Squeaky Penguin's (Trip Reports) Build Thread

Did some snow bashing yesterday, got a Christmas tree, washed this fall's mud and dirt off, and then parked it in the backyard where it will sit for the majority of the winter. Picking up some Boeshield to spray down the suspension components, otherwise, we'll see how it does sitting in the snow.

Later this winter, or spring, when I feel like working on it, it'll probably get torn apart for a month or so.

• Front Suspension - limit straps, bump reworking, cam tab gussets, coil bucket gussets
• Rear suspension - rework leafs/give up and rethink leafs, also going to try and fit 12" shocks in there
• debating boxing the frame while it's all torn apart and the bed's off
• 1" body lift install
• fix rear drums
• OEM steering rack

We'll see what actually gets done...

 

Are your spindles already gusseted, Brett?

I'm gonna be really interested in your solutions for the front suspension, especially the straps and bumps.

I'll be doing the same sort of thing with the rear end over the winter; between rear shock relocation with 10" Kings, as well as a U-bolt flip and frame boxing/plating. It's gonna be a lot of work!

Mind if I ask what's driving the 1" BL?

Take it easy!

 

Yes. Spindles are gusseted. Straps and bumps will be a bit of a puzzle. Also planning on picking up another set of OEM LCAs to swap in a new set of bushings, cut off the stock sway bar mounts, and possibly plate the bottom of.

I'm finally in a position where I can leave the truck torn apart for a long time. Happy I can work without being rushed trying to finish it. Just got everything done in the garage/shop, with a lot of help from @Night Eagle getting it wired. So I've got a nicely lighted, somewhat heated large work area with a convenient plug for the welder.

BL is for a few reasons. It's a daystar kit, so it replaces the entire bushings. I don't think my originals are in that great of shape given they have 268k miles on them. Also it will help alleviate the last tiny bit of tire rubbing I have, as well as allow me to move the rear shock mounts up another inch to prevent them from going below the axle. I've gone back and forth on it though.

A large part of me wants to say screw it and and go with a SUA setup with shocks through the bed and under the sleeping platform.

 

Very cool. I'd really like to gusset my spindles, coil buckets, and cam tabs too (Gusset all of the things!) I was thinking that I could try to pick up a good set of junkyard spindles, gusset them, install new wheel bearings and other goodies including UCA slugs, swap them out with my existing ones and then set those up the same way as complete trail spares. Just a thought, and something I could work on over time. Straps and bumps just make sense. I hate the fact that it's either the stock hockey pucks or fitting a square peg in a round hole with Super Bumps, whether modified or not. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

I hear you on the BL. I've thought about it for basically the same reasons. In my case though, I think it would allow me to also run a triple stick linkage much more easily, and also get my 10" King smoothies much closer to the frame and much more vertical without dropping the mounts below the axle tube. We'll see.

So... I'm not super knowledgeable about LT, but I've been thinking a lot about it lately. I've always seen SAS as the eventual endpoint of my truck, but I'm starting to think a +2 LT setup may be more my style. Part of me would rather mob over washboards and whoops on approach trails rather than crawl big rocks and falls. I dunno... I need to learn more, and that's years off anyway. That said, what is the advantage of a SUA setup?

 

Sorry about the novel!

 

I don't see the point of SUA with the rig you have right now personally. With the right shock setup you can make the SOA setup ride great and it'll handle your current loads better.

You'll go through leaf springs every other year with the way you put on dirt miles if you ran SUA.

Not an option for our trucks. No LT +2 kit.

Front range is working on a 2.5" kit. Hopefully be out this spring.

 

Why a 2.5 kit?

 

That's the best way to do it. Yota Jim sells them for like $80 each, or keep an eye on the marketplace here.

And yeah, there's got to be a better bump solution for 1st gens.

Like I said, I've gone back and forth. It's sitting in the garage, we'll see if it ends up on the truck.

Monte already mentioned that there is no +2" 1st gen LT. It is nice that with the 3.5" kits you can just pick up some Tundra CVs and be set. I'm not going down that road anytime soon, but was thinking a dialed mid travel front with a LT rear would be sweet.

I have zero desire for a SAS. My rig has gotten me through as difficult of trails/obstacles as I've ever want to do.

SUA gets you more travel. Of course it has its cons too: expense, fab work to get the hangers and stuff in, less ground clearance, etc.

Probably won't happen, but we'll see how it plays out. My current pack has sagged quite a bit, so 2 years on a leaf pack doesn't seem that bad to me. They are wear items after all.

Weight carry capacity is a concern.

I'm not sold on that kit being it uses factory length coil overs. I wonder how much wheel travel it actually nets and how difficult it would be to get shock valving right.

 

Should be any more difficult to valve right then stock.

Yea be interesting to see wheel travel with an extended travel coilover.

It has my interest for Igor. I love LT. Missed it a ton on my last trip. This would be a decent compromise.

 

Hmmm to own 2 LT trucks, that'd be something haha

 

Id do it. Front LT is awesome.

Brian says he pulls 11'' with it. And he has bumped the uptravel to keep the 37'' tires out of the fenders. So in theory it could be as high as 12.5-13''



Cool LCA design really.

Its actually more of a spindle lift then anything which means less preload on the coils for a smoother ride. And wider stance = more wheel travel. But its an inch narrower per side then a full LT kit.


Price will be the main problem though. You'll need custom CV axles. And really, at that point might as well go a full 3.5'' kit. So price will be the big deal here. You save money though by potentially not having to run fiberglass fenders and not needing 2.5x8'' shocks.

Time will tell.

Im interested thats forsure.

 

Idk. Just what he is making..

 

Thanks for the knowledge, guys!

I really have a lot to learn about LT and all of the stuff that comes along with it. For me, it just seems like a better fit. I'm kinda where you are with the type of trails and obstacles I want to deal with. And the focus of my truck is to get me out and away from people, so the fun of wheeling is somewhat secondary to that. LT also seems far less invasive, and I can still run my crawl box in that sort of setup.

So... if you wanted to run LT, but not necessarily to bomb through the desert and huck your truck, what are the options for the rear? Especially if your focus is more in line with expo travel.

Thanks, and sorry for the thread jack!

 

Is that the 2.5 kit, Monte?

 

I wouldn't LT the rear. Keep it SOA and dial it in. "expo" travel is just a nice way of saying, live out of your truck.

To do that in remote areas for extended trips, like more then a week. You HAVE to prepare for..well everything. Which is just a long way of saying, your truck is going to be packed FULL of gear. = lots of weight.

There are a few leaf packs that handle weight okay for rear LT applications. But you also loose bed space from bed cage.

Its not worth it.

Dial in a nice SOA setup. It'll handle the weight better long term and ride nice. The Front LT will just make the front wheel travel equal the rear. Which I have found to be AWESOME. Can blow through shit without slamming on the brakes for fear of bottoming out.

Thats my 2 cents...and experience i guess.

Thats the prototype. Idk what the finished product will be. But yea.

Here is his 4runner: http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/1606-this-1996-toyota-4runner-proves-ifs-doesnt-have-to-be-weak/

 

I'm in the process of researching that.


Don't listen to Monte, he has blown out cheap bilsteins on the back of his truck and thinks he can use his LT front. Rear suspension is more important than front.

I don't think SUA and light expo/overlanding is mutually exclusive. There's options that carry more weight than others.

 

I may go LT down the road but for now I'll roll mid-travel and see how I like it. but I'm not marking it off the list nor am I going SAS

 

still faster then your pile of junk. Broken supercharger and everything

And you can get Deaver to make anything you want. But just due to how SUA works and hold loads, they do not last as long.

Why race teams run 1 or 2 races on spring packs and then swap them out.