Class 7 2001 Tacoma Build

[Smitherz]

I think that's why you didn't break the truck and it rolled across the finish line. If you had all the money you wanted to race you would pull a Robby Gordon and snap something so bad you would DNF.

I can see the dirt scooper in your picture right in the center of the front skidplate.

[mjp2]

Great race recap and congrats on the finish!

[socalmoto]

Well got started on the truck after hours. This first pic is the bumper after the last race. I should prob get a better pic to show how bad it looks in person, but its hard to see through pics. The red arrows point to a gash in the lower tube and the crossmember. The lower tube was sleeved to be 3/8in thick. The rock face we hit pushed the bumper back about an inch and put a 1/2in dent in the tube. The crossemember has a 1/4in thick aluminum skid plate and the rock went through it and into the steel crossmember about 1/8-3/16". Doesnt sound to amazing, but it looks gnarly.



One of the biggest issues weve been having with the new frontend is that the belts on the engine keep jumping off the pulleys and its a pain in the ass to put them back on during a race especially with the engine being so damn hot. Its been suggested, and ive finally agreed, that its the front bumper scooping gravel up into the pulleys and causing the belt to jump. We cant re design the bumper because its tucked as tight as it can go while still protecting the steering. So Im going to make a new skidplate that wraps all the way under the bumper to try to stop gravel from getting through. Ive also made a new rock guard that will be a secondary block that is between the front steering and the front of the engine.




Top view


And last race we also overheated when the fan went out (destroyed all the motor brushes). We had to go at least 30mph to get the rad to cool (which is hard in the rough sections of barstow). So ive decided to add a scoop or ram to force air through the rad so hopefully we dont need to be moving very fast to get the cooling.

[DesertTRD]

You would benefit more from having a shroud around the fan on the inside, Toyota motors are a pull system, which means they need to suck the air in. Without a shroud your loosing alot of your cooling capability.

[socalmoto]

Originally Posted by DesertTRD

You would benefit more from having a shroud around the fan on the inside, Toyota motors are a pull system, which means they need to suck the air in. Without a shroud your loosing alot of your cooling capability.

I think you looked at an old pic of the mechanical fan on the 3.4L. The 4.0 we have in now doesn't have a fan. We were using a Ford Taurus electric fan and it does have a shroud. We are going to try a different fan though because this is the second Taurus fan that we've broken the brushes inside the electric motor. When our fan went out on the 4th lap, it really hurt the free airflow through the rad. So with a scoop on the front, even if our fan goes out again, it will help force air through and keep us cooler. After the race we pulled the fan off the back and ran the truck all day Sunday hard and we didn't have any overheating issues.

[DesertTRD]

Originally Posted by socalmoto

I think you looked at an old pic of the mechanical fan on the 3.4L. The 4.0 we have in now doesn't have a fan. We were using a Ford Taurus electric fan and it does have a shroud. We are going to try a different fan though because this is the second Taurus fan that we've broken the brushes inside the electric motor. When our fan went out on the 4th lap, it really hurt the free airflow through the rad. So with a scoop on the front, even if our fan goes out again, it will help force air through and keep us cooler. After the race we pulled the fan off the back and ran the truck all day Sunday hard and we didn't have any overheating issues.

yea i didnt even see that, i saw the current pics and thought you still had the 3.4..

have you looked into SPAL fans?

[socalmoto]

Originally Posted by DesertTRD

yea i didnt even see that, i saw the current pics and thought you still had the 3.4..

have you looked into SPAL fans?

Just looked at spal fans and if they hold up well, we will prob go with the 16" straight blade that pulls 2300cfm.

We really wanted to get a brushless fan, but all the aftermarket ones ive found are in the $300+ range. Which is too damn expensive especially with our history of breaking stuff haha

[socalmoto]

The truck is almost prepped but i dont think this truck will ever be loaded up on the trailer fully prepped. It will always be finished up on the trailer or in the des before the race haha. We are gonna try running a bmw fan with a bosch motor. A buddy is a bmw mechanic and the low speed module went out on on a fan so he gave it to us. He told us to just wire it direct for high speed and says itll last forever, so were gonna give it a shot.

Last race the truck was way smoother on valving but there was a little more that could be done. We were surprised though that even when we would run the truck for hours and then through some rough terrain at race speed (on sunday) and then instantly check the top cap temp with a laser gun, all the shocks were around the same temp. Rear bypass and coilover were between 180-195 and the front co was 200 and bypass was 150. Ive gone through and revalved all the shocks, limited the rear bumps to 2.5" travel, and dropped the bump psi from 200 to 80 (dont know why i didnt drop pressure sooner). I think this will keep our rear down more and be less likely to stuff the frontend. Ive also put more valving in the front bypass and takin some out of the coilover to avg there temps a little closer. I think the front byp runs so cold though because it has all the direct airlfow.

We finally went back to a rubber carrier bearing before the last race and ALL of our vibs went away. It drives like a regular car on the street now. Im still worried about the rear slip not slipping fast enough and pulling and pushing the trans slip in and out though.

Before last race we finally got a trans temp sensor on and found out the lines to the cooler were backwards (OOOOPPPPSSSS). Truck always drove so we never thought there was an issue, but the temp got up to 230 when we test drove out at the race. We swapped the lines and without the fan off it would stay under 180 all the time and with fan on itd never go above 150 during the race. After the line swap i had to adjust the fluid level and i looked at the fluid and it was all still bright red so i dont think it got burnt too much. Also with our old 4.30 gears, our 3rd gear would top out at 75-80mph. We have cut the wire to the trans lockup since then and put in 5.29 gears . . . . now it seems like 4th gear tops out at 82mph and it wont go into 5th WTF?!!! So we are taking others advice and putting the lockup wire on a switch and well see if the next race we can push to mid 90s or even into the 100s. I know the last 4 miles of this marked course we could hit mid 90s with the 3.4 and supercharger, so i dont doubt we can hit that again or higher if the track is close to the same (maybe it wont be).

Went through and also replaced all the heims and unis that were just flopping around without liners (like ALL the steering heims haha) and I will be cleaning up stuff here and there that was tossed together in the des.

I ended up making it a steel bash plate like i made in front of the steering box. Ive replaced the lower tube since it was destroyed at the last race (it was a 3/8 thick tube) so the new one is solid in the middle. I used the steel bash plate to tie the lower bumper into the front crossmember so nothing should move now. I only welded sections of the bash plates so they can be cut out later somewhat easily and replaced. The lower plate has vertical ribs on the topside to keep it from bending. Still gonna leave the side open for the steering and well see how it goes. I dont want a plate to cover the steering, get bent, and lock everything up.



Also made an aluminum visor


Were gonna try out some booties on our high wear heims and see if they last longer or if the booties just hold in dirt or get chewed up


And heres our overflow now. Got rid of the monster can cause rocks from other vehicles kept putting holes in it. Id like to make this much larger though and hold about 1 gallon.

[jonsangel]

love seeing updates on this thing!

[socalmoto]

This prob wont happen, but 37s look REALLY good. We will prob be trying to get some grabbers soon though. Maybe end of the year

[J Prich]

So Chili Cookoff is next then right? Look forward to hearing how it goes, good luck!

[nelson18matt]

truck looks like a monster w/ 37's!!!

[socalmoto]

Ya it does kinda look like a TT in the shop with those on haha. I dont think the 37s would even clear the front bumper tube to the frame or the firewall if i was full crank and bumped out.

Were off to the chili cook off tomorrow morning and ill let you all know how it goes. The truck will actually be fully prepped before loading it up for once. Just need to toss on a new belt and a relay for the fan.

[J Prich]

Still kicking myself for not chasing you down for a ride last summer! Good luck!

[SYVtaco]

Good luck man!!! I look forward to hearing how everything holds up, and hopefully we'll all get to see some new race action pics soon!

[theduck911]

Just read through a majority of the build thread, what a progression!

Truck looks awesome, especially with those 37's!

[Whatthepho?]

Originally Posted by socalmoto

Just looked at spal fans and if they hold up well, we will prob go with the 16" straight blade that pulls 2300cfm.

We really wanted to get a brushless fan, but all the aftermarket ones ive found are in the $300+ range. Which is too damn expensive especially with our history of breaking stuff haha

Have you looked into the Lincoln mark 8/thunderbird fan? Those things pull a lot of air.

[nelson18matt]

pulled from DR

[socalmoto]

Well the race went awesome for 4 laps and then not so awesome. Our plan was to hold back since our siren stopped working in the starting line and we didnt want to do any dangerous passing that could break the truck, but it was just so easy for the truck on this track. We started almost last in our class off the line but passed 3 trucks in 3 miles and passed 10+ MORE in the first 30 miles. By MM30 or so we were in 2nd place and only physically behind a couple trucks. We had to pull in for a quick check on our tires at the end of the first lap because the truck was pulling slightly to the right. We didnt know until later on that it was because the driver side bypass had lost pressure and was shooting oil out of the bypass valve.

Truck still ran fast and we were trying out the 5th gear switch that i hooked up. We tried holding back some to try and get better mpg and take it easy to not break down. End of 3rd lap we went in for 10gal of gas and codriver swap and didnt have any issues and the truck was doing awesome. We were losing time on 1st but figured if we kept it smooth he might break or get a flat at that speed and we could pass him in that time and let him try to push it to catch back up. But my estimate on mpg was WAY off. I thought that the mpg would be around 7-8mpg but we were really running at 4-4.5 mpg. I couldnt get the fuel gauge to work so we didnt see it coming, but we ran out of gas at MM9 on the 5th lap. It was one of the furthest remote areas on the course and took us over an hour to get fuel in the truck. Luckily a MORE spotter (think his name was randy) drove me to the dry lake bed to bring our chase truck into us. I dont think they would have found us without his help. We fueled up and ran to MM24.5 to get another 12 gal from Mike Fox's chase truck and make a run to main pit for another quick 5 gallons.

Unfortunately coming through MM39 we were going about 100mph and the studs broke off on the driver side front. Tire took off and the truck started swapping sides. I was able to keep it under control somewhat and we ended up drifting for about 120-130yards. We must have slowed down to around 15mph and almost saved it, but hit a bush on the front right and left rear went into a dip. Not much, but enough to put a sideways truck on its lid. There were some spectators close by and in only a few minutes they flipped us over and drug us off the course out of other vehicles way. We did have 1 good stud and 1 bad stud still on, so we put on a spare tire and drove it 1/2mile to finish up the lap. Other than the broken studs (have already been fixed) and body damage, the truck is in good shape and should run race speed. We are probably going to upgrade to 5/8 studs. Im pretty sure they broke because the nuts were loose, but larger studs will hold up better . . . i hope. So well see if we can re-glass the fiberglass, and figure out what to do with the body, but we will be racing again soon. A HUGE thanks goes out to Mike fox and his team for helping before and during the race. Wouldnt have done so well without them. Glad they were the ones that STOLE 2nd from us haha. And great race to Byma and Hopfe for running so fast. I dont know what happened to Hopfe to not finish, but Byma ran a great race and didnt seem to have any hickups or delays. And too bad Aguis was having engine problems first lap (i think that was what i heard).

Blown bypass. Took it apart today and the allen bolt to the bypass was broken inside and the two o-rings were blown through. Also saw that the rebound valve loosened up 3 turns somehow, but it wasnt leaking.



And the body damage.

[nelson18matt]

great post race report. thanks

sucks to hear about the carnage, but at least it wasn't too bad... could have been alot worse or you or spectators could have gotten hurt.

keep up the great work! better luck next time!

[socalmoto]

Originally Posted by nelson18matt

great post race report. thanks

sucks to hear about the carnage, but at least it wasn't too bad... could have been alot worse or you or spectators could have gotten hurt.

keep up the great work! better luck next time!

Ya the spectators werent a group of people right there watching. It was two guys in a f150 prerunner and another couple in a newer chevy 2500 that were a few hundred feet from where we ended up.

But this is a great example of why people need to stay back. Even though everything looks good, a tire can come off, arm can snap, or the vehicle can just hit a bump/rock funny and go end over end. Or they can just loose their steering and blow right off the track. Our tire ended up 1/2 mile away UPHILL!! The guys in the truck said it was 25-35ft in the air and went 100ft the first bounce. And that will kill you easily. So anyone that reads this that goes to a des race, stay back a MINIMUM OF 150FT!! And please dont be like the night race and you should not be down track from a big jump or nasty section where people can easily loose control. If it looks rough ass hell then it is rough as hell and most people can be struggling to just keep the vehicle on the track.

If you are closer than 150ft, we as racers have to slow down to 15mph and signal for you to get away from the track. This did happen to us around MM1-2 on the second lap. There was a truck parked 150ft off the track with people in the back, but one ASSHOLE was right next to the track trying to film us coming by. We were going 70-80, but had to slow WAY down and give him MULTIPLE middle fingers and gesturing to get the F back. He was back from the track the next lap so hopefully all the other racers did the same and he got the idea. And yes, there were a LOT of bright yellow signs coming into the race area saying to stay back a minimum of 150ft. Come on people, just do it and dont get this shit closed down. On our way out we saw an armed forces helicopter scouting the area, so we may lose this area soon enough.

[AZNPG]

damn that sucks but atleast you finished the race and body damage isn't that big of a damage

[socalmoto]

Originally Posted by AZNPG

damn that sucks but atleast you finished the race and body damage isn't that big of a damage

Naw we only finished 5 laps and it was 6 laps to the finish. First DNF in 4-5 races

[AZNPG]

Originally Posted by socalmoto

Naw we only finished 5 laps and it was 6 laps to the finish. First DNF in 4-5 races

my bad misread the other post. just to finish the lap not race

[7sx_Tacoma]

glad you guys are ok, sucks about the truck

[BLACKHAWK250]

sorry about that, sounds like when ur trucks 100% its a boss tho so im sure ull be kicking ass at the next race. if u need glass i have some 4.5" flairs laying around

[J Prich]

Steve,
You didn't really elaborate on the gear switch deal. Just curious how it worked? Are you at a point where you think you've solved all the mechanical/electrical issues with the swap?

Fortunate you guys were able to scrub so much speed before going over. Glad you guys are ok and that the damage doesn't seem to be much more than cosmetic.

[socalmoto]

Originally Posted by BLACKHAWK250

sorry about that, sounds like when ur trucks 100% its a boss tho so im sure ull be kicking ass at the next race. if u need glass i have some 4.5" flairs laying around

Yep were going to try to race the next snore race at ridgecrest. We may end up not even fixing the body, and jsut repair or get new fiberglass. Unfortunately the 4.5 doesnt fit us anymore. Our last set was 4.5 and we trimmed it a lot to make it fit, but then it didnt really look like a fender at all and only covered half the tire hahah. But thanks anyways.

Originally Posted by J Prich

Steve,
You didn't really elaborate on the gear switch deal. Just curious how it worked? Are you at a point where you think you've solved all the mechanical/electrical issues with the swap?

Fortunate you guys were able to scrub so much speed before going over. Glad you guys are ok and that the damage doesn't seem to be much more than cosmetic.

The switch worked awesome. I just put a switch in line for the wire that goes from the computer to the lockup solenoid. So i can "cut" the power to the lockup manually and reconnect it when im at higher speeds. Huge difference in rpms and i dont know if we were even getting into 4th last few times. At 70 with the switch off we are running at 4500-4800 rpm, if i turn on the switch it drops to below 3000 (if i remember right). I think around 100mph we were mid 3k rpm range. A HUGE drop in rpms so i dont think we ever hit 4th and i think now the computer is still skipping 4th. But its auto and i cant really tell if its a new gear or just the torque converter slip slowing down. And I didnt have the truck running after the race for some dry lake bed testing. Only thing i didnt like was that with too much throttle (like over 1/3-1/2 throttle) it would jump back down to the lower gear. So trying to accelerate above 70-80mph i had to finesse the throttle to the point that it almost wanted to downshift. With the switch on at lower speeds, it kept doing the stumble every 10 seconds as it would try to lockup and unlock.

So yes! The switch did its job, but no, i dont think weve worked out the issues yet. I am going to try to put in the IPT valve body before the next race to help it shift faster and maybe it wont get stuck between gears like it did a few times during the race. I almost pulled over a couple times to kill the power to the computer for 30sec to let it erase whatever bad shifting traits it was picking up.

[jonsangel]

have you guys fixed the truck yet after the roll?

[socalmoto]

There wasnt too much damage from the rollover. We fixed the fiberglass (but havent painted) and pretty much left the cab the way it was. We raced the race after the crash, but had a lot of issues with our carrier bearing again. Also ended up blowing out both front brakelines hahaha.

I have some plans for the front again, will be trying to put rotors in the rear, new brakelines, paint, and will be coming up with a better solution for the carrier bearing (probably just run a ford bearing). I hope to get this stuff done and race the MORE 500, but things may be getting busy at work so well see what happens