gen 2 suspension in to a gen 1 Tacoma

haha, no shit huh...

To the OP

I'm not trying to be a dick, just seems like a whole lot of work for a whole lot of nothing

 

I should have rephrased that...
Do you plan on driving this? Lol

Seriously though I don't think this is smart at all once everything is said and done and broken you'd spend more than you would have just fixing it up normally.. its just not worth the risk

 

I have built MANY off-road rigs in the past, this truck will not be used for off-road until the truck is past the 15 year frame rot warranty.. Then at that point it will get 4 linked in the rear with Dana 60's.

I am trying to get this done on the cheap, since I have been unemployed for the past 2 years, and had to sell my 2005 Daily Driver, and down grade to this truck.. I just now got back to work, and don't have the $1200 that the truck needs to replace all of the suspension so that I can drive it to work.

NO the truck WILL NOT be driven on the road until I am 100% happy with how everything works.



This is my last 4x4 wheeling rig, Chevy 4.3, Chevy t350 tranny, t-case adaptor, 82 Toyota t-case, 82 Toyota axles, 92 4runner drive shafts that I cut down, 87 Toyota IFS power steering, Toyota Land Cruiser front brakes, Sky-offroad disk brake setup, 80 Pontiac Firebird master cylinder, 36x12.5x15 TSL's on bead locks, 4-link rear w/wishbone upper link on jeep coils, front is YJ leafs that had been redrilled center pins to move the axle forward. The frame was extended 10 inches in the front, and ALL of the stock mounting points for eng, tranny, tcase, and suspension were cut off of the frame and replaced for all of the different parts.. Also cut the top off of a tin top sami, cut 20inches out of the top, welded it back together, and then fitted it on to the convertible Sami.

I have rolled the Sami several times, it climbs up trees with NO problem... and with all of the wheeling that I did in it the ONLY suspension parts that ever broke on me was: I snapped a spring after stuffing it into a tree at 20 mph, and I ripped one wheel off when the studs that hold the knuckle on sheared off when I rolled it.

And I built the complete rig for only $3500.. and that's including the cost of the Sami itself.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/gallery/data/500/medium/DSCN0573.JPG

 

Anyway back on topic...

One thing that I did find for someone that needs new coils in the front, the2010 coils are the exact same size (width and lenght). were they are differentis the wire that they used to build them is a little thicker, and they have oneless wrap. I can only speculate that Toyota did this to try and fix the problemof spring sag..

For those of you that say the truck will ride like a "pogo stick",The Gen 2 Taco's LOOK like they would be heavier, however they weight almostthe exact same as the Gen 1 Taco's (per wikipedia.org)
Gen 1: 3155-3877 lbs.
Gen 2: 3550-3950 lbs.

I looked this up BEFORE I bought anything; I also went to the Toyotadealership and pre-measured everything before I bought these parts. The onlything that I screwed up on was a bad measurement on the spacing for the upperstrut mount. But I have already found a solution to that problem by reusing the98 top part of the strut.

From what I have found, I WOULD NOT recommend anyone else trying to use anyof the gen2 parts on a gen1 taco, With the exception being the front coils thatwill fit right on the gen 1 strut towers, with NO customization (just the frontsprings, NOT the complete strut tower)

If you are willing to cut the stock rear spring mounts off the frame (all 4of them), and weld NEW mounts back on (available at many off-road shops), thenyou can use the gen2 rear springs as well. I have redrilled springs before,however with this spring pack moving the center pin that far, distorts thesprings normal shape.. so it's a no go.

 

have you looked into doing a 63" chevy spring swap instead of putting those terrible stock springs in there?

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20665&highlight=chevy+63

 

Seems to me like he has his shit together, so everyone should stop giving him so much shit, maybe he is just more capable than you are at doing these things, so let him do it and stop doubting him.
Good luck with the rest and I want pics. And if you don't someone will say it didn't happen.

 

And unlike some people.. I don't call modding a truck: spray painting the bumpers and wheels, popping off the badges, and putting on a $120 ebay lift..

I leave that BS for the Honda teenage crowd

If I want something done to MY rigs, I don't hand my wallet and truck over to 4wheelparts.com and say please make me a shinny mall crusier that I can pop it in 4 wheel drive when my lawn mower brakes down in the middle of the yard and needs pulled back to the garage.

 

"From what I have found, I WOULD NOT recommend anyone else trying to use anyof the gen2 parts on a gen1 taco, With the exception being the front coils thatwill fit right on the gen 1 strut towers, with NO customization (just the frontsprings, NOT the complete strut tower)"

Ok, fair enough, I know I've given you some neg. feedback on what you proposed, but you have to understand that theres been a few here that have posted up shit they were going to do that were not only wasted time & effort but down right dangerous,

some of what you proposed is borderline to this like elongating mounting holes for struts, cutting & rewelding struts, hey thats great if your a mechanical stress engineer with access to all the trick equip. to do such shit (takes more than a welder & an idea)

But hope it all works out for ya.

 

My buddy put a set on his 90 toyota.. and thats what I wanted to do.. But you have to weld new mounts on the frame to do that, and I really don't want to weld on the frame until the truck is past the frame rot warranty.. If I can get Toyota to buy the truck for $9000, that would be almost $7000 more than I have in it LMAO... and they bought my 96 back for $6000, and I pocketed the extra on that one too

If I still have the truck in 2 years, it will get 63's or 4-link

and it will get a set of 34" tractor tires, becuase that's how we roll in around here (Sami got TSL's so I could run in mudbog's)

 

ah, gotcha. Good luck.

 

I agree with ya here, my build is different than 99% of anyone else's,

I rebuilt my stock springs & ended axle wrap by adding 2 Ford springs to each side & gaining 3" in lift, I'm def. an "outside the box" kind of guy, I've rebuilt 2 sets of 2nd gen springs for members here with excellent results, what I don't do is start drilling & hacking away shit like springs,re mounting struts etc; but if your skilled enough,have all the resources well, have at it

 

Just an update on this thread..

I did end up getting the G2 part's into my truck..

Front struts:
cut out the bar on the bottom, and rewedded the end back on, EXTREMELY dangerous.. the strut can blow up during welding from the heat, and if not welded correctly they can break off when you are driving.. 100% NOT RECOMMENDED also even after removing most of the bar, they were still a bit long, and I had a hell of a time getting them into the truck, I have wheeled with them in, and also driven around 6-8,000 miles with no problems..

Front Springs:
They are a great fit no modifications needed to use them

Rear Springs:
The centering pin is in a different location, so you have to re-drill the hole effectively weakening the spring, I used the overload from the g1 springs when I installed them.. Once I get out of the 15 year frame warrenty time frame.. I will weld in new mounts, and install Chevy 63's


The truck does ride great, just the front end sits a little higher than the rear.. So I will be swapping out the front struts with new stock ones, or raising the rear some.. to make it sit level

 

this...does NOT seem worth the time and money.

new Billy 5100s/5125s are ONLY 310 bucks from DSM...

 

Where be da pics????