Long Travel BS Thread

Zinc does infact hold up wildly well
Probably on par with or better than Cerakote

 

i might have it backward, would need @81Trekker to confirm but Dave @ JD fab has 20 year old canoe links without a spec of rust because they were either zinc or galv’d first.

We worked on hot dipped galv stuff all the time you obviously just have to clean it / grind it off really well first and then we use an industrial brush on cold galv to to touch it up ie: welding to existing exterior structural steel

 

i’ve had the exact opposite experience, zinc when exposed to uv or in a dissimilar metal situation goes to hell rapidly

 

Wild
I’ve got a set of zinc coated links that are like 10yr old now that look the same as when I got them

maybe it’s prep?
I didn’t do these

 

There are numerous different types of zinc plating. Lower end, creates lower end results. Zinc is tough shit. Probably better than galv.

 

What about nickel plating? Looks cool af at least

 

I’ve seen good stuff used by pro teams post heat treat

no experience in terms of upkeep though

 

Guys deep in it sometimes get their parts nickel plated. If Rob @RJFab thinks nickel is the way to go but says it's not cheap, I would like to know what ballpark that's in, considering he builds $300k+ builds. I'd love a coating that's as durable as the factory paint. I wonder how nickel and zinc coatings hold up in high moisture environments. Yellow zinc chromate on grade 8 fasteners holds up decent, but one time I had some left in a container that got rained in and it oxidized.

FWIW Rob said he gets stuff plated here and it's only 17 min from me, maybe I'll have to ask for a quote (ha).

https://pentrate.com/

But Bobby mentioned Rusto 2x and go when I first picked up my LT kit a long time ago and I think I've adopted that philosophy (down in socal where there's no rust really). PC and other stuff ain't easy / cheap to touch up / won't look as good if you try to with paint. I'm thinking of going with either a brush on oil based or at least a 2k spray treatment for my engine / shock hoop structural tube because the major downside of regular spray cans is stuff like gas, acetone, and especially brake fluid will remove it immediately.

 

I was talking to the guys at my local autobody supply and they said POR is the best DIY coating and POR has a top coat satin spray on now for a better cosmetic finish too so that’s what i’m planning on doing during my next round of work ie: frame & anything welded to to the frame but keep the pc i already have on the suspension

there are a lot of good high temp spray can products for your engine

edit - correction the por 15 top coat can be used direct to bare metal and is uv resistant so you don’t have to do two steps bit if you already have a base coating it can be applied over

https://por15.com/products/top-coat?variant=39607017636007

 

Teardown can't come soon enough

 

Inspecting my motor mounts (which are shot) I noted cracks on the ears on the drivers side. I’m replacing the mounts with factory but was wondering if these plates from solid off road can but put on top of the factory perch and under the mount and welded in best as one could given the limited space in the engine bay. Yes. The engine would come up the thickness of the plates.

https://solid-offroad.com/shop/ols/...plates-for-v6-models-and1st-gen-tundrasequoia

 

grind that whole emblem plate off, there will be a ton of rust behind it and it will always happen again. my current links are ready for the dumpster because of that same problem. any shop that manufactures anything with an emblem plate like that is straight up fkn stupid

 

Can you cut the regular plate off cleanly and bolt the new plates to the motor mounts and put the engine in position and tack them in place? I just used a piece of angle iron with a hole in it on each side and welded it in behind them ears on my perches so as to not change the height of the engine. My engine’s out which let me drill the holes after and weld and cut things to size after but I think it could be doable under the truck maybe.

 

I can’t really answer your question but I can say that raising the engine a smidge is fine. I added 1/4” plate shims in between my engine mounts and frame to gain tundra rack clearance.

If you don’t have the upgraded frame, something to consider as well.

https://dmzfab.com/product/tacoma-motor-mount-gusset-kit/

 

I never even thought about that. I will for sure grind it off. Thanks!

 

I would be cautious to do so. Their plate work right there has an open seem that gets welded up. I’d bet the plate was there for reinforcement. Fill in the emblem and grind it smooth would probably be better.

 

ah good catch…but it won’t get rid of the cancer behind it so grinding it off, cleaning it up and adding a new overlay would be the cure huh

having that seam that way seems really odd i feel like most kits have the bent sides on the bottom piece so that seam meets flush ?

i underestimated what was going on with my links just thought it was cosmetic and then the overlay plate started to swell and the next thing i knew i had full on scale rust = links to dumpster soon

i was looking at a rear axle housing recently and it had an open emblem plate on it and i asked if they could eliminate it and they “nope it’s our logo dude” i offered to pay them to run a micro tig around the inside edges to seal it up “ we can’t do that “…sorry then wont buy it

 

Same here. My engine is up about 1/4” with no problems so far.
I got the Martec 4.0l mounts and he made a custom spacer for me.
I should be doing the DMZ ones too :/

 

That decorative plate won't add much structural strength with all the laser cutting of the logo and windows in it. IF it was a concern you could add a diamond shaped overlay or a long one like TC 1st gen kits. The PC quality is important too. This is a truck from Reno and it gets driven in snow all winter too.

 

They're definitely a little strange down at wicked lol. I wish I never bought their kit. Their customer service sucks too