TomTom's '03 TRD Xtra Cab (SOLD!)

Meant to say *can't go wrong with icons!

You and I have the same plan.

1. Take advantage of all the money we've spent on mid travel, arb locker, regeared.

2. Wheel the shit out of it.

3. When that gets old collect parts for sas!

 

If the Taco falls apart before I get to the SAS I'm going Icon FJ:

http://www.icon4x4.com/overview/fj/models

 

I've seen those! Bank!

 

Dude! I just realized you're from Va. Beach. I went to Great Bridge High School Wildcats Rule!

 

Ha! Crazy, I've grown up here until high school then move to California for high school and college and moved back. Now I have my wife and baby here! Crazy you went to great bridge!

 

I miss the ocean. I used to surf at Sandbridge and just south of Rudy Inlet. Good Times!

 

I go to croatan, or sandbridge by the s turn, or 42nd and above. Just got to wait for a good storm of the coast or a hurricane.

 

Just saw that Icon 4 door on Jay's Garage last night haha. I envy 'that' Icon big time, working with big factory contracts, making sick OCD'ed out rigs.

 

That was it, Croatan beach, just on the southside of the jetty at Rudy Inlet. I think the last time I went surfing out there was 1996 or '97 at Sandbridge a day before a hurricane came through. Some good swells were coming in. I was at VT at the time and drove home to prep my parents' house since they were out of town. Hurricane Fran might have been the one. Been too long.

 

I've heard they start pretty close to 100k. I'm too scared to ask.

 

Looks like I may be going to Icons sooner than I thought. Front is getting really soft and I haven't even added the skidplate yet.

 

Man even with 882s? I actually want to go 881 for the softness, and use my 5100s to reach a 3" lift even with added weight. I want soft but controlled- if bouncy then new shocks would be in order, but I'm a fan of soft comression and stiff rebound. I've complained about my 5125s in the rear having stiff compression, too soft of rebound-- I think they are valved with linear spring rates in mind. I look forward to removing the overload spring and seeing if things get smoother back there.

 

the 881s and 882s have the spring rate, 500lb. The 882s are 20mm taller.

I'm getting a lot of nose dive on the inside corner during turns. Just started recently, the coils have been on there for over a year. Not really digging it.

 

I freaking hate this one steering rack bolt. Hit it with the PB blaster and attacking it with a 2' breaker bar and no luck. Might have to use the hilift handle to extend the breaker bar.

 

OK, made a nice extended breaker bar with the hilift handle:



and managed to mount the steering rack cross member:



While I was under there, I was going to grind out the eyelets for the front lip mount on the bumper and I found this barely hanging on:



Looks like I have to pull the bumper and devise a better mounting scheme. Not too happy with Tim's design regarding the skid plate but it is what I'm stuck with. It wouldn't even fit an 8mm bolt which is what the stock skid uses so I really am not sure what Tim was thinking.

 

Crap, so its the 883 that have the stiffer rate? Then I believe the Eibachs are even stiffer? I want smooth, but I don't want boat smooth.

Sounds like your damper's compression might be going though. I'm partial to coilovers having come from the sport compact scene, but enjoying the alternatives this truck has as I'm not concerned with corner balances and autocross level tuning ability... but then I'm pretty upset with my 5125s-- would be nice if they had some knobs to change their valving.

 

883s have a 590lb rate but they are the same height as the 881s. I've looked into going to the 2nd Gen OME coils but peeps say even with the weight up front they are too tall and too stiff.

Not sure what you mean by alternatives. The stock suspension uses coilovers, they just aren't adjustable.

 

I have bad use of terminology. IMO in the compact import scene "coilovers" seems to mean complete ride height adjustable units including top hat/pillow ball mounts etc. What I meant by coilovers is the typical BC/Tein/Stance etc setup that has a broad range of ride height adjustability and compression/rebound dampening adjustment knobs. On my IS300 I have EDFC and can adjust the dampening on the fly. The IS300 only had one shock option that had two perches for adjustment, no dampening adjustment. I like how on this truck we have 5100s. IMO it saves us a lot of money, I'm not into wheeling enough to demand $1000+ coilover setups.

Maybe 1st Gen Tundra 5100s plus 882s or 883s would do the job for you? 4WD rocks the 1st Gen Tundra shocks, seem a little stiffer and they have more height settings (5 perches I believe). If even with the 1st Gen Tundra's 5100s valving doesn't do the job even with 883s, I think the Eibachs are over 600lb, and the 5 levels of adjustment would let you get the ride height really close to your goals.

 

Put the sway bar back on and the dive in the corners will go away. Get some quick disconnects that you can remove when you hit the trails.

 

You know anyone that makes them for the Tacomas? Was my original thought when I first considered getting more flex but searching came up with nada.

One thing I do miss about my XJ was the plethora of aftermarket parts. Some things for the Tacomas take a bit to find.