STiLL WILL's[MATT] 2013 Super(charged) White DCSB T|X Pro

Steering will feel more solid and responsive to driver input. You will feel less slop in the steering compared to the OEM tie rods that have a little play in them. If you're not used to heim steering it can be confusing, some think it's bumpsteer, but it's just road/terrain feedback.

 

People not familiar with steering input/feel won't notice much of a difference. I used to track another vehicle of mine every month and one of the biggest things I addressed was steering input and feel, so I have a bit of experience with it. In this particular application, the difference in feel is barely noticeable on road, with more benefits felt off road. Much less slop off road I can definitely confirm as of 2 weekends ago. However the change in day to day(meaning ON ROAD) "feel" isn't as dramatic as the change in specs on paper.


EDIT: i forgot to mention ALIGNMENT is a must after this steering upgrade install, I know it's common knowledge to most but it couldn't hurt to mention. Caster is your best friend in getting the most out of self-centering from oversize tires. This will directly affect your feel at the wheel.

 

Sounds like they did their home work when they designed these tirods. I plan to get a set eventually, just not too thrilled on the price tag. I've been meaning to ask you about the TC lower arms since I plan to get a set. Do they provide more lift with the geometry of the arm? Was wondering since they say they provide more ground clearance than the first generation lower arm.

 

Yeah man I was a bit taken back by the ludicrous price tag too...but as I mentioned earlier, when you don't have any competition in that segment you(as a manufacturer) can def be really PROUD of your own pricing LOL. I wish more big companies would mass produce heim steering upgrade kits to help drive the price down a bit. I see you're in SoCal...I would give LSK a call first to see if they could machine your a custom kit for your truck. I bet they could do it for close to half the price of the kit I bought and probably have access to much nicer steering boots as well lol. LSK does a lot of good custom machining I've seen.

As for my TC lowers, that's a reallyyyy good question about the lift. I wish I could answer it with a solid explanation haha. I really can't comment on any additional lift the new race series arm provide bc my target height wasn't much more than 2.5" overall. However, what I CAN tell you is that reaching that target height involved very minimal coilover preload and my CV angles are damn near flat for the lift I have. Now if that's an effect of the geometry of the new race series arms, I really can't say flat out. I wish I had a Tacoma with the older style TC stock length lowers to compare. The added clearance of the race series is very nice though.

 

Yeah I agree, when you pretty much own the market you can set your own price. I'm good friends with the owner of DMZ, so I might talk to Tim about running production on a heim steering kit. He's built heimed steering for customers before and he wants to get a production line of products on the market for Toyotas.

I think you answered my question about the race series arms, but I might give Pat a call over at TC. Your build is what I'm trying to achieve with the addition of byass. Really like how clean and functional your truck is, love the stealth look.

 

Man this thing is sweet. This is the Tacoma Toyota should have built.

 

Matt...thanks for the great explanation. I appreciate it!

 

Thanks man!

If you have the ins at DMZ then you definitely should not go with the Ready Lift kit haha. Hell, I'd probably replace the Ready Lift kit with a DMZ kit LOL!

Pat @ TC has always been helpful when i've picked his brain. If you need expanded and collapsed specs for the bypass shocks(with the TC long travel secondary shock hoops) on the race series stock length arms, let me know. I have them saved from Pat. I don't know if you were getting off the shelf bypasses or custom spec'd ones to optimize the lengths. If I ever go with bypasses I'll probably send in my coilovers to get revalved for bypasses and get spec'd out bypass shocks.

Word on the street is TC is currently developing and testing an SUA kit for the 2nd gen tacoma than can be run as a "Stage 1" like mine or upgraded to full on LT if the end user decides on bigger shocks and a bed cage.

Can't go wrong with ANYTING TC makes really. Their stuff just works and fits perfectly. Their gussets by far are some of the best fitting I've ever seen.

Thanks man! Updates coming soon!

No problem man. You should see if Drew ^^^ up there can get DMZ to make a steering upgrade kit for cheaper than the Ready Lift that's on my truck haha.

 

ur gunna light up 10 lanes across homie...........


atleast the entire cuesta grade (where there a few spots with no divider)...... My FX-r's did way back when.

congrats mang............ Im outie

 

Haha that's the plan!

THanks dude. Still want that AFE cover? I should be somewhat free sometime next week. LMK homes

 

Guess I'll have to express the interest to Tim for heim steering kits. TC is ten minutes away from me, so I'll have to drop by to spy the SUA which is probably on Matt's truck. I'll have to hit you up with the specs on the bypass when I get to that point. Don't think it will work for LT, because the front hanger has to move forward for 62's to cycle properly to achieve LT travel numbers. If I ever went LT I'd run Tim's SUA, it's just incredible. Zero squat under acceleration and zero spring separation strapped at 17" of travel.

 

Sub'd. Awesome build

 

Yeah last time saw it posted it was on Matt's truck.

PM me anytime on those bypass lengths.

If a proper LT rear was an option for this build(which it will never be lol)...my choice would be (Anthony) DTF's rear SUA LT. Beefy, 20.5 unstrapped, IIRC 18 strapped, and...beefy lol. He designed it loosely inspired by Giant and DMZ SUA kits. Helps he's a 35-40 min drive away from me regardless lol.


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Thanks man!

 

Where's the headlight pictures?!

 

That's a nice tacoma! Do you have any videos on how the exhaust sounds? I'm currently looking into an exhaust but haven't found any that I liked.

 

Soon buddy, you know exactly when.

Thanks! I have a video of some older iterations of my exhaust(it's gone through like 3 different combos lol) that are posted on the earlier pages you'll have to dig through the thread but they are there.

I WILL post up an update on the truck as well as an exhaust video too. Yes, once again, I have changed it up in a quest to achieve the ultimate balance of wide open throttle scream/acceptable cruising speed volume while having a fully catless 3" exhaust that's dumped BEFORE the rear axle. Stay tuned!

 

Alright....it's about time I updated this!


New LED/HID lighting changes and additions!


My old Morimoto retrofits were sold for a price offer I simply could not refuse.....so, I bring to you my brand new headlight setup:

-brand new Tacoma SR headlight casings (the smoked chrome is subtle, but noticeable on the unpainted parts)
-bowls painted satin black, DRL & parking lamp areas left unpainted
-Lexus LS460-R projectors [hand built by none other than TRS Andrew!!!]
-Osram CBI D2S bulbs
-100mm Morimoto xBALED halos

The retrofit was done by Caesar @ Lightwerkz. Big thanks to Lightwerkz and TRS Andrew for such awesome customer service!

The custom build on these headlights has been posted on Lightwerkz project blog: http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/matthews-2013-toyota-tacoma-ls460-r-bixenon-projector-conversion/






I also had Dan @ Hazardous Lighting ("biohazard2070" here on TW) custom build me some direct replacement LED fog lights. These are now 6 LED pods putting out 1100 lumens EACH SIDE[2200 total lumens]----yes, these suckers are NASTY BRIGHT.

my stock vs new Hazardous Lighting 6 LED fog:





I also got a set of the Tacoma XSP-X LED DRL bezels. I custom wired them to a switch inside the cabin so I can turn them on or off independently from all the other lights---as long as the ignition key switch is on. Basically, they work on a similar principle to the "fog light anytime" mod. These things are bright too, but not annoying bright. I really like them. I know some people don't. To each his own.





Now for the pics of the new lighting installed:











Video of updated light setup:

http://youtu.be/gblREm1rq0E


I will update this thread with night shots ASAP---just counting down the hours until sundown where I can get some real output shots. The LS460's are no joke. There is absolutely no projector setup that can come close when these are outfitted with the Osram CBI bulbs, and that's comparing these to my old retrofits during the day lol.



Oh ya, I added another 5hp by changing my lug nuts to black ones

 

damn i'm jelly, nice i really do like the drl led my xsp-x has but like always nice set up

 

Thats soooo dope!