Shortround's '04 Double Cab TRD AT

Finally got my bumper installed. Addicted Offroad plate bumper. Super happy with it and Scotty and crew from Addicted. Had a little snag with the crossmember initially, it seems some Tacomas sit at slightly different heights and the bumper was going to mount up too high against the body. He'd already had 1 or 2 other Tacomas with this issue, and I was able to stop by the shop and they already had another crossmember in house with the mounting holes located 5/8" lower to get it at the right height.

If you plan on buying one I'd talk to him and maybe take some measurements to figure out which crossmember you need. Hopefully there's some common factor to help distinguish which trucks have which, I know he took some pics of my front end and mine was assembled in CA vs. elsewhere...

enough chat, here's the bumper. Hopefully going to get out to powder coat within a week or 2



Any body else with the Addicted plate bumper have a front skid yet? If so, what do you have and did it mount up to the crossmember or did it need some tweaking?

 

Looks great! I can't wait to see it in action.

 

Thanks Lump...just dropped it off yesterday for powder coat and have some RCI skids on the way!

 

Got my bumper back from powder coat and installed this morning, along with the new CB antenna coax and the turn signal relay to eliminate the LED hyper blink

 

Installed today my skids today. 1/4" Aluminum, pretty beefy and extremely well made. The weight is less than half of steel (I know people will question aluminum over steel, but I'm not doing hardcore rock crawling, and should be more than adequate protection and weight savings were important to me)
RCI metalworks was kind enough to do a custom bend on a skid so that I could fit with the aftermarket Addicted Offroad cross member. Overall, I'm happy with it, being a test subject it worked out well. After the install, maybe a couple small changes they could do to make it fit better for anybody else with the same bumper, but, hey it works and I'm lucky they even did a one off skid for me.
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One potential issue is here, its a support member, due to the bends and the length/hole position, this part is barely grabbing on the bolts. I'll add some fender washers to the top as well to help distribute the load.
And a friend is going to help me TIG some aluminum tabs to lengthen where the bolt grabs.
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Normally there is an upward lip, they took that bend out and changed the height of the vertical portion. Maybe 3/8" less would have given a little more contact with the cross member and alleviated the hole alignment issues?
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Used rivnuts in the crossmember for the install with a home made tool I found off Youtube, only cost $8 in parts and worked pretty good.

 

Finished up the washer reservoir today. Ended up going with some 2" ABS down through the stock filler hole at the bottom of the fender area, increaser 2" to 3" with a short 3" section and a cap. I wanted to keep it low profile, saw some other people that put an elbow in and ran the pipe under the radiator area....
I'm happy with it. It fit 40 oz of fluid in there. Not bad.

doing a leak test before final assembly/install
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from underneath, used the OEM pump and wiring, made it easy
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put the OEM shroud back on and trimmed it a bit so it didn't stick out past the bumper

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from the top, strapped in. Put a small breather hole in too
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I bought new bushings from Energy Suspension for the following:

body mounts
control arms (will only be using the lowers as I have LR UCA that are fairly new)
steering rack
sway bar

While I was peeking under the truck today, noticed the front differential mounts look pretty worn too. All I can find is the OEM replacement that gives you the entire "L" bracket for about $100 per side (need left and right) Kind of pricy...
Then I came across some Youtube videos of guys making their own poly bushings using a liquid 2 part mix to pour in.
Seems I could take the brackets off, remove the old bushing, make my own for roughly $30-40

Hardest part would probably burning out the old rubber. The most critical part would probably be lining up the center sleeve, back to....well....dead on center.

Couldn't find a good picture and didn't want to go back out to the garage, but can't remember off the top of my head if those bushings protrude out of the bracket (above/below) a little or not. That could pose another challenge requiring a mold of some sort if so.

Anybody ever done it? Tips, tricks, any don't do what I did stories? Or should I just fork over the cash for OEM....?

 

radio silence....got one response in another thread. I guess nobody has done it. At this point, if an OEM piece lasted 13 years, I might as well fork over $200 and spend my time elsewhere. After looking at them, there is a part of the bushing that protrudes above the bracket. I don't have the mental energy right now to figure out how to make that work.... a pregnant wife and a 16 month old and a house with never ending projects will do that to ya.

But, in other news, got some cutting and grinding done to help modify the skids to fit better. The support brace in the middle that grabs the bolts and "hangs" there while you install it got a face lift today. I cut out some tabs from some aluminum stock, beveled the edges and went to a friend's house for some TIG time...got them welded up and gotta say, I think it'll work (and looks halfway decent too)

I still have about 1/4" gap between said brace and the truck frame, so to keep from stressing that lip and the welds more than I have to, I'm gonna cut out some spacers to fill that gap once the bolts get tightened down.


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Do you have any pictures of the crossmember with the bumper off? I just received my bumper today. I think I have the mounting situation figured out, but would like to see yours to be sure. Nice build BTW.

 

Thanks. Here's the best pic I have. Hope it helps.

 

*Note* this is a work in progress, but I wanted to get it posted and get some feedback. If something isn't clear or doesn't make sense, please let me know and I will try to revise it. Also, I will be adding more pictures over the next few days. If you "see" something specific that you think a picture would help, let me know and I'll try to add it. Thanks!


Spent the last 2 days doing some preventative maintenance, replacing bushings. Namely the lower control arms, steering rack and sway bar. I figured they are all right next to each other so might as well knock them out all together. Also decided on new lower ball joints as the passenger side felt pretty loose.

Part #s
Energy Suspension Bushings:
Steering Rack: 8.10103G
Sway Bar: 8.5118G (27mm)
Control Arm: 8.3115G

Moog Sway Bar End Links:
K90704 passenger side
K90705 driver's side

Toyota OEM Lower Ball Joints:
43330-39556 passenger side
43340-39436 driver's side


Sway Bar

Sway bar is pretty straight forward. This can be done either with the tires on the ground, or jacked up. Since I was doing items that required the wheels off the ground, I did. So, chock wheels, jack the front end up, put some jack stands under there and take off the wheels

Start by removing the end links using a 6mm hex head allen wrench to keep the threaded bolt from spinning while you loosen the 17mm nut. Do this for the top and bottom, and repeat for the other side.

(I was too busy trying to finish a lot of this up I didn’t get a lot of pictures, but I’ll “recreate” the disassembly when I put it all together and take some pictures.)

Note: My passenger end link looked pretty bad, leaking grease and very loose, and the driver’s side had a frozen nut and I ended up stripping the allen detent…..so I am forgoing the bushing change on the end links and just going to buy new ones.


Next there are 2 brackets, one on each side, with 4 bolts each (12mm). Once those are off, it’s a simple matter to slip the bushings out of the bracket and out from around the sway bar.


Steering Rack

With the sway bar out of the way, I tackled the steering rack next, as doing the LCA’s requires this to be done anyways.


If you haven’t already, jack the front, use some jack stands yada yada…


Also, lock the steering wheel. I used the seat belt, ran through the steering wheel as well as backup to the “lock”.


With the sway bar out of the way, take off the driver’s side outer tie-rod end castle nut (22mm) and cotter pin. Videos I saw showed a puller being used to break the tie rod free. I could not find any that fit mine, and had to resort to some heavy hammering. For whatever reason, I found that if I gave it a few good bangs, left it and came back a few minutes later, it seemed that within a few whacks it popped free. It worked, and saved me from having to hammer on the knuckle for 20 mintues straight. I’d also recommend eye protection and some ear plugs if you go this route.


If all you’re doing is this, you’re probably OK just removing the driver’s side tie-rod end. Again, I was planning on doing both my LCA’s, so I removed both at this point.

The steering rack is held on by 3 locations, starting from the driver’s side has a long through bolt (22mm) going front to back. The middle has a vertical bolt (19mm) which is removed from the top. The passenger side has a U shaped bracket with a nut on top and bolt on bottom (both 19mm).


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Driver’s Side:

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Middle:

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Passenger Side:

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There is also a 12mm bolt holding a bracket for the power steering lines, that if you remove it, gives you some more wiggle room with the rack to manipulate it.


Looking up to the driver’s side fender through the front differential brackets:

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I recommend a ratchet strap around the rack to prevent it from dropping and either hitting you or damaging the steering lines.


The U shaped bracket bushing is simple, the other two I used a ball joint press to push out the old bushings.


For the long horizontal bushing I used a small fitting from the press kit as a “catch” to give the bushing somewhere to push out to and once the threaded portion began to enter the housing of the rack I used a socket that was slightly smaller than the inside diameter to avoid damaging the surface.

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For the vertical bushing a similar set up was used but due to limited space and the size of the press kit fittings, a 32mm socket fit up there nicely to give the bushing room to exit.

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Use the provided lube generously on the outside/inside of the poly bushings and push them in. Then lube the outside of the metal sleeve and insert. I used a C-clamp with the washers to press the poly bushings and metal sleeves in.

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Be sure when you re-install the long through bolt that you use the provided washer between the steering rack and the frame member.

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The instructions stated to tighten the 2 outside points to line up the vertical center bolt. That worked great and I was able to thread it in by hand.


*note the long bolt goes in the U bracket and the short bolt goes in the vertical spot:

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Torque specs:

Horizontal through bolt: 141 ft/lb

Vertical Bolt: 123 ft/lb

U bracket nut/bolt: 123 ft/lb

Tie Rod castle nut: 67 ft/lb

Sway Bar Bracket: 19 ft/lb

Sway Bar End Link:
upper: 22 ft/lb
lower: 51 ft/lb

*note I left the steering rack loose while I proceeded on to the LCA bushings


LCA Bushings


If you are only doing this part, see the above for loosening the steering rack. It will have to be moved out of the way to remove the alignment cam bolts.


Make location marks on the 4 cam plates per side. I made 2 marks on each, at the 12 o’clock position and another at either 3 or 9 o’lock. Make sure you wipe all the grease and grime first, and I just used a black sharpie on the cam plates and a silver sharpie on the frame.

These are the cam adjusters on the outsides of the arms:

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These are the cam adjusters on the insides of the arms:

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Use a strap to keep the axle from excessive droop, I used a ratchet strap around the top of the shock tower, ran under the brake caliper.

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Remove the lower shock mount bolt (19mm)


Remove the lower ball joint castle nut and cotter pin (24mm). Use a puller, taking care to seat the jaws on the lip of the knuckle and not on the boot.

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Break free the cam adjusters (19mm & 22mm) When removing them, take note of the orientation of parts. There is a long bolt that gets inserted from the outside (in reference to the control arm) and an sleeve that slips over the bolt that has tines on the end towards the bolt head. These tines grip the outside cam plate. The other end has a couple of straight edges to grab the inside cam plate.


On the driver’s side, I removed the dust boot clip from the tie rod, so I could push the boot out of the way to allow clearance to get a wrench in there and remove the cam bolt.


You should now be able to remove the lower control arm. Mine wiggled free with some work, you might need to tap with a rubber mallet or use a small pry bar to work it loose.


With the Energy Suspension bushings you have to re-use the factory metal sleeves and washers. This definitely made the job time consuming and tedious, but once I figured out the best way to do it it actually went pretty fast. The first one however, took forever.


Here’s the process that worked for me. I’m not saying it’s the best or only way, but with tools I had at hand it worked.


Mount the lower control arm in a vice, and using a bottle jack, place it between the 2 bushings so that the bottom is resting on one end and the jack is pushing on the other. Apply some pressure, not too much at this point, and then apply heat using a torch. I had a MAPP torch. I basically heated it up until it started to smoke, then for a few more seconds. The goal here is not to light the rubber on fire, but to get it close to melting so that it separates from the metal and allows the bushing to push out. I also found that once it got to the level of heat, if I applied more force with the jack, backed it off, and then applied more pressure that seemed to help to break it loose. You can feel/hear when it starts to break free, and a few more pumps and it should pop out.

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This gives you a big metal sleeve, inside which is the rubber bushings, and smaller sleeve in the center. On either end are 2 washers. 1 big one oriented towards the outside, and a smaller one towards the inside.


Now the fun part of getting both sleeves and washers minus the rubber.

What I found worked for me was to put the bushing in the vice with the small washer oriented up. I applied the torch to the inside of the center sleeve, again, until I saw smoke and then a few more seconds. Then using a screw driver, I pried around between the washer and the sleeve to break the rubber free.

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While it was still hot, using some leather gloves, I set it up in the ball joint press. The screw yoke of the press was just the right size to push on the inner sleeve, if it is hot enough and enough of the rubber had been broken free in the prior step of prying, a small amount of pressure would pop the washer off and I could push the inner sleeve out of the rubber and bigger outer metal sleeve. Note that it really was not a lot of force if it was heated up enough, almost able to turn the screw by hand. Too much pressure and you risk deforming the washer, and you have to re-use it, so if it doesn’t want to go, listen to your gut and back it off and heat it up some more.

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The last one I did I finally found the sweet spot and the inner sleeve came out without any rubber hanging onto it. The rest, came out looking like this:

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Now you have the bigger outer metal sleeve, still with rubber in it. Using the torch on the outside of the sleeve, I heated it up until I saw smoke, then a few more seconds until I heard it sizzle/bubble. Using a rag and leather gloves to hold the sleeve, I used a screw driver to scrape/separate the rubber from the inside of the sleeve. Again, by the 4th bushing, I was able to pop out 1 piece of rubber bushing intact. The first few was a process of heat, scrape a section, heat some more, scrape some more until all the rubber was out.

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Now, there is probably still some remnant of rubber and dirt/corrosion, so I used an angle grinder with a wire wheel to clean up the outside of the sleeves, and a die grinder with a small abrasive wheel to clean up the inside of the larger metal sleeve.

The last step is to carefully bend the lip of the inner sleeve using some channel locks so that you can pop the washer back on. Do a little at a time and you should be able to get a positive “snap” back on that requires you to force it back off, as opposed to it just falling off on its own.

Now do this 3 more times and you’re ready to install new bushings!

Start by pressing the large metal sleeve into the control arm. It should be inserted from the outside pressing in. Apply some grease and use the ball joint press, a c-clamp or a shop press to press it in.

Next, use the provided lube from Energy Suspension and coat the outside surface of the poly bushing, and press it into the control arm, pressing from the outside. I used the ball joint press with a small plate to evenly distribute the force onto the bushing.

Now, take some more lube, and coat the outside of the inner sleeve and the inside of the poly bushing.

You should still have the large washer attached, and the small washer loose. Press it into the bushing, again from the outside to the inside. Again, I used the ball joint press with a small plate against the washer of the sleeve.

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Note the small cup on the back end of the press. Make sure you have something with a little room as a backer, as a flat plate will smoosh the lip of the inner sleeve that the washer must pop onto.

Once it is pressed in, pop on the small washer and do the other side. Then it’s time to re-assemble.

Follow the reverse order of reassembly taking care to line up your marks on the cam plates.


Torque Specs:

Cam Adjusting bolt: 96 ft/lb

Lower Shock Mount: 101 ft/lb

Outer Tie-rod castle nut: 53 ft/lb

Lower Control Arm castle nut: 105 ft/lb

 

Nice job!

 

Took the truck for a quick test drive after doing the bushings on the steering rack, sway bar (with new end links) and LCA's. I also bought new lower ball joints as the passenger side was really loose. Feels like a new truck, the front end feels tighter and steering more responsive. I was getting some body roll before, probably due to loose end links and steering rack bushings.
I'll be getting the alignment re-checked, I got the cam plates lined up how they were before and it seemed to track straight, but just in case the arms are sitting differently now with the new bushings. Overall, glad I did it!

Confession: I was burning the midnight oil last night finishing everything up, was super motivated to take it for a spin last night but decided I was tired and should sleep on it and re-check everything in the morning. Glad I did, I was going through the mental check list of everything that came off and went back on, and found I hadn't torqued the passenger side ball joint mounting bolts down!

 

Cool build!

 

Thanks. It's slowly coming together.

So I never had "taco lean" before. I did new body mount bushings and a 1/2" body lift from 4Crawler, and put the add-a-leaf in to compensate for a full camping load out. Now I have about a 1/2" difference lower on the drivers side.
I'm scratching my head because the Old Man Emu leafs are side specific. If anything new body mount bushings should help taco lean. And all things being equal the add-a-leaf should do whatever it's gonna do equally to both sides.
Maybe I just never noticed it before. I can try adjusting the front coils a bit and see if it helps, but I guess it's not a huge deal. I'll just try to load heavy stuff on the passenger side?

 

Dang that is interesting. Did you put a full tank of gas in it? I don't know if it'd make a difference or not.

 

Yeah I noticed it even with only maybe 1/2 tank? Didn't seem to lean much more when it was totally full. I'll see if I can run this tank empty and see if it's any different.

 

Couple pics from Moab last week

 

Haven't posted in a while, or done much...kids man....kids. Still haven't figured out why it leans now and never did before. Maybe I mixed up the leafs and got them on the wrong side....pretty sure I didn't but don't know if I want to swap them, only to find that it's worse and then swap them back.

Took out the ABS today to make room for 2nd battery. My old truck never had it, it never activated on this truck....and I've been driving for 8 months maybe with the fuse out no issues....

I'll try to be organized....

Parts Ordered:
47312-04080 Tube, FR Brake, No. 2 (passenger side)
47313-04120 Tube, FR Brake, No. 3 (driver's side) *note I ended up not using this
47314-04060 Tube, FR Brake, No. 4 (driver's side) goes from the soft line from caliper to the 1st position of the 5 way valve
47321-04070 Tube, RR Brake, No. 1 (goes to the valve that sends to the rear axle)
90904-15001 5 way valve

On order still are some clips that go on the firewall to hold the passenger side tube. I'll post part #s when in hand, but on the part schematic diagram, they are along the bottom, referencing the circled #'s 1-4. I was able to re-use #1, and ordered the remaining 4 clips.



For reference, here is a picture of the Master Cylinder, with numbers corresponding to the outgoing valves/lines:



The hardest part of this job was all the research, finding part #'s and figuring out the difference between the plumbing of an ABS truck vs. a NON-ABS truck. I went between 2 trucks taking pictures and comparing to parts diagrams, and finally figured it out, went under my hood and traced lines and labeled them with some painters tape so that inevitably 8 months later when I got around to doing this job I would have a clue about what went where. In hindsight, I should have documented the ABS pump a little better as to what went where, but, I didn't because I was taking it apart not putting one back together. Oh well.



You can see 5 lines going/coming from the pump. There are 2 incoming and 3 outgoing.

This is a crude schematic I came up with the map out the tubing for the ABS equipped truck: note the #'s to correspond to the outgoing ports of the MC since my illustration skills are lacking...to say the least



Note the "2 way T splitter". On the ABS truck there are technically 1 part that has 2 of them going to/coming from the rear, and 1 part that is 1 of them going to the front. The 1 front will be removed, and the rear will be replaced with the 5 way valve to match the plumbing of a NON-ABS truck.



Here is the old removed, with new installed. Note the line coming out of the far left, compared to the 90 degree rotation of the old line in the 2 way valve. This is why I replaced that short piece of tube with 47314. You could probably make the old tube work, but it is such a short piece and a sharp 90 degree bend I decided to error on the side of caution.



Here is the orientation of the removed 2 way valve, rotated 90 degrees towards the engine.



Other than that, it was pretty straight forward, remove the old lines and pump, put in the new lines. The clips along the firewall for the 4 tubes going to/coming from the ABS pump are a pain in the rear. I pretty much only saved the far left clip for re-use, the others got destroyed. I ordered the tube 47313 for the driver's front, but kind of inadvertently hooked up the old line to the new spot before I realized it, did some checking and it is in the right spot so I decided to roll with it for now. I had to tweak the tube a little, actually had to "massage" all the tubes just a little to get them to fit.

I also used these little yellow thread protector caps to keep leaking brake fluid in check, it worked OK, next time I will just let the line drain into a container, then cap it, as it still ended up seeping out of the cap after a while.

That's about it....tomorrow I will flush/bleed the system and take it for a test drive.