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LT 4x4 04 double cab

155K views 584 replies 87 participants last post by  socalmoto 
#1 · (Edited)

my first truck


my new truck

I had orginally bought a tacoma xtra cab prerunner (my first truck) thinking I'd never really drive offroad and would never need 4wd. After getting the truck I actually took it offroad and loved it. I built a pretty ghetto bolt on bumper for it and made it mid travel up front but the 2wd wasn't cutting it rock crawling. I traded that truck in and got a 4wd double cab. I got a double cab because I always read about people selling their 2 door trucks when they had a family and need to fit a child seat in and what not, plus its cool having friends along.

My goal is to have a sweet ass truck that I can offroad on trails and in the dunes but still be functional because it is my DD and I use the bed frequently for work. Anyway, here are my plans for the truck...


Suspension-
Front:
Camburg LT kit , Custom Upper Arm
Fox 2.5 x10" Dual Rate Coilovers, shortened to 8" stroke
Fox 2.5 10" Triple Bypasses, shortened to 8" stroke
Fox 2.0 x 2.5" Bumpstops, shortened to 2" stroke

Rear:
Ford 9" Full Floater. Cone Hubs
(31 spline, detroit locker, 5.29 gears,seal #417349, o-ring 2-223 2-243)
Willwood Ulta-Lite calipers, .81 x 12.188 Rotors
All Pro 50T Pack w/ 12" Richer Racing shackles
Fox 2.5 x 16" triple bypass with custom layout (Outboard of Frame)
Fox 2.0 x 4" Bumpstops, shortened to 3" stroke

Fabrication-
Bumper
Front Diff Mount Protective Crossmember
Hitch
Front diff Skid
Engine Cage
Roll Cage
Boxed in Frame
Spare Tire Carrier


Other
Glassworks 6.5" Front fenders
Glassworks 6" Rear Fenders
Magnaflow Muffler (done)
Mickey Thompson Classic II powdercoated Black
Sliders
Front Tundra Brake Upgrade
Supercharger
2 Kragen HIDs
Remote Tranny Cooler
Ammo Cans


Here is a list of some links I used as reference on my build
Front LT installation
http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=186292
Rear Suspension:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/viewarticle.php?id=37
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=85240
Manual Proportioning Valve:
http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/article/rear-brakes-removing-lspv/
Service Manual:
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/index.html
Mounting shocks outside of frame:
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=88249
OBD Codes:
http://www.ttora.com/wiki/index.php/OBDII_Trouble_Codes
Rear shock angle:
http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64624
Steering rack bushing replacement:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/steering_bushing/
Tundra brake conversion:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51597&highlight=brake+conversion
Tire Carrier:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70083&highlight=TIREGATE
http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32433&highlight=tire+carrier&page=2

Notes:
Front Coilover
6"x500#/16" x 800#
3,3 compression, 50 Rebound

Front Bypass
4,3,2 compression, 70 Rebound

Rear Bypass
3,2 compression, 30 Rebound
 
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#441 ·
True it is pretty easy. Nice I'm not sure. I love my charger, way better than not having it, but after getting the extra fuel kit with it the cost was around 4800. And then still having some tuning issues. There's a company (can't remember off the top of my head) that prepares GM engines for swaps, and you can get the 5.4 or 6.0 complete already wired for like $2800. Just need a tranny to match. Runs 87 octane, 350-400 hp.

There are a ton of GM engines floating around because of their financial troubles last couple years, although the crate engine sources are drying up. I have a buddy that got a crate LY6 (6.0 for the silverado) for $2800. The guy had one left and I almost impulse bought it. But I'm sure it's gone now.
 
#434 ·
decided to do some cosmetic stuff. Washed the truck for the first time and added my rings.



I took it out to johnson valley and got a little too crazy


wouldn't have been too bad but I hit my brakes which made the front bottom out harder. It broke my dside fender and somehow something tweaked and the fitting for the resi on my coilover got hit by the upper arm and exploded the shock at least that what i think caused it. My motor mount is starting to break which was happening before the jump, my brakes are going out, and something wierd is going on with my third member. needless to say my truck is going to need a lot of work before i take it out again. I was still able to drive it 3hrs home. toyota FTW
 
#437 ·
It broke my dside fender and somehow something tweaked and the fitting for the resi on my coilover got hit by the upper arm and exploded the shock at least that what i think caused it. My motor mount is starting to break which was happening before the jump, my brakes are going out, and something wierd is going on with my third member. needless to say my truck is going to need a lot of work before i take it out again. I was still able to drive it 3hrs home. toyota FTW
^^^
 
#435 ·
The nice thing about horizontal spares if that you have a lot of usable space on top of the 1st spare when you don't need to carry the 2nd. When we'd go camping, or on long trips with multiple vehicles, there would usually be several vehicles running the same lug pattern, so we could get away with sharing spares. Could build a nice little cargo rack that would secure the 1st spare, and then either carry a bunch of gear on top, or load-up the 2nd spare.
 
#443 ·
doing a motor swap would be a nightmare. trying to do all the wiring and plumbing and that stuff. Plus i want to keep 4wd which would be a whole problem in itself. I know several people that like their charger. you can just put the charger on there and expect huge gains. you have to do the fuel mods or 7th injector as well
 
#451 ·
Also depends on the state. Most states just plug into the OBDII interface and check what the computer thinks its doing. So, as long as your check engine light is off you're good. So the charger is very legal. Engine swaps can get tricky. When I looked into it I thought it was only requiring a newer engine with as good or better smog ratings. The new GM engines with variable valve timing are really clean and very efficient. But you're right about a huge headache. If I were to do it I would spend extra for a turn key kit. Probably comparable in pricing to the charger with 1.5x the power and runs on 87 octane.

Better to ignore me. I get annoyed at my buddy who keeps tempting me.
 
#457 ·
Here's swap guideline's from the horses mouth:

http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/80_BARResources/07_AutoRepair/Engine_Change_Guidelines.html

...that doesnt solve the issue of swapping between classes of vehicles. I think the info I gave before was correct, but I cant seem to find the official vehicle code section on it... Too be honest my brain hurts from reading legal mumbo jumbo and im giving up, maybe I was tired and mixed it up with some other forum info. Pretty darn sure its right though. If you are really interested in swapping an engine a call to your local bar ref would prob be the easiest and best idea and could head off your problems early

and also a 1ton vehicle was in reference to the vehicle's carry capacity like a 1ton truck vs a 1/2 ton truck, not the weight of the vehicle itself
 
#462 ·
Finally some updates!!
First, let's start with the brakes. So during king of the hammers I hucked my truck and landed with the brakes on (DO NOT DO THIS). This caused my truck to bottom out even harder. The only apparent damage was my radiator was moved in a bit and my coilover to resi fitting broke. I was still able to drive it home but as I'm driving it starts to feel like my brakes are getting worse and worse. By the time I get home I barely have any brakes at all. I take a look at the brakes and this is what I find


My UCA had put a dent in the brake booster. I've heard this isn't a problem but I didn't see any other reason why my brakes would be bad. I try replacing the master cylinder first because replacing my booster involves me cutting out my bypass mount but that didn't fix the problem. I sacked up and cut out the bypass mount and it barely squeezed out



I get everything back together and test it out and FML they still don't work. I'm stumped. There are no leaks anywhere and all the calipers are getting fluid when I bleed. I adjust my proportioning valve to make it full open so my rear has max brakes and I can lock those up so I eliminate the rear being a problem. My next guess is that by landing with the brakes on I messed up the front calipers somehow. I decided to switch calipers with a buddy to check that. As I jack up the truck I notice that the passenger wheel seems kind of loose. I rock it back and forth and notice it is loose at the wheel bearing. BINGO. If the wheel bearing is loose than the wheel will wobble as it drives so when I try and brake the disc pushes the caliper pads in and out giving the feeling of no brakes. I pull the hub cover off and the nut is partially backed out up until the cotter pin caught it. If there was no cotter pin it most likely would have back all the way out and been really bad. I retightened the wheel bearing and took it for a drive and my brakes go back to normal! It only took 3 days of work and 300+ in parts. hopefully some one will read this and not make the same mistake. Once I saw the dent in the booster I got tunnel vision and had my mind set on that being the problem

Now for the fun stuff. After the brake fiasco I had to remake the bypass mount. This time I wanted to keep the brake reservoir on the MC instead of relocating it which didnt make me feel very comfortable. Im not sure If i showed it before but this is how I moved it

The new mount had more material but didn't have the top plate but I'm sure it will be fine



To keep from bottoming out so much I raised the ride height a ton in the front and revalved my coilovers from what I thought was 70/50 (it had 60/70 engraved on the cap so who knows what it was) to 105/50 which is a huge jump. Hopefully its not too much. I also added a little spacer to my front bump to raise my bump height


I had to fix my motor mount. not sure why but the welds completely failed causing the mount to split

I was able to C-clamp it to close the gap a little then I welded back up

forgot to take after pics

Since I don't have a bed I want to make a roof rack for gear. The plan is to have really low profile rails and then make a dettachable rack. I only got the rails done this weekend




The rails land on the roll cage at the A&C pillar junctions

Lastly, I bought 4 new red ring 55 watt HIDs (2 spot, 2 flood) so I can put them in a light rack that goes just above the windshield. Heres what I drew up and was aiming for

I wasn't so lucky and the die I wanted had the wrong radius (3.5" instead of 4.5") so I had to put a 2" gap between the 90 degree bends but it still came out good. I still need to add the verticals



making sure it wasn't warped

It matches the windshield perfect

I orginally planned to have it attached to the roof rack but it's too far away so I'm not sure how to attach it anymore

The truck is basically ready to go again. I just need to do a prep and enclose the fuse box.
 
#467 ·
I got my light rack mounted. It makes the truck look competely different.

This is how I mounted rack to the cage





I added the vertical bars to the rack and blended the weld between the sections before I mounted it. I need to redo the the piece that goes from the rack to the cage attachement and redo the center adjusting link. I had to bend it to clear the antenna mount. When I redo it I will mount it a little lower



Here are a couple night shots. The lights worked great. it was def enough. I might mount a couple on my bumper if I make a stinger



I went out to ocotillo wells saturday night. The truck did awesome. The front valving is perfect. I just need to adjust the bypasses a little. The rear is still funky. I think my shackles are hitting the frame. I have some good video of the suspension I'll throw up later
 
#470 ·
Thanks guys. I have a few small updates but hopefully these pics will hold you off from my trip to mex this last weekend

In-Cab Shot


Checking the Suspension


Came damn close to rolling it. I was drifting around a corner and hit a rut. It popped me up on two wheels but i was able to countersteer and save it


And a few of my favorite randoms






 
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