2nd to 3rd gen conversion long travel and more!

Absolutely.

 

After having the front fenders and hood set up I decided to move to the rear so I could have some time to think about how I would tackle the front grill and headlight mounts.

A large part of this build is bracing and strengthening the chassis as much as possible. The amount these frames flex from the factory is pretty crazy. The entire goal on a build like this is to let the suspension do the work.

The plates are made from 1/8” with internal gusseting at what will be the tube landings.

 

Now that's a fucking clamp!

 

The long ones are so nice for a lot of things! It’s a literal life saver at times.

 

Did you box the down turn to below the cab as well? That's the area where it flexes most imo. That's also where my frame started to crack after reinforcing the frame where you did.

 

I will be boxing the entire frame.

 

This thing is sweet. Looking forward to seeing it doing some work.

 

With the frame plating finished up, I then moved on to cycling the rear end and fitting fiberglass.

With 37’s and SUA it puts the tires right into the bed. My plan is to tub this area out and make a sheet metal panel.

 

After wrapping up the majority of the rear, I hopped back on the front clip and started fabricating the mounts for the headlights and grill.

This was a little challenging to do as only a couple of mounts on the second gen core support worked, so nothing was really supported in any fashion. Tape and patience saved the day. I used 1” 16g tube for this. It is considerably more stout than what the factory trucks have. Hopefully this saves some headlights from breaking.

 

Subbed.

 

Don’t think I’ve pressed the watch tread button that fast before lol

 

The thread is essentially up to speed on the build right now. I will probably do weekly updates at this time.

Over the weekend I started making the rest of the frame plates. I have a little work left on these before I burn them in.

After these are finished up I will begin transitioning over to body work and bumpers.

Pending the arrival of my remaining shocks I really hope to have this wrapped up by June.

 

if you start selling these frame boxing kits im in

 

would like to see what parts of the JD inner fenders needed to be trimmed to clear the 37s. i remember you saying you had to do some cutting on them. im a stock length setup trying to go to 37s, i definetly wont have the same up travel as you but not sure if i should buy the kit or find a different solution

 

If you are stock width, the JD inners will not help you much at all. Looking at my factory inners and the JD inners side by side I had a LOT more taken out of my originals to clear everything.

 

Me too

 

I will be doing another Tacoma over the summer. I want to check fitment to see how close everything is. I saved all of my templates in the event I decide to sell some.

 

Awesome work. Sub'd. Keep the updates and photos coming.

 

After a very long, miserable day under the truck the frame plates are finished up!

I will be moving on to bumpers and small stuff starting tomorrow.

 

Outside for the first time in almost 2 months!