Tacoma 4500 build

[Boomtacoma01]

I saw somewhere that someone was making the clamps for the 2.5s. If I find it I'll post the link.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

I looked for a set for this 2.5 Ram and seems everyone only sells them for the 3.0 ones. They are also a lot more low profile and in hindsight I should have asked if one of the guys would make a set for a 2.5 Ram but oh well. Already to much money invested in these clamps. They’ll work and I have a plan to make some plates to capture the end of the Ram to keep it from sliding.

Thanks

gearhead fabworks

Steering Cylinder Clamps

American Iron offroad has 2.5"

Gearhead Fabworks Hydraulic Steering Ram Clamps

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Im hoping 2.5 is gtg as well. I am using that size on my build. It seems like a compromise. but my first time as well.

 

[Boomtacoma01]

I found a FBMP deal on the Hulse clamps so I had to buy 3" rams lol

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

I found a FBMP deal on the Hulse clamps so I had to buy 3" rams lol

yeh, not to derail but home i dont buy twice....his clamps are nearly what my ram costs. to go 3" i would be double what i have in my ram/mounts....

 

[DocRamsay]

Ugh. Thanks for the reminder that mine is sitting in the side yard and my wife is saying things like "it's like we have our own personal junkyard". Did you find that moving forced the build? She's been wanting a new house in a new yuppie neighborhood, they advertise that the garages are "EV Charging Ready!" which means I can just plug in the welders...

I've been building in reverse, built the axles/engine/trans/tcase first. I haven't quite cracked the frame dilemma, I guess going with the 2x3 and just saying fuckit to the stock frame is probably the smart way to go for something that's gonna get raced and beat like a $2 whore.

 

[Malburg114]

I saw somewhere that someone was making the clamps for the 2.5s. If I find it I'll post the link.

I saw the ones linked above and they’re just a little more than I’d want to spend. I got the clamps with the ram when I ordered so I’ll use them. I should be able to use atleast 3 if not all 4 clamps and with the groves for the clamps in the ram I don’t see them moving. I may en cooperate some plates that capture the end caps of the Ram but we will see. I was drawn to the hulse ones because the bottom part of the clamp welds to the housing making it fit closer to the housing but the others seem to be 3 pieces like psc’s

Im hoping 2.5 is gtg as well. I am using that size on my build. It seems like a compromise. but my first time as well.

For class rules I need a mechanical connection so using a steering servo and everything I’ve read and jr4x advised to use a 2.5 with the setup. Should still be better than just regular assist

 

[Malburg114]

Ugh. Thanks for the reminder that mine is sitting in the side yard and my wife is saying things like "it's like we have our own personal junkyard". Did you find that moving forced the build? She's been wanting a new house in a new yuppie neighborhood, they advertise that the garages are "EV Charging Ready!" which means I can just plug in the welders...

I've been building in reverse, built the axles/engine/trans/tcase first. I haven't quite cracked the frame dilemma, I guess going with the 2x3 and just saying fuckit to the stock frame is probably the smart way to go for something that's gonna get raced and beat like a $2 whore.

Mine said the same thing and i wasn’t allowed to buy anything else until we got married in June and I did something with this thing lol. Moving kind of helped lol. More of I got tired of it sitting in front of the house and there’s certain things I want to do to my other truck and rather than redoing a ton of things, I finally decided to start over lol

My hole house is offgrid and all my 220 stuff runs off a big diesel generator so I just have a wall of outlets everything’s plugged into 😂

The builds kind of snowballed. Original plan was to rob the axles, trans, tcase, shocks etc off my white truck to save money but I still wanted to be able to wheel so I just started ordering stuff as sales and things came for sale on marketplace. I also planned to use the stock frame atleast from the firewall to back wall but by the time I cleaned it, filled holes and boxed it, it just made sense to start fresh. The front frame section is .188 wall and since there’s a subframe under the cab frame, I used .120 wall there. The rear frame will either be .120 wall 2x3 or I’ll use 2 in round. Haven’t decided

 

[Malburg114]

Went out yesterday to mess with the ram mount more and decided it was a good idea to drop the ram on my foot. Not on purpose but my toes broke the fall and protected the ram clevis’ lol and in the process probably broke a toe. So my week off from work to do stuff around the house and work on this thing has turned into sitting on the couch as my foot barely fits in a shoe or boot. I’ll spare the pictures of my nasty foot and here’s a picture from trail hero of my other crawler hopefully tomorrow or Friday I can walk better and go back out in the garage

 

[DocRamsay]

Mine said the same thing and i wasn’t allowed to buy anything else until we got married in June and I did something with this thing lol. Moving kind of helped lol. More of I got tired of it sitting in front of the house and there’s certain things I want to do to my other truck and rather than redoing a ton of things, I finally decided to start over lol

My hole house is offgrid and all my 220 stuff runs off a big diesel generator so I just have a wall of outlets everything’s plugged into 😂

The builds kind of snowballed. Original plan was to rob the axles, trans, tcase, shocks etc off my white truck to save money but I still wanted to be able to wheel so I just started ordering stuff as sales and things came for sale on marketplace. I also planned to use the stock frame atleast from the firewall to back wall but by the time I cleaned it, filled holes and boxed it, it just made sense to start fresh. The front frame section is .188 wall and since there’s a subframe under the cab frame, I used .120 wall there. The rear frame will either be .120 wall 2x3 or I’ll use 2 in round. Haven’t decided

Mine started with the white lie of "I'll just do a quick leaf sprung yota SAS" and then I found a 4L80 for $20 on FBMP and temptation got the best of me. If I'm gonna SAS, I wanna run 40's, which would be mean to the yota axles so I should just go to tons, and the 4 squirrels in the 2RZ aren't gonna be happy, so if I'm gonna run tons and fodeez might as well drop an LS in, and I've always wanted to run a turboed LS, and we're already doing it, so oh well, here we are... I'm down to the final parts collection, for the price of DOM up here in Montana, it's probably cheaper to order a cage from TE Designs.

 

[Malburg114]

Mine started with the white lie of "I'll just do a quick leaf sprung yota SAS" and then I found a 4L80 for $20 on FBMP and temptation got the best of me. If I'm gonna SAS, I wanna run 40's, which would be mean to the yota axles so I should just go to tons, and the 4 squirrels in the 2RZ aren't gonna be happy, so if I'm gonna run tons and fodeez might as well drop an LS in, and I've always wanted to run a turboed LS, and we're already doing it, so oh well, here we are... I'm down to the final parts collection, for the price of DOM up here in Montana, it's probably cheaper to order a cage from TE Designs.

I saw the te designs cage and it’s nice. I can get a 20-24 ft stick of 2 in dom for about 200 dollars so I’m sure I should have just bought the te designs but I’m to cheap and would still need to add tubes and modify to work with my frame. I also really liked the jhf subframe and kind of wish I started with that but for the most part all the steel has been left over things from other projects.

 

[snivilous]

In regards to the clamps, my ram came with the two piece clamps that are supposed to bolt into something. I'm not a fan of that, so I welded the bottom part of the clamp and then tapped that part (I think for a 1/2" bolt?). I tacked it while bolted to the ram, and have to use a mallet to install the ram and a pry bar to remove it, she is an extremely tight fit. Now the bolts don't get loaded in shear so even if the bolts came loose it's not going to move or fall out. It's wickedly strong and stiff while using the hardware the ram came with. Food for thought.

EDIT: should mention these clamps index into grooves on the ram, the other options people mentioned might be for something else like if you're relying on friction to clamp a smooth ram which is not how these work.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

In regards to the clamps, my ram came with the two piece clamps that are supposed to bolt into something. I'm not a fan of that, so I welded the bottom part of the clamp and then tapped that part (I think for a 1/2" bolt?). I tacked it while bolted to the ram, and have to use a mallet to install the ram and a pry bar to remove it, she is an extremely tight fit. Now the bolts don't get loaded in shear so even if the bolts came loose it's not going to move or fall out. It's wickedly strong and stiff while using the hardware the ram came with. Food for thought.

2.5 ram?

 

[snivilous]

2.5 ram?

2.25, though I would apply the same logic to any mounting setup that uses the clamps that index into the ram.

On the topic of ram size, I know nothing, but I would probably try to run the largest diameter ram possible and the fastest orbital and whatever pump works for that. In the rocks I think the 2.25 ram can be hard to turn sometimes and I assume a larger ram is more force to fix that. And for going fast I started with a 3 turn orbital and realized a 2 turn (at a minimum, maybe even less than that would be nice) is a lot better to get that twitchy control so you can correct fast enough at speed. All things I've learned from my first hydro setup, but the welded/tapped clamps are one of the few things on my setup that has been perfect and I stand by

 

[chaplinfj60]

2.25, though I would apply the same logic to any mounting setup that uses the clamps that index into the ram.

On the topic of ram size, I know nothing, but I would probably try to run the largest diameter ram possible and the fastest orbital and whatever pump works for that. In the rocks I think the 2.25 ram can be hard to turn sometimes and I assume a larger ram is more force to fix that. And for going fast I started with a 3 turn orbital and realized a 2 turn (at a minimum, maybe even less than that would be nice) is a lot better to get that twitchy control so you can correct fast enough at speed. All things I've learned from my first hydro setup, but the welded/tapped clamps are one of the few things on my setup that has been perfect and I stand by

i was looking at them clamps and where did you get them at?

 

[snivilous]

i was looking at them clamps and where did you get them at?

I bought the full hydro kit from Howe and they were included. I don't see anything specific on the invoice, and their website shows rams with the clamps so I think it's just standard hardware with the ram, I don't know specifics.

EDIT: I put this edit in a previous post but will put it here too--- Should mention these clamps index into grooves on the ram, the other options people mentioned appear to be for smooth rams where you're relying on clamping friction to hold the ram.

 

[gt1guy]

I bought the full hydro kit from Howe and they were included. I don't see anything specific on the invoice, and their website shows rams with the clamps so I think it's just standard hardware with the ram, I don't know specifics.

EDIT: I put this edit in a previous post but will put it here too--- Should mention these clamps index into grooves on the ram, the other options people mentioned appear to be for smooth rams where you're relying on clamping friction to hold the ram.

When I bought my ram from Howe, it also came with the clamps. I also did the same as you and welded the lower clamp halves to the plate they sit on.

 

[Malburg114]

In regards to the clamps, my ram came with the two piece clamps that are supposed to bolt into something. I'm not a fan of that, so I welded the bottom part of the clamp and then tapped that part (I think for a 1/2" bolt?). I tacked it while bolted to the ram, and have to use a mallet to install the ram and a pry bar to remove it, she is an extremely tight fit. Now the bolts don't get loaded in shear so even if the bolts came loose it's not going to move or fall out. It's wickedly strong and stiff while using the hardware the ram came with. Food for thought.

EDIT: should mention these clamps index into grooves on the ram, the other options people mentioned might be for something else like if you're relying on friction to clamp a smooth ram which is not how these work.

The psc clamps are similar in there are in groves on the ram but it has a block that’s steel that’s tapped and you weld on while the actual clamp part is aluminum. Essentially 3 pieces. The block is about an inch tall and after staring at it all some, I can’t get it much lower without cutting into the actual housing which I have no intentions and I don’t want it to stick much farther forward as I feel I’ll catch it a lot like I do on my current truck. Psc gives the spacing for the holes so maybe I’ll trim the weld blocks some and on the plate I weld them to, I’ll drill a hole and tap it to match if I want it any closer.
What thickness is the plate under the weld blocks that you tapped?

Im hoping to make this steering box a 2 maybe 2.5 turn box vs the 3.25 or whatever it is now. I remember reading what all is needed to make a Saginaw box less turns but will have to go back and find the info.

 

[snivilous]

The psc clamps are similar in there are in groves on the ram but it has a block that’s steel that’s tapped and you weld on while the actual clamp part is aluminum. Essentially 3 pieces. The block is about an inch tall and after staring at it all some, I can’t get it much lower without cutting into the actual housing which I have no intentions and I don’t want it to stick much farther forward as I feel I’ll catch it a lot like I do on my current truck. Psc gives the spacing for the holes so maybe I’ll trim the weld blocks some and on the plate I weld them to, I’ll drill a hole and tap it to match if I want it any closer.
What thickness is the plate under the weld blocks that you tapped?

Im hoping to make this steering box a 2 maybe 2.5 turn box vs the 3.25 or whatever it is now. I remember reading what all is needed to make a Saginaw box less turns but will have to go back and find the info.

Okay similar but different. The Howe clamps only come with the top and bottom part of the clamp and both are steel and that's it. The bottom half of the clamp ships as a through hole but I tapped it and then welded it, so the clamp bolts thread directly into the bottom half of the clamp.

 

[Penetrode Offroad]

Mine said the same thing and i wasn’t allowed to buy anything else until we got married in June and I did something with this thing lol. Moving kind of helped lol. More of I got tired of it sitting in front of the house and there’s certain things I want to do to my other truck and rather than redoing a ton of things, I finally decided to start over lol

My hole house is offgrid

1. Question I got is are you gonna sell the crawler to recoup costs or keep everything? No I dont want to buy it, asking for the group.

2. Interesting. Care to share details?

 

[Malburg114]

1. Question I got is are you gonna sell the crawler to recoup costs or keep everything? No I dont want to buy it, asking for the group.

2. Interesting. Care to share details?

Not really sure what I’m going to do with the crawler. I’ll probably keep it and see how much I use. Not really sure how much I’ll actually race the new build. If it’s a lot I’ll keep the crawler as a dedicated trail car. If not maybe it’ll go to 35s or 37s and drive it to town and back and easy trails. But I also have a stock 89 pickup I daily to keep the miles off the ram and an 83 pickup on 35s that acts as a daily/dirt road pounder so not sure how many cars I actually need. I’m just kind of attached to it as it was my first car and my dad and I have built it from stock up.

I live in a small community in the mountains (about 100 homes, 50-75 residents depending on season) No power was ever ran to the community so we are all off grid. Have an hoa with a community well. They take care of the roads and trash and other things. My house is all on batteries and solar and generator for a backup. 110 stuff runs off the batteries. 220 is a pretty big draw and to keep from damaging the batteries, I run all my 220 stuff off a kubota lowboy 11k diesel generator. I have two. Both are auto start so I flip a switch for the one connected to the garage for 220 stuff and the other is on a controller that automatically kicks on if the house gets low. Pretty much like living in a regular house except for having to fill the diesel tank.

I have a bunch of machines and run them with no issues. Bridgeport, lathe, plasma table, welder etc. I’d love to have real power again but you get used to it. Eventually I’ll make the garage power system separate with its own batteries, inverter and solar or ideally buy another lot and build a real shop.

 

[Sean]

Not really sure what I’m going to do with the crawler. I’ll probably keep it and see how much I use. Not really sure how much I’ll actually race the new build. If it’s a lot I’ll keep the crawler as a dedicated trail car. If not maybe it’ll go to 35s or 37s and drive it to town and back and easy trails. But I also have a stock 89 pickup I daily to keep the miles off the ram and an 83 pickup on 35s that acts as a daily/dirt road pounder so not sure how many cars I actually need. I’m just kind of attached to it as it was my first car and my dad and I have built it from stock up.

I live in a small community in the mountains (about 100 homes, 50-75 residents depending on season) No power was ever ran to the community so we are all off grid. Have an hoa with a community well. They take care of the roads and trash and other things. My house is all on batteries and solar and generator for a backup. 110 stuff runs off the batteries. 220 is a pretty big draw and to keep from damaging the batteries, I run all my 220 stuff off a kubota lowboy 11k diesel generator. I have two. Both are auto start so I flip a switch for the one connected to the garage for 220 stuff and the other is on a controller that automatically kicks on if the house gets low. Pretty much like living in a regular house except for having to fill the diesel tank.

I have a bunch of machines and run them with no issues. Bridgeport, lathe, plasma table, welder etc. I’d love to have real power again but you get used to it. Eventually I’ll make the garage power system separate with its own batteries, inverter and solar or ideally buy another lot and build a real shop.

Sounds like heaven other than the HOA. 😉