Frankenstein Build: Stock -> 37's on IFS -> SAS

I think I figured out my roof mount. This way is much cheaper and much less complicated then anything from 80/20. I'm going to purchase

$18 Pit Posse 11021BK 2 ft Aluminum L Track Anchor Tie Down Rail System - S Track for Enclosed Cargo Trailer, Van, Truck, RV, SUV, Snowmobile, Toy Hauler, 5th Wheel- Towing Accessory(Black)

2' of L-Track, 8

$34 (Pack of 12) L-Track Double Lug Threaded Stud Nut Bolt On Fitting

male threaded studs, and some

RB Components 2495-S L Track End Cap, Black

end caps. I am going to cut the L-track into 4 equal lengths and use the threaded inserts as anchors for the tent. It will look something like this:

This won't look too weird sitting on top of the truck and I can use the L-track to mount a basket or whatever I want to store on the roof.

According to the spec sheet, each mount *should* be able to withstand 1000lbs of force.

What do you guys think? Terrible idea, or just go for it??

 

I received the mounts. I am still waiting for the L-track but luckily these seem pretty solid, so this should work.




I measured the size of the bolt after I tightened the nut and it is about 5/16". This is a little short because my plywood is 3/4". I will have to drill about 1/4" into my plywood so the mounts work.

 

Thought I'd throw an update on here for my DIY RTT. I took my headliner out so I could mount my mounts to the roof. I decided to mount the mounts to the tent 1st and put the tent up there to see how it fit. Well, the tent fit well, but the mounts were too flat. Each mount only touched at 1 corner. I need to think about how to make a curved rack for my roof. In the meantime, though, I went ahead and built a DIY bed rack.

My Tacoma has these useless bed rails mounted by the previous user. They kind of look like the 2nd and 3rd gen OEM rails, but much less nice. They worked alright for small things, but I never threw any weight on them. I decided it was time to make them useful. I took them off, drilled new bigger mounting holes in the rail and truck bed, and bought some grade 8 hardware to mount them. Once I felt good about the rails I moved on the the rack itself.

I had some old Yakima kayak racks for a ford e[1][2][3]50 van that mounted to the rain gutters on the roof. I figured I could use these since I had them and once mounted they are very strong. From past experience I know they attach well to angle iron. I realized if I mounted a piece of angle iron to the bed rails then I could just slide the mounts on and call it a day.

I looked into proper rail hardware, like the unistrut nuts, but after I bought a package I realized they were too big. I decided I was just going to use some huge bolts. Much cheaper and IMO stronger too. I used the large bolts to mount the angle iron the the bed rail. I attached the kayak racks to the angle iron and I now have a very solid bed rack! Thye are strong enough that when I pull on them I shake the entire truck.

If you got confused reading this then just look at the pictures below:

Bolts:


Yakima Kayak Rack:


All together:

I think it looks pretty good



Most importantly, does it hold my DIY RTT? YES! My beautiful assistant was brave enough to test it out while I took a picture. In this image the fold out is held up by some drywall holders. I have the ladder and the hardware is ordered to mount the ladder, so next images will have the ladder attached!


My grandma and I are cranking away on the tent part so that will be installed soon! So far I am very happy with how this is coming along and I can't wait for spring break when I get to test everything.

 

SAS BEGINS!​

Over the last year I have been torn between long travel and SAS. I know LT is the way to go, but there is something super cool about solid axle Toyotas. I have also really gotten into crawling over the last year. Desert racing is cool, but not my thing. This weekend I was lucky enough to get a sweet deal that made my final decision! I purchased a solid front axle! It's a Dana 44 from a Jeep TJ Rubicon equipped with the OEM Jeep air locker and the pump to run it, 4.10 gears, and both axle shafts, all for $160!! From my research (which I hope I did right) this particular axle will fit very well in the Tacoma. It is the same width as the rear, has the same gearing I have RN (though I will probably change this), and has a driver side diff. The ideal axle is a D44 from a Jeep Wagoneer, but those are almost impossible to find these days. The D44 from the TJ is the next best option. It's a little weaker then the Wagoneer, but with the weight of the Tacoma it shouldn't make a difference.








The guy I got it from just wanted it out of his garage. He is a Jeep guy and is offloading his extra parts collection. He had this axle as a backup but hadn't gone wheeling in a long time. He said I was the 1st of 12+ people who messaged him the day it was posted, so I feel pretty lucky to have got it.

Now I know next to nothing about solid axles, I have spent all my time studying and tinkering with IFS. Because of this I have started doing some extensive research. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this is what I need to to have a complete axle:

• steering knuckles
• spindle shafts
  
• seals and bearings
• spindle connecting rod
  
• hubs
• brake rotors
• the proper brake calipers?

The guy had been using it as a parts axle so some things are missing, as you can see. Fixing up the axle should be very straight forward and I am not worried about it at all. As usual I will see what I can find used to help save a good chunk of change.

Now installing it on the truck is a different story. I am going to do 3 link. Yes I know, leafs are easier for beginners, they don't require any math, their are tons of kits ready to go, ...etc... I hate the look of leafs. Coilovers/3 link provides much better performance and IMO they look much more modern. I am in my last semester of my engineering degree so calculating proper mounting points and suspension geometry should be pretty trivial. I have no fear messing things up, I love learning new things, and I learn from mistakes. I love working on my truck and I know I have the skills to do this swap. The experience I will gain, much like the rest of you.

So, here is what I believe I need in order to 3 link my truck (again, let me know if I am way off):

• 3 link kit. Going to get a generic one from RuffStuff or Barnes4wd
• Steering components (need to do more research and depends on what knuckles I get)
• Steering pump
• Oil pan
• Extended shock towers
• Frame stiffener plate

Anything you guys think I missed or overlooked? I have read through the SAS guides here on TacomaWorld and I seem to check most of the boxes. I am sure I'll run into issues but I love that. There is something I very much enjoy about fixing things.

Thanks for looking! I'm pretty stoked, summer can't come soon enough...

 

Hell yea man! Stoked to see how it turns out.

I'd love to do an SAS on my truck, but won't be able to that until I have a daily.

 

Thanks! Don't let that stop you! It will be a slow process of collecting parts but once I have everything I'll get the swap done fairly quickly because this is my daily. I have a DRZ400 I can ride while the truck is down but I didn't buy that for commuting, too many idiots in SoCal.

 

It'll happen one day! Just need some means of transportation to work though lol.
Would rather take my time and do it right once rather than throw it all together and be rushed in the process.
Can't believe you got that axle and all those parts for only $160. What a steal!
Also don't hear of too many d44 swapped tacos these days.

 

True that. Self employment helps with that haha.

Yeah I get that. I am the same but if I don't try to get it done quickly then it'll sit in my driveway for months. Like the Honda Civic I replaced a head gasket in. All I need to do is fill it with oil haha.

Right? I couldn't believe that price either! And it all looks good too, no cracks or chunks. Yep, I haven't seen a D44 build here in a while. Most people opt for the TG front axle, and for good reason. But I like doing things my own way, so D44 it is!

 

Yea that def does.
I wish I had that problem ha. Can't have any downtime outside of the weekends.

Good luck with the swap!

 

DIY RTT Build!


​

So I figured I would throw together a detailed post on how I built my RTT. As stated in my previous post, I have been wanting a RTT for a while but I can't justify the $2k+ price tag for a piece of wood and a tent, so I decided to make my own.

I started doing some research on DIY RTT's and didn't really find anything. I found this one which is literally a Coleman tent on a piece of plywood, and this one, which is almost exactly what I am looking for but their isn't much info on his build. I spent a few days drawing plans and then went to work.

Here is a final parts list:

• 3/4" 4'x8' plywood - Free (for me), $50
  
• 4x1/2" metal conduit pipes - $12
• ARB RTT Hinge Set - $15
• Misc hardware for mounting hinges to wood - $5
  
• 3' x 1/8" x 1.5" steel plate - $9
• 50' cord from REI for hammocks - $10
• Coleman cabin tent - $40
• ARB RTT ladder - Free (for me), $80
  
• Marine Varnish - $20
• ARB RTT Hardware Kit - $16
• Bed Rack - Free (for me), $100-$600 NOTE: This isn't really part of the tent for you will need a mounting solution no matter what you do.

Total for me was about $127 give or take $20. It will probably cost around $250 if you need to buy everything. This is still a fraction of the cost of a pre-made one.

So on to the build!

I started by getting my plywood. This was easy for me because I had a spare 3/4" 4'x8' in my garage from a shelving project. I would HIGHLY recommend 3/4" due to it's strength. When I was at Home Depot I played around with some other sizes (becasue 3/4" plywood is heavy) but found anything thinner would bend/snap.

I just cut it in half. Pretty simply.


Next was the hinges. I spent some time building custom ones but they were a little flimsy. I ended up buying some from ARB. This is absolutely the move for anyone doing this. They were cheap and came with ALL the hardware! The only thing I had to modify was the black pole holders. I needed to drill them out a little bigger becasue the 1/2" conduit didn't quite fit in them. I would recommend finding some poles that fit in/over the black pieces.

When I mounted them to the wood they worked great! Just note, they need to go on a certain way. As you can see one hinge sits on top of the other. Since they sit like this one side has the wood mounting holes drilled offset.




I then grabbed my 1/2 conduit and bent it in the shape of my tent. 2 90 degree bends worked for this. I also had to add about 2' to each pole. I wanted each pole to be ~4' tall so it could fit within the plywood. Without adding the extra length they were too short.


Next I needed a way to hold the poles up. I drilled holes in all the poles on each side about 6" down from the top. I ran a rope through the poles and put 2 knots on each side of each pole to keep it from slipping down the rope. DON'T USE PARA-CORD. Para-cord stretches and it will not work long term, ask how I know...


At this point I decided I was happy with the "skeleton". I took it apart so I could finish/waterproof the wood. I sanded the wood smooth and threw a couple coats of marine varnish. Do both sides! You will sweat inside and it will get wet in the elements. Last thing you want is mold under your mattress.


After the varnish dried I put it back together permanently, tightening everything and aligning the wood.


Now I moved my focus to the tent part. I recommend everyone have a grandma who can sew. They sell replacement RTT canvasses that would fit this frame but they are $400+! I purchased an old Coleman Cabin tent that had a similar shape to my RTT and cut it up. With the help from gram I was able to get it all sewed and water tight! Here is the tent style I used:

Old Coleman "Cabin" Tent


I wish I took pictures of the tent making process but my grandma is a no nonsense person and doesn't like when people are on their smart phones. I was helping as much as I could but overall I was just keeping her company. Basically we just cut pieces off the Coleman tent and sewed them together. We used the roof as the roof, door as the door, and windows/extra material as the sides which we had to custom sew. Most of it we could just cut to size and use. We also used the awning flap for the window/door flaps you will see later in the build. Be creative and remember you can always cut off fabric easier then you sew it on!


I then decided it was time to work on a bed mount. My DIY bed rack is a story for another post but it utilized the bed rails installed by the previous owner, angle iron, and some kayak racks for an E350 I had lying around. Here are some pics of it:








And finally a test of the skeleton mounted to the rack!


I didn't have the ladder yet but as you can see it worked great and the rack/skeleton are very solid/low profile! I used my girlfriend as a test subject so I didn't hurt myself in case it broke. Thanks for testing it for me beautiful

Now the ladder! I spent some time looking at telescoping ladders on Amazon. They ranged from $50 to $200. Thankfully the stars aligned and I found a free ARB ladder on OfferUp and you bet I scooped it.




Since I had the ARB ladder I went ahead and bought the ARB tent mounting kit which came with the hardware to mount the ladder.


Now all that was left was putting everything together! I mounted the skeleton to the rack, threw the tent over the skeleton, and bolted on the ladder.












I used very small self taping metal screws to mount the tent fabric to the skeleton. As long as the screw doesn't start the twisting the fabric then they worked very well. I went around the whole tent and pulled all the fabric tight as I went.

I also made some poles out of the original Coleman tent poles to hold up the door flap/back flap. See the below pictures for this. They are custom made to work with my bed rack and ladder so others will need to be creative when doing this themselves.

The last thing I made was a temporary cover to throw over the tent. My grandma and I made this out of the bottom of the tent. I will need a better one soon because this one started to shred and isn't water proof. Unfortunately with the Coronavirus I can't be around my grandparents, hopefully in a few months I can make it over there to make a better one.


The last thing to do was test it out! I spent a week traveling up the 395 and the tent worked exactly as it should!








Note the custom flap poles




Overall I stayed warm and dry, the tent held up, and camp set up/teardown has drastically gone down. I would highly recommend going the DIY route if you are on a budget and want a RTT like me!

Thanks for reading and have a good day!

 

Okay I wanted to update my SAS progress so far. I purchased a TJ Dana 44 instead of the Wagoneer, which has some plus and minuses.

Here are the good things:
WMS to WMS is correct, it measures 65" which is the same as my rear. It came with an air locker. These axles are cheaper and easier to find then the Wagoneer axles. All good things.

Now to the bad:
Since I bought a TJ axle I ran in to some issues. The 1st issue was the fact it is 5 lug. I figured I could just swap out to some Chevy flat top knuckles and call it good. Well, here is the big problem, Jeep went ahead and used Dana 35 housings, inner C's, knuckles, everything but the diff+axles with this Dana 44. That means my ball joints point down instead of up, limiting me to only Dana 35 knuckles. No Dana 35 came with a 6 lug pattern which is a huge problem for me. 2nd issue my axle is bent. I didn't realize this when I bought it but when I was measuring it I noticed a slight bend in it. I will have to take it to a shop to have it fixed... $$$$$.

So how am I going to convert this to 6 lug? Well, I figured it out!! Take note everyone, this could be useful to a lot of people. The key is, after hours and hours of searching, to use

98-01 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 knuckles and 98-99 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 hubs.

​

The knuckles fit right in to the Dana 35 inner C's and the Chevy hubs fit right on to the Dodge knuckles, giving you that sweet 6x5.5 lug bolt pattern! What's even more crazy is Chevy makes an 8 lug hub that bolts to this knuckle. So theoretically people could run an 8 lug Dana 35!! I know it's a mixing pot of parts, but hey, it works! I'll update this with exact part #'s as soon as I can head to the junkyard and pull some parts.

This info took way to long to find but I am glad I did. I haven't seen this combination on any other forum before so I figured I would share it here. If you're on a budget and just want a solid axle you could run a Dana 35 under your Taco, though IDK why you would want that.

I obviously need to figure outs some more details, such as axles, but I think converting the TJ Dana 44 to 6 lug is a huge step. Hopefully this info can help others too!

 

Yea that TJ d44 is kind of a turd. Hope that unit bearing works out!

 

Yeah I agree. It was worth the price just for the air locker though. My dad has them on his truck (99 Z71 15000 Silverado) and they haven't had a problem, so I think they'll work fine on my smaller Tacoma.

 

Nice rig, like the early 1st gens for sure.

I could be wrong but I believe the difference in radiator is from 4 cyl to 6 cyl, and it is generally due to the height if I remember correctly. I put a Champion in and have my fingers crossed that it doesn’t leak like 50% of them do. The radiator tech guys I talked to while looking for a better 2 core aluminum radiator theorized that flexing might cause the leaks on a 3 row all aluminum rad, so I tried some of these to allow some flex and prolong the life of the darn thing until I can get a Koyorad all aluminum one and maybe get the radiator filler neck shortened so it will clear the hood. These bushings are about a 1/4” thick:

Hard-to-Find Fastener 014973175368 Bushings, 3/8 x 1-1/4", 5-Piece

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OP3C614/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

you would need some longer bolts, and I used fender washers as well but this might help with your clearance problem in the short term. like your build!

 

Another rope option is go to a climbing shop and get some small static cord- good abrasion resistance and doesn’t stretch. Great idea on the tent!

 

Great info! I'll have to order some and try it out. So far my spacers haven't had any issues but it's definitely a fabri-cobbled solution.

Thanks! It's my favorite money pit.

 

So far the stuff I got is working almost too good. I made it tight expecting it to stretch over time but so far I have had 0 stretch. I need to loosen it a little so the tent actually lays completely flat.

 

If you go that route you will need to get longer flanged bolts, I found some at the local builder’s supply or you might look at one of the big box stores

 

I'll have to go check Ace, the one in my neighborhood has a very large selection of misc. parts.

 

It's pretty awesome that your making your own RTT. Nice truck and journey.