-
Last Call Guest on these Group Buy Deal Items from Baja Designs
what rear springs you running? I like the wheelbase!Well, I’m an idiot and ordered 40’s to run on minitruck stuff. But at least it looks cool
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #34
They’re an old set of AllPro 4” mini truck springs with a few leaves pulled out and hangers slid forward a handful of inches. I think WB is about 116”. Probably one of the last sets of springs that left AP before papa TG took over.
I’m going to have a bunch of questions when I get around to building a front axle. Just using my 05+ SD60 in the corner looks more and more appealing the more I go down the 609 rabbit hole with a HP9/10 costs for a rec wheeler. Any reason you went for the Reid knuckle and WFO steering arm as opposed to weld on steering?
Gotcha, I run chevy 63s but have been considering shortening my wheelbase when I go to link the back, Im at 128" right now.
I think I am into my front 60 $3400 and so far have yet to break any axle parts with 2yrs of wheeling on 40s. I like the superduty for the simplicity and the fact that you can get 1550 shafts from East coast for 400$ for a pair loaded ready to install. Plus any other parts you can get at a napa or autozone if you break on the trail vs having custom shafts and all that other fun stuff that goes along with a 609
I debated the 609 route but ended up building my tons for under 6gs front and rear so the price point is what kept me from doing it.
I coulda done weld on arms but at the time I was trying to do a protoytype high steer with SYN. When that didn't work out I opted for a Reid and WFO arm cause I didn't feel like pulling my axle apart to weld the high steer arms on (I daily the truck so I was trying to get it back on the road before the next wheeling trip). If I were to do it again I would probablly just get Artec weld on arms.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #36
That’s good to know on the arms. I’ve been a lifelong Toyota guy so I’ve got a lot to learn on domestic do’s and don’ts for wheeler axles. The availability for axle shafts even makes it easy to justify running a custom length inner as a $330 spare compared to waiting on RCV for custom stuff on Toyota axles. I’d like to stay around a 63-64” WMS so my truck will still feel/wheel like a mini, and will fit in the enclosed trailer (pinky out).
Thats gonna be tough to do with the 60 lol, Im pretty sure its 71" wms on it. Its wide but I like how stable it is on trails, I run 4.75" backspaced wheels to get it as narrow as I could.
You might need to go the 609 route then if your looking for something that narrow. It gets hard to clear everything though with 40s on a narrower axle. My headlights rub the tires a little and I don't have any inner fenders, along with everything moved out of the way or relocated to stuff 40s at full bump.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #38
I figure its not going to be too hard to knock the C off the passenger side, and narrow up the long side 6 or 7 inches. Just will need a custom inner shaft for that side, but no big deal with as many people cutting 35 spline inners these days.
The rubbing...yeah it's going to rub like an undersexed monkey. I'm 61 WMS now with 3.5" of BS and I figure it'll give me a pretty good idea on whether a narrower axle will work in the future and help determine how much cutting needs to happen. One unexpected upside of links compared to leaves has been the ease and predictability of cycling things in the garage for clearance.
I haven't seen anyone shorten up the long side, centering it under the frame is gonna be interesting. It bumps out barely inside the frame rail on my truck so your gonna be getting into your oil pan pretty quick at full bump.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #40
I haven't seen anyone shorten up the long side, centering it under the frame is gonna be interesting. It bumps out barely inside the frame rail on my truck so your gonna be getting into your oil pan pretty quick at full bump.
I just went way down the rabbit hole on your build and a bunch of other truss discussion. My conclusion is that pretty much all premade trusses for SD60 stuff are terrible for uptravel after seeing you notch yours. It's like all you really need for a 3-link is to wrap the cast as much as possible with plate, tie into the tubes to keep them from spinning and then give you a good place to land an upper.
I'll have to ponder quite a bit before actually taking a grinder to narrow anything up. The window to land the diff is TIGHT.
Ya I would not truss mine again if I had to do it all over, I lost like 2" of uptravel from that. You should be able to get away with a plate that goes over the diff and ties into the tubes
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #42
Bolting 40's on the Tacoma was easy. Actually making them clear kind of sucked compared to 37's that already rubbed the inner fenders. Got it down to just rubbing on the steering box, which there's not much I can do about.
Had to ditch the factory airbox and battery locations. Just pop riveted some sheetmetal in to keep mud/water from splashing up. The driver's side is 10 lbs of **** in a 5 lb bag up by the firewall but it'll work. At some point I should just rebuild the whole front inner fender structure, but that day isn't today. The wiring was cleaned up significantly more since I took the picture to ensure no chaffing anywhere.
I moved the battery to behind the cab. Bought good heat shrink and a crimping tool that was worth its weight in gold to get everything situated to the distribution blocks. Threw a 300 amp breaker on the battery that should be cover winch loads fine and keep things from burning down in the event of a major short. Came with the added bonus of being an easy battery disconnect too.
Other than that, the punch list is pretty short before heading to Hot Springs in March.
-Clutch slave has a slow leak, new Aisin one is in hand and just needs to be installed.
-Change all fluids
-Possibly pull the tcases to fix a slow leak and inspect them while they are out of the truck.
Had to ditch the factory airbox and battery locations. Just pop riveted some sheetmetal in to keep mud/water from splashing up. The driver's side is 10 lbs of **** in a 5 lb bag up by the firewall but it'll work. At some point I should just rebuild the whole front inner fender structure, but that day isn't today. The wiring was cleaned up significantly more since I took the picture to ensure no chaffing anywhere.
I moved the battery to behind the cab. Bought good heat shrink and a crimping tool that was worth its weight in gold to get everything situated to the distribution blocks. Threw a 300 amp breaker on the battery that should be cover winch loads fine and keep things from burning down in the event of a major short. Came with the added bonus of being an easy battery disconnect too.
Other than that, the punch list is pretty short before heading to Hot Springs in March.
-Clutch slave has a slow leak, new Aisin one is in hand and just needs to be installed.
-Change all fluids
-Possibly pull the tcases to fix a slow leak and inspect them while they are out of the truck.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #43
I have to admit that that the 40's were great at Hot Springs, the truck just went up anything I pointed it at. The increase of diff clearance was appreciable as well. Took almost no pictures as usual but had a great time.
Zero to do on my punch list right now. AC still blows ice cubes for summer and I changed the carrier bearing that was well past its best by date after Hot Springs. The inner bearing completely had separated from the rubber that was literally torn all the way around. Changed it and noticed absolutely zero difference since it somehow wasn't shaking or having any vibes at all.
Zero to do on my punch list right now. AC still blows ice cubes for summer and I changed the carrier bearing that was well past its best by date after Hot Springs. The inner bearing completely had separated from the rubber that was literally torn all the way around. Changed it and noticed absolutely zero difference since it somehow wasn't shaking or having any vibes at all.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #44
Bought a pretty nice little parts Tacoma that had a rusty frame. Taking a lot of little bits and pieces to clean up the interior on mine. As much as I’d love to cab swap and gain the 3.4/auto, I just don’t feel like taking on that big of a project and falling into project hell.
Getting the later steering wheel and seats were a big win. The wheel style I had was ugly and the foam was coming loose on the top of the rim. Seats have way fresher foam than my old ones too. Clockspring was the same so I got my horn back
Started work on the front clip swap tonight too. So much better than my old setup and 01-04 fronts are my favorite. I’ll move fenders over this week and trim them for my current wheelbase instead of my old ones that were trimmed for the old leaves that stuffed tire into the firewall. I’ll scuff them up and roll everything matching blue.
Long term, I’m going back to a bed. The floor on this one is pretty shot, so it’s perfect to hack up and stick onto a wheeler. The 40” spare took up the space I used to keep a cooler in so I’ll be happy to gain some extra room and I think it’ll look way better with tail lights and a tailgate
Getting the later steering wheel and seats were a big win. The wheel style I had was ugly and the foam was coming loose on the top of the rim. Seats have way fresher foam than my old ones too. Clockspring was the same so I got my horn back
Started work on the front clip swap tonight too. So much better than my old setup and 01-04 fronts are my favorite. I’ll move fenders over this week and trim them for my current wheelbase instead of my old ones that were trimmed for the old leaves that stuffed tire into the firewall. I’ll scuff them up and roll everything matching blue.
Long term, I’m going back to a bed. The floor on this one is pretty shot, so it’s perfect to hack up and stick onto a wheeler. The 40” spare took up the space I used to keep a cooler in so I’ll be happy to gain some extra room and I think it’ll look way better with tail lights and a tailgate
Last edited:
Deleted member 1632
Guest
Man your seats had to have been ****ed if the stock ones are an upgrade 
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #46
Man your seats had to have been ****ed if the stock ones are an upgrade
The covers were in good shape but the foam was becoming non existent. I could feel the seat frame pretty darn well, especially across my back. I tried to order new foam from Toyota, but its no longer available. My old ones were also 4Runner seats so they didn't slide forward when you tilt the seat back forward, which I missed for xtracab access. Figure I can reupholster these at some point if I wanted too.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #47
Front clip swap is finally pained and finished. So much better than my old setup. Threw a new fender on the driver’s side but the passenger one was rotten on the red truck. Need to decide if I’m messing with the bed before my next trip planned in September to Windrock
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #48
Started on the bed today. Would have loved to have kept the long bed, but that would have caused a cascade effect of fitting it in the enclosed trailer. So I’m living with a regular bobbed bed and gaining all the space of being not doved anymore. I’ll come up with some panels to dzus in over the fuel tank for quick access while keeping everything covered up and acting as a truck bed.
Need to hack off the old bumper and mount the back half level, build a new bumper, trim wheel wells/cut out rust and throw lights in it still.
Need to hack off the old bumper and mount the back half level, build a new bumper, trim wheel wells/cut out rust and throw lights in it still.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #49
Busy weekend doing a bunch of non glamourous work. Fabbed up mounts, repaired the floor of the bed, wired in lights, cut the old bumper off, patched in new panels over the wheel wells, rough cut fenders for clearance and got partway done with filler. Weather is supposed to be nice later this week. So I should have it wrapped up late this week or the weekend.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #50
All wrapped up aside from sinking in a hitch receiver. Kept the bumper simple with a 4x4 main tube and then 2x2 wings. Pretty happy with how things turned out and I really like having a pickup again instead of the truggy vibe. Nothing is perfect about it, which in itself is perfect because I’ll feel less bad bouncing it off a tree at some point.
abrogate
misanthrope
That turned out awesome.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #52
My shift away from truggy and back to pickup truck continues in an overlander direction.
I was working on how I wanted to lay out the bed storage and my wife stopped by the shop and asked why not put the fridge in so we aren’t dealing with water logged food on trail like usual. The next planned trip is Windrock where it is easy to be out all day and night, sometimes by choice and oftentimes by necessity. So the fridge is going in.
This was my original layout but I hated losing visibility out the rear window. And I hate carrying the weight of a spare all the time. So I ordered some gluetread to supplement my regular tire plugs that I carry. Spare can stay in camp from now on
The small action packer holds less often used tools and recovery gear like a spare winch line and long recovery strap. Orange case is the welder and the dewalt bins are holding miscellaneous hardware, fittings, hubs, etc
I also took the time to build myself a spare 9.5” third. Now I’ll have spare thirds for front and rear in the tow rig. Trips are far away enough and infrequent enough that it seemed like a good idea to have them available if needed. Enough guys I wheel with are on 8”/9.5” stuff, that there’s a decent chance they’ll get used
I was working on how I wanted to lay out the bed storage and my wife stopped by the shop and asked why not put the fridge in so we aren’t dealing with water logged food on trail like usual. The next planned trip is Windrock where it is easy to be out all day and night, sometimes by choice and oftentimes by necessity. So the fridge is going in.
This was my original layout but I hated losing visibility out the rear window. And I hate carrying the weight of a spare all the time. So I ordered some gluetread to supplement my regular tire plugs that I carry. Spare can stay in camp from now on
The small action packer holds less often used tools and recovery gear like a spare winch line and long recovery strap. Orange case is the welder and the dewalt bins are holding miscellaneous hardware, fittings, hubs, etc
I also took the time to build myself a spare 9.5” third. Now I’ll have spare thirds for front and rear in the tow rig. Trips are far away enough and infrequent enough that it seemed like a good idea to have them available if needed. Enough guys I wheel with are on 8”/9.5” stuff, that there’s a decent chance they’ll get used
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #54
Went to Windrock with Slander and a few TN folks and couldn't have asked for better weather. Ran 15, 38 and most of Rattlerock until the 4Runner with me lost a birf. I might have to concede that I don't particularly care for Windrock after working at a few other trails and getting stopped on death climbs or super deep slot car mud tracks on too many other trails. I'm also not a huge fan of bouncing along nuisance rock trails like 22/16/etc. Great people and a great time spent with a house rental though.
The Tacoma needs nothing after this trip, it's a dumb ox that just works. Fridge was a huge win at a place like Windrock where you are out all day and the folks with coolers ended up with water logged food from all the sloshing around. Zero regrets going back to an actual bed and refining my loadout. Ran the truck across the scale immediately after pulling it off the trailer with me in it and was pleasantly surprised that it was only up 40 lbs from my previous time scaling on 37's sometime a couple years ago.
The Tacoma needs nothing after this trip, it's a dumb ox that just works. Fridge was a huge win at a place like Windrock where you are out all day and the folks with coolers ended up with water logged food from all the sloshing around. Zero regrets going back to an actual bed and refining my loadout. Ran the truck across the scale immediately after pulling it off the trailer with me in it and was pleasantly surprised that it was only up 40 lbs from my previous time scaling on 37's sometime a couple years ago.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #56
Went down and visited AOP with the TN crowd and Slander that I was in Windrock with. Had pretty low expectations of wheeling because AOP, and it even didn't meet those because snot mud had zero traction and we just flailed for a couple days humping rocks. Had fun spending time with friends though.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #57
I put the Tacoma in the trailer for winter storage while I was working on the Subaru this fall. Punch list for spring isn't bad, but I do want to do a few things interior wise because I can.
-Mount and wire in a horn now that I have a good clock spring
-Install a new muffler that will hopefully last longer before rattling internally
-Rebuild the shifter/center console setup to get the floor off the shifters and tcases.
I've got lots of pondering to do on the shifters. I like the finished look of leather shift boots from the OEM bezel and I have a complete 02+ center console that I can play with accommodating the tcase shifters and retain maximal cup holders. The upholstered ammo can arm center console is also great...so I've got a lot to ponder whenever I take my junk out of the trailer this spring when the weather warms up.
Pictures of said Subaru that has mopped up most of my spare time this fall. Car has been in my family since new and I learned how to drive a stick on it and generally drove it daily when I was in HS, so it's got big emotional attachment for me. It's at 150k on the chassis and has had a miss the last couple of years that I hadn't been able to find a smoking gun for until I ran a compression test on #4 and found a dead hole. Car was completely bone stock and unmolested before it burned up an exhaust valve.
The car is a driver that will never be worth a ton, so I decided it was time to fully molest it and just build a complete forged engine with a stock location turbo, plus all supporting air, fuel, and oiling mods. Power goal is 500 crank HP and low 400's at the wheels without needing constant attention. I wanted to be able to give the keys to anyone and be able to road trip it anywhere while still being plenty track capable since we have a bunch of road courses around here. Should be a fun build to chase my Dad around in his 911 turbo around SW Wisconsin and East TN/West NC when we road trip it. It's been a huge learning curve, but I've learned that Subaru's are pretty much legos and there is a ton of information out there on do's an dont's.
Got the engine side of the program sorted out and broken in with a conservative tune ahead of winter. Hopefully hitting the rollers in the next couple of weeks for the final tune. No major issues aside from adding some heat shielding to the hot side of the turbo and rerouting a few fuel lines that I didn't like after coming back to them later.
I gave the paint a good cut and buff, then caught a set of coilovers on sale for black Friday. Trying to not be ignorantly low, but probably still went too low.
Stock:
On coil overs:
-Mount and wire in a horn now that I have a good clock spring
-Install a new muffler that will hopefully last longer before rattling internally
-Rebuild the shifter/center console setup to get the floor off the shifters and tcases.
I've got lots of pondering to do on the shifters. I like the finished look of leather shift boots from the OEM bezel and I have a complete 02+ center console that I can play with accommodating the tcase shifters and retain maximal cup holders. The upholstered ammo can arm center console is also great...so I've got a lot to ponder whenever I take my junk out of the trailer this spring when the weather warms up.
Pictures of said Subaru that has mopped up most of my spare time this fall. Car has been in my family since new and I learned how to drive a stick on it and generally drove it daily when I was in HS, so it's got big emotional attachment for me. It's at 150k on the chassis and has had a miss the last couple of years that I hadn't been able to find a smoking gun for until I ran a compression test on #4 and found a dead hole. Car was completely bone stock and unmolested before it burned up an exhaust valve.
The car is a driver that will never be worth a ton, so I decided it was time to fully molest it and just build a complete forged engine with a stock location turbo, plus all supporting air, fuel, and oiling mods. Power goal is 500 crank HP and low 400's at the wheels without needing constant attention. I wanted to be able to give the keys to anyone and be able to road trip it anywhere while still being plenty track capable since we have a bunch of road courses around here. Should be a fun build to chase my Dad around in his 911 turbo around SW Wisconsin and East TN/West NC when we road trip it. It's been a huge learning curve, but I've learned that Subaru's are pretty much legos and there is a ton of information out there on do's an dont's.
Got the engine side of the program sorted out and broken in with a conservative tune ahead of winter. Hopefully hitting the rollers in the next couple of weeks for the final tune. No major issues aside from adding some heat shielding to the hot side of the turbo and rerouting a few fuel lines that I didn't like after coming back to them later.
I gave the paint a good cut and buff, then caught a set of coilovers on sale for black Friday. Trying to not be ignorantly low, but probably still went too low.
Stock:
On coil overs:
Last edited:
Penetrode Offroad
Red Skull
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Messages
- 955
Nice. 
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #59
Caught a couple of nice weather days this week and started tinkering with a few things on the Tacoma for the new wheeling season.
I'd really wanted to revamp the trans/tcase tunnel. The rear case is hitting the floor and is annoying particularly with a passenger. I'd put in a temporary panel about 12 years ago and hacked at it as things kept hitting. So I pulled the vinyl floor out and just started cutting to start over fresh.
Then I wandered over to my pile of parts from the 02 Tacoma that I stole the front clip off and started pondering. The center console is the same color and fits well, it would also gain me an additional center console cupholder...
I liked where this was headed. So I'm going to swap out my old school upholstered ammo can for a normal Tacoma center console. The real question is if I spring for triple sticks and have to make a new shift boot for the main shift bezel, or stick with the single stick through a cupholder that can be trimmed out with an off the shelf shift boot grafted onto the console.
The cover started to take shape with rivnuts through the sheet metal for a good anchor point and easy serviceablity. Just have to pin down the shift arrangement before cutting holes.
I'd really wanted to revamp the trans/tcase tunnel. The rear case is hitting the floor and is annoying particularly with a passenger. I'd put in a temporary panel about 12 years ago and hacked at it as things kept hitting. So I pulled the vinyl floor out and just started cutting to start over fresh.
Then I wandered over to my pile of parts from the 02 Tacoma that I stole the front clip off and started pondering. The center console is the same color and fits well, it would also gain me an additional center console cupholder...
I liked where this was headed. So I'm going to swap out my old school upholstered ammo can for a normal Tacoma center console. The real question is if I spring for triple sticks and have to make a new shift boot for the main shift bezel, or stick with the single stick through a cupholder that can be trimmed out with an off the shelf shift boot grafted onto the console.
The cover started to take shape with rivnuts through the sheet metal for a good anchor point and easy serviceablity. Just have to pin down the shift arrangement before cutting holes.
Snowy
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #60
Fussed around with the Tacoma most of the day to get some odds and ends taken care of before shifters arrive.
Installed and wired in some BD S2 Pros for forward vision during night wheeling that shouldn’t blind anyone in front of me. I get the BD love now, the lights them selves, included harness with a relay and switch make for a great package. Upcycled an old fog light switch I had sitting around that snapped right into the center console.
Threw my smoke machine on the intake to check for any vacuum leaks. No particular reason to be looking, I just had the machine out checking for boost leaks on the Subaru.
Turns out that I had a bunch. Two on the intake tube, one vacuum cap had split, the EGR modulator and the throttle blade itself.
Easy to tighten up a couple clamps on the intake and put a new vacuum cap on. Swapped the EGR modulator with no change, so that’s interesting but I doubt I’ll do anything about it. And I’m not changing a throttle body so I’ll live with the throttle blade leaks
Added a map light integrated rear view mirror from the parts truck. It’ll be nice to have additional light options in the cab at night.
Replaced a stuck door open switch with another one from the parts truck. Felt jarring to hear a door chime for the first time literally ever. No dice from the dome light though. So I pulled it apart and cleaned the contacts to get it back working again. Super nice to have a working dome light when the door opens.
Turns out it was a good time to redo the floor. I’d actually worn a pretty good gouge into the rear case. Dropped the crossmember and power washed off a half inch of dirt combined with gear oil. Really don’t want to ever have a self sustaining fire. Then pulled the rear case to inspect the input shaft and do twin stick mods. Input still looked great with no fretting. Popped the pill out from between the shift rails and just ground the nub off the hi-lo fork without pulling the rails with a dremel. Reassembled with FIPG and everything shifts perfect. Threw fresh oil in both boxes for the first time in a couple years.
RADesigns says shifters will ship this week so I can get the center console side of things back moving again.
Installed and wired in some BD S2 Pros for forward vision during night wheeling that shouldn’t blind anyone in front of me. I get the BD love now, the lights them selves, included harness with a relay and switch make for a great package. Upcycled an old fog light switch I had sitting around that snapped right into the center console.
Threw my smoke machine on the intake to check for any vacuum leaks. No particular reason to be looking, I just had the machine out checking for boost leaks on the Subaru.
Turns out that I had a bunch. Two on the intake tube, one vacuum cap had split, the EGR modulator and the throttle blade itself.
Easy to tighten up a couple clamps on the intake and put a new vacuum cap on. Swapped the EGR modulator with no change, so that’s interesting but I doubt I’ll do anything about it. And I’m not changing a throttle body so I’ll live with the throttle blade leaks
Added a map light integrated rear view mirror from the parts truck. It’ll be nice to have additional light options in the cab at night.
Replaced a stuck door open switch with another one from the parts truck. Felt jarring to hear a door chime for the first time literally ever. No dice from the dome light though. So I pulled it apart and cleaned the contacts to get it back working again. Super nice to have a working dome light when the door opens.
Turns out it was a good time to redo the floor. I’d actually worn a pretty good gouge into the rear case. Dropped the crossmember and power washed off a half inch of dirt combined with gear oil. Really don’t want to ever have a self sustaining fire. Then pulled the rear case to inspect the input shaft and do twin stick mods. Input still looked great with no fretting. Popped the pill out from between the shift rails and just ground the nub off the hi-lo fork without pulling the rails with a dremel. Reassembled with FIPG and everything shifts perfect. Threw fresh oil in both boxes for the first time in a couple years.
RADesigns says shifters will ship this week so I can get the center console side of things back moving again.
