Ice Horse's 1998 TRD Extended Cab

i love this build.
You get my first post and first subscribe all in one

 

Sweet! Welcome to TW!

 

When you installed the trail gear cross member for the bumper did you have to cut off the existing weak cross member that the skid plate hangs from? I had been told that the bumper was bolt on only, but I saw someone's 04 build thread where he had to cut off the cross member. Thank you!

 

yes i would like to know this also.

and are those 285/75/16 tires with those Ivan Stewart? looks like you have no rubbing issues with that setup.

 

I'm pretty sure you'll have to cut it off - look at the pics here and on her first page, the trail gear cross member looks like it replaces the cheap stock cross member regardless of what year your truck is. Step 4 shows what the frame has to look like for the install. There's nothing in front of the radiator:

http://www.trail-gear.com/PDF/120176-1-k.pdf

 

thanks but those instructions looks like its for the 2001-2004 on the 99-00 models the front cross member (where the skid plate bolts to) is welded in to the frame. doesn't look like the instructions specify on how to install on that different frame?

 

If the stock skidplate has to bolt up to the trail gear x member then whatever it's connected to prior is going to have to go bye-bye. That was the one thing I wanted to confirm. The more I look at it the more I think it's not going to be a simple wrench spinning job. Here's more on the bumper but again with a different model year. The frame horns are the only difference from what I've read...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ow-profile-bumper-for-1st-gen-tacomas.441752/

Sorry for the threadjack @Ice Horse !

 

thanks for the info.

as far as the tires are concerned are they 285/75/16? and after reading through the posts it seems that the only rubbing issue is with the stock washer fluid reservoir.

are there no pinch weld mods that need to be done for the 98-00 because of the different style fender flares?

seems like all the 01-04 needs to be cut and hammered in more than 1 spot for running 285/75/16 without rubbing issues.

i also have a set of ivan stewart rims with the same lift and same year model as this and i want to run the 285 but i dont want to have to cut up too many areas.

looks like you flex the suspension out pretty good just want to know about clearance issues with the rim/tire setup you are running.

thanks

 

It's fine! Glad you tagged me as I've been busy! Haha.

@Dalandser
@1HItaco
It was such a long time ago honestly so it's tough to remember but I'm fairly certain we didn't have to remove it. I think all we did was grind on the "frame nipples" a little bit to get it on a little easier. I could be wrong though, but it wasn't a hard job at all from what I remember.

Yep the tires are 285/75/16 on the Ivan's. The only issues I have is rubbing at full lock on the frame. It never touched the front of the frame in the past but it will get my reservoirs a little now. If I flex out the back hard enough it has snagged a mud flap in the past (took them off) and it grabbed a bolt head from the flare. Messed up my flare a little lol. I've never had to do anything with the pinch welds.

Has never touched my washer reservoir. I did have to cut off this bottom elbow piece of it to fit my reservoir.

 

Hmm, thank you. So that must mean that the trail gear cross member slides underneath the cross member that holds up the skid plate - my bad @1HItaco - here's proof:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/body-chassis/131-1207-toyota-tacoma-armor-and-recovery-upgrades/