Frame braces?

Not much you can do with the cheap thin frames on these trucks.

 

X tubing? pic's? link? id be interested to see more of this

 

The bottom right photo :

 

I don't even understand this, nor would ever require this, but I want this lmao!

 

There was an interesting observation on a different forum, about the flutter sometimes seen over uneven pavement.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...-frame-beaming-resonance.193603/#post-2474816

I've considered boxing my frame, but hesitate because it would be impossible to really coat the inside and rust is a bigger worry to me than frame flex. I'd really like someone with a laser or water jet table to make a plate kit for the outside like exists for 1st gen Tacos. Add some reinforcement but still be able to paint and clean inside the frame. I think something like this would sell pretty well and they really do tighten up the ride. The 1st gen frames would develop a wrinkle on the top over the axles and these plates help prevent that.



I think the main thing to notice is the frame from mid-cab back is designed on a Tacoma to ride nice on pavement with the stock suspension while on the Hilux it's designed to work, thus is fully boxed and stiff. So people who load their Tacomas and change suspension do experience a lot of deflection and eventually the frame distorts. You'll see gaps opening more, which is why things like the bed side stiffeners are invented, which IMO are band-aids to the root problem.

I knew something was up when I put my rear springs on my 2008. I supported the truck with jack stands right in front of the forward spring eye and as I let the axle droop the gap between the cab and bed grew substantially. There's a lot of flex in these frames. Which isn't necessarily bad, as mentioned. Watch a heavy truck accelerate, their frames (also open-C) twist with the torque. But I do think there's a need for some reinforcement when you start modifying a lot.

 

Cardboard,grinder and drill is all that is needed to make those frame stiffners. Made some for my 1st Gen, albeit I used a plasma cutter and drill press. Anyway...I’m thinking of doing the same for the 3rd Gen, but scared as hell of a rusty frame some day and it voiding the warranty. Trying to keep the 3rd Gen a “bolt on” and “bolt off” if a warranty issue arises.

 

How does this affect off road performance?

 

Lots of wrong thinking in this thread.

Ultimate off-road hard working vehicle = Unimog
One reason for it’s capabilities = frame flex
Unimog frame type = unboxed open ladder.

Frame flex is desirable and by removing it you are making your Tacoma shittier.

Unimog frame (boxed front and open back like Tacoma):


Unimog sales pitch:



https://trucks.mercedesbenzmena.com/en/special-vehicles/unimog/chassis

So I’d rather have a Tacoma, that shares it’s frame design with a Unimog, than a Hilux, that shares its frame design with a Ford Econoline.

 

That's what I was thinking. Frame flex is good off road. I know some people who take off their sway bars and then stiffen their frame and claim both are good for offroading.

 

So Mike Sweers wasn't bullshitting. Interesting.

 

Major difference, since those frames, like most heavy trucks, do flex the cab is mounted on a 3-point subframe that is suspended so it's floating. The cargo or living quarter box would be, too. This kind of twist would rip our cab and beds into pieces. Also the flex twist the frame but the rails themselves stay flat. The frames in our trucks deflect like a diving board.

 

I disagree. I see my bed twist in opposition to my cab all the time and never have the bed flex towards the cab like you describe.

I’ve driven a lot of different kinds of vehicles over unenven ground over the years for work and pleasure, and the new Tacoma is by far the best pickup I have driven in terms of keeping all 4 wheels on the ground. Toyota did a great job with the (flexible) frame and suspension design.

The Tacoma cab is floating, to a minor degree, on the resilient cab mounts.

 

The cab and bed on Tacoma isn't floating at all. Read through this thread, lots of good details on how heavy truck frames and the bodies mounted on them differ from light duty trucks with relatively rigid frames. When a frame is designed to flex off road it's a whole different set of criteria.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/pivoting-frames-and-mounting-campers.25494/

 

What do have to compare to? The frame on my Tacoma is a lot less rigid than the one on my 1991 Hilux was. If you stick your hand between the cab and box on a Tacoma going down the highway you'll feel it moving a lot. There is nothing like that on a rigid chassis. I don't think anyone is saying the Tacoma is wrong or bad. But it *is* a flexible chassis and that works within the parameters originally designed. Carry a lot of weight and/or change the suspension, it doesn't work anymore. You start to see the limits eventually.

 

Frame flex is good for 1 thing, articulating at slow speed, every other situation it's bad.
A trophy truck has basically no flex, which is critical for success at its purpose of speeding through harsh terrain. A flexible frame would be uncontrollable at the speeds they run. Strengthening a Tacoma frame is not bad, except maybe for slow speed articulation.
A Unimog is essentially a tractor, yes its designed well for its intended purpose