1986 XTRA Cab Truggy

[DutchVDub]

Over the summer I gave up on building a full tube buggy and wound up trading the chassis and some parts for this 1986 XTRA Cab with a flat bed. It was pretty well setup with Alcan springs, Sky's Offroad SAS, HP front third, 5.29's/ARB's front/rear, 30-Spline Longs up front, what I believe is a 4xInnovations interior cage, Marlin dual cases with 4.7 main, PSC assist, winch, and 37's on steel wheels.

I met the guy about halfway and then as soon as I got home I loaded it up to go do some mild wheeling and camping.

 

[DutchVDub]

I met up with a buddy who had just finished up a 3 year long build on his Early Bronco. Its stretched, on coilovers front/rear, caged, and fuel injected now along with a bunch of other neat little tricks. This was basically a shakedown run for both of us and both rigs did great w/o any real issues.

 

[DutchVDub]

The one thing I had noticed on that trip is that the E2000 external fuel pump mounted down on the frame rail didn't seem too happy having to pull fuel up and then back down to itself. Between that and needing an emissions test (requiring a proper filler neck) I made a few changes. I started out by building a pseudo headache rack for the flat bed. I then used a remote reservoir shock mount to move the fuel pump closer to the tank. After that I finished it up by mounting a filler to the headache rack. In the end the pump seems much happier and the enviro-nazis gave me the pass.

 

[DutchVDub]

Everything seemed all nice and happy in the Toyota world after that. I quickly welded up some little tie-down brackets on the rear axle in time for another trip on a more challenging (though still fairly moderate) trail where the Toyota once again performed perfectly. I was finally ready to just let my wheeler be and focus on my CJ6 diesel project when FB Marketplace popped its little head in and ruined it all. I scored a silly smoking deal on a set of 4 aluminum bead locks with decent tread Nitto K-Spec stickies that I couldn't turn down. SMH, time to go down the rabbit hole lol.

 

[DutchVDub]

With a trip to Penrose, CO to run Indy/Patriot/Liberty trails I decided I should probably go through and do some checks/maintenance on the truggy. I pulled the front axle apart and verified that the ARB and gears were in good shape, also verified that it did indeed have 30 spline Longfields in it. I added some harnesses, made the doors removable and converted them to manual windows so as to prevent caving them in. I also added some roll bar padding, retorqued and locktited the studs into the hubs and knuckles, replaced some worn TRE's, installed chromo inner hub gears, and other little things. Penrose isn't necessarily full buggy rated, but it is up there and now I was running arguably way too big of a tire for the Toyota axles so I wanted to make sure everything was tight and in good shape.

I literally got it all slammed back together the night we were heading down. I just set up my sleeping pad in the bed of the truck and woke up to a nice sunset with my pretty little truggy looking over me.

 

[DutchVDub]

The next morning after some instant coffee thanks to my Jetboil I unloaded the truggy and pulled the doors. Then we just kind of bs'd while waiting on a buddy to show up with his buggy. Once he arrived we dropped into Indy and the fun began.

 

[DutchVDub]

Dropping down Bunker Hill

 

[DutchVDub]

After Mike showed me the line it was my turn to climb the exit out of Patriot.

 

[DutchVDub]

Finishing the exit

 

[DutchVDub]

All in all the truggy did awesome. It climbed all the technical sections and worked its way through the trails with little interference from me. It pretty much just creeped its way along. The buggies could go much faster between the obstacles than I could, but I never really slowed them down as it was just making continual and steady progress.

After the climb out of Patriot they wanted to drop in and run it backwards. I opted to ride in the XJ based buggy as I didn't feel a need to just bash the Yota like that after such a win. We then pulled back around to grab it, had lunch, and then dropped back into Indy so we could go out Liberty. The trip was great and the little Yota impressed all. Not to say it didn't make it out completely unscathed. The second time down Bunker Hill I was too far left and scraped the cab a little. I also got some rash on the bumper corners, my flat bed, sliders, and even a little bit on the driver side fiberglass fender. Oh yeah, and somehow I still managed to bang the tiny front diff on a rock despite having about a mile under it with 40's. Overall though it was awesome and just an overall fun trip.

The truggy definitely proved itself and I was able to identify a few things I wanted to fix/address. The first thing was brakes. It has vented front rotors and a V6 master, but still the 12+8 front calipers and drums out back. I literally could not stall it out in double low dropping down the bigger rocks. As such I have ordered new rotors for the front (worn anyway), 12W V6 front calipers w/ pads, an FJ master cylinder, TG budget rear disc conversion, and stock solid axle front pads/rotors/calipers for the rear.

The other thing was axle width and steering, or lack there of. The steering stops on this thing are extended out over 5/8" over what my buddie's stock 83 has, probably to keep things from rubbing. It also came with 3" spacers on each side up front. Even with 4.5" BS wheels this makes for some cruddy steering angles. As such I've got a TG +5 housing on the way that'll keep my width where its at but let me lose the spacers. I'm hoping this lets me adjust the stops in significantly and helps in the turning radius department. I do also have a set of 1.5" spacers for the front that will help push it out to 64"+ WMS for a little extra stability. To round out the front axle I'm replacing my Marlin Crawler high steer arms with FROR keyed ones that have the larger pins, 25mm bearings, and beefed up bottom caps. I'm also replacing all of the knuckle and hub studs with ARP's. So now its torn back apart in the garage as I await parts and hopefully a trip out to Moab at the end of the month as well as hitting BV Carnage when my buddy gets back from his deployment.

 

[DutchVDub]

Here is how it sits as of last night. I've got it mostly torn down. I decided to also pull/inspect the rear third member since I had the shafts out anyways. Of course I lost some urgency thanks to FROR emailing me a few days after I placed the order that the steering arms w/ 25mm bearing wouldn't be ready until Oct 15. That already kills one trip. I really don't feeling like assembling everything just to have to redo it all again once they show up, but maybe that'll happen regardless.

 

[Aisin]

All in all the truggy did awesome. It climbed all the technical sections and worked its way through the trails with little interference from me. It pretty much just creeped its way along. The buggies could go much faster between the obstacles than I could, but I never really slowed them down as it was just making continual and steady progress.

After the climb out of Patriot they wanted to drop in and run it backwards. I opted to ride in the XJ based buggy as I didn't feel a need to just bash the Yota like that after such a win. We then pulled back around to grab it, had lunch, and then dropped back into Indy so we could go out Liberty. The trip was great and the little Yota impressed all. Not to say it didn't make it out completely unscathed. The second time down Bunker Hill I was too far left and scraped the cab a little. I also got some rash on the bumper corners, my flat bed, sliders, and even a little bit on the driver side fiberglass fender. Oh yeah, and somehow I still managed to bang the tiny front diff on a rock despite having about a mile under it with 40's. Overall though it was awesome and just an overall fun trip.

The truggy definitely proved itself and I was able to identify a few things I wanted to fix/address. The first thing was brakes. It has vented front rotors and a V6 master, but still the 12+8 front calipers and drums out back. I literally could not stall it out in double low dropping down the bigger rocks. As such I have ordered new rotors for the front (worn anyway), 12W V6 front calipers w/ pads, an FJ master cylinder, TG budget rear disc conversion, and stock solid axle front pads/rotors/calipers for the rear.

The other thing was axle width and steering, or lack there of. The steering stops on this thing are extended out over 5/8" over what my buddie's stock 83 has, probably to keep things from rubbing. It also came with 3" spacers on each side up front. Even with 4.5" BS wheels this makes for some cruddy steering angles. As such I've got a TG +5 housing on the way that'll keep my width where its at but let me lose the spacers. I'm hoping this lets me adjust the stops in significantly and helps in the turning radius department. I do also have a set of 1.5" spacers for the front that will help push it out to 64"+ WMS for a little extra stability. To round out the front axle I'm replacing my Marlin Crawler high steer arms with FROR keyed ones that have the larger pins, 25mm bearings, and beefed up bottom caps. I'm also replacing all of the knuckle and hub studs with ARP's. So now its torn back apart in the garage as I await parts and hopefully a trip out to Moab at the end of the month as well as hitting BV Carnage when my buddy gets back from his deployment.

You would be ignorant to think you’ll stop a rig in double low with 4.7s in the rear case. If you wanted better brakes you should have stuck with drums. With the front calipers in the rear you will have to double pump your brakes on the trail to get a pedal.

 

[DutchVDub]

You would be ignorant to think you’ll stop a rig in double low with 4.7s in the rear case. If you wanted better brakes you should have stuck with drums. With the front calipers in the rear you will have to double pump your brakes on the trail to get a pedal.

Having owned my fair share of XJ's I'm pretty used to cruddy brakes with big tires. The brakes weren't working worth a damn in neutral either and are pretty worn out overall. As for keeping drums, I think you're the first person I've ever had say that regardless of platform outside of the Willy's purists.

The FJ80 master that I'm installing is a factory 4 wheel disc unit with built in residual valves so I shouldn't need to double pump my brakes. I did a bunch of reading and it seemed like most people run the FJ80 master, V6 equal sized 4 piston calipers and FJ40/60 vented rotors up front, and the early 80's solid axle calipers and solid rotors out back. Hopefully it works well, but either way my brakes were shot and needed to be gone through. The only other ingredient I seem to be missing from what is common would be the larger Turbo model brake booster.

 

[GGRR 4555]

The next morning after some instant coffee thanks to my Jetboil I unloaded the truggy and pulled the doors. Then we just kind of bs'd while waiting on a buddy to show up with his buggy. Once he arrived we dropped into Indy and the fun began.

Where was this trail? Where are you based out of?

 

[DutchVDub]

Where was this trail? Where are you based out of?

I’m in northern Colorado. The Independence trail system is down southwest of Colorado Springs.

 

[chaplinfj60]

lookin good

 

[DutchVDub]

Bit late of an update but I did get everything swapped over. The new TG +5 housing showed up quickly. I took all of my wheels/tires to work and used the big tire machine to dismount them so that I could flip the tires around and get the better tread on the outside. I also got the brakes installed on the rear axle, rebent the brake lines, and added a little weld on pumpkin guard. One of my stock rear shafts was bent at the flange so I swapped it out with another one. I have since ordered some Yukon rear shafts and will be installing those at some point for extra peace of mind.

I am having some issues with the disc brake conversion out back I need to sort through, and I definitely want to add a parking brake back in. I'll probably do a t-case mounted one, but I'm not sure yet.

 

[DutchVDub]

Up front I got the TG housing installed with the new inner shafts. I tore apart the 10+ year old OG Longfield birfields to clean/inspect them and they looked great still. The keyed steering arms with 25mm trunion bearing pins were worth the wait. They installed super nice and between those and the ARP studs I'm pretty confident that I won't have issues with my steering arms or the knuckle bearings. I did keep 1.5" spacers (had 3" spacers with the stock housing) but the steering angle is much improved and nothing rubs up front when flexed and full lock. I did add steering stops back on after these pics and have them set at right when the TG Trail Safe wiper seals make contact with the axle tube. I unfortunately don't have any pics of it on the trail as I didn't take any, but other than some quirks with my brakes and all of my bead lock ring bolts coming loose everything seemed to work well. I do want to shorten the WB a bit and probably ditch the internal cage for an exo cage. Rework the flat bed at the same time, possibly link the rear, yadda yadda yadda. You know how it goes. It just never ends.

 

[chaplinfj60]

Bit late of an update but I did get everything swapped over. The new TG +5 housing showed up quickly. I took all of my wheels/tires to work and used the big tire machine to dismount them so that I could flip the tires around and get the better tread on the outside. I also got the brakes installed on the rear axle, rebent the brake lines, and added a little weld on pumpkin guard. One of my stock rear shafts was bent at the flange so I swapped it out with another one. I have since ordered some Yukon rear shafts and will be installing those at some point for extra peace of mind.

I am having some issues with the disc brake conversion out back I need to sort through, and I definitely want to add a parking brake back in. I'll probably do a t-case mounted one, but I'm not sure yet.

Corona madness results in transfer case Ebrake its thread i am following also.

check out this simple solution to your ebrake

 

[DutchVDub]

Well, I hooked up my power bleeder and bled/flushed the entire brake system again. Then I went on a trip and the good news is that the brakes seem to be working great. The bad news is on the second obstacle I grenaded the rear ring and pinion. I'll toss new gars in it for now, but I'm going fabricated 9" this spring.

 

[DutchVDub]

Definitely found the source of that loud “POP” when I slid back off that ledge.

 

[Hodgiemoto]

I tried the TG economy kit as well and as others have stated as soon as you hit the rocks the axle deflects enough to push the calipers apart and wham no brakes without pumping them. This is because they are non-floating. It was unacceptable to me as I was hitting the con the next day. I'm curious if you were able to solve that problem. I ended up going back to drums and e-brake.

 

[DutchVDub]

After using my power bleeder to push the last of the air out I believe so. I read about that issue as well (after doing the swap of course, never came up before 🙄) but I don’t think that’s happening with mine. I did replace the axle bearings when I did the swap too though, so that might help. Also with a built in residual valve you’d think that 2psi of pressure would be enough to keep the pads close to the rotors even if there was a little bit of movement. We should be talking thousandths here, not drastic amounts.

Regardless I’m picking up a fabricated 9” this week so it should be a moot point for me.

 

[DutchVDub]

This was an expensive regear package. TrailGear 9" housing, all yukon thirdmember with 35 spline spool, Nitro axle shafts, Wilwood brakes, and 6 lug.

Its 68" wide WMS so just under 4" wider than my TG front as measured. It'll be kind of goofy at first but I also have a GM D60 front axle I'll build up and swap in later. I just need to order some brackets, joints, and tubing. Then I can try my hand at linking the rear with some 16" Radflo air shocks I got as part of a parts trading deal.

 

[DutchVDub]

Not a lot of updates with my wife returning from deployment, the subsequent family trips, plus the holidays. I did finally manage to sneak some garage time in. I got the rear axle and suspension ripped out of the truck so that I can start mocking up the rear 4-link. I'm going to try to keep the flat bed for now, but if it get in the way I'll cut it off and do something even more minimal. I also cut apart a Sky's t-case e-brake mount so that it'll work with my FROR crossmember. Basically just had to make the spacing 3/8" narrower.

All of my heim joints and brackets showed up from Barnes, and my new gears and Toyota drive flange for the 9" showed up from Summit as well. I'm hoping to get a couple of days this weekend to make some more progress.

 

[DutchVDub]

Finished pic of the Sky's Offroad Parking brake mounted up with my FROR crossmember.

 

[DutchVDub]

I started on my 4-link yesterday. I placed the Barnes frame mount just under the cab and up against where that crossmember sits on the frame. I then just made the lower links the correct length to keep my wheelbase the same as before.

I was going to try to keep the air shocks under the bed, but that wasn't going to work. I unbolted the center section of the bed surface to make more room for it.

 

[DutchVDub]

Going off of the existing axle mounts and using the previous WB as the set point my links wound up being 36" eye to eye on the lowers and 37" eye to eye on the uppers. I set the shock for 6" of exposed shaft at ride height with a 10* forward and 10* inward lean. Right now everything seems to clear fine but I do need to get the tire mounted up and check for clearance there. I might also move the upper shock mount in a little more to keep it from going past 90* in relation to the axle at full stuff/flex. Right now I'm getting tired of fighting PVC links and am taking a break lol.

Pinion angle seems ok through the travel, although it does point down 5* at full compression I think the joint will be fine. It points up about 10* at full droop and is set at 3* at ride height to "match" the t-case output. I'm sure you can see that there is a little bit of flex steer at full flex but it doesn't seem too bad. Unfortunately the only way to make the links longer would be to really cut into that crossmember, or remove it entirely and build a new one. Thoughts or advice?

 

[DutchVDub]

More pictures. The last picture is frame to shock clearance with the axle fully flexed, shock side at full droop and other side at full stuff.

 

[DutchVDub]

I suspected that my jack stand placement had partially unloaded the front suspension, making the truggy sit up higher than normal, but since I’m a cut twice measure once kind of guy I wasn’t sure. So thanks to some sketchy hi-lift, motorcycle jack, and jack stand rearranging I got the frame sitting at its actual ride height and sitting almost level. This brought the rear axle up higher in relation to the frame and with some more trial fitting the existing flat bed just wasn't going to work, so off it came.