T-Juan - `98 Toyota T100 4x4, 5-spd

[SaltyMethods]

Made it back from our yearly trip. This year was the Arizona Peace Trail. We did the Northern half this year to see what it was all about. Super fun. Rocky in the beginning, smoothed out about half way in the mountains and the last half was a little of both. Hot AF pretty much the whole time. A little bit of mayhem but all-in-all we made it through without rolling, crashing or anyone dying. Success!!

The T-Juan at the meeting point (View Point off the 8-Freeway)



Once we hit the dirt:


First day, thought I was Ivan Stewart in the washes. Shredded my rear driver's side tire and bent the wheel. Tried to get the tire replaced in Havasu City but the wheel prevented that idea:


Found a pretty dope beer spot. There was a huge key hole opening in a rock cropping:


(going full retard)


One of our friends decided to go 'passenger' when the spotter was telling him to go 'driver!!'. Lots of swear words and choice words were expressed soon after this little predicament. Got him out and to everyone's surprise NOT A GODDAMN SCRATCH on this Rubicon. Lucky bastard.


4Runner decided to drop his rear diff in a hole soon after. More fun words were exchanged:


The purple people eater convention happened to be out on the trail that day:


Should have went 'driver':


Fun little section:

 

[SaltyMethods]

Mountain runnin':


Old mountain mining operation:


Found some homos frolicking in the lake. So we decided to join them:


My friends were not too happy with my decision to "wait til after this trip to buy new tires because I don't want to get the new ones scratched up". There were at least 6 huge gouges or slashes in these 9+ year old ATs. Held up though.


Back down into the heat:


Last day, we made it down to Parker and jumped into the river. Great way to wrap up our trip. Can't wait for next year.

 

[SaltyMethods]

 

[SaltyMethods]

Ok, now what???
I cut off the stock leaf brackets, the stock shock mounts and the axle perches.
Do I break down my leaf pack and for mock up? What's the rule of thumb for the location of the new front leaf bracket? Can I use the stock location for the rear shackles or do those need to get pushed back further too?

 

[SaltyMethods]

Quick and dirty mockup of a leaf. Broke down a leaf pack, hung the front of the leaf with strap, quick bolt up of the @the bodj 's shackles, and loosely attached the axle.

Next: find a piece of wood the same thickness as the leaf pack and bolt that in there. Break down the other leaf pack and hang that. Cinch down the axle. Get ready to tack in the front hanger, then start cycling.

Am I on the right track?


I'm wanting to order up some Fox air bumps for the rear. Question to you guys: Should I go the 2.0 4"? Or is that too big? Any suggestions.

 

[SaltyMethods]

I got off early to dig into this some more because you guys got me all hyped on it.

Made my blocks but I don't think they were thick enough. The U-bolts are super long and I can't tighten them up tight enough. Being loose, caused my axle to keep rotating. Plus, I think I have to grind off all that extra metal on the axle. It's causing my U-bolts to sit funny.


Went a 1/2" back from the closest body mount. Seemed like a good place to start. About 2-3" more forward than the stock location.

Puttin' the ol' Harbor Freight/Vulcan Mig welder to work! Tackin...


Maxed out my jack. I think I was about 2-3" from the factory bump stops. Plus, it looks like I just about maxed out the flex on the spring. I'm guessing if I move my back shackle mount back about 4" that would help? What do you guys think?


Then drooped out.


Let me know if you guys see something wacky. The axle is loose so it rotates all wrong which I plan on fixing by installing a thicker block. I also need to grind off that extra metal on the axle.

 

[SaltyMethods]

- Cut some more blocks for the axle
- Move the spring above the blocks.Cleaned off the stock leaf perches
- Moved the front leaf hanger back 2.5" from it's previous location. I'm at 52.75" from front leaf hanger bolt to top of the current top shackle bolt. I ordered up a set of bushings for the new shackle bolt location. Once I get that, I'll compensate for the .25" by moving that back once I tack that in on top of the frame



Roughly about 15"s of travel now.
Current droop height


Current bump height
I'm hoping once I move my rear shackle bolt location to the top it will allow my spring to bump a lot closer to the frame. Or are my expectations too high?

 

[SaltyMethods]

I cut off the front mounts and move them forward about 5". Had to make some plates to flatten out the area to place the mounts to.


Got both mounts moved forward and it's finally looking like the axel is going to land in the old stock spot.



I did some measuring to find 52.5" distance. I quickly realized that it lands right where the bed mount is located as well as the frame cross member. So unless you guys see something that i'm doing wrong, I'll be cutting out the cross member and replacing it with a 1.75" .120 wall DOM as well relocating the bed mount.

 

[SaltyMethods]

The rear shackle placement would be right in the middle of that cross member (the black mark represents the 52.5" measurement from the front hanger bolt).

 

[SaltyMethods]

Pissed my neighbors on this few hour session. Luckily on my last little hammer bit to make the final cut, the neighbor called and told me I was disrupting their evening.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Got one side shackle mount tacked in. UPS fucked me and decided to "deliver" my other shackle mount but I never got it. So i only mounted the one side. Cleaned up the frame and tacked in my replacement cross member.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Made some "progress" this weekend. Cut off the stock shackle hanger collars to allow me to go full bump with the new shackles. Re-angled the axle. Noticed that my driveshaft was fully compressed and it seemed like when at full droop and full bump the driveshaft pushes the shaft upwards in the carrier bearing. At mid-height the driveshaft sits normal in the carrier bearing. I heard I can get my driveshaft cut down? Is that true? Or am I better just getting a new driveshaft?
The axle placement is slightly forward from the stock bump tower. Is that OK? or do you think I should re-adjust?

Full Bump


Full Droop


Mid-Droop


Carrier Bearing - driveshaft pushed up


Driveshaft pushed up and to the left

 

[SaltyMethods]

I got home early from work today. Cut off the mounts, measured 1" back and tacked everything back together. Reattached everything and cycled everything. The slip yoke is moving like it should at full droop. It fully compresses at full bump. It moves the driveshaft up a bit in the carrier bearing but not nearly as much as it did. The axle lines up with the stock bump towers also. Overall, your suggestions got everything to line up right. Funny how much one inch makes such a difference.


The slip yoke at full bump


Full droop


The slip yoke fully compressed in at full droop


The carrier bearing at full droop


So what do you guys think? Would it be safe to say it's time to tack on the leaf perches and start welding up everything? Or is there something else I should be considering before welding everything up?

 

[SaltyMethods]

I'm sure you guys are sick of my updates on this. It's more to record my frustrations and to give you guys more ammo to say, "I told you so, dumbass!" Anyways, 12th time is the charm right? Right??

After fucking with welding magnets to help hold up my front hanger and having it fall and fall and shift on me right at the last second, I came up with using my bottle jack and piece of tube and wood to hold it in place and line up properly.



Full Bump


Full Bump - Slip yoke gots lots of play


Full Bump - Back view


Full Bump - Axle alignment with the stock bump towers


Full Bump - Measurement

 

[SaltyMethods]

Mid-travel/Resting height


Mid-travel/Resting height - Slip yoke


Mid-travel/Resting height - Back view


Full Droop


Full Droop - Back view


Full Droop - Slip yoke


My friend was warning me about "dog walking" the rear end. So I measured from my axle to the back cab mount and it was off by .125 - .0625 inch. I'm figuring that should be OK, right? I know it's not perfect but with my limited fab ability, I figured this would be passable.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Spent some hours throughout the week and most of today burning in the shackle mounts, front mounts, leaf perches, cross bar, removing the stock bump stop mounts and modifying my exhaust.

Passenger side front mount


Back shackle mounts and cross bar


Leaf perch, driver's side


Cut off the stock bump stops


Painted up for rust prevention


Visualizing my 4" bump stops on the outside of the frame. Any tips before I build some mounts for these? I'm going to IMS tomorrow to buy some plate steel and a couple of 2.25" - 2.50" round discs for landing pads.

I plan on mounting my shocks on the inside of the frame.



Current droop status. Confirmed 17" of travel.


Hacked up my exhaust and pieced it back together. Ended up painting it black afterwards. I'm sure the paint will burn off but for the time being it won't rust. Looks like a broken dick.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Thanks to @bradbury I cycled the driver's side wheel up and let the passenger's side droop. Like he warned, with the bump stop mocked up on the outside of the frame, the tire touched.
(the tire is not touching in this pic but it touched when I cycled just the driver's side up)



So I'm re-approaching this. I've decided to put the bump stops on the inside of the frame and relocate the shocks on the outside of the frame. I'll be notching the frame to make sure that shock body doesn't rub or hit the frame.
The bumps will mount a little lower than what I have mocked up currently.


The far left line is just a reference point. The two right lines are where I'll be cutting.


I plan on attaching my bottom shock tabs to the front of my axle.


Any feedback or things I should be considering before I get to cutting?

 

[SaltyMethods]

@the bodj
- Looks like the perches sit about .5" off the axle
- I believe I have a 3.25" axle tube
Here's some pics if these help any.

 

[SaltyMethods]

Works been slow the last few weeks so I decided to come home early this week and make some progress on the truck. Running out of time for my annual Death Valley trip which is at the end of September.


Mounted the bump stops


Then moved onto notching the frame. Neighbors ended up calling my wife and complained about the noise. They even asked if I would take down my easy-up because they said it's making the neighborhood look bad. Many "Fuck yous" were said said in my head as well as to my wife as a conduit to my neighbors. Ultimately told her to help keep the piece I'll not grind or make loud noise on Saturdays anymore. But Sundays are no-holds-barred and the Easy-up is staying up!

 

[SaltyMethods]

Moved onto the putting the bed back on. Used the prasma cuttel to cut holes in the bed for the bump stops and the shocks. Cut off all the unnecessary wheel well stuff too. Felt good to get the bed back on and mock up the shocks through the bed.


Put the wheels on to check for any rubbage or anything weird. IMO, so far so good. You guys seeing anything funky?



This is how it sits as of today but I think the next phase will be the bed cage. I was going to run some tube off the side of the frame as a mounting point for the outter-most bed cage tubes. Also I would like to make the cage removable so that I can take it out so if I need to repair anything I can take the bed off. Any suggestions or anything that I might be over looking?