05 Tacoma SAC and 4.7 V8 Swap

TacoBox! I have been wanting one for my build. Soon enough..

 

Any updates? This is an awesome project.

 

I'll be working on it a bunch in April for sure. Want it done soon, haven't been home much to work on it.

 

Should have been home working on it with the quarantine lol

 

Let's hope so, I want to see how this turns out.

 

Well I got some work done on it in April, not as much as I'd like but better than none. And I dropped the ball on the pictures so will have to get some more next time I'm home. Currently working as much as possible, and thankful to be able to be working during this mess. Big thanks to my good friend Jeremy for helping out so much.

Anyways got the dual case set up bolted together and installed in the truck, I'll be modifying the skid plate that came off my original Tacoma to work with this set up. Pretty pumped to see it getting closer and closer.

 

The coil over towers are completed and tacked in place. Need to finish up the panhard link get the steering in place and cycle the suspension to make sure everything is good to go. Wish I had more than one pic of the mount, I'll get some up when I'm home again.



Finding that the ruffstuff diff cover sticks out a lot, it is really messing up the steering with the double ended ram assist. I tried the stock cover and it makes things not perfect but much better but this means I can take the plasma cutter to the ruffstuff cover and cut out where the ram passes by and fill in the clearanced area with some lighter steel.

 

So my 4.0 has a blow head gasket.. an 05 4.7 will bolt up to the 4.0 Tacoma trans?

 

sick build

 

Only if you use the bell housing from the 4.7L. Will need custom motor mounts and likely also a relocation of the trans mount if you want to use the mechanical fan and shroud (that would add drive shaft work). If you go electric fans only you might be able to leave the trans alone. Might also need to tinker with the oil pan to clear the front diff actuator if you got one.

 

Ended up with a 4.0 since it was the better deal.. if this one ever blows 5.7 swap

 

That definitely won’t bolt in

 

Yeah i went to a place with a bunch of engines, they had a 4.7 with 160k on it for $3k and a 4.0 with 3k miles for $2500..
Next step is just buy a wrecked tundra and do a complete swap (if this new engine ever blows)

 

I'll be going into quarantine for 2 weeks after leaving the country at the end of October so going to pretty much going to get this thing done.

 

Do you have a link to your old build? Curious about potential D44

 

Here you go.

 

Alright I made some serious progress on the Tacoma while in quarantine after I spent a month in the US. The front end is ready to be fully welded in and have the front axle assembled. So I ended up having to rework the panhard bar mount shown above.

Panhard bar is using EMF medium heims on both ends due to the angles it will see throughout suspension travel.



Next was to measure up and cut the drag link. Uses a custom tie in TRE from EMF and a 1 ton Chevy TRE from EMF. The tube is DOM 0.25" wall.

 

Next was raising the panhard bar. The angle was pretty steep and when I cycled the suspension there was definitely some room for improvement on the angle. Part of everything was for sure tack, try, cut, improve, tack.

Here is the original mount. Can see the sharp difference in angles between drag link and panhard.



The revamped version. It's still not perfect put my lengths are deceptively long so bump steer on the road should be a minimum. If it's really bad I might be able to massage things a little but I won't gain much, I've got such tight clearances, but much better than the first mount.



A little flex test to see how things are looking. On the plus side I no longer have to notch the frame.

 

Next up was the hydro assist with surplus center 1.25"x8" ram. Stayed smaller to keep up the ability to steer quickly and it is just an assist. If it sucks I'll get a 1.5" ram. Used EMF small heims and EMF ball sockets for the steering set up. I've been asked why a double ended ram for assist and the reason for it is to have balanced steering. A single action ram will steer faster one way than the other due to the differences in volume.





Of course the panhard mount is in the way, so cut it for clearance.



To get proper angles when using a double ended ram the tie rod arms need to be straight when full lock.





Next up it was time to check some clearances with everything after cutting out a plate from 1/4" to mount the ram to. The clearances are super tight and I shaved a little more off the panhard mount.

 

I used the stock diff cover for mock up because the ruffstuff cover made of 3/8" is huge and will obviously need modification to work. But since I set up with the stock cover I know I can get as close as possible and not hit the gears. More on the Ruffstuff cover later, you can see it laying on the floor in the picture.





With everything looking good and the steering mount plate positioned, drilled some holes and bolted the ram in place. There will be a ton more bracing to go on this mount. Easier to do all that with the axle out from under the truck and after full flex testing.

I got a little too greedy with the plasma cutter on the diff cover and welded the chunks removed back onto the cover under the ball socket later on. But I did have to cut a substantial size hole in the cover. Always fun when the bolt on custom parts have to be modified because the build is so ridiculous.