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Ray Charles Tacoma build

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I'm well aware of wheeling a long wheelbase. 147" 🤣
oof, Im at 128" and its almost to long for some of the JV trails. That body would not last long out there lol
 
Funny how some guys still care so much about looks in a rock crawler. Function over form :flipoff2:
Function = being able to carry all my shit to and from the trail, and to and from home Depot.





And not looking dumb with a tiny bed:flipoff2:
 
Function = being able to carry all my shit to and from the trail, and to and from home Depot.





And not looking dumb with a tiny bed:flipoff2:
I used to have to carry all my shit to the trail and all my buddies shit, now I only have room for mine lol
 
I used to have to carry all my shit to the trail and all my buddies shit, now I only have room for mine lol
:laughing:

All my friends have tow rigs so they get the "fuck off carry your own shit":laughing:! I used to carry a shit ton of spares, but now I just put my wife on call to run me parts to the offroad park if it's within 4hrs of the house. Still not bobbing the bed :laughing:
 
:laughing:

All my friends have tow rigs so they get the "fuck off carry your own shit":laughing:! I used to carry a shit ton of spares, but now I just put my wife on call to run me parts to the offroad park if it's within 4hrs of the house. Still not bobbing the bed :laughing:
:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:
 
Any update on the Eco crawler? Buddy of mine is building an 04 double cab with one tons and I'm trying to talk him into doing the exact same setup keep it simple not have to cut the floor too bad
 
Any update on the Eco crawler? Buddy of mine is building an 04 double cab with one tons and I'm trying to talk him into doing the exact same setup keep it simple not have to cut the floor too bad
I have a couple trips on it now and have been pretty happy with it, it works really well with the auto and 5.38 gears. I haven't found myself needing anything lower gear wise. The install was fairly straightforward to. Your buddy should be able to clock it lower and not touch the floor I just opted to try and get it as close to flat belly as I could. I also have my motor raised up so that didn't help
 
I have a couple trips on it now and have been pretty happy with it, it works really well with the auto and 5.38 gears. I haven't found myself needing anything lower gear wise. The install was fairly straightforward to. Your buddy should be able to clock it lower and not touch the floor I just opted to try and get it as close to flat belly as I could. I also have my motor raised up so that didn't help

Gotcha, I figured gearing wise it would be great with the auto. We were talking over about every option, 4spd atlas, eco crawler to NP205, taco box ect. I told him the taco box is a waste of money with what other options are available these days, the other 2 options are great, but more expensive and more involved with lots of floor cutting. This seems like best all around option for a trail rig.
 
Gotcha, I figured gearing wise it would be great with the auto. We were talking over about every option, 4spd atlas, eco crawler to NP205, taco box ect. I told him the taco box is a waste of money with what other options are available these days, the other 2 options are great, but more expensive and more involved with lots of floor cutting. This seems like best all around option for a trail rig.
I went for the eco box because for the price it seems to be the strongest best bang for your buck. The chain driven cases on these trucks are still fairly cheap so you just need to find a Jshift donor case and your golden. It defintely was easier to assemble vs standard Toyota Duals.

The other thing with an atlas is you have to run a high pinion front axle if your doing a 4 speed with the taco otherwise your driveshaft binds at droop. I haven't heard much feedback on guys running 2spds in tacos but I know a guy that had issues with a low pinion front axle and 4spd atlas
 
I went for the eco box because for the price it seems to be the strongest best bang for your buck. The chain driven cases on these trucks are still fairly cheap so you just need to find a Jshift donor case and your golden. It defintely was easier to assemble vs standard Toyota Duals.

Interesting, I figured it would be harder than gear drive duals.

The other thing with an atlas is you have to run a high pinion front axle if your doing a 4 speed with the taco otherwise your driveshaft binds at droop. I haven't heard much feedback on guys running 2spds in tacos but I know a guy that had issues with a low pinion front axle and 4spd atlas

My buddy is having that issue currently. He put a pass drop chevy and gear drive cases in it like a dope. Few years later he orders a 4 speed atlas. Even with a fancy cv from high angle, it's still an issue. You're almost better with a 2 speed atlas and a black box or whatever to push the case back a little.

That dude with the silver double cab and red wheels is the only taco I've seen do a 2 speed. He clocked it waaaaaaay down, like he called aa to make sure it was ok far down. He said it works fine, but I would never do it.


The other option that would be cool if you wanted extra beef is that eco crawler to NP205, but that's serious floor cutting and with how hard they are to find. It's nearing 4speed atlas cost by the time you get it in there and working.
 
Interesting, I figured it would be harder than gear drive duals.



My buddy is having that issue currently. He put a pass drop chevy and gear drive cases in it like a dope. Few years later he orders a 4 speed atlas. Even with a fancy cv from high angle, it's still an issue. You're almost better with a 2 speed atlas and a black box or whatever to push the case back a little.

That dude with the silver double cab and red wheels is the only taco I've seen do a 2 speed. He clocked it waaaaaaay down, like he called aa to make sure it was ok far down. He said it works fine, but I would never do it.


The other option that would be cool if you wanted extra beef is that eco crawler to NP205, but that's serious floor cutting and with how hard they are to find. It's nearing 4speed atlas cost by the time you get it in there and working.
The donor case gets split and you swap out an input shaft then you take that input you pulled and throw it in the NWF case if I remember the steps. There are no bearings that need to get pressed on or anything so its pretty straightforward.

the 205 option is cool but seems harder to find parts for, I like how easy it is to find a Jshift case in a junkyard if I were ever to crack a housing on the case or something. The planetary gears are just huge to vs tiny toyota 4.7s
 
The donor case gets split and you swap out an input shaft then you take that input you pulled and throw it in the NWF case if I remember the steps. There are no bearings that need to get pressed on or anything so its pretty straightforward.

the 205 option is cool but seems harder to find parts for, I like how easy it is to find a Jshift case in a junkyard if I were ever to crack a housing on the case or something. The planetary gears are just huge to vs tiny toyota 4.7s

I agree. I wanted a 205 and was finding them for $800-1000 :eek: they used to be $100 for whatever flavor you wanted, and before the 203/205 doubler gained popularity they were probably scraped :homer:

Then you have to rebuild it, buy Toyota flanged, buy shifters, figure out a speed sensor, ect. May as well just get an atlas.

I also think the stripped input reputation on the VF2 cases is from guys running 4.7s and a manual in front of them. I'd think just 2.52 in front should make them last.

There is also the option to go with a newer VF4, but I'm not sure if they're stronger or not?
 
Honestly the eco box to Toyota J shift is the way to go or atlas. 205s are great super strong but they are heavy as fuck and are big to package plus you can’t find them easy anymore. Same with the Dana 300 it’s just a dinosaur now a days. I don’t see the point of going backwards to gear driven Toyota cases either especially since it’s 2 adapters needed
 
Honestly the eco box to Toyota J shift is the way to go or atlas. 205s are great super strong but they are heavy as fuck and are big to package plus you can’t find them easy anymore. Same with the Dana 300 it’s just a dinosaur now a days. I don’t see the point of going backwards to gear driven Toyota cases either especially since it’s 2 adapters needed

Agree, although the 205 is only about 35 lbs heavier than an atlas. So not exactly a killer in a full body rig.

If they were still all over for $100, I'd say it would be a no brainer behind an eco crawler if you want super beef, front dig and a true 4 speed vs basically a 3 speed.
 
i support eco or magnum with 205. great options for gearig. with a clocking ring 205 is flat so there is that but its huge for sure. but love the strength. and if you find a ford case it got 32 spines out puts front and rear. if you get a chevy case, get a ford case and swap out puts. in that respect its a bit cheaper. but can be hard to find in different areas of the country.
 
@pedaltodd came over and helped me bang out a quick bumper, threw a buncha toob at it and boxed the factory C channel frame while I was in there. Gonna just use soft shackles so didn't throw big D rings on this one. Also got to check Susan for how much droop she’s pulling after Todd added air bumps and redid shocks. Full 14” of travel being used
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that bumper will piss you off. you will no longer hear it smashing on rocks as you decent ledges.

looks cool by te way. :grinpimp::grinpimp:
I am pretty excited to see how it wheels now that I wont be catching it on everything, I can also back up easier now without slamming into the rear end every obstacle
 
Are those knife tires the green label?
Ya they are the Atturo trail blade boss stickies, Todd got them from our ultra 4 buddy and they seem to be doing pretty well now that they are breaking in. I think he's got like 4-5 trips on them now
 
Ya they are the Atturo trail blade boss stickies, Todd got them from our ultra 4 buddy and they seem to be doing pretty well now that they are breaking in. I think he's got like 4-5 trips on them now
id love to find a set used
 
JV recap, went out for my birthday to wheel with some good buddies.

Day 1: Towed through Tehachapi and it was so icy they were slowing traffic and people were sliding into each other at the gas pumps. Made it out to our air bnb then drove the desert out to the lake bed to hit sledge. Didn't even get up the first rock before my ARB compressor started leaking out of the solenoid. I pulled the solenoids and plumbed the air line directly into the compressor bypassing the solenoid and that worked. I made it up plaque rock first try which was cool since last time I hung up on the bed. The bed bob made a night and day difference in my wheeling. Got up to the middle of the trail and did a slow flop trying to play around with my low range and tipping points. Made it out of that and then broke a front driveshaft ujoint on the last obstacle. Had to get towed out of the rest of the trail in 2wd with Colin pulling me up waterfalls and Todd pushing me from behind. Got back to camp, slapped in a spare u joint that night and was ready for more action the next day
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Day 2 we ran hells gate, devils slide, sunbonnet, highway 19 + 20, then backdoor

I had no issues until I got silly on Sunbonnet and laid it on its side. Thought I would hit a pivot rock and that would stop me but overshot it lol

Our buddy Jeremy finally made backdoor in his rock lizzard buggy which was awesome, it was his first time making it after yrs of attempts

We went to leave and I noticed a weird vibration in the rear, ended up bending my drive shaft again so I had to pull it and drive the desert home in front wheel drive
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Nice! Do you have any pics on how you got the psc ps pump mounted on your 3.4? Are you using the tg bracket? I have one and I can't figure it out just by looking at it, which isn't saying much:lmao:
 
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