2016 SR 2.7L 4x4 5 Spd "LT" Build

@glorifiedwelder Do you press the shaft out of the CV star yourself? or do you have someone else do it?

 

I press it myself. It’s by far my least favorite part of the process. I generally have to max my 20 ton press out till I can’t pump it anymore then tap the ram with a mallet till the c-clip inside the star shears off. It sucks, sometimes you’re lucky and it comes out pretty easy or sometimes you’ll find me hiding behind some cover while I put all my body weight into the pump handle

 

Dang. I got three of these things. Gonna try and take it to a transmission shop down the street or a driveline shop by my work. Hopefully i have luck at one of those places.

 

Doesnt look like much, but soo happy to have this shit done. $20

 

Tore down the front end of the truck today.
Welded up some cam tab gussets. I am by no means a professional welder but think I did a solid job. Also a sneak peak of what is going on the truck tomorow.

 

That turned out good, a lot better than what a lot of the “professionals” are turning out. For some reason I see a lot of horrid welds when it comes to cam tab gusset installs, your install turned out awesome

 

Thanks. After doing it myself and seeing the way you do yours, yours take mad skill and look incredible. Laying on the ground welding those things doesnt make it any easier either haha

 

Not done yet. Made some progress though. Limit straps are too long, truck sits too high at ride height, need to bleed the brakes, need to mount the reservoirs, hose rubs the UCA. Gonna get it all sorted out tomorow hopefully.

 

Not that anyone will ever read this, but here is my review/opinion (Positive and negative) on my recent Baja Kits +2 Long Travel purchase and installation. All labor was done by me. I am not an expert, just a guy trying to figure this shit out, do his own work and build my idea of a sick truck. I am an engineer, maybe I overthink some of this shit, but I like to fully understand what I am doing.

Customer Service:
@JT@Bajakits was a super nice guy and easy to get in contact with, he referred me to Jordan Brenthel for technical help.

Jordan was extremely difficult to get in contact with. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and was very attentive when I talked to him, but then never got back to me on the things that he was going to look into. I waited over a week to talk to the guy initially (He was racing trucks in mexico). Finally got a hold of him. Sent him the pictures he asked for the same day. Waited 10 days after our conversation, left a voicemail, it has been almost three week at this point. I have given up any hope of hearing back.
I understand racing trucks is way cooler than your bolt on suspension kit company, but people pay $5000+ of their hard earned money for this stuff and having someone else available to help customers with technical questions should be a given. Being the only point of contact for technical problems and blowing off customers is not good business.

The kit itself:
However big or small, here are my issues / gripes with the kit aswell as other feedback (positive and negative). (According to my conversation with Jordan, my installation was good, and the kit is installed as designed and intended).

Appearance:
This kit is beautiful and appears like a work of art when you unbox it.


Limit straps:
To set this kit up with 4wd limit straps are 100% necessary.
This kit does not come with any. Total Chaos and other competitors do. I was told by Baja kits to use a 10" strap with an adjustable clevis. I bought what was recommended and it was wrong. I needed an 8" strap. No one was able to answer questions in a reasonable time (1 week), I was left to figure this shit out on my own (and did).

Limit strap tab:
Too close to the arm for the limit strap or washers to sit flush with the tab. The washers or limit strap hit the weld between the lower arm and the limit strap tab before they sit flush against the tab. I had to modify a thick washer and run it between the limit strap and the tab on the LCA. This happened with both Kartek and Trail Gear straps and hardware.



Shocks:
I ordered the Baja Kits Custom spec shock with my kit. It is a king 2.5" 8"ish travel coilover with extended rod end and the top hat that fits Tacoma coil buckets.
I have no idea why they spec a shock that is so long. Almost 2" of the shock stroke is not usable and limited out of use by the limit strap. When the limit strap is set so that nothing is binding/interfering there is only ~ 6" of shock stroke left. 2" is limited out of use.


CV axle/LCA Interference

The CV axle is the limiting factor in relation to how far the kit can droop or travel downwards.
Limit straps are set so that the LCA and CV axle boot and CV axle boot clamp do not touch the LCA. I was told that this is how the kit was designed and I have it set as intended.

Assuming there are no limit straps: as the suspension starts to droop, travel downwards or extend, the first thing to bind is the LCA and outer CV axle boot clamp(I used OEM clamps and boots). Second item to bind is the LCA and CV boot itself. Third Item to bind would be the CV axle, it will stop being able to rotate. The fourth item to bind is the UCA uniball misalignment spacer.

I am not sure if other kits are the same way, but this seems less than ideal. If a strap was to break or stretch it would destroy the CV.



Spring Rate / Ride Height:
kit is shipped with 600Lb 16" springs. This is likely good for most Tacoma's. I have a 4cylinder access cab, so I am lighter than other trucks. I did not give Baja Kits this information and I have nothing against them for me having the wrong springs.

With a 600Lb spring rate and limit straps set, I was left with a shit ride and only 1" of down travel. This was one of my main problems with the kit and one of my main concerns when I talked to Jordan. He was going to look into options regarding spring rates. He never got back to me with a solution or any advice.

I did some quick calculations based on the distance that the existing springs were compressed, and the current ride height and figured out that a 550 would get the truck to sit a little lower in a more desirable position within the range of travel. I got tired of the kit riding like shit, ordered some 550s from eibach and had them installed. Night and day difference. The ride is now bearable.


Shock Bolts (lower mounts)
This is a small issue, but an issue none the less. This refers to the bolt that connects the LCA and the shock. The kit shipped with two different length shock mounting bolts. One of the bolts is longer than the other and the shorter one does not protrude out of the nut at all, in my opinion it is to short. there should be a few full threads sticking out of the nut.
Baja kits was notified of this issue, agreed it is incorrect, pictures were sent, 3 weeks later nothing has been done.
I get that people mess up, we are all human, someone didnt notice this happened when the order was packed and thats fine. I dont care that it came this way, but for the price that one of these kits costs it would be simple enough to mail me the correct hardware. How hard is it to just ship me a damn bolt.






Ride Quality:
Increase track with makes the truck feel much more stable.
Around town the suspension does not feel much different than it did with my previous setup.

Edit 6/7/19
Had some dirt time and ran a few trails of various difficulty with the new kit.
For the most part the kit is awesome. The truck feels better off road in almost every way. Now the rear feels even more lacking, even with the 12" shocks and hydro bumps.

 

Did a little shakedown run in Big Bear. Did some go fast and some go slow.

 

Wont have it on for a while, but, ordered a DMZ SUA kit.

 

DMZ SUA kit.

 

Old(er) thread I know, but thank you SO MUCH for this chart. Hardly any info on 4.88 + 3rd gen 2.7 5spd out there and was having a hard time calculating my highway RPMs. Did this chart hold accurate for you?

I used the grim jeeper calculator but he doesn’t have the option to enter in the R165F transmission so I used W59 and it put my 70mph rpms at ~3000. Not horrid, but glad to see your chart runs exactly where I want my highway rpms at (2700-2800) considering it is my DD as well as a weekend light trail warrior.

I have 2017 but I’m assuming identical to 2016 stock gearing wise.

 

Yes, this chart is accurate to my actual results.
You can type in the r156f ratios in the grim jeeper website and get the same results. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Much appreciated - and confirms my belief running E rated 285/75/16 MTs would be a big mistake for us 2.7 guys without 4.88. V6 guys with more displacement and 4.30 stock can get away with it fine, not us.

I’m currently on light 265/75/16 KOs, and while it’s not horrible as a DD when driven correctly, I still cringe knowing it can’t be great for the tranny - so I baby it. Couldn’t imagine any larger/heavier of a tire or going Offroad in a more serious manner.

Do you also feel 4.88s wouldn’t be enough for 35s? After seeing your chart compared to my original math, I don’t think it would be enough gear.

 

33s with no regear would be awefull. I feel like 5.29 would be a better fit for 35’s. 35’s and 4.88 would be doable for the street, but wheeling with need for slow speed finesse or control on 4.88 and 35’s would be difficult.

 

I can’t even justify 35s without hopping to 5.29. The driveline and IFS components are already under enough stress as is - even beefing them up.

I’ll stick to 33s and 4.88 considering that’ll get me 99% of the places I want to go lol. 35s would almost be purely for aesthetics.

 

I am sticking with 33s for the foreseeable future because i havent been limited by them yet. A crawlbox will come before 35s forsure.