Tesla swapped 2wd 1st Gen build

Just_A_Guy · Jul 18, 2023

TacoSR523 said: ↑

Oops, good idea, let me do so. Done.
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TacoSR523 · Jul 18, 2023

Just_A_Guy said: ↑

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I know, right?!

Just_A_Guy · Jul 18, 2023

TacoSR523 said: ↑

I know, right?!
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You’re lucky I saw it before an overlord!

Drewthecarguy · Jul 18, 2023

TacoSR523 said: ↑

What would be the right name after conversion?
TacoEV
Evtaco
Evoma
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Tescoma is it’s name

TacoSR523 · Jul 18, 2023

Drewthecarguy[OP] said: ↑

Tescoma is it’s name
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Perfect name!

jberry813 · Jul 18, 2023

Just_A_Guy said: ↑

You’re lucky I saw it before an overlord!
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Trust me…I saw it.

BEAR_KNIFE_FIGHT · Jul 18, 2023

jberry813 said: ↑

Trust me…I saw it.
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He sees all!

m3bassman · Jul 18, 2023

Drewthecarguy[OP] said: ↑

Tescoma is it’s name
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One cool fact is that both your Tacoma and the Tesla were built in the same factory in Fremont. (At least most likely).

Drewthecarguy · Jul 18, 2023

m3bassman said: ↑

One cool fact is that both your Tacoma and the Tesla were built in the same factory in Fremont. (At least most likely).
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Dang that is pretty cool

jberry813 · Jul 18, 2023

@Drewthecarguy please tell me you are gonna put the charge port behind the factory fuel filler door.

JasonLee · Jul 18, 2023

m3bassman said: ↑

One cool fact is that both your Tacoma and the Tesla were built in the same factory in Fremont. (At least most likely).
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Yep, the NUMMI plant.

TireFire · Jul 18, 2023

jberry813 said: ↑

@Drewthecarguy please tell me you are gonna put the charge port behind the factory fuel filler door.
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This is pretty much mandatory

JasonLee · Jul 18, 2023

Cool project - I hope to start doing some EV conversions soon. I have had a 2015 Leaf for several weeks now and have started hacking on the CAN bus and researching battery swaps. I can also swap the inverter from the 80kW to 160kW to “supercharge” my performance

With plans to autocross, do you have any plans to do some enhancing other than just the conversion?

Drewthecarguy · Jul 19, 2023

JasonLee said: ↑

Cool project - I hope to start doing some EV conversions soon. I have had a 2015 Leaf for several weeks now and have started hacking on the CAN bus and researching battery swaps. I can also swap the inverter from the 80kW to 160kW to “supercharge” my performance

With plans to autocross, do you have any plans to do some enhancing other than just the conversion?
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yes it will have the Brembo front brakes, full ride tech coilovers front and rear, bigger sway bar in the rear, I feel like a 1st gen Tacoma with IRS should perform fairly well, just gotta figure out the weight bias problem I’ll have

stevesnj · Jul 19, 2023

Drewthecarguy[OP] said: ↑

yes it will have the Brembo front brakes, full ride tech coilovers front and rear, bigger sway bar in the rear, I feel like a 1st gen Tacoma with IRS should perform fairly well, just gotta figure out the weight bias problem I’ll have
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Might be able to put some battery weight up front, plus if you have AC and power steering components that'll help.

crashnburn80 · Jul 19, 2023

jberry813 said: ↑

@Drewthecarguy please tell me you are gonna put the charge port behind the factory fuel filler door.
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That would certainly be slick, though it would limit use to Tesla destination chargers since the Supercharging cords would not be long enough to reach. Granted, there are few Supercharging stations that are open to non-Teslas currently, though that is changing. TBD on what the manufactures do that adopt the NACS plug for 2025, if they will all put them in the rear quarter panel like Tesla to be compatible with the cord length or Tesla starts changing the chargers to offer longer cords for non-Tesla vehicles.

Drewthecarguy[OP] said: ↑

yes it will have the Brembo front brakes, full ride tech coilovers front and rear, bigger sway bar in the rear, I feel like a 1st gen Tacoma with IRS should perform fairly well, just gotta figure out the weight bias problem I’ll have
Click to expand...

What are your plans for the brake booster? With no ICE to provide vacuum, you'll be losing the vacuum booster functionality. You're going to need to swap to an electronically boosted brake setup.

sultan_of_sludge · Jul 19, 2023

This is absolute madness. Subbed

scocar · Jul 19, 2023

Drewthecarguy[OP] initial post: ↑

Alright I’m going to start a build thread now since I’ve got a pretty good lead on what’s going on.

Little background story

i finished my LS3 swapped 3rd gen Tacoma and was ready for something else so I unloaded it pretty cheap

I bought a 2021 Tesla Model 3 standard range for a work car because gas was killing me in my 2023 Lunar rock 4runner for work.

after owning the car for a couple months I pretty much feel in love driving a full electric car. The torque and power is addictive. So I got to thinking I needed to build an electric truck. After doing tons a research and finding frame dimensions of the 1st gen Tacoma I figured it would be a perfect contender.

starting off I picked up a pretty nice 2002 5 lug 2wd single cab from a older gentleman in Tennessee, Rust free which is almost impossible to find where I live in southern Illinois

I drove it around for a little while while I sold the 3rd gen and loved
Driving the little truck around, but that came to a end and tear down started

I knew I wanted to do a Tesla drive unit and not some other electric motors

Tesla Model S drive units are a little to wide for the Tacoma so I picked up a Model 3 Performance test drive unit, should have about 300 or so horsepower and all the instant torque you can ask for

I found a pair of Rotiform wheels locally for a really good deal so I picked them up 18x8.5

then I started mocking it up and seeing what was needed

Mounting the drive unit was as easy as I thought it was going to be

I welded a 2.5inch tube across the rear mounting locations and just had to build little tabs for the front mounting tabs

I then welding some 3/16s plate around the rear tube just to make it a little more solid

Next I had to figure out how to power this drive unit, there are all kinds of battery options out there, my goal was to have at least 200 mile range which is very hard from a EV conversion, so I picked up a Model 3 battery. This thing is enormous, heavy and expensive lol.

you don’t see a lot of guys using the model 3 battery because it is so large.
I started to take the battery apart because I had a idea lol

there are 4 modules in a model 3 battery each one weighing about 300 or so pounds

There is also a thing they call a penthouse which is on the top of the battery and it holds almost all the things needed for a EV conversion - dc/dc convertor, charger, contactors, battery management system. So I decided to relocate that to under the hood, so it’s easy accessible and kind of out of the elements, also when you pop the hood you see a shiny thing that says Tesla lol

so the plan is to mount the two longer modules in between the frame rails and the other two will be in a custom battery box mounted in the bed, there really was no other way to stuff these massive batteries anywhere else, trust me

so I have roughly mounted the two longer ones in the frame rails and I don’t think it can get any closer to fitting. I just need to build a little sheet metal or thin aluminum cover for it to seal it up

I’m currently waiting for the battery box to be made from a local fab shop. Should be done this week then I’m going to have it painted body color to blend in in the bed of the truck.

that’s about as far as I’ve gotten on the EV conversion part, I’m going to use EV controls controller to run all this. I’ll order that probably this week or so too.

Now to handle this extra weight I ordered some QA1 plates from MJBtaco

but I’m more of a fan of Ridetech/fox shocks over QA1 so I picked up a set of Ridetech HQ coil overs for a S10 which has the right shock but wrong spring weight (I’ll order right spring weights after doing a proper corner weight of the truck after it’s all together)

then picked up some tie bars from speedway motors so they will work on the QA1 plate

Next I picked up some used Brembo Cadillac ATS brake calipers. And a new set of the EVO brake rotors and had a local machine shop redrill and bore them out

and that’s where I’m currently at at the moment

I really don’t have a lot left to go and this should be a fun one

my plan is to do some autox and road race events
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Looking forward to this. Also nice to that you have a forward-looking open-minded approach to EVs. This should be pretty cool.

I gotta know. Are you going to haul electric lawnmowers in it?

Drewthecarguy · Jul 19, 2023

crashnburn80 said: ↑

That would certainly be slick, though it would limit use to Tesla destination chargers since the Supercharging cords would not be long enough to reach. Granted, there are few Supercharging stations that are open to non-Teslas currently, though that is changing. TBD on what the manufactures do that adopt the NACS plug for 2025, if they will all put them in the rear quarter panel like Tesla to be compatible with the cord length or Tesla starts changing the chargers to offer longer cords for non-Tesla vehicles.

What are your plans for the brake booster? With no ICE to provide vacuum, you'll be losing the vacuum booster functionality. You're going to need to swap to an electronically boosted brake setup.
Click to expand...

i will either use a electric vacuum pump from a first gen model s or something similar or just go to a wilwood manual brake master

DamnHippie · Jul 20, 2023

Great project! Subbed!

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Tesla swapped 2wd 1st Gen build

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Tesla swapped 2wd 1st Gen build

#61 Just_A_Guy Rain is a good thing

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JasonLee Hello? I'm a truck.

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JasonLee Hello? I'm a truck.

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