3 Link Tacoma Prerunner Build Taco_Sos

Didn’t know dirt king had a sua setup and it’s not advertised if they do.

As for DMZ, you can get 16.5-17” of clean travel depending on exact shock and bump placement.

From my research, giant and Camburg claim more travel, but it’s not clean travel. They are claiming an extra 1-2” but it’s as the leafs separate at droop

And as for a 3-link setup, @DMCtacoma has a pretty sweet 3 link with coil over and bypass on a dcsb pulling about 22” of travel I think he said with recent changes.

 

DK just prototyped it on someone I follow on IG and he posted on another thread here. He says it’s the best he’s tried - no legit video I’m waiting for to see.

 

Interesting. I’ve been absolutely loving their front kit so I immediately went and searched and found nothing. Is the IG private? I’m curious to see what they offer.

 

it’s on DK Instagram and also if you go back to the LT page here it’s in the most recent page of posts under DK front LT I believe.

 

Depends on your shock but the giant kit gets leaf separation at like 16.5” but will go to about 18” with a 16” stoke shock, you could definitely get more with a longer shock but yeah there’s a lot of leaf separation at that point, if I’d do it over I’d link it too.

 

@taco_sos cool thread, thanks for posting costs and a bunch of pics.

Question for you. Is your bed cage completely supported on your bed bolts only?

I know guys run a bed cage setup only supported by bed bolts with their leaf kits and I think they get away with it (ive never ran this setup). I would be pretty nervous about running a linked setup with the coil overs mounted off just the bed cage bolts. That is a lot of force being sent through that bed cage.

I also believe that you will need a vertical tube from the upper corner of your coil over mounts directly down to the frame to resist deflection there. This would help greatly with the bolt problem as well.

Either way looks like a cool project, and keep posting updates and keep an eye on those bed bolts and watch your bed cage for cracks.

 

Dirt Designs has a similarly minimal cage for their link kit, and a couple guys have been running theirs with no issues (that I know of)

 

Is the Dirt Design cage available by itself? As far as I know, I can only find DMZ and Camburg that offer ready to bolt on bed cages that could work for a 3 link kit

 

I do not know.
And I believe the DMZ and Camburg ones are designed for SUA and only bypasses.
I suppose you could modify one for links though.

 

that’s the plan. The DMZ cage is damn beefy. I’ve pretty much pieced together a 3 link “kit” right at $3k.

 

I'd be curious about the bed bolts as well, assuming they are a high strength bolt I would imagine they would be perfectly fine. I wonder if Toyota has ever put out the specs for those bolts or if anyone had done any strength testing on them so see how strong they are.

Next issue would be the actual "mounts" for the nuts that tie into the frame, but that's probably just a matter of adding some gussets or plates.

In any case great work @taco_sos, it's nice to see folks sharing these projects for ideas when I tackle it myself

 

If worst came to worst you could just drill out or cut out the bolt mounts and replace them with beefier 5/8 grade 8 bolts and weld thick plates with nuts on them. I'm getting rid of the bolt setup on my first gen and going to something similar.

 

Dirt Designs bed cage sandwiches the bed floor at each mounting point (including the bed bolt) with a new thick frame mount... Notice the vertical tie ins too
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bedcage-thread.263850/page-9#post-17169781

This isn't a knock against you, I just don't want to see you lose a bed bolt driving down the freeway.

 

Here’s what he posted on the cage mounts. While I personally don’t think it’s “optimal” for coil over mount, I also don’t see any real issues either. I’d be okay with it. There’s always a “better/stronger” way, always. I think this is adequate. Maybe if it was a race build, running secondary bypasses, and really running the truck hard, yeah, maybe beef it up. I think it’s fine for what it is. The Camburg cage bolts to the frame through the bed, the DMZ does both. My idea was to use tube spacers that go through the large bolt holes in the bed so when you tighten the cage down, you’re not tightening the cage down against the composite bed and frame, it’s metal to metal. I think this set up is fine, and after working on aircraft for years, I don’t think people realize how strong bolts actually are when used right to hold subframes and structures together. And like said above, you could always drill the factory welded nuts out and use larger hardware. Just one of the bolts will hold up the entire truck by itself, I’m sure it’s fine. Only thing I would watch for is shearing movement between the cage/bed/frame. Might cause wear or noises but I bet it’s fine.

 

@Armament who are you quoting?

 

Im not even sure. We’re talking about bolting the coil over cage to the bed

 

True, DD cage has some more verticle tie in's than OP.

Time will tell if OP's cage works !

 

@taco_sos how does the driver side coilover fit with the fuel filler neck?

 

Hey guys, I'm responding to the bedcage posts I've read here. Thank you for the input and I appreciate it.

Before starting this project I did a lot of research. Most of the answers to my questions came from reputable builders in our community. As far as the bed cage, I've spoken with Giant Motorsports about their bolt in cage that utilizes factory bed bolts. He's claiming he runs these bed cages and has had no issues whatsoever. Seems weak, I know. But I'm taking Giants word for it. My cage actually hits 6 different spots to help distribute the force. Most of the force comes from bottoming out, which the bumps would take. Those are mounted to the frame, exerting some force to the frame itself. I will keep an eye on it. Nothing will be painted until after the shakedown. Makes it easier to spot any cracks that way.

 

The filler neck is going to be rerouted to the bed and I'll use the cage for mounting it permanently. See pics