4x4 DBL Cab Tacoma Build

[jonsangel]

Best mod I did to my truck

After I went through 2 sunpro guages I went with autometer and its been going strong

And a few pics from my trip down to baja

I'm hoping to paint and start my tire carrier in June
6/1/10
I got some more updates. I rebuilt my leaf springs (cleaned, painted, and replaced pads and center bolt), replaced my shackle bushings, put in a disconnect switch for the battery, cut my bedsides cause they were dragging all the time, and built a rear bumper. Here are some pics.

I got all the pieces cnc plasma cut out of 3/16", soo much more convenient. The holes were originally going to be for dimple dies but it was too thick so I just plugged it up. I still need to trim the width of the bent tube and I'm going to throw a hitch down there and add a bunch of tube diagonals. I'm still planning on doing the spare tire deal but I'm not going to have enough time before the weekend. It makes me want to redo my front now with the horn style
6/30/10
I finally have some updates!
First off, I've been feeling some weird vibrations drving around and I tried telling myself that it's just because I have an offroad truck but yesterday it was pretty bad so I decided to take a look under and found this

one bolt missing, two over half way out, and the last hand tight. Yikes. I replaced the bolt and loctited the crap out of them and now it drives fine

 

[jonsangel]

Now to updates. I got my tire carrier built. It's a little different than my previous concepts but I like it and it should work well

It's just resting on my bed as of now but it will eventually sit on a crossmember once I cut the bed. After that the tires will sit much lower. It definitely makes a huge difference having that weight back there.

I made a skid for the jack which mates up with the tire carrier. I made a spinner (super cheap) to hold it down. There's a teather with a lock that keeps anyone from stealing it and also keeps the spinner from coming loose

Lastly, I added some ammo cans. They just mount to the hoops. I modified the closing mech so I could use this part to lock it: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053
It's pretty nice not having my tool box at the feet of the passenger seats

9/1/10
I'm finally getting around to post my updates

I made a crossmember to protect my dif mounts. It got bashed on the passenger side the first time I went out and it held up fine. you can see where the tube is smashed in

I put some holes in my front skid plate and my trannys running a lot cooler now

And for the two big finales
paint

and all pro 50t's

all pro's vs my beat up F67's

I have 9" of uptravel now vs sitting on my bumpstops. It rides soo much better
I also changed my front springs to 700's and revalved my shocks to make the compression stiffer. That also makes a world of difference. I'm going to baja this weekend to test it all out

 

[jonsangel]

9/10/10
Converted my drums to discs using my front calipers
Here's the Bracket I used
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...ers-p-413.html

I ran into a few problems. When I turned down the axle flange I used a tundra rotor to mock it up so when I went to put it together there wasn't enough material taken off so I had to take it back. The holes for the calipers on the bracket were off so I had to drill out the caliper holes a little bigger. I had to grind down the back of the axle housing flange because it had ridges that hit the bracket. I used all my stock brake lines and just put some loops in the hardlines to squeeze it all in

Here is what needs to be turned down. This is an after shot

I removed the dust shield cause it wouldn't fit in the lathe otherwise. I had to replace the wheel bearings anyway so that wasn't a big deal

These are the ridges that had it be ground down. they were pretty small but it made the bracket sit crooked if I left them

I ground a fillet to avoid the ridges too

Bracket sitting in place

My camera died so there are a few steps I skipped

Installed

My pedal feels soft but I can still lock brakes. I have a tundra brakes up front so maybe the master cylinder is underpowered? It's not really a problem right now so I wont worry about it until later

PS the caliper is were it is because the housing has a boss for the ABS at the top

I also made a switch to disable ABS when I offroad. I don't have an elocker anymore since I swapped to a tundra axle with LSD. To do it I wired the switch between the red/black and black/red wires on the locker connector

These guys

I finally got around to wiring my tranny gauge to the dash lights. My gauge is an autometer one and it only had one wire to connect for the dimmer. I connected it to the white/green wire that comes off the dimmer switch connector. sorry no pics on this one
9/13/10
I added a 2 lb residual vavle this weekend and my brakes feel almost 100%. I have my prop valve fully closed (less brake in the rear) and they lock just a hair before the front but theres not much I can do about that. Its pretty crazy that the vavle was fully open when I had the drums

Here is the residual vavle connected to the proportional valve

Here are my brake lines. It's not pretty but it works until I get some custom ones made

The tee

you can see the stock flex line going to the stock hard line.

Links to hardware
http://polyperformance.com/shop/Resi...e-p-18853.html

http://polyperformance.com/shop/Wilw...alve-p-72.html

Here's what my truck looks like with 800lbs in the back not counting spares and jack. This was the first time I tried to load a pallet in my truck with a forklift. It was a PITA but it worked...

it was still 1" from hitting my 3" long bumps

Thats $17k worth of inconel 625. That material is legit. It literally doesn't corrode in the ocean.

I spent almost 12 hrs on saturday making a hitch and making some supports for my tire carrier but its not finished. I just need to add two small tube gussets and a connector mount for the hitch. Here's a teaser

Here is the tire carrier which is pretty much done. It looks so much better with the tires down farther than sitting on top of my bed. It freakin heavy so I'm going to add some air shocks

 

[jonsangel]

9/21/10
I finished my hitch. It should be pretty stout, at least as strong as a normal hitch. The two tubes that go left-right are 2x3x3/16" and the one that connects the two is .25" thick. All the plating is 3/16" except where the chain connects which is .25". I made a cardboard template for the chain/connector mount and got it plasma cut, so convenient.

for now the tires just sit on this notched tube. not sure if I like it. I just have a ratchet strap holding the tires down now but I want some kind of lever/lock like on the ammo cans

I also mounted my license plate after 6 months of being zip tied

looks pretty sweet with the LED bolts

lastly, i made some supports for my bedsides. long overdue. I don't really like the diagonal ones cause it kind of blocks the bed

Redoing my heim steering. Should be a lot better than how i have it now. I'm going to hold off on changing out the inner ball joint

Hopefully I'll have it in by Sunday
Got one side done. It took me a few hours just to drill out the damn spindle to put in the sleeve. I went through a few drills. Not sure what the problem was anyway here are a few pics

Before:

After:

Pretty scary that it was actually bent.

the old one was made from 1.25 OD A36 steel and it was necked down to 1" where it was hitting the secondary shock tab and there was a 18mm thread which left about a 1/8" wall thickness. The new one is 1.25 OD 1018 steel (just a hair better than A36) but the threaded hole doesn't go into the necked down part. plus the heim is a lot better and its in double shear

 

[jonsangel]

This is why that notch is in there

After seeing the old tie rods bent I put a rosette weld in these ones were the bolt is welded in

Just finished making a motor mount for my passenger side. It came out super legit but I kinda botched it up when I welded it to the frame. It's 1000x times better than it was and once I do my engine cage I'll be able to weld the frame plate better. I'm going to wait to do the drivers side until I do the engine cage but I'm definitely going to do the tanny mount before I go out again. This job was the shittiest thing I've had to do to my truck. Everything is super cramped and I had to take out my starter and pull my CV. It was a lot more work than I had orginally planned on. Richer Racing was a huge help. Hit Jonny up if you want some mounts. We're going to do the tranny mounts in the next week or two. Here are some pics

Broken Mount

Wrenchin'

Cutting out new mounts

New frame perch (unfortunately those aren't my welds, thanks Jonny)

Motor mount with bushing sleeve

Assembled

Installed (This is why the starter had to be taken out) I could barely get the camera in there to take a good pic

 

[jonsangel]

Well I finally got a commuter car so it's full steam with the truck

awww yeah (except its a Ford....)

Stripped the interior

started the dash then gave up for a while. That thing is such a pain

current progress with 35's mocked up

My first goal is the engine mounts then Im going to make tabs for the upper arms and cut off the coil bucket completely. Once I do that then I'll start the cage. It's going to be 2" main tubes

and the rest 1.75"

My main purchases that I have to make are tubes, 10" Coilovers, 4 x Beard Seats, and 35" tires. Im sure there'll be a bunch of other random crap I need. If you guys see any of this used hit me up
I've been getting some stuff done slowly but surely. I made tabs on the outside of the UCA and cut off the coilbucket. My next step is to do the motor mounts then I'll start the cage

Passenger side (I f'd up welding the perch in...but I'm going to redo it)

whats left of the drivers side motor mount

X-mas in January!!!

Beard Seats, 10" coilovers, steering wheel, and harnesses

35x17's. They're BFG MT KRs (race tires). Theyre grooved differently from each other so we'll se how they ride. I want to try and make two sets of matching ones but for the price I'm happy

For the coilovers I have a #100 stack on compression and the #50 stack on rebound (http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_tec...VING_SPECS.pdf). For springs I have a 13"x650lb and a 10"x500lb. I'll let you know how it rides

I'm going to put a full day in saturday so we'll see what else I can knock out
I got the motor mounts done. I just need to fully weld them and box them in

Passenger

Driver

Started to cut sheet metal out so I can make the cage nice and tight

Dash is gone, Ill put that metal bracket tube back in after I do the A pillars and dash tube

I'm thinking about cutting out this hump. The gas tank is there but that my be motivation to get a cell. I dont want passengers hitting their heads on tubes

I started clearing the 35's. I didnt have to take out as much as I thought but it took some persuasion with a hammer. I still need to knock off the very corner and it'll be good

I basically just made a cut on the corner and beat it with a hammer. the edges ended up overlapping so I wont have to add any material there

I have much more ground clearance now

Im hoping to get the first tube in this weekend or early next week

 

[jonsangel]

Picked up some new seats, cut off the bedcage, and dropped the gas tank. It's coming slowly but surely

Here are my rough plans

In other news, I cut all the sheet metal out and the hump out of the back

and got a 32 gal fuel safe. Im gonna put it behind the cab

Finally started getting some tubework done. I got these done in two nights after work. Not too bad for the little experience I have. The cage is going to be super tight and tucked

A-pillars

Brow Bar

Nubbins stickin out the back

 

[jonsangel]

Im keeping the stock dash to try and keep things clean looking

Here are the rest of the A-pillars where it meets the frame. These tube were such a pain to put in and they took forever

The V-bar is a little wider than I would of liked but its going to make the engine cage a lot easier to tie in

I decided to cut off my roof to fully weld rather than trying to drop it. In the long run I think its going to be easier and the welds will be better
Got some more done on the cage over the weekend and last night

B&C Pillars

B Tucked

C Tucked

B to Frame

C to Frame

Roof Tubes

I still need to do the diagonals on the roof. Cage is coming along but its going to be slow progress the next few weeks because of work and I'm going to BAP

 

[jonsangel]

I got some of the diagonal tubes in last night. took me a lot longer to put in because I didn't really know what I was doing and where to make them meet. I looked at a few other trucks in the shop and figured it out and luckily I was able to modify the tubes I already made to work. it feels good to have to use a hammer to get tubes in

I got the rest of the roof tubes in

and started filling in the C-pillar

I decided to redo the B-pillars so the back seat would have more leg room because its going to be pretty tight back there. the b-pillar is not going to come down to a floor tube and then im going to come up from the frame and support in from there
here are the floor tubes

seat tubes

I ran out of material and I'm in Long Beach all week for work but I'm hoping I can hit it hard this weekend
Got the C-pillar filled in. I ended up putting a few bends in it to tuck it against the back.

C-pillar to frame connection

B-pillar horizontal

front seat tubes

Hopefully I can start welding the cage this weekend

 

[jonsangel]

small update
Got some gussets put in

attached the B-pillar to the frame (gonna add some plating to either side of the tube and also on the A-pillar)

I finished grinding off the old leaf hangers so I'm going to start setting up the rear soon
I got the B-pillar diagonals in today and the drivers seat mounted

I had to tuck it in super tight because there isn't too much room back there. Here's the leg room but I'm 6'3" and size 13. hopefully who's ever back there is smaller

The seat is on a slider. It mounts with tube bungs on either end

back

forward

Finally started welding. I should be cutting the roof off this week

I also picked up this beast. hopefully I can make it work. 9" full floater!

 

[jonsangel]

I took yesterday off work and and cut the roof off and did a bunch of welding

Access hole in the back. I was trying to be clever by cutting only 3 sides and bending it up but it just got all distorted and the paint broke anyway

All I have left to weld is the really hard spots to get to. Its pretty discouraging cause every time I try to they look like crap
I mocked up the hood and fenders so I could locate the radiator brace. felt wierd seeing my truck kind of put together

**
I finished my UCA mounts and the motor mounts finally. They look pretty stout
Driver side

Pass side

I did the rear tubes coming out of the cab

I just want to do something simple and keep it under the bedside. its only going to go as far back as the shackle pivot

This is my plan for the engine cage. its only going to attach to the a-pillars but that should be enough

I also decided to change the hole pattern of the FF hubs. I'll post up pics later this week when its done
after much feedback I decided to connect to the V-bars too. thanks for the input. I was just being lazy i guess. heres how it came out

I should have the springs mounted by tonight

 

[jonsangel]

I got the leaf mounts on. it cycles 18 and ill bump and strap it at 16.5-17"

I also got some progress on the bedcage. I just want something simple and low profile. I still need to put in a tube going from the middle of the c-pillar to the rear diagonal and on going from the c-pillar and frame to the rear diagonal. Also got the fuel cell mounted. i am going to put an X in the support and also add some plate gussets to the corners where it goes to the frame

I also got some welding done on the engine cage but i forgot to take pics

it looks like i'll still be able to use the stock dash tube. thats going to make things a whole lot easier
Thanks guys. Paints definitely the easiests to brainstorm in
a few welds from the engine cage

I bent the headrests of the rear seats so I can move them back and give more legroom. gained about 2"

I also started welding on the cab. TIGing is badass but I'm so damn slow at it
started designing the front bumper. not sure what i want exactly for a little stinger in the front. opinions?

I got the front end back together and the shocks mocked up. the bypass is too big and it hits the brake booster

 

[jonsangel]

3 options
change the brakes, buy shorter shocks, or make a new UCA. I'm going to go with the last option. I'm going move the bypass closer to the coilover and wrap the arm around both of them. Im going to keep the front mount and move the rear one back

1 step forward, 2 steps back haha
i got the dash tube in. im probably just going to weld some plate in between the dash tubes

3rd member came in and also the conversion flange so i can run my stock driveshaft

Jul 10, 2011

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#121

BACK FROM THE DEAD!
Finally got into the shop to work on the beast. It's starting to come together. I finished machining one of the full floater hubs and got most of the way through the second but then the belt on the mill snapped. One was enough to mount a tire and check clearances. I designed the radiator mount and the rear seat mounts so I'm going to have Richer Racing cut that out tomorrow but here's what i got done

Bumped out the rear to check if it was centered in the wheel well. looks sweet with 35s

I redid the bedcage a little. i didnt like how i did it before

Shock clearance, its going to be tight

I'm going to have Richer set my pinion angle and mount the rear shocks since I've done it before and want to finish my truck soon. I'm going to try and mount the front shocks tomorrow so i can start designing the UCA's. Should be rolling in a few weeks!
mocked up the front shocks and got them parallel. I'm pretty happy I decided to make the new arm. I ordered heims, bungs, uniball, and chromoly tube today so I can start the arm thursday

It's still pretty damn close to my brake booster

back seat tabs

 

[jonsangel]

Radiator mounting

Here's my idea for the UCA Jig. I'm going to use the camburg arm to figure out the front mount and uniball position then I can set the distance between the mounts. The uniball is going to get held with some tabs coming off that square tubing. There's a slug in the uniball cup that i can through bolt. The square tubing has stops on all sides and is bolted to the base. After I do the drivers side I can rotate the square tubing 180 and weld on the passenger side uniball tabs.

worked almost 11 hrs today but it doesn't seem like I got that much done

I got both coilovers mounted but I still need to add plating between the sides

got the other back seat mounted

Here is a few pics of the hubs. I still need to press in 2 of the studs

I have the jig all cut out i just need to weld it up. the front should be done in a week

Jigga what?

Looking back, the clearance I have now isnt that much worse than what I had before
Before

Now

Xxxx
Started the upper arm but didnt have much time

Xxxx
I'm getting close to setting her down on her front feet.

My new UCA's are done and mounted

 

[jonsangel]

I got the back d-side bypass mount in. its super tight

I need to move the lower shock mount too

And my coilover mounts are plated

I want to finish the bypass mount and then I can weld everything. I need to powder coat the kit and the rear axle, I'm thinking a semi-gloss black

Xxxx
Alright I have a lot of updates.
I rethought the Dside bypass mount and I'm going to relocate the MC farther forward so I dont have to make a cheesy mount

Got both shock mounts done on both sides. I just need to add some plating between the two and finish welding. I had to notch a little out of the frame cause the coil was hitting. I like where the coilover is because its as far as is it can lean forward and closer to 90 at bump then stock. I also added a spacer to limit the travel on the shock to 8.5" so I can install/uninstall it without a coil compressor. I think I might do the same to the bypasses so I dont have to drain them if I want to take them out. It's officially under its own weight in the front though

I got the rear shocks positioned today. It's cycling 18.5". I could of got it to cycle 20 but it was making my shocks lean too far forward. I need to design the mounts next time i go in but the hard part is done. I added another tube to the bedcage to mount the shock off of

Bump

Droop

Clearance

Gnarticulation

The suspension should be done for Richer's Open House

 

[jonsangel]

Got the rear shocks mounted (not fully welded)

And bumps stops located. I'll plate them to the frame and bedcage tube

The bump stops were hitting the U-bolts so I decided to do some u-bolt eliminators which I was planning on putting off. I still need to finish the backside

And did a little bit of welding

Also I realized I don't have an overview of my front end. The coils definitely need to be cranked but for some reason one of the shocks leaked after i revalved and shorten it so I need to pull it back out

Once I finished the u-bolt eliminator and mount the rear brakes it will be ready to put on all 4's

Xxxx
It's been 7 months but it's finally on its feet again!

I finished the Ubolt eliminators and plated the bump stops on in the rear

I also put the bypasses in and cranked the coilovers and mounted the resi's

I switched the coilover resi with the bypass because it was bigger. is there any problem with doing that?

coming up next:

 

[jonsangel]

I worked a ton this weekend but it really doesn't look like it.
did the 90k haha

and welded up the shackles

I cleaned up the wire but i didn't like the wrap i used so im going to replace it before i take pics

Xxxx
I cut up my old intake tube and just added a few elbows. it cant go past there because of the radiator

Wiring
Before:

After:

Thats the only place that my fuse box will fit but it will be fine there

Xxxx
info on doing a 90k

Parts deal
Toyota 3.4L/V6 Complete Timing Belt & Water Pump Kit | eBay

write-up (you should also replace your crankshaft pulley bolt ~$8 from dealer)
Toyota Maintenance: 3.4L V6 Timing Belt Replacement

I replaced my idler pulley bearing too
Idler pulley rebuild - TTORA Forum

xxxx
Finished up the shackle pivot. I had to cut the rear bumper to clear the shackles

 

[jonsangel]

Started the patching up holes

I had to extend the bump pad on my LCA and I made the new bypass mounts. I left one of the old tabs to mount the limit strap

And the big news, got the dash in!

figuring out the v-bar position

I got pretty lucky with the roll cage dash tube. I lost the defroster but im going to be able to keep the middle and side vents

Xxxx
https://dezertrangers.com/forum_/index.php?threads/4x4-dbl-cab-tacoma-build.124138/page-9
I got a little more work done. I'm going to gone this weekend though. I finished the UCA gussets

The front kit and shackles are prepped for powdercoat

And I picked up some wilwood dynalite brakes

The box says I have to

started plating in the rear

 

[jonsangel]

I got a ton done this last week. The sheet metal is coming along. I wanted to give the rear passengers as much room as a could and this is what i came up with.

therell be room for a cetner console back there too

from this

to this

Rad and AC is mounted. Im not sure if ill have room for the tranny cooler. if i do put it up there the support tubes are going to be wierd

The last tube of the engine cage (besides the radiator ones)

cool shot of the bedcage gusset

And i got the rear put together for good. hats off to Richer. these shackles are sweet. still gotta do breaks and install the locker though.

And the light box just resting about where it'll be. it makes it look so much more BA. Im going to make it sit more fluch with the cab

I have to rebuild all the front shocks, get the kit from powdercoat and the front should be together by the end of the week. I'm going to keep the stock alignments for now.

 

[jonsangel]

step 1: Cut a hole in the box....

Should be down in the front again this weekend
Xxxx
My truck is back on all fours! Things are coming together pretty nicely. theres a small chance I might get it running by the end of the month
bump stops installed

Full setup

V-bars welded with a taco gusset with the first dimple die on the truck

Master cylinder mounted. I need to make the linkage still

D-side Fender tubbed

I'm trying to figure out the fuel cell now. There's a few lines I can't figure out what to do with
stock

new

Xxxx
I got my hood mounted. Just going to run the stock one for now until I get more important stuff done. uses stock hinges and hood pins in front

rearview mirror

got the fuel cell more or less figured out. I'll post pics whens i finish