AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

And way more rednecks.

 

It can be all rednecks as long as I don't have to have neighbors and where I live doesn't have traffic that I have to plan my day around

 

Am I doing it right???

 

Finally, got caught up. Excellent stuff sir. I am jealous.

 

LOL, couldn't resist. Isn't that what first gen-ers are supposed to say at this point in the Tacoma cycles? I mean, you know that once they have flying Tacoma's, we'll all be like - "dam, those 8th-gens suck."

That's how I use mine, so you must be doing it right.

(hahahahaha! love that you went out and took that photo. freakin awesome.)

Thanks man, appreciate it!

 

My Front Diff is Leaking (...and Fixing It)
November 25, 2018.

It was just a couple days ago that I noticed my front diff was leaking.

Actually, I noticed it only because I was replacing my AC idler pulley for the second time in a month - having replaced it on The De-Tour last year and recently again with less than a week of the F.U. Rain trip remaining. I sure hope this time lasts longer than a week on the trail and a few muddy water crossings!

But that's not what this post is about - this post is about my front diff. While I was under the truck with the skid plates off, I noticed pretty quickly that there was a wet spot on each side of the front diff where the CV axles enter the clamshell housing.

​

​

That's of course not expected and no good, so I wiped off the (little) excess gear oil and consulted my normal reference sources - Carl at JT's Parts and Accessories, and a few hours later - the good folks of TacomaWorld.

Carl - as always - was quick to get back to me. He wondered if my CVs were the originals (which I confirmed for him that they were) and suggested that as originals, they may be getting worn...thereby wearing on the seals that the seal against the machined CV surface that is inserted into the front diff.

His suggestion - take out the CVs to look at the machined surfaces and seals. Replace the seals and/or the CVs.

TacomaWorld too was quick to get back. Others had - and were currently - experiencing the same issue. And, while worn CVs seemed like an unlikely culprit to them, there was general agreement that the terrain over which the Tacoma had recently been through could have caused dirt to get into the seal - unsealing it as it were, and causing it to leak.

Their suggestion - a good cleaning of the area, and then if there was still oil, take out the CVs and look at the seals to see if they are dirty. Inspect the CVs at the same time since they are out. Clean and/or replace anything, as necessary.

Well, I felt like I'd already cleaned the area well when I'd washed the truck from the last trip, so I decided it was time to take out the CVs and check out the seals and shafts. I wasn't going to replace anything just yet - I didn't have any replacement parts - I just wanted to get at good look at the situation.

Plus, my hope was that if I needed to replace something it would be just the output shaft seals (left: 90311-47027 | right: 90311-47013) since those were on the order of $15 each, whereas a new, OEM CV (43430-04020 ) is closer to $450!

My plan of attack would mirror what I'd learned from Mike @Digiratus when I'd helped him remove his axles a couple times previously - first, take off the wheel. Then, remove the hub. This turned out to be the hardest part of the job, my hubs never having been removed previously. Probably took me a good 30 minutes to get the first hub off. And when I did, I didn't love how it was a bit chewed up.

​

Next, it was time to remove the axle nut, and it came off easily enough with the impact wrench.

​

Then, it was just a matter of backing out the four, 14mm bolts that secure the lower ball joint to the lower control arm and I was able to slide the CV axle out of the wheel bearing and set the rotor, bearing, etc. aside so I could pry and then pull out the CV itself - of course, a bit of diff oil coming out as well.

CV extracted, I took the time to give both ends a good once over - there was definitely some grime - a combination of grease and dirt - on each end where they contacted their respective seals - so I cleaned both ends up well before applying a new layer of grease. Both ends of each CV seemed to be in great shape otherwise - they weren't rough or chewed up; hopefully an indication that the CVs don't need replacing.

​

​

I inspected the output shaft seals in the diff as well - also grimy with perhaps a bit more dirt than the CV itself. I cleaned those up and got the CVs reinserted and everything buttoned back up with the correct torque specs (59 ft-lbs and a bit of blue Loctite for the LBJ bolts; 174 ft-lbs for the axle nut)

​

Time will tell if that was enough. For now, while the truck is stationary, I don't see any drips. I sure hope it stays that way!



Update: December 15, 2018 - still no leaks, even after several thousand more miles on the truck. Looks like it was the dirty seals; good to know for next time!

 

Tacoma Rear Shock Relocation (Part 1) - Collecting Parts and Heading South
December 1-2, 2018.

For years now I've run what I'd call "work shocks" in the rear of the truck. First a set of Gabriel Hi-Jackers that I put on to carry heavy loads, then a set of Monroe MaxAir MA820's when I installed the rear lift - these shocks were great for carrying heavy loads since I could add air pressure to push the rear of the truck higher. But as truck use has changed to more exploration (perhaps even the overused "overlanding), it's become clear that the ride provided by these shocks is not ideal. The rear end takes a long time to settle over a bump - and when travelling with a bunch of guys who like to go fast, well...

So when Zane @Speedytech7 wrote up his rear shock relocation, I was immediately keen to perform a similar modification to my truck. I figured I could even make a trip out of it - travelling down to Arizona to see Zane and have a mod day, then we could make our way over to Death Valley to explore some of what was still left to explore after the first trip in January and the second trip in March to test everything out.

The modification is pretty straight forward. In stock configuration, the rear shocks are mounted using two posts - one attached to the rear frame and one attached to a plate under the rear axle that is used to secure the leaf springs to the top of the axle - like this:

​

This configuration is OK - I mean, I've generally been happy with it - but it usually limits travel of the rear axle up and down to around 8 inches. By moving the mounts slightly, it's possible to squeeze a couple more inches of up-down travel out of the rear, making for a smoother ride with better traction, since the rubber meets the road more of the time.

Of course, moving the mounts is where the work is - but essentially a new bottom mount is welded to the rear axle, and a new cross-bar is added to the top of the frame (just under the bed) to which new top mounts are attached.



After a quick chat with Zane, timelines were discussed and plans were made...three months before I'd actually head down. That was good, because I needed to collect parts in the meantime.

Some of this was easy - I'd simply copy Zane for the actual shock mounts and mounting location. That meant sourcing:

• A 4-foot length of 1.75" diameter, 1/8" wall round tubing to which the upper mounts would be welded
• Some 3/16" steel plate for gusseting the tubing to the frame of the truck
• A pair of RuffStuff SBRKT-175 upper shock mounts
• A pair of RuffStuff R1988-8 lower shock mounts

​

I decided to do a u-bolt flip at the same time (since I wouldn't be using the stock lower shock mounts anymore anyway) and so looked at several options for a flip kit and new bump stops. Ultimately, I decided on @Plastics Guy 4.25" rear bumps and his u-bolt flip kit as well, given it's beefy 3/8" powder-coated plate and 9/16" ARB extended-length u-bolts.

​

​

And then of course, I needed a set of shocks. I knew that this time I was looking for high-end shocks. That ruled out the air shocks I've used in the past, and even well-known, respected brands like Bilstein (5100's - Left / Right) and OME. This time, I wanted something that I could fully rebuild - shocks are after all a wear item on our trucks - so I was looking initially at the major players that everyone seems to consider: King, Fox, and Icon. All of these seemed good with one drawback: in stock configuration, the compressed length of their 10-inch travel shocks was longer than I'd like. (Customizable to shorten the length, but only to an extent and different for each manufacturer.)

​

Then, after some more asking around and a bit of research, and ADS was recommended. I'd never heard of ADS, but in browsing their site and chatting with Tyler (via email and phone), it was immediately clear to me that this was the route I wanted to go. ADS could build me a set of 2.5" smooth body shocks, with a welded lower rod end, and 10" of travel that had a 15.125" compressed length and a 25.125" extended length. Ideal for a first gen Tacoma.

​

So, my orders placed, and parts on the way - well, except for the shocks, which I decided to pick up at ADS in Arizona when I headed down to do the work - I was all set.

And boy, was I excited.

As December 1 rolled around, I was out of town early - on I-90 by 4:30am - on my way first to Boise ID where I was going to stop by Ben's @m3bassman to pick up a few 4Runner bits that he'd left on his porch for me. Late in the year, sunrise wasn't for a few more hours and it wasn't until I was already in Oregon that the big orange disc made it's appearance through the trees, fog, and smoke on the horizon.

​

I'd continue driving south and east through the entirety of daylight hours and into the dark, maintaining my "usual" blazing speed of 62mph nearly the entire time. Through Oregon the landscape was covered with a light dusting of snow; Idaho was a constant rain; as I entered Nevada near Wells, the snow started falling thick and heavy.

I pushed onward - stopping only for food and fuel - into the night. My goal was to reach Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge by 11:00pm, some 19 hours after I'd left, with only an hour of aggregated stoppage along the way. As the roads got slicker, I was happy to be following a trucker also maintaining a 62mph pace, his tires clearing the pavement and affording mine a bit more grip.

That luck only held out so long though - eventually he turned west and I had 50 miles of empty road in front of me. And then, brake lights and hazards. As far as I could see up the road, traffic was stopped; no one was moving in either direction.

​

Now the last one in line, I too engaged my hazards as I got out to chat with a few of the folks in front of me. They'd been stopped here for 45 minutes already and expected to be here another 30 - an accident (they assumed) further up the road blocking traffic. In fact, we were there for another hour while the accident was cleared - a big rig and pick-up towing an RV having mixed it up on the slippery road.

Moving again but now an hour late, I found myself pulling into Pahranagat near midnight, happy to discover that it was a couple thousand feet lower in elevation and so while a chilly 24ºF, there was no snow on the ground. I found a spot near the lake, setup the tent, and climbed into bed - eager to see what the morning would bring.

Tired from the day before and head buried in the warmth under the covers, I missed sunrise. Still, as I ventured out of the tent, the skies had cleared the landscape was brilliant under the morning sun.

​

​

​

​

Still cold, I wiped as much of the morning frost off the tent as I could and let the sun do its work on the rest. It wasn't perfect, but by 9:00am - after a quick chat with a refuge employee who was curious about the truck and tent - I was leaving the refuge, once again on my way to Arizona...via Las Vegas.

​

​

I made great time again and by mid-afternoon it was clear that I'd be to Zane's before dinner. Though he'd expected me to show up the next morning, an early arrival was just fine with him as it'd allow us to get a bit of a head start removing the tent and unloading the truck.

And so it was that I completed the last few miles, the truck's shadow racing along beside me - all the exits new-to-me, though one had a familiar name, being that nearly all my OEM parts are purchased from @gunny1005 at Camelback Toyota out of Phoenix.

​

​

It had been quite the trip so far, and the best part was yet to come - over the next two days, we'd head over to ADS to pick up my shocks, and then fabricate a new mounting system. Exciting for anyone, but especially for me - my favorite thing to do, learning new skills and building things with my hands.

 

Pahranagat is an awesome little oasis in the middle of nowhere. We're planning on spending a weekend camping there once it begins to warm up.

 

Marking to read your Rear Shock Relocation post

 

Dang! I wish I knew you were down in my neck of the woods. I would have offered to take you guys for a bite!

 

I accept food with or without Dan

 

Tacoma Rear Shock Relocation (Part 2) - Fabrication...and Failure
December 3-4, 2018.

Rear shock relocation day was finally here! Zane @Speedytech and I were up bright and early so we could be at ADS right around their opening time of 8:00am to pick up the rear shocks they'd been holding for me for the last couple of months.

​

​

As generally seems to be the case when it comes to truck parts stores, we were both like kids in a candy store as we ogled around the ADS facility. Definitely quite the setup they've got going on there!

​

​

​

Tyler, who'd been helping me with my shocks, walked us around for a quick tour and made sure that we had everything we needed to do the install, including a copy of the valving setup they'd configured, in case that needed to be changed in the future. (I'm sure it will.)

​

And with that, we headed back to do the actual work. Have I mentioned that I was excited? And yes, probably also a bit nervous.

Now, hindsight is 20/20, and several good folks may know - and others will have figured out from the title of the post - that not everything turned out "just right." But at this point, we were confident that we knew what we were doing and so we set about with the following high-level plan of action:

1. Unbolt and remove the rear bumper and bed from the truck.
2. Raise the rear end up on jack stands to remove the rear wheels; support the rear axle with a floor jack.
3. Disassemble the leaf springs, removing all but the top leaf.
4. Position new top shock mounts (with zip ties at this point) on a length of 1.75" tubing that we positioned on top of the frame, just under the height of the bed.
5. Use a floor jack to press the top leaf as high as it would go before starting to lift the truck, and to drop it as far as it would go, noting the overall travel and positioning of the leaf springs in relation to the new top shock mounts.
6. Weld (a) the 1.75" metal tube to the frame, (b) new upper shock mounts to the tubing, and (c) new lower shock mounts to the rear axle in positions that would mean the shock wouldn't bottom out when the leaf spring was compressed to the height we'd determined, and wouldn't overextend when the leaf springs were fully drooped.
7. Paint everything and install the new shocks.
8. Reinstall all the bits we'd removed (wheels, bed, bumper).

Now - I should note that if you're reading this and thinking, "Cool, now I know what I need to do in order to do this to my truck." - stop and listen: These are not the right steps. The right steps will come right after the next chapter of this story. Hang tight. Even better, sign up here to get an email when it's posted:

​

As we got started, everything was going swimmingly. Zane's got an engine hoist, and that made it much easier to remove the rear bumper with just two people. In no time, it was on the ground and we moved it out of the way.

​

Next, it was onto the bed. This too is much easier with a hoist. We simply attached the hoist to the bed rack, removed the tail lights, and then used the impact wrench to unbolt the bed from the frame. A few pumps on the hoist, and if I'd gotten the angles right it could have looked like Zane was Mr. Muscle. Oh well.

​

​

​

It was at this point that Zane looked at me and said, "Before we go on, you're taking your truck to the car wash." I'd of course washed it before heading down, but removing the bed exposes so much more mud, and it was clear that cleaning up the frame a bit with the pressure washer was going to make working on it a lot more enjoyable. So off we went - the car wash just around the corner.

​

We were feeling good as we returned to the garage, and made quick work of lifting the truck up on jack stands and removing the rear wheels.

​

U-bolt removal and leaf pack disassembly were next, and were a place where we got a bit ... creative ... to support the rear axle. But hey - it's not as sketchy if it works, right? [smile id=biggrin"]

​

​

Leaf springs separated, we reattached the axle using my new @Plastics Guy u-bolt flip kit and a few "custom spacers" we found around the shop - so we had enough threads to tighten down the u-bolt nuts while we took our travel measurements.

​

​

These travel measurements are obviously the key to a good install - so we knew we had to get the next part right. If we didn't, then my shocks might get destroyed by bottoming out or overextending before they could soak up the bumps. We were ready to measure twice, or even three times if necessary... and weld once.

Famous last words.

We started by placing the 1.75" round tube on the frame to determine how far forward (resulting in shocks that were as vertical as possible) it could sit and still not rub on the bottom of the bed. Once again using some high-tech spacers and measuring devices, we got it in just the right position and then zip-tied on the upper shock mounts.

​

​

Well, as you can see above - as the exhaust makes it's way to the rear of the truck, it passes exactly where the passenger side shock will mount. This was different than Zane's experience, but wasn't too much of a problem for two guys with a sawzall.

​

Top mounts positioned horizontally where we wanted them, we figured that now was as good a time as any to weld them on. By doing it now, we could lay everything on the ground, ensuring that the mounts were evenly aligned and then we could simply rotate the round tubing to angle the mounts up and down as appropriate to achieve the desired shock positioning.

​

​

​

​

Flush with welding success, we secured the upper mounts in place with some clamps and took our travel measurements. We must have been concentrating hard at this point because I didn't get any photos. Our methodology however was to use the floor jack to push up under one leaf spring until the entire truck started to lift off of the jack stands - that was our "full stuff / max compression" distance. Then, we pulled the floor jack out entirely and stood on the leaf spring to let it hang down as much as possible - that was out "full droop / max extension" distance.

Those numbers in hand, we figured out the position of the lower shock mounts and I made Zane bend some of the hard brake lines since they'd be in the way of the mounts. See, I'd never messed with brake lines and bending them made me nervous . I then marked (on the rear axle), the position of the lower shock mount such that it's 10 inch stroke would not limit movement of the leaf spring.

We measured twice. Actually, probably three times. We were sure we'd gotten it right. (Hint: we hadn't.) And so I welded on the lower mounts.

​

​

I was excited. My shock relocation - which I'd been thinking about for three months - was coming to fruition. With the mounts welded on, everything left was "easy":

• reinstall the leaf springs, u-bolt flip kit, and wheels to get the truck back on the ground;
• wrap up the final welding and gusseting of the round tube that supported the top mounts;
• prime and paint all the bare metal;
• install the shocks and all the bits we'd removed (bed, bumper).

We quickly got the leaf springs reassembled with the u-bolt flip kit and @Plastics Guy bump stops and wheels back on the truck so we could wheel it out into the driveway.

​

Likewise - the layout, cutting, and welding on of the gussets for the tubing was straight forward (and fun - more welding)!

​

​

​

And with that, the fabrication was complete. We'd done it, without any major hiccups, and - as far as I was concerned - relatively quickly. We were genius'.

Well, OK, we weren't genius' and the fabrication on this project was far from complete - but we didn't know that yet. So, I set about wire brushing all of the welded areas to remove any splatter and prep for paint; then I sprayed everything with a coat of primer followed by black paint.

​

​

​

As we both looked over the finished product, it all looked good. The upper mounts lined up with the lower mounts; the welds looked reasonable - almost as though I knew what I was doing.

​

​

So we installed the 2.5" smooth body w/remote reservoir ADS shocks. To compress them for install, we used a ratchet strap around the shock until the mounting holes lined up perfectly with the mounts, and slid in some ½-inch grade 8 bolts to hold them in place. Finally, we secured the reservoirs to the round tubing - a convenient side effect of this mounting strategy.

​

There were of course a couple more hours of work to get the bed, bumper, and tent back on the truck; plus we spent some time cleaning up and putting the garage back "in order" before we grabbed dinner and then pulled out our laptops to see what we'd missed in the world over the last two days.

Of course, I headed straight to TacomaWorld - I had to post a couple photos of the work and my gratitude in the 1st Gen Daily thread - since I was excited to let everyone know what all the secrecy the last couple days had been about.

And it wasn't 6 minutes before the first response rolled in - "Those mounts look pretty close together." Needless to say, Zane and I walked through how careful we'd been with the whole setup and how we were sure everything was right. A bit more back and forth and eventually the topic changed and an hour or so later I went to bed, still mostly confident in the work we'd done - knowing that I'd get a chance to try it out over the next couple days on a trip through the Mojave National Preserve.

- - - - -
Spoiler​

OK, not really a spoiler since I've said it a few times already - though we'd measured three times and welded once, we hadn't measured correctly. Rather, we hadn't even set ourselves up to be able to measure correctly.

The next day, after picking up @mrs.turbodb in Las Vegas, and only about a mile into the Mojave Road, I knew that we wouldn't be able to run the entire road with my shocks installed the way they were. Even over small bumps the shocks were bottoming out - only having perhaps 2" of up-travel, not nearly enough with a fully loaded bed.

​

There were two options - abort the trip and head home on the highway, or remove the shocks and run the Mojave Road with leaf springs only. The answer - to me - was obvious: adventure was waiting.

​

​

... but that's another story! - - stay tuned

Read the whole story: Rear Shock Relocation
[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]​

 

No rear shocks?

This will be an interesting report.

 

Wow I didn't realize you didn't properly space out the leafs either. That really explains how off you were on top of not weighing down the bed.

hopefully you did that or maybe you took the measurements into account. (lol didn't read it all )

 

Was about to mention that too. Don't think that came up in our previous discussions on this.

Dan - you need to make a spacer to account of the height of the leafs you took out. Your measurements were all off by whatever that amount was.

 

Seems like a great reason to go Air Over Leaf

 

Definitely a cool place. A little close to the highway for my tastes (for a longer-term stop) but was totally awesome for a night, and would be a fun place to explore for a day. Will likely head back on another trip south.

Would have been great to stop by. Next time!

You deserve it more than me anyway. You can have mine. LOL.

Resonant frequency of Tacoma leaf springs anyone?

Totally understand what you guys are saying, but we took the leaf pack thickness into account as we were doing our measurements - that is, the measurement was say 19" from eye to eye, and we knew the removed leafs were 2", so we considered that a 21" measurement.

Still, since we didn't to the rest right, it didn't matter. Actually, if we hadn't taken the leaf pack thickness into account, the shocks would have been bottomed out as soon as the truck was loaded, at rest...since I only had 2" of travel at that point, hahahahahaha.


Great learning experience though. And I've got a write-up coming on the correct way to do it after everyone's conversation about it.

I used to run air shocks back there (Gabriel's and then Monroe's) which is conceptually similar and that would have solved the problem for this specific trip, for sure. Unfortunately, those shocks (comparably) suck in just about all other situations. And once I got these dialed in... no real need (for me at least) for AOL.

 

Varying loads are where AOL shines.

 

Fixed it for you