98 TRD 3.4L Turbo , Methanol , LT

Blasted performance shops always making things look easy. I blame them.

Looking great through what you've accomplished so far.

 

I know right, with their tig welding and benders and all the tools and know how. Pretty sure its easier after youve done 1 or 2, let alone like a 100. Thanks man, not too bad for me learning and doing it all by myself. "It's going to drive fine," in a confident self thought.......

 

Rear LT is pretty time consuming. Actually all custom fab is a lot of work. Things work there way together. Going to ride like butter when you are done.

 

Yummy.......butter.

 

Like Plugria!

 

LMAO, to think I thought I could get this done in a week! Looks ugly now but it'll be pretty when I'm finished with the rear. Lots of work still to do. Shocks cycle clean, no binding or rubbing. Clamps are a necessity when putting a spring pack together. I'm happy with the progress. Wasn't too excited about the stripped out deaver leaf pins. Gotta love going to the store just for a couple bolts that who knows how the he'll the stripped. Definitely didn't seem like a grade 8 bolt you would think would hold the leafs in the center. Every day I plug away more and more. Have more done than this. About to put her shoes on so she can feel the ground after 3 weeks. Pretty much brakes, finish weld, prime and paint, and put the bed back on. Not a trophy truck or like some of the other rigs on here but I'm proud and happy. All done in my garage by someone who didn't even know what LT was 2 years ago.

 

Almost on the ground. What sucks is literally right before I put it in the air my starter went out. Got to put a reman in now too before she moves much. Half way there.

 

You need a taller garage

Fucking great work!

 

LOL. Thanks man! Yeah, when it was all the way up in the back I had about in inch of clearance between the ceiling and cab. I watched that action real close when raising the jack.

 

Wanna build my rear too? Looks great can't wait to see it in action

 

Man, this stuff is a once in a lifetime thing. Saving up for a caddy ctsv right now and I'm not going to do a damn thing to it. I need a better dd than a completely modded taco. I love it and all but sometimes I get frustrated of working on it. WOS.......worked out syndrome.

 

Good Job Bud!

 

The idea of modding is sometimes greater than the actuality of having the mod.

 

Today I completely removed the e brake from middle cab half back. Rerouted a bunch of brake lines to accommodate for the bpv. Installed the bpv. Plummed all the brakes. Just need to bleed them. Also redid the electrical from cab half back. All rear end lighting. Trailer lights too. Not like I'm set up to tow a lot now but maybe something small. Not sure if a taco was really meant to tow in the first place. Soldering is tedious. I used waterproof connectors which I absolutely love. I'm starting to see the end.







Cut off an entire 3 way here that was part of the brake system.





These yellow plugs push inward creating a waterproof seal.







What all the plugs will go into. Connects to rear end electrical on the bed and hitch/trailer.



She's actually cleaned up a lot.

 

Cage is done. Welded a cross bar along the frame end. Gusseted the shock mounts with 1 inch tube. I like it a lot. Put plate in so i can remove it if needed. Everything is welded solid. Truck drives fine up to 55 or so. No wobbles or vibrations. Tracks straight. Feels a bit weird without the shocks on especially hitting bumps but that's expected. I'm going to prime and paint it soon then all I'll have to do is cut holes in the bed for the cage and shocks and hook up the wiring. Also, when running discs in addition to the bpv, you need an rpv (residual pressure valve) to keep pressure on the discs. I'll need to put that in on the rear brake line because the pedal is super spongy.

 

No 4wd until i can regear the clamshell to 4.88 to match the rear. Should be within the next month, plus putting an arb up front too. No front drive shaft for now. Lol. Put in a new starter too which literally took like 20 minutes. Not sure who said it was hard but it's 2 bolts and a plug. Maybe it's because of my turbos downpipe that it came out so easy but I had room to pull it off no problem.

 

Not sure, but would you want to put an x brace on those two cross bars on your bed cage? I would also consider, at least looking into, weather or not you would want the forward crossbar to be directly in line with the shock mounts to give proper bracing behind the shocks. Just some thoughts but by no means an expert or anything.

Great work though, very impressive!

 

I put the cross bars where I thought it would evenly distribute the load between the uprights. I'm happy with how it is for now. I think it will serve it's purpose. It's really solid. If I need later I can add to it. I'm not an expert either. The cage also adds strength to the frame so I won't box it fully. I will add some plate in sections so it's not a C channel all the way back. I feel confident between the cage, the trail gear plates I put on the sides, and a little more bracing it will hold fine for my purposes. Not like it's going to be jumped every other day, a few times here or there. But it will beast some mountain trails. And I'll take it to the dunes here we have but they are fairly far. I'd like to take a trip to The Great Sand Dunes this summer.

 

girls with tats are always cool like that.

 

Holy shizzzer. Insane amount of work to cage a rear and swap in another axle. And I'm still not done but it is looking bad ass! Drove around the block a couple times with the shocks and cage and it's awesome. The larger t100 axle gives more track width to the rear. I can already tell it's more stable. I cannot wait to take this up to the mountains.

Some more progress pics.