*Check your spindle gussets for cracks with B/S talk

I would follow @jberry813 advice about adding a plate to the side.

 

Interesting read with a lot of good, experience backed advise. The only issue I have with it is it was written in 2009. A lot trucks have put on a lot of miles since then. It appears that the issue of bent spindles isn't limited to jumping over sand dunes or desert racing. With reports scattered around of bent/tweaked spindles on trucks under less demanding conditions. The fit on mine when I welded them at 41000mi was complete shit and never got them to fit all the way around, I believe this was due to the spindles bending over time.

I am still not committed to doing one thing over another as I have replacement spindles in the mail currently, I may still leave them ungusseted and treat them as a replacement part, but at $270+ a piece its hard to stomach. I go out a lot into the backcountry by myself and I would hands down prefer a bent spindle to a broken spindle, 1 of those you can limp out on, the other you're just fucked.

 

The major take away I liked was the parts about suspension binding which can cause the bending. I've seen a ton of trucks, mine included with marks in the UCA misalignment spacers from suspension top out. This could 100% be a cause for a lot of people. I don't see a lot of trucks running limit straps and how many people bolt stuff on and go... I would like to see if some of these damaged trucks have binding issues.

 

Yeah, definitely possible, a lot of things to ponder.

 

And while identified in 2009 how many still have this problem? Many more than them I'm sure as these setups are more common than ever.

 

After I receive my new spindles, I'll have a brand new set, one of Shane's spares, and my passenger side. I will definitely take measurements and compare. Very curious to see if my passenger side is indeed bent, or if something else was going on with the bad fit up.

 

Original Crack


Carbide bit to grind it out


Remove paint from surfaces to be welded


Weld up crack


Make paper template


Tack cutout gusset - check for fitment and clearances


Squirt some turds on it


Paint and repeat to other side

 

Are yours welded along the bottom of the gusset?

 

Not on the side that cracked...

 

If he didn't weld the bottom the crack stopped on its own. It looks like how mine are, weld where it's at in the photo, with no weld along the bottom, I'm thinking welding it like that focuses the flexing at the bottom of the vertical weld after the small tab cracks through. Causing the fracture of the main riser. Tomorrow I'm hoping to disassemble my front end, I'll post of some embarrassing photos of my shitty welds so everyone can make funs.

 

Exactly

On the passenger side, there was a big gap on the bottom of the gusset, probably due to a slightly bend spindle. I never welded it. So the gusset ended up cracking from one side to the other.

Bad photo I know, but this is looking down towards the hub bearing area.

32704978451_d002f08750_o by Explore Desert, on Flickr

 

How many miles since you gusseted them?

 

I'd reccomend covering your cv boots. A guy at my work had one of the big name plate bumper/armor builders weld a set of gussets on his spindles while they were mounted on his truck. He ended up with about a dozen tiny pin holes in each of his cv boots from the weld spatter. You aren't doing as much welding but even a single pin hole would be bummer. I always cover the cv boots when welding anything that will have even a remote chance of screwing up a cv boot.

 

Looked like he had a wet rag over his boot in a previous photo

 

Holy crap. Is this for real? Another problem with tacomas falling apart? What a weak truck. You have to upgrade everything just to drive it.

 

Totally missed that

 

Some more posts with the same opinion-

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/threads/tacoma-6-lug-spindles.45060/



If you're going to install them, the side gusset looks like a smart idea.

 

Ehh...These are modified parts getting damaged. tacomas weren't designed for jumping dunes or driving through the desert with a plate bumper and winch like some of us assholes are doing. Just a small number of people are having issues.