2002 Tacoma for Autocross

Takin the limo to the go kart track! Good luck and post the results!

 

Good to hear more Tacoma's are hitting the course.. let me know how you do out there please!

I will be out there this weekend as well for my third event, time sure flies when you are having this kind of fun!!

 

I was able to have my local gear specialist install the TrueTrac as mentioned above yesterday. I ordered part #911A342, it actually had a part #911A644 printed on the diff itself when I pulled it from the box!




He stated it was set up with proper rotation to use in the rear so didnt need to flip anything. Also mentioned all the parts I purchased worked out for the installation. This was basically all oem stock parts used for a full rebuild with the exception of running the "larger 50mm" diff carrier bearings. Here was the parts list used:

OEM Part numbers:
50mm Differential carrier bearings (not stock, v-6 parts) 9036850006 x 2
Pinion bearing 9036630055 x 1
Pinion bearing 903663502377 x 1
Pinion seal 9031138047 x 1
Ring gear bolts 9010111353 x 10
Pinion Nut 9017918020 x 1
Crush sleeve 4123122010 x 1
Differential housing gasket 4218130020 x 1

Now I just need to go for a "spirited" drive to see how this thing works!

 

Now to see how it performs when you track it next!

 

First event, 4/5 in class, 47/57 overall.

Not quite as good as my Miata, but it certainly jails more stuff




https://youtu.be/7xrorU14SLg

 

Heck yeah dude! Announcer was even excited! Good run!

 

Very good run! I love the slide coming into the second part of the course!

 

Didn't finish as well on Sunday, only beat a kid in a go-kart. I tried to do some another less wheelspin runs but couldn't get any faster than my flogging the hell out of it runs. Trying my hardest to not order a rear sway bar or any other parts, but I'm tempted. If I wasn't building my K-swapped Miata, I'd probably see how well I could get it to handle

 

Tacoma+Miata seems to be a very common trend. I have one as well and several of the guys on clubroadster also rock Tacos.

 

Had a great time out there this weekend and finally was able to make time to get a couple videos transferred, see below.

This is one of my quicker runs, from outside the cab.

From inside the cab.

This one things got pretty sideways at about a minute in!

Did pretty good overall, but got my best runs in right after my timed runs were completed. I took 5th place out of 9 drivers in the novice class. Also I was 138th out of 170 overall (adjusted for PAX). Oh yeah, they gave me a nifty trophy placard for 3rd place Novice class in February!!

The new upgrades felt great, the alignment made it feel more stable and responsive. Seemed smoother in the curves overall yet still had some wheel spin I thought would have been corrected by the true trac.

 

Glad you were able to do well. With regard to the wheelspin, where was it happening? When you were going straight, mid corner, or entry or exit?

 

When accelerating during exiting corners the inside wheel would be spinning until the body settled again it seemed.

 

Ok, that is pretty normal. The limited slip is supposed to allow slip in corners and then lock the wheels together in straights. Reducing how much your truck rolls could help keep a little
more weight on the inside tire, it might help it lock up sooner.

 

Thanks for the great information and tips.

It does seem to be acting as you described, there is still wheel spin but not as much from what I can tell being on a different course different day and all.

The truck did feel more balanced and smoother after the changes made (alignment specs, true trac), I may need to work on my skills to get the most out of it now!

 

Found some sweet pics up on the auto-x clubs site..

These are from the March event:

 

Did better today, 7th raw overall.

Some of that might be because I drove an STI instead of my pickup, but registration still says Tacoma so...

 

Alright! So after some back and forth with my local clubs head of safety, my truck should be able to compete! I barely meet the non standard vehicle rule of 1:1 on the height vs track width. 60 inches high at the roofline, and 62 inches average track width if I measured correctly.

 

Damn, that's a lot of tire

 

And it's only a 2.7 five speed... no turbo or anything! (Yet)

 

Could you post pictures? 60 sounds like a lot of sidewall. Also, what width wheels? I run 255 Sport Cup 2s on a 17x10 RPF1, but I want to say my sidewall is a 40, and it's a meaty setup.