It Begins: Miss Blue

Impatient sonsabishes.

 

Alright, shock mounts.

First off, let me recommend that no one ever try this. If you want to relocate your shocks, go with a 2.0 monotube, not a 2.5 remote resi like my dumb ass.

The original plan was to approach the clearance issues by fabbing mounts below the axle and kicked out into the wheel with the brake drum. This has been done on some other rigs and worked out well. The lower mount is protected from trail debris by the wheel itself. An example:


(Photo by Drew02)

Problem: 285 tires. They put the sidewall in so close to the leaf spring perch you can't get sufficient angle in the lower shock mounts to kick them into the tire without the shock body getting clobbered by the leaf spring during suspension travel.

This might still be doable with a 255 width tire and 2.0 shocks. I'd love to see someone try.

That said, here's what we ended up doing: Going traditional. Mount those fuckers high and put the bottom mount flush with the bottom of the axle. Right now, with my 4.75in backspace and +15mm offset wheels (goddam), the tire sidewall gets into the shock body at full stuff. I have a new set of wheels coming from SCS Performance with 4.3in backspace and -10mm offset. That should take care of the problem.

Extended brake lines are also on the truck now. Crown performance hooked me up with lines made for 7 inches of rear lift. Suffice it to say, my brake lines are not a worry anymore.

Thus:



I will probably have another bar added further back as a resi mount in the future. Right now the zip ties are necessary to keep the resi hose from popping out into the tire. Changing the resi mount location will solve that.

I like that the shocks are about the same diameter as my bumpstops



These things look pretty monstrous lurking in the fender wells. They mean business....once I get my new wheels



And, since we did a shit ton of grinding, of course the truck needed a wash afterward...




Oh, I also scored a 200pc. mechanic's toolset at Lowes. They were clearancing some of their older Kobalt tools, and this set was sale priced at $100. Normal price was $180. I couldn't not buy it at that price. Kobalt tools aren't Snap-On or Matco, but they're better than most of the horrendous shit being sold out there these days, and at 50 cents a tool, that's a steal.

 

Also, as far as I know, this is the first set of 2.5" OD/15in travel shocks that've been stuffed under a 2gen taco without

a) cutting the bed

or

b) putting the lower shock mounts below the axle

Someone let me know if they know of anyone else that's managed to get something that size under there. I'd love to compare notes with 'em.

 

Very nice! Are you going to get bigger tires in the future? Those 285's look small on your truck. I look forward to seeing this thing in action soon.

 

34s are a distinct possibility. These 285s have enough treadwear at this point they're probably 32s But I agree, they look too small. Also, I'm up there more than most suspension-wise...about 3.5" in front and 5.5" in the rear right now.

The plan is to go to 285/75/17 when this current set wears out and clearance everything for full stuff front and rear. Spacers may be necessary for that. We'll see.

 

Isn't that what the current set is? Get the 34's brah!

I saw you have a new set of wheels coming as well. Thats going to look

 

Negative. 285/70/17 = 33" on a 17in wheel. 285/75/17 = 34" on a 17in wheel.

You're mistakin' my stuff for 285/75/16, which is a 33" tire on a 16in wheel.

 

OH I gotcha. Too many numbers gets me confuzed.

 

Just wait til you off road

 

It's easy to do.

Yeah, I'd like to get 34s on there and keep my fender flares, although I can part with the fenderwell splash guards.

Don't have any designs on goin' bigger than 34s for the sake of drivetrain durability. At least for the foreseeable future...who knows what'll happen to this truck once it gets 100,000mi or so on the clock...

I'm sure they'll be damn nice, but it's gonna have to wait on new wheels (a couple weeks, supposedly). Already stuffed it completely to the bumpstop and there's some shock body contact with the sidewall. Everything else clears wonderfully. Lookin' forward to putting all the droop from these shocks and the shackle flip to work!

 

You'll love the amount of droop you have

 

First eastcoast sub. Nice truck.

 

Wrong coaster..

 

Looks to be a rare size. Just did a quick search on tire rack and they only had 1 in that size. Km2s at $315 a piece. Then I searched 285/70/17 and got 29 results and the km2s are $275 each. Tire companies sure don't make it easy do they....

 

yup...not many options for 34" tires...i was searching a lot recently for them myself..

 

I believe the Super Swamper TSL comes in a 34" option.

 

Wouldn't be surprised. I never think of them since they aren't on the larger discount tire websites.

 

Pain in the ass, for sure. Staying with KM2s is the plan right now.

The LTB, which is a slightly different lug pattern, does. And I'm considering that option as well, especially since I don't daily drive the truck. Wonder how loud they'd be?

 

the ltb's make a good amount of noise....i always run mud tires and i wouldnt run them since i frequently drive 2-4hrs away to wheel....there not rain friendly at all either...i wish the 285-75-17 werent so much damn money!!!! toyo m/t also comes in that size fyi

 

Haven't been impressed with the work I've seen Toyos do.

Yeah, road manners, esp. in rain concern me. The KM2s aren't quite as aggressive, and they don't like packed snow, but other than that they're excellent in the dirt and behave well on the road.

They cost more than the LTBs though...

It's something I'm considering. I've gotta wear these 33s out first, so I have a little time to make up my mind.