Long Travel Taco Build MRK 2

Decided just to weld the extension on the bottom of the shifter. One less thing to come loose. So that project is done and I love it. Much better than the 3' of throw I had before.

 

Took the white Tacoma from previous photos out on a little test and tune after some tweaking this weekend. The travel on the bump is matched to the coilover very well, but I think it needs way more pressure in the bump and stiffer valving in the coilover. Thoughts?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hv2l37qhmz3bblp/Carlos Front .MP4?dl=0

 

Finished the rest of the parts for the 2nd short throw I made. Never know, I might be another 5 spd. Taco or have a friend that needs one.

 

Very interesting. Nice work.
wish i had those skills!

i have thought about a short throw shifter but the thought of the ball breaking off from added stress worries me.

 

Well a couple of my buddies have been running URD short throws for a couple years and they drive the shit out of them w/out any issues. Unless you just miss a gear really bad and hammer on the shifter, I don't think there would ever be problems but it is also one reason I welded mine, as I could see those shims wearing and developing some play.

 

Nice build!

 

Got some goodies in yesterday.

Had 2 new shoes put on 2 freshly powder coated rims



Got my sway a way parts in so I can get the coilovers back together with the 16" 650's instead of 14" 650's we'll see what that does to the ride quality and height

Also the first part I ever machined. This was about 10 years ago, the top plate of the used sway a ways was wallowed out and fubar. I made an insert to press into the billet piece after boring it out. Seems to have held up


Got some on-board air parts since I had to re-route a couple lines


and I got the 7th injector kit!

 

Have some stuff for sale from this build, if anyone is interested.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ings-gas-tank-skid-r-p-tire-and-wheel.378680/

 

Tell Carlos his truck sucks! Sweet build you have going on here.

 

Sooo er.... my wife came home with this

 

Hey so quick question, did you need to have a body lift to be able to flush mount your transmission cross member like yours? If so what size? Also do you feel a BL would afford a larger fuel tank/more up travel on the 4-link setup? If so did you also have to lift your engine and transmission?

Would really love to clean up any low hanging brackets on my truck that like hitting random objects... Feel it looks much better and could to a full belly skid similar to what the rally/Dakar trucks have...

 

Good observation and I'll try and answer your questions in order. You don't necessarily have to have a body lift, but you'd have to do a lot of cutting on the tub to clear the transfer case. I am running a Budbuilt clocking ring on the transfer case which is much easier with the body lift. I am running a 2" body lift. Without the body lift, I do not think you'd be able to raise the fuel tank up at all, which would leave it below the frame. I was able to raise it 2 inches which put the lowest point of the factory fuel tank above the bottom of the frame rail. I did not lift the engine. I did raise the radiator and made a custom fan shroud to accommodate that change, rather than dropping the radiator in the dog house. The body lift does give you more room for uptravel on both the front and rear, but probably isn't necessary if you just plan on running leaves. I never had any travel problems when I still had leaf springs. In that photo, my skids aren't on the truck. I'll try and find a photo of the truck with the full belly pan on it. It's pretty bullet proof and flat from frame rail to frame rail. I had a full build of that portion of the truck on TTORA until they pissed me off and I deleted it all.

 

Thanks for the reply. Trying to keep the BL to a minimum, just trying to figure out if a 1" BL + Budbuilt Clocking would allow me to flush mount everything. Daystar makes a 1" that just replaces your stock bushings so you don't really have any of the negatives associated with a BL. Kind of nice to know I don't have to lift the engine to make it work and can just do the Transmission and T-case. Want to avoid cutting cab anymore than what I had planned for the wheel wells to fit 35s.

Did not even think about the radiator, would be nice to get it up and out of harms way..

I was concerned with the top link mount on the axle slamming into the bottom of the bed but I'll deal with that once the ford 9" goes in. Would also think that the rear tank like yours would have more room and could be mounted up higher than not having a BL. Rocks+Gas tanks never give me happy feelings.

 

As long as you don't get carried away with some awful link mounts on the top of the 3rd, I think you'd be hard pressed to get them to hit the bed before something else. My links will hit the cab before that happens. I haven't had any negative effects due to the body lift and I've driven it pretty hard. I did replace the front body mounts with a fabricated mount that was 2" higher eliminating the pucks on those, and I am going to do the ones under the driver's and passenger's feet the same way because the 35's due rub them from time to time. You don't have to move the transmission because it's attached to the motor and can't go anywhere. I did tub the firewall a lot to clear the 35's with the stock control arms, but my tires don't rub any more and the pinch weld is now a smooth plate which is nice.

 

I'm loving this thread!

One question--are you worried about getting rear ended? That gas tank looks like its in an awful vulnerable location. If it was diesel, I wouldn't think twice, but a gas tank there seems like a bad idea. Have you done any reinforcement or anything to make it a little safer?

 

I guess it's a concern. It does have a steel skid below it and the rear bumper is pretty substantial.

 

Speaking of those skids. Did a little powder coating today. Had to drop the cell to install the new fuel pump for the 7th injector. I think I'm going to do most of the parts this color.



and some custom billet Res Clamps

 

Your going to cut a lot with 35s and long travel anyways.

And I have seen a few guys do flat belly pans with no body lift. Just takes a hammer to the floor.

 

With the belly pans on.