering rack is at a minimum 54% STRONGER than stock!!

My steering has been upgraded so far beyond stock that I'd be willing to stress-test it through a trail with my 40s aired down to 1 PSI in 4WD with the rear drive line removed. That is how confident I am about it. It won't break, which means other things will break, which is great because it will allow me to continue pushing the IFS envelop further to where it maybe has not gone before. To this end, I am already anticipating the next failure and am well underway developing additional components, especially now with a certain company no longer in business I have zero reservations holding me back.

I plan to test out multiple prototype parts in Hollister the last weekend of this month before driving the truck to Texas the first week of May for the Toyota Jamboree

Here come some random photos. Driving this truck around on 40s has been incredible! Looking forward to sharing some stories. I now have over 500 street and highway miles on the new steering setup

From March 23:


From March 24:


and from March 29:

 

January 23, 2018 (continued): 40" tire tread wasn't big enough

After taking those photos with my friend's Tundra, that evening I got home to discover the following road gift:



Less than 150 miles on the new tires and my Driver's Rear got spiked



It was a slow leak: About 4 psi per day so nothing I couldn't manage driving around town with. A couple days later I removed it and patched the tire. Holy hell that was a serious impalement!!

 

January 26, 2018: My IFS Steering Upgrade Officially Begins

A few days later the truck was back in the shop, this time for a complete IFS Steering System Overhaul!



I have been keeping a very tight lid on my steering upgrade project. By this time I already had four months of research into it and was ready to get measurements and start test fitting.

The next event was King Of The Hammers and my goal was to show up one weekend early to take a group of Tacomas through a few trails, ideally and specifically, Solid Axle Swapped Tacomas. It would be awesome to have my Marlin Crawler-powered IFS Tacoma tackle the same difficult Hammers trails alongside SAS'd Tacomas. I did manage to get four SAS'd Tacomas committed but ultimately had to cancel. There was no way I'd get the Steering upgraded in time to run these 40s off-road, least I forget I still have inner fender trimming to do.

I don't think I've discussed this yet and I'd like to bring up what I believe is that there is no street-legal 2005+ Tacoma IFS Rock Crawling full steering kit available today.

Here is my reasoning for this:

1. In our experience and types of trails we wheel, a 35" tire is about the minimum you'd want to use to truly go Rock Crawling.

Yes, you can be a Rock Crawler with 33s, but for example, 33s is considered by most a small tire for use on trails such as the Hammers in southern California. Further, most Marlin Crawler-equipped solid front axle Pickups and 4Runners are running 35s & 37s on the Rubicon. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority is actually 37s.

2. If we can agree that 35" is a basic entry tire size for the serious Rock Crawler, then we have a problem in that it is already a known fact that the 2005+ factory IFS steering fails with 35" tires in the rocks.

I've already seen and experienced this first-hand. Custom inner tie rods (ITR) have been developed and sold by at least one prominent company, however, kits are either discontinued or include disclaimers due to the fact that once the ITR is upgraded the factory steering rack fails next, even proven with 35" tires. Surely the serious IFS Tacoma Rock Crawler can't be expected to carry spare P/S Racks...

In fact, since January, I've had almost a dozen people contact me who have broke their own steering racks: Tacoma, 4Runner, and FJ C owners running 35" and 37" tires. It is a known issue that factory racks do not hold up in the rocks.

3. Therefore, we must conclude that the factory IFS steering should not be used for even the base-line of Rock Crawling.

More specifically it cannot be trusted. This is one of a few reasons to go SAS that I'll have to tackle if I'm to damper the status quo.

4. In conclusion, I must develop IFS steering strong enough (as I will find out through my own testing with 40" tires) for the serious Rock Crawler thereby creating the World's First Actual Rock Crawling-Specific street-legal Tacoma IFS solution on the market.

This is my goal with the project and I have been very busy over here getting this developed.

 

January 26, 2018 (continued): My IFS Steering Upgrade Officially Begins

The first day dissassembling the truck was mostly regarding taking measurements and figuring out geometry hurdles. I had at my disposal almost ten different power steering steering racks from both domestic and foreign vehicles all larger and stronger than my factory Tacoma unit. Prior to this day, while the Tacoma was away for bumper work, I had spent over three months doing preliminary research for possible candidates. The details surrounding the rack I used are proprietary and from hereon in keeping with Marlin Crawler tradition shall be referred to as the MarRack!!

Disassembling the front end again...



RCV Boots not happy with me



With the coilovers out for the umpteenth time, I am considering installing these longer lower eyelets and ditch the silly top spacers I've been running since my second Rubicon trip

 

I'm on my 2nd steering rack and about to get a third one soon, the sooner you come out with your system the better. I've been on a few trails at the hammer with my IFS junk and made it. Next time that you are out there I'll try and follow you with your taco box and 40's