2002 Tacoma for Autocross

It was MUCH better than stock. About as good as a stock swap can be.

 

XRunner with a boosted 2TR or 3RZ.

 

Sent it! Time to try that rear sway. Wow. However, pure Aussie Super V8 style of racing there.

 

Drove it to the limits.

 

@BananaMan WAY TOO MUCH FRONT SPRING RATE‼️ Soften the front spring rate! You can run OEM Access cab front springs or OEM X-runner springs with perch or better yet very bottom photo with coil-over top mount for option. Then add a X-runner rear sway-bar! I have all the part numbers but the mount welded to the diff. as there are many to choose from.

@A.takemoto If you like the rears do the same in the front! See photo below spring not loaded / adjusted in this photo.

This part has been machined to fit over top collar on coil-over shocks you BOTH can use. As a matter of fact I have this set (Edit; of spring perches for sale). They were for our 15 some guy talk me out of! Grrr…

 

Years ago they did not allow trucks with limited slip differentials to autocross. I don’t know if that rule is still in place, but Toyota did put a LSD in some 2WD Tacomas (1997, for damn sure).

 

The cycle of tire rubbing correction (Drive>rub>trim>bend>repeat!) has been ongoing for what seems like eternity, and I am longing to get back out on the course now to offset all this work with some fun! The truck is not quite there though in my thinking unfortunately so the work must go on...

I have found many sources of rubbing along the way, and that that rubbing areas change as one area is fixed another becomes an issue. Case in point - the less the tires were rubbing my plastic liners and inner fenders, the more I found that darn Addco sway bar to become the main issue for me. This is only on the hardest off camber turns I can safely muster on the street coupled with a huge pothole to really put it to the extreme test scenario, but since I drive it to the extremes I dont want anything to rub ever.

The sway bar was not only rubbing my tire, but I was hitting it so hard it actually even was banging loudly and starting to scratch the inside of my wheel and taking the powder coating off the sway bar too - only on the driver side though (perhaps since I cant replicate the same turn making a left hander?).

Looking closer at the addco vs the srunner sway bar I can see there is well over an inch of clearance that you lose with this "upgrade". I liked the flatter ride the addco provided, but I just could not live with my wheels banging into it any longer so I popped my SRunner front bar back on. The issue with rubbing at full steering lock (u-turns) is gone now too I am happy to report (and feel), even with my extra drop and fat tires. Note for anyone thinking of that addco sway bar, you will lose clearance and I even found my 245's rub too just as fyi.

Look below and you can see where it rubbed first without the drop spindles towards the front of the bar, then it rubbed higher on the bar too after the spindles. The black tape portion got rubbed as that was trying with and without 3mm wheel spacers. It rubbed wither way but the spacers are off at the moment, as I found I like the feel of the truck handling the high speed curves a bit better in some regard and this may reduce my over steer if/when I do lose traction. (photo on Moms Tacoma since I had hoped for better results with the 245 tires on her truck).



I went for one more test drive and although I am still getting a rub, I am not seeing any marks on the sway bar so far to my delight!

However I can still get the darn driver side to rub on that curve of doom, and it looks now to be on the front portion of the inner fender where the battery is resting up top. I am a bit hesitant to bend and bang this out of the way since the battery needs a stable mount of course and I dont want to ruin its mounting base in the process. I use photos before and after to try to determine new rub marks, you can see what I mean..

Before sway bar removal test run:



After:


This is getting me thinking: I have been working on rubbing issues all this time and would say 98% of the issues have been on the driver side. Again this could be a bit based on the extreme right hand curves in my test area, but I am also starting to think just the extra weight of the battery itself is part or why the majority of rubbing is on the driver side.

All said I am contemplating potential solutions as being either a battery relocation or maybe even just trying out a super light weight lipo battery in the stock location for ease of install. Curious if anyone has tried a lipo and know of one that works good in our trucks? Any you guys on the track relocate the battery to the rear and could speak to the weight distribution and handling feel?

I did check the SCCA rules and battery relocation is allowed, just have to follow some safety guidelines for remounting securely. I think it would be cool to try out a super light battery in the stock location and see how that helps first. Then if it still rubs maybe I will relocate the light weight more compact battery to the rear along the frame under the bed some where.

 

The weight of the battery is a good thought, I'm curious to see how much difference it makes. I have a thought, what happens if you take a passenger on your test ride? Does the passenger side rub then? This also leads into mu next question- have you made any ride height adjustments to account for the "taco lean" aka the weight of the nut behind the wheel? If you've made friends with anybody at the autocross who have scales and would be willing to help you weigh/corner balance the truck with you in and out of it, that would be beneficial I'm sure.

 

I actually have zero issues at all when there is a passenger in the truck - problems all solved!!

Ok I am certain I would have the same issues even exaggerated more so, but keep in mind when I have a passenger in the truck I simply do not drive anywhere near the way I do during my "spirited" test runs and I cant replicate any of the issues during "normal" driving. I am not into risking the safety of anyone other than myself and I am fairly certain no one would ever ride with me again if I did bring them along! The truck is fully streetable without issue and 9 out of 10 folks would probably be calling it done.. it is just not "race track/extreme torture" (the way I like to drive) ready sadly.

I have not popped my truck on to corner scales with me in it to figure out weight distribution and/or ride height variations, I dont even have coilovers to try to accommodate for this. Maybe running as little fuel as possible and the lipo battery may account for quite a bit of this though. Say I drop 10 gallons when I hit the track, at 6 lbs a gallon thats a good 60 pound drop. And I may be able to shed another 30+ pounds with the lipo battery from what I am seeing so far.

Some initial research today has me pretty interested in these lipo batteries now, this Braille G20 caught my eye in particular stating it is for automotive 4 or 6 cylinder tuning applications and weighs just 4.5 pounds!



Anyone running lipos in their "race trucks"?!

Which one? Do they work, and for how long?!

 

Are you aware of the dreaded "taco lean"? First gens are notorious for being lower on the driver side due to battery\driver\fuel tank all on that side. If you have adjustable coilovers you should work to equalize the front suspension. The rear is harder to do but way back when there was a guy named beefedtaco on customtacos.com that would make you 2 different sizes lowering blocks(just enough to offset the taco lean, nothing crazy). I have them on my 2000, as well as his QA1 adapter plates and the QA1 single adjustable coilovers for the fromt from a 69 Camaro. But it sucks that he stopped responding over on that forum a really long time ago. He even began to offer a bolt in rear 4-link setup that only 2 guys ever got before he went silent. But I digress...

FWIW I run a 275\40r17 on a 17x9 wheel with (I believe) a zero offset. I had to clearance my wheel wells for my current ride height after getting the new tires but I also just adjusted my coilovers to try and have just a tiny hair of rake from the rear. I never rubbed the stock sway bar though, I need to upgrade my front bar tona bigger one and see how it does. I'd also like to get some corner scales and really balance it out.

Another thing that these trucks need is the strut rods changed from rubber bushings to heim joints. It supposedly tightens up the steering a fair bit. Another guy on customtacos way back when would take your stock strut rods and chop the big end off and weld on a threaded end and give you a heim joint and the proper bolt to bolt it up. It could be done easily if you have any fab skills. I plan to do this once I get my shop electrical done and my lift and welder are wired up.

Edit: I missed the part where you said you didn't have coilovers. So obviously you can't adjust ride height easily. I highly recommend you get some, lol

 

Thanks for the input @Murd3rd and @Hayrider, love bouncing ideas off like minded enthusiasts and you guys always get me thinking deeper!

Definitely strongly considering the battery relocation and this is probably in my future.. This would let me get all the weight off the front where I am rubbing at extremes, to hopefully reduce body roll and rubbing. But also let me move all that weight towards the right hand rear to help balance the weight overall (theoretically, without weighing). I would try to place it under the bed along the frame as well to get the coveted lower center of gravity as another nifty bonus for good handling. I am aware it is always best to get the weight within the wheelbase too as much as feasible for the most stable handling.

Some drawbacks to this come to mind too I may come across. There is not a ton of room on the right rear with the exhaust running there, and I dont want to put the battery right next to the exhaust if possible. I also run my spare tire for the rearward weight which takes up space there too. I need to crawl under there, measure and see where I could potentially mount the battery. In my mind it may be ideal to also modify the exhaust to use that area in front of the axle to keep the weight centered, but I know the muffler is there now and this may require exhaust modifications to let me put the battery exactly where I would want it. So the main drawback really to this is the amount of time it may take to get this all squared away, and as mentioned earlier I am wanting to get back out there for some action sooner than later. The season is dwindling away from me, and the next event is just 2 weeks away that I am hoping to make it to!

So all said, I am thinking my next move is going to be the lipo battery to reduce a bunch of weight and get one in a much more compact size than what I am running now. I figure I can build a battery tie down for it quicker than the aforementioned "battery/exhaust relocation project" in hopes this will alleviate the rubbing and let me get out there to just have some darn fun. Also having a much smaller battery will allow me more options to relocate it if/when that time comes.

I like the strut rod heim joint mod to get some smoother steering and suspension articulation. Back pocketing this one for another day..

The spindle guy was great to work with and I highly recommend his product and great service, dont know what he does for a living but he does know his stuff alright.

Still researching batteries...

 

Hopefully I am not getting too hasty here, but after a day or two of somewhat extensive research I just ordered up the lipo battery.

I ended up choosing the Antigravity ATX30-HD to hopefully strike the best balance of light weight, compact size (for potential relocation), and a decent capacity for my usage.

This little guy weighs just 7.8 lbs, measures a measly (motorcycle case size) 6.5 x 5 x 6.8 inches (LxWxH), but has 24 amp hour capacity rating. They state it works for big motorcycles and performance/race cars and the old base Tacoma does not run too many electronics as we all know. Found a couple folks running them in more modern cars with a bunch of electronics without issues for a couple years as well, and it was in stock ready to ship so this one is coming my way next week!



I also picked up the terminal adapters for mounting:


Maybe with the measurements I may be able to get a head start on the mounting adapter/box....

 

I don't recommend running a heavy fiberglass bed topper\tonneu thing. I have one (a snugtop) and have to take it off for every event. It's too much weight on top of the bed and braking hard makes the mounting tabs punch the back of the cab. Already had to have that repaired once.

I have the 8 inch coils, 565lb spring rate on single adjustable QA1s. This was the most popular swap when it was first figured out that you could easily swap in a Camaro front coil\shock setup with a plate welded to the lower control arm

 

Thanks as always hayrider!

I did verify the new lipo also can be mounted in any direction in case I need to relocate down the road. Good memory on the sandbags, I used to run a couple in my spare for the weight and grip to try to reduce wheel spin. Since I installed that LSD though I took the sand back out and dont feel I need it any longer. I would likely put sand back in the spare before the bed cover though to keep the center of gravity optimal and save dough.

I have seriously considered coilovers, and have them on other cars even that I own. This truck was not really meant to be an all out race truck to tune constantly, but the more I get out there the more I am enjoying and wanting to make it more competitive! I do think the coilovers are allowed in my STX class too.

My immediate hope though is to do as little as possible to get rid of my tire rubbing issue and go hit the track and have FUN. Maybe that light battery will get rid of my rubbing then I will just go enjoy as is.. saying a prayer to the Tacoma gods now!

If it still rubs then I may try to simply scoot the battery forward in the factory tray which should allow me to massage the inner fender in a bit more.
If it still rubs then I may indeed need to fully relocate the battery to the rear to allow full fender clearance.
Then if it still rubs I think I may indeed may try out some stiffer springs. Always have a few solutions just in case you know!

Oh yeah, I do have a set of 3" drop 595 pound springs laying around I got to test out also. My thought when I got these were they would be too stiff for my liking, but allow me to compare to my current 368 lbs to see how it affects the handling and then determine my ultimate spring rate based on experience.

 

Oh thanks for the real world input @Murd3rd .. wasnt thinking I would try this out as a performance part, but now its for certain!

565 is not too far from my 595's, seems you are really pleased with the performance? How do they ride for normal duty?

 

When I daily drove it I didn't mind it. But I don't mind rough rides. I also have the rebound\compression clicker maxxed out if I remember correctly. It's been so long since I've touched it that I don't fully remember. All I know is my truck handles like a friggin go-kart on the track.

 

The lithium battery came in yesterday.. I was outside removing the battery getting ready when UPS showed up. I was delighted when he handed me the box and it felt like there was a pillow in there instead of a car battery!!

I started working on the mounting, and realized I could modify the factory bracket to make it work. I am still waiting for the post terminals to come in to finish the job, so I started looking at some older autocross footage to inspire me further.. Check out this video to get a bit of Tacoma action while we wait for the next round!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d7h4R4jEZ_XZTjnGpZUiL-Jcyw2pVHo9/view?usp=sharing

 

Indeed I have continued working little by little in hopes I will have the truck track ready for the event next weekend..

I got that ultra light weight lipo battery installed - Just cut down the factory mount, drilled a hole and moved one of the clamps to align with the smaller case, and adding some j-hooks I picked up at the zone for $5. I bent one into an L shape and found it worked perfectly in an existing hole that I used for the forward mount.



This came out super sturdy and is the most secure mount I have had since I put the sloppy fitting Optima in a while back, combined with the light weight battery this should not move around on me at all even on the race track.

I could tell there was a voltage increase as well, it cranks fast and quick, the lights glow brighter, and I almost feel the truck just runs better even now but this maybe my imagination.. Either way, I am already stunned by the Antigravity battery weight and performance and these will be the only batteries I buy going forward!

Guess it seems kind of piddly dropping 30 pounds until I think about it. The truck curb weight is about 2700 pounds so 30 pounds is actually over 1% of the trucks weight. So this also just helped my weight distribution front to rear and side to side by 1% too! I am certain the center of gravity is lower as well with the battery even being mounted lower (no plastic stand like the Optima was running) and again less weight up high in the engine bay.

I did go for the test drive crossing my fingers to see if this helped eliminate the front driver side wheel well rubbing, and I was stunned to find it actually did not rub at all on a couple of test curves that previously caused the harsh rubbing right under the battery tray! I dont want to go celebrating and saying its all done though yet, as I did have a passenger in the truck this time oddly enough and I feel maybe the extra weight on the right kept the truck more stable overall in the hard right hand curves.

I had a buddy visiting from Oklahoma and he was not afraid to join in on my spirited test run to see how the truck rides and check if it still rubs of course. He was very brave riding with me, and said he saw the videos and knew the truck handled good, but was blown away riding in it and said he had no idea that truck could reach the speeds it was hitting in the curves without even a chirp from the tires. He soon spoke of getting a pickup, adding grippy wheels and tires, and lowering it so he could join in the unexpected badass fun!

You probably would guess at this point, the passenger side of course started rubbing a plenty with my buddy in the cab with me. So I spent most of yesterday rolling my rear fender lip up and inwards, and more trimming on the passenger front fender liner, and a bunch more "massaging" I now refer to as "heating and beating" of the wheel well to give as much clearance as I could while I was there. Hoping I can resolve any issues with tire rubbing in a timely manner now, without having to re-work it time and time again. As said I am itching to get out on the auto-x again, but dont want any potential of tire rubbing issues plaguing my track days.

Next up I will be taking another look at the driver front rub zones, trim some plastic, and may as well try to remove any lingering lumpy bumpy potential rubbing spots I may see to give as much clearance as possible and figure out if I will be able to get her track ready with the battery in its original location. As mentioned earlier if it still rubs under the battery tray when there is no one weighing the other side down, I am going to need to look into relocating the battery to allow me to give the clearance as needed up front.

If I can go for another test and find no rubs in the front driver area now, this will probably mean I will be hitting the track next weekend... shooting out a prayer to the Tacoma Gods now!

 

My prayers indeed may have been answered, thanks be to the Tacoma Gods!

Yesterday I trimmed up the drivers side fender well anywhere the tires had shown to rub in the past, which was mostly the upper center portion not surprisingly. Also pulled out my bottle jack and fender dolly to push out the fender wells a bit more overall as best I could and saw some visible gains. Then finished up with the body hammer to smooth out the arch and remove some lumps.

She still looks like she rolled off the showroom floor from the engine bay:



The late night solo test run was simply magical, and for the first time since the extra 2" drop spindles/blocks there was absolutely zero tire rubbing what so ever.. No rubs on inner fender wells, plastic fender liners, or even sway bars, no rubs at all in any of my brutal known test zones!

I was certainly hopeful installing the lightest weight battery I could find would help the cause, but I am stunned that it seems to have resolved the issues altogether and I believe I am going to have to call Trudy "track ready" at this point in time. If this level of non-rubbing keeps up on the test and tune day at the track I may not have to do that battery relocation after all. (Note to self to bring the fender/body tools to track day next time around.)

Definitely going to have to approve this race truck battery mod to all citizens (based from my limited experience so far):



The truck does feel more poised and better balanced in the curves and under braking with less weight transferring around. I think the drop in weight can also be felt when accelerating too, the truck seems notably peppier and even slightly angrier now which was a nice bonus!

Out of curiosity I measured my overall height of 58 1/4" at the brake light on the cab, and my rear wheel track at 56 3/8". Can you believe after all the lowering and mods the truck still does not even fall into the rollover guidelines put out by SCCA since the height exceeds the rear track!!

Luckily it's very little weight up there for sure, we all know the first gen Tacoma is getting quite a bit more serious this season..

 

Aren't we always looking to squeeze more out of our machines..?

Next up.. the coveted oem XRunner-ish rear frame bracing (aka "Tow Hitch" PT22804030):



This should stiffen up the frame and add a bit of weight low and to the rear of the truck.

I was thinking to cutoff the actual receiver portion since that looks to add weight unnecessarily, but reading the rule book below (section 13.2) sounds like I am unable to do so:



see: "complete or partial removal of the hitch is allowed for competition, provided it does not result in a reduction in weight compared to the unmodified standard configuration"..

There goes my weight loss idea, I dont want to break the rules out there of course. Well, one less project I need to perform - looks like this will be a bolt on affair after all!