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1986 XTRA Cab Truggy

As I kept playing with the 4-Link setup and making sure things were going to work something kept looking off to me. I finally got to the point that I started checking things out on the axle and I realized that the upper link mounts were pushed over to one side of the housing. I have no clue as to why, but I knew I didn't like it and after a few moments of cursing and a beer or two I got to work fixing it.

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After removing the flat bed and already having to, at a minimum, make a new one I decided that there was no longer any point to "hitting the easy button" as it were. As such I went ahead and cut off the frame and started working on doing a full tube back half. I'm also going to cut out that crossmember behind the t-case and shorten the wheelbase by about 6", should wind up at 109" or so. I borrowed a buddy's bender and had to relearn the process a bit since I hadn't bent any tube in quite some time. I kept it fairly simple and just went straight up from the sliders, leaving the midriff bulge of the cab vulnerable, and then kept it tight to the lines of the cab so that it wouldn't be sticking out too much. I just went straight across the top instead of adding more bends. It means the corners stick up a little but overall I'm happy with it. Eventually I'll add an exo-cage around the cab and lose the interior one. There is very little headroom currently, and almost non with a helmet on.

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I finished up the rear hoop and pulled it back off to fully weld and primer/paint (I only fully painted the side next to the cab). Then I removed that crossmember and got to work cleaning the frame up so that I could tack the link mounts in place. I plated the bottom of the frame rails but I think when I pull the link mounts back off to weld them fully together I'm also going to plate the inside of the frame rails. The frame material is pretty thin so I was to beef up the area where the link mount is. I'm going to start on the rear "bed" area and upper shock mounts next. Bed will be about 40" long, which will let me fit my fuel cell against the hoop and my tool box at the back with a larger enough storage area between the two for my cooler and other stuff.

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Been working on the rear bed area and shock mounts the last 2 or 3 days with KOH streaming in the back ground. Sometimes I swear I spend half a day just figuring out 1 tube, but its starting to get there.

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I added the last of the support tubes to the passenger side. The two tubes meeting the upper shock mount and hard to see is one going from the hoop/slider connection back to the frame rail. Once I copy that last tube onto the driver side I can finally start making my crossmembers and mounting points along the "floor" of the bed area to mount my fuel cell, tool box, etc.
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Looks good. I was going to do two bars from the outer hoop back to the bed rails like you did but opted to triangulate the lower all the way down from the shock mount to better support where all the suspension load is being transferred.
 
Dang your truck is coming along great! The tube work and 4 link look awesome. Maybe I missed it but how long are your links and what did you use for link material?
 
Thanks! The links are 36" lower, 37" uppers, and made from aluminum. I got them from the Flop Shop in Denver.
 
Managed to sneak into the garage long enough to finish welding all of the tubes up to the upper shock mount. I also got my fuel cell mount and fuel pump mount burned in.
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Mr Stubs said:
I remember having one of those stupid things... I was glad to have sold it at a loss...
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The ebrake or the crossmember?

I like the crossmember as long as it grabs the stock mounts also. Just grabbing the rear housing doesn't work well.

That and it needs a separate frame mounted skid plate
 
Mr Stubs said:
You want that rear shock to be perpendicular (creating a 90* angle from axle to shock, like a __|) at full stuff.
Click to expand...

If you look at the later pictures it is.

E-Brake will hopefully hold me over until I can swap in my AW4/D300 combo.
 
Mr Stubs said:
What pick was that? That was the only full stuff pick I seen.
Click to expand...

Post #34, the one showing the clearance with the tire. Its full stuff on the tire side, fool droop on the other side. The one you quoted was when the truck still had the flat bed and a stock frame behind past the cab. That was sooo like 3 weeks ago LOL
 
I got the bed area mostly finished up today. I need to figure out if I'm going to do a drop down tailgate or just add some tabs and bolt a rear panel on for taillights and the license plate.


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I guess I'll re-recap lol.

The Toyota build was put on a complete pause last year when my wife and I made the decision to move east of Denver onto a small acreage. I made the truck a roller and then hauled it up to a friend's house up near Cheyenne.
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That was arpund August of '21. We weren't able to get moved into the new house until Thankgsgiving week, and the barn didn't go up until March time frame. That gave my friend who was storing it plenty of time to remove the interior cage and knockout an exo-cage for me before I finally made it up there to retrieve it.

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Then I pretty much waited all summer for doors on the barn and to get power ran out to the barn. By this time I had decided it wasn't worth converting my Dana 60 front to 6-lug just to keep a semi-float 9" and that the 9" was better off getting sold. That resulted in the Toyota becoming a hover car again while I sold a bunch of stuff off, ran lights and wiring throughout the barn, and got highly distracted by my new daily driver/mild wheeler.

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The 2015 JK "Willys Wheeler" I told my wife I wouldn't modify.... much. :D
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I have started slowly working on the Toyota though, with a goal of getting it back onto trails by the end of the summer. I started pulling apart the front Dana 60 I had acquired a while back. I also picked up a rear Dana 60 for basically nothing, then a rear Dana 70 that turned out to be a useless 3.07 HD unit, and now I should be picking up a 14 bolt tomorrow. :shaking: I've since learned about the unique housing for 3.07 geared Dana 60's and 70's and that the spindle boring tool Yukon sells (and I now own, thankfully used and cheaper) doesn't work on Dodge rear Dana 60's as they use smaller 1 13/16" (1.820") diameter spindle nuts and the tool is designed for spindles that use a 1.940" diameter spindle nut. With my luck this 14 bolt I'm picking up will be some odd-ball unit as well.

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I do have a good stash of parts going for the front. I've got my double ended ram, some Yukon hardcore lockouts in 35-spline, a Goatbuilt universal DE Ram mount, and a new front spring hanger crossmember for the wider spring width on it.

This morning I cut the front frame rails off just behind the steering box mount. This seemed like the simplest way for me to rework the front end for the new spring hangers. The bumper, spring hangers, body mounts, etc were all crazy welded together and not evenly spaced from the shackle mounts. The driver side spring hole was a good 1/2" further forward than the passenger side one. I'll uses some sqaure tubing to make new frame rails, add the crossmember in, and then figure out a new winch mount/bumper that will hopefully be a lot tidier looking and provide a better approach angle.

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I started on my new front frame section and spring hangers today.
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I need to pick up some 1 1/4" tubing so that I can tie the shock hoops into the frame rails forward of the splice. I also need to cut out filler plates for the bottom of the frame rails where they hang down below the new square tubing. Then its onto making new front body mounts, a winch mount, and bumper.

I also picked up this crusty old 14 bolt tonight. I has some old brackets to cut off and its more than just a little rusty, but for $100 I can put some extra elbow grease into it.

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