First gen tacoma rear suspension conversion?

I’m new to the forums so this may have been asked before. I have a 1999 tacoma I’m building and want to change rear suspension. I have a complete 1999 4Runner chassis for parts but I’m questioning converting the tacoma to the 4 link setup out of the 4Runner. If I do I’m planning to build upgraded upper and lower control arms that are adjustable for it. And running upgraded coil springs. I have look at vdj70 series land cruiser truck and they run also the same setup just heavy duty than the 4Runner. I know there are companies out there that make 4link kits. But this is not going to be a Baja runner or major rock crawler I not out to spend thousands to do it. Has anyone tried doing this?

 

You're talking custom work.

Going through the hassle of taking an axle housing that is the same strength as the Tacoma you're replacing, while needing to customize a lot on the Tacoma frame for little gains makes no sense. Especially figuring the correct geometry.

You're better off keeping your Tacoma axle on the truck and doing a shock relocation.

This will net you the biggest travel gain for as little as possible.

 

I know there is custom work to be done to do it. I have ome el122ra +2” leafs with

$132 omegs12 shackle and pin kit rear greasable shackle and pin kit

omegs12 shackles on the back with bilstein 5100 long travel shocks. I have looked at a 3rd gen 4Runner running ome 891 coils and 5160 long travel shocks with the Panhard correction kit welded on. Quick Disconnect sway bar links.And it gets more articulation travel than my set up with the leaf springs. Yes some will say the little bit more travel is not worth the work to get it. But I will have to say the four link with coil overs on the third GEN four runner is a better ride on a rough roads than the leaf springs.

 

Why not just 4 link the current axle. Get the buckets for the coils or custom make them and just build the 4link mounts into the current frame and if you do a triangulated 4 link there is no need for a track bar.

 

The only reason to use the 4 runner rear end is the mount are already on it. I would like to triangulate it and lose the track bar but the only problem is the fuel tank issue. If you run the similar set up to the 3rd gen 4runner where you build your crossmember for the upper link mounts you can run a stock 3rd gen fuel tank in the tacoma frame with no problems which I have in the chassis that I have for parts so no added cost or relocation of the fuel tank.

 

That's just my point.

The mounts aren't worth going through the trouble of using as the stock setup is pretty limited.

People cut/grind those out to relocate as the stock geometry will get you mid-travel numbers at most.

Yes you're on a Tacoma forum, but some of us have owned or own 3rd Gen 4Runners and are very familiar with them, myself included.

That's my old rig on King front and rears with custom rear arms and sonoran steel panhard bar and more -





With that said, if you want real travel, just stick with your current axle.

Do a custom shock relocation, and if you really want some nice numbers that's easy to do, go Chevy 63 leaf swap as well.

 

Is the 4 runner rear axle housing the same width as the Tacoma I’ll assume they are.

 

Yep, just that the 4R is a shorter wheelbase.

The only difference in a 1st Gen Tacoma and a 3rd Gen 4Runner is the rear suspension. That and really just the front sway bar and tie rod ends.

The 4Runner is coil sprung in the rear which is smoother on the road versus a leaf pack.

 

I understand what you are staying about the stock mounts on the 4Runner rear housing. I have look at the 63 swap to But it has problems also especially off-road I have some friends that have it on their tcoma’s and they run into issues with hanging up in some situation off-road because the springs are longer. And the ride quality isn’t any better. I understand the travel is limited with the 3rd gen setup. One of the main reason was for ride quality on the road. The coil suspension just a better ride than leaf springs.

 

You just haven't been in a well tuned setup then.

Some custom ADS shocks and custom alcan or deaver leaf pack will not only give you a ton of flex, but will make you forget about coils.

 

This is the rig I’m working on

 

I know that Alcan,Deaver,ADS have good stuff. I raced dirt track late models still have my 2016 victory circle setting in the garage on a full set of Ohlins with dual rate Eibach springs custom tuned to the 4 link suspension with Franklin quick charge rear end with ball bearing swiveling bsb billet birdcages. So yes I know about some good suspension also. My point is I have about 25k in the suspension on my late model but I made money with that and takes a lot of maintenance to maintain it at peak performance.
With the tacoma I’m not and don’t want to spend thousands on suspension upgrade. I can get upgraded control arm mounts from barns for a few hundred dollars to have better quality mounts not a big deal to weld on the rear axle housing and frame side. I can make my own adjustable control arms myself and get some quality Eibach coils for the rear and I have a lot of the parts to do the coil conversion without spending thousands of dollars to do the conversion.

 

Go for it. In the late 90's I performed a similar swap on a 1st Gen 4-Runner... after much debate, it ended up being much less work to simply swap the rear frame section. The ride quality and axle control are great.