Topic: BigMike's Big Journey: A 2016 Tacoma Build Thread

[BigMike]

Did you just say mm? Eeeeeekkkk!

Of course! I love the metric system. It makes calculations so much simpler.

July 9, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): Suspension

Finally with working lockers I was one step closer to being Rubicon-ready. At this point I had one and a half weeks to go before TLCA's annual Rubithon event, which is the organization's largest Rubicon run and will be my first time with the Tacoma at the 'Con. This event is normally held in June but excellent snow fall pushed the date back to mid-July (good for me).

The first and most obvious step in making the transition from 33s to 40s is suspension work. I am much against body lifts (because they don't aid in under chassis ground clearance and add complexity ) and of course would never consider installing an ugly front differential drop kit, not even on my worst enemy's ex-wife's lawyer's hairdresser's CPA's deceased step-father's Mitsubishi Montero that was left behind in his will and used by his wife's Alpaca's veterinarian's dentist's bathroom janitor's toilet paper supplier that was regularly used as a cat litter delivery vehicle every Wednesday afternoon at 2:30pm from a local Safeway.

With that out of the way, the only choice is quite clear: Continue on from the All Pro 3-inch Upper Control Arm lift kit by upgrading to their Long Travel Kit. I do like how AP has extended the width to only 2" wider per side as apposed to other kits which I think are too wide and probably better suited for the dunes (not my cup of tea) (sand is for litter boxes).

Out with the old...





In with the new!!

[BigMike [OP]]

The first thing to mention is that unbeknownst to you guys and gals I've been working secretly behind the scenes with a friend to aid in the development of some really cool new features coming to IFS owners! That's right, my Tacoma is helping change the face of the Long Travel Kit!

I will be posting more about this later, but my goal is to improve the strength and Rock Crawling capability of the IFS so that going SAS is a harder decision to make. More to come later!

[BigMike [OP]]

July 10, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): Suspension (continued)

Moving on, I had Rocky prepare my spindles. T-minus 4 days to Rubithon!







Nice welds

[BigMike [OP]]

Painted, dried, and reassembled



Lower ball joint mounts clearanced



July 11, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): Suspension (continued) Shocks *finally*

With only three days to go before Rubithon, my new, longer shocks **finally** arrived!!



SHEEESH these took a while to get. Apparently Fox was on a national back-order for these, p/n 880-02-953, and beings I am an avid Mountain Biker who has always liked Fox shocks I was committed to staying with Fox. It was Poly Performance who came through and was able to get me apparently the last pair drop shipped direct from Fox. Thank you Poly Performance!!

Here they are compared to the Fox shocks AP supplied with their 3" UCA lift kit (left). Much longer with much more shock shaft exposed. Very, very nice!



Test fitted



AXLES

One thing I forgot to mention about is that THREE MONTHS AGO I ordered a RCV full-300M 2-inch longer-than-stock front axle set and they STILL had not arrived. Folks. We are T-minus three days here and I'm supposed to run 40" tires through the 'con?! RCV texts me and says the axles should be delivered by Thursday.....the day I am leaving for Loon Lake. So two weeks ago I prepared a contingency plan which was to get 2"+ Chromoly inner shafts from Currie when Jon from All Pro, in hearing of all the trouble I was having with RCV, offered to lend me his own personal set of used Tacoma axles already assembled with Currie inners!

So those were also in the mail and expected to be delivered at any time. So I had two sets of axles coming. The amazingly generous offer from Jon/All Pro was huge--but these are axle sets that are still running the factory Toyota CVs. I was okay with running 40" tires on factory CVs because my super low gearing gives me the option of going easy on the shafts, but of course I am hoping for the complete RCV shafts.

The shipping race of axle deliveries was on and meanwhile I was back to work!

[BigMike [OP]]

July 11, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): Mounting Tires and Wheels

Getting the new meats mounted



A nice feature I didn't realize when ordering these wheels is that they have two valve stems! Very nice feature. Now I can check air pressure while simultaneously inflating/deflating. They are also located inwards from the bead which is important because the Toyota pressure sensors are metal and don't flex. Very dangerous for Rock Crawling because it only takes one solid hit from a rock and you'll have to replace the entire valve stem on the trail. I've helped someone do this before. It's not fun.

Toyota pressure sensors in foreground, rubber stems in background. Nice placement away from the outer rim.



There are 96 bolts total that must be tightened in a crisscross pattern at multiple torque settings. Doing that by hand is crazy. Air really helps out here on low torque settings to speed up the process before finishing off the last two passes using a torque wrench.



WOOOHOOOOOOO My truck is finally running 40s! HAhaha not really. The tires are so large that with AP's 3" rear lift springs it cannot be sat on the ground without fender contact. Gonna need both a bit more lift and a lot of trimming.



All tires mounted, inflated and ready to go!

[BigMike [OP]]

July 11, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): Rear Leafs

Next was taller rear leafs. I am not a fan of the reverse shackle setup but I also don't have time to do anything about it right now. I asked AP if they offered anything taller than a 3" and they said not really. I was surprised because in the Hilux world we have lift springs up to +6 inch, but it does make sense as it's not so straight forward to lift the front 6-inches...

...but what they do have is a heavier duty Expedition Spring that they said will get me a bit more lift so I told them to send it out. My thought here is that for now I'll run it and later I'll remove leafs to find the spring rate ideal for Rock Crawling and solve the rest with trimming.

With only two days to go for Rubicon this had definitely become a team effort.



The Expedition Springs are cRaZy heavy

Expedition left, regular +3" right

[BigMike [OP]]

July 11, 2017: Stage 2 (continued): First time mounting all four 40s

Late that afternoon I had all four tires mounted up and WOW I love the look of this!! WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!

[BigMike [OP]]

Here is what the front looks like when the truck is sitting nearly level based on the rear suspension.



The front shocks have not been cranked yet so the front sags big time with our shop lift down. No matter what I'll be doing a lot of trimming and will still need to figure out turning clearances.



I spent some time looking at the rear. The Expedition Springs allowed the truck to be sat on the ground without any tire to fender interference which was nice.

In considering what to do with the fender I took some pics and went to Photoshop. Here is one idea:



I think this will work out okay. The only thing I don't like is that I really love the factory flares. The flares give the truck it's shoulders, it's aggressive look that I like. So I think I'll need to order another set of flares, cut all four in the middle, add flare material to the center to spread the flares wider, and then reattach them up higher on the newly cut fender line.

I probably haven't made this clear yet but I will not be lifting the truck much. I'd rather keep the truck low and let the tires pick up the slack in ground clearance. Also, I'd like to keep the truck low because it's way heavy and with it being the same size as a 1st gen full-size Tundra, any taller is going to make a lot of tight tree squeezes more difficult, such as the many famous ones on our local Dusy/Ershim trail.

[BigMike [OP]]

After everyone had left for the day it was time to start cut'n!

First I drew an outline of where the flare originally was at. At the least I could visualize or play with Photoshop to see what it would look like



Here is the magical tool that's hopefully gonna make it happen! Thank you to our neighbor body shop for letting me borrow this!



At this point my main concern with turning clearance. Can't wheel if I can't turn So I knew I had to address interference with the body mount and inner fender wall and needed to get to where I can turn the tires.

So I removed the flare and then did my first cut at the bottom front corner so the tires can clear the body.



Here is the other side trimmed but with the flare on.

[BigMike [OP]]

July 12, 2017: Stage 2 (continued)

The next day I really needed to get the front end off the lift to see what I've got to work with. I made some rough calculations to get the springs compressed and get the truck leveled out a bit.



I knew early on this was going to be a long day.

Even with the springs cranked down about half-way down the shock bodies the front end was still sagging too much. Here are turning pics with a bit of help from our shop lift.



Surprisingly I could turn pretty far before the tire contacts the factory body mount. I wasn't expecting this. The relocated spindle is working great so far. No matter what I will greatly reduce or replace both body mounts.



In this shot I've got the truck up on the lift just enough to where the tire will clear the body mount. With conservative flex, at this height the 40s could actually work but the suspension A-arms are cranked way down here and I'm not sure if an axle shaft (at least one set had better show up today!) would even allow this much.



I'll be entirely honest at this point. I was leaving for the Rubicon in one and a half day. I remember thinking, "Geez, if I had a solid axle under here I'd be done. It would fit, I could lift it, I could move the axle forward, it would be much eaiser." But I'm not interested in the easy way with this truck. I'm interested in the "Extreme Practical" and want to make this work.

As much as I want to keep the truck low, I think I could live at this height shown here. I do believe it is still too high. Ideally the truck should come back down about half as much as I've changed it over the past week. There will be a lot of trimming. It's gonna be a long night.

[R.DesJardin]

Of course! I love the metric system. It makes calculations so much simpler.

CNC's don't care, its just numbers.

Cool progress. I remember cutting/trimming my new truck back in the day.

[V-Man]

Nice to see that you are going to keep the IFS and parts manufacturers  are taking more interest in making what you need.

I was trying a few months ago to buy a ladder rack for my Tacoma.  Company that makes the rack has steel or aluminum versions for up to the 2015.  2016+ will fit the same rack but the hole in the mounting plate needs to be one inch lower.  Company said since they are not selling any racks to people with a 3rd gen Tacoma right now, they have no plans to make a rack mounting plate that fits.  They sell lots to 2015 and older trucks though. When I said that the plate was large enough I could just drill a hole in the right spot, the company guy tells me that would void the warranty.  Now I Don't care about a one year limited warranty, but the guy just po'ed me that bad.  I bought a rack from a different Company, and mailed the first companies complains department a copy of the invoice and my written complaint.  Got a return letter back within three weeks telling me that there is now a rack to fit my 2016 available.   Too little, Too late. TOO rude.

[redneckcustoms13]

So when we see a marlin case, marlin PORTALS, and all this all pro control arm greatness I do believe the ifs of the newer Tacoma will be a very cool thing to keep in place while still having a very capable and street friendly rig.

[Leonel]

July 7, 2017: Stage 2 has officially begun! (continued): Finally finished the ARBs

Here is the cubby remounted with the hole shown. For anyone else considering this, I recommend cutting the hole much smaller than this. All you need to do is pass female butt connectors through.



And finally the end result! The tops of the switches do contact the bezel slightly, so if I chose to keep this and 3D print my own then I'll shift the switches down a few mm.



Did a pressure test of 10 mins and the compressor never cycled with both lockers engaged so they are ready to go!

Finally after ordering a new Tacoma with a rear locker 705 days ago, I've got a Tacoma with a rear locker!

A Switch Pro lets you activate your lockers from your phone via bluetooth, which will be handy while you are "walking " your truck

[V-Man]

A Switch Pro lets you activate your lockers from your phone via bluetooth, which will be handy while you are "walking " your truck

   May as well add the satellite remote system that lets you drive it from home, up to 25.000 miles away. Just think, you can wheel for a couple hours and still be to work on time or ready to go out for dinner with the in-laws.


I am not sure what problem there would be engaging on disengaging  lockers with that much torque on the axles. but I am guessing it's not going to be good.

[BigMike [OP]]

A Switch Pro lets you activate your lockers from your phone via bluetooth, which will be handy while you are "walking " your truck

Thank you for the info. I have not heard of Switch Pro but I already have this worked out in my own way which I hope to have finished this winter

[Rockcrawlintoy]

I am not sure what problem there would be engaging on disengaging  lockers with that much torque on the axles. but I am guessing it's not going to be good.

Arb doesn't recommend crash locking the lockers but many people do it without any issues

[zippo]

When is the sas going to happen? Is that stage 3?

[Leonel]

Thank you for the info. I have not heard of Switch Pro but I already have this worked out in my own way which I hope to have finished this winter

http://www.switchpros.com/

[Rockcrawlintoy]

http://www.switchpros.com/

they have one of the cleanest set ups i have seen I would love to have one in my ride.

[79coyotefrg]

When is the sas going to happen? Is that stage 3?

he said he's keeping it IFS for now. maybe

[Hilux_Max]

Lower ball joint mounts clearanced

Mike,  why did you decide to clearance the lower ball joint brackets?   I would have thought if anything, running such large tyres, you'd want to limit full steering lock a little to help with clearance of tyre against inner fender/mount?

Next time you get an opportunity to chat with All Pro, could you please ask the if those new arms would work on a 2016+ Hilux?

any further updates/progress?

[toyotech]

Wow. Finally went and read your entire build. Very good read and nice to see you stayed IFS and got the long arms moved forward. This has always been something I wish all companies would do.  Heck I would love to have my factory arms moved forward an inch. 

[Hilux_Max]

Wow. Finally went and read your entire build. Very good read and nice to see you stayed IFS and got the long arms moved forward. This has always been something I wish all companies would do.  Heck I would love to have my factory arms moved forward an inch. 

There one guy here in Australia that got his stock lower arms modified and moved the ball joint mount end 40mm (close to 2") forward in order to run 37s with a low lift and IFS on his 06 Hilux.

[kneedownnate]

Mike, did I miss it, have you considered running glass fenders?  Would definitely help with clearance issues

[toyotech]

There one guy here in Australia that got his stock lower arms modified and moved the ball joint mount end 40mm (close to 2") forward in order to run 37s with a low lift and IFS on his 06 Hilux.

Yeah I seen others making their own long arms and moving it forwards. It's just funny no production arms are moved forward. It's like they took the easy way out and cashed in on it

[THK Matt]

[toyotech]

these are.

I know these are. I talked to mike about it at moonlight and said I wish they would move the arms forward. Than he told me that he has already talked to all pro and that they have the jigs but never went production with them so now mike has the first pre production set. My point was that long travel has been out for a long time and no one has done a production version yet. Even when I did my LT on my runner back in 2010 I even said how hard would it be to move them forward an inch or two like some home Fab guys have done.

[THK Matt]

I know these are. I talked to mike about it at moonlight and said I wish they would move the arms forward. Than he told me that he has already talked to all pro and that they have the jigs but never went production with them so now mike has the first pre production set. My point was that long travel has been out for a long time and no one has done a production version yet. Even when I did my LT on my runner back in 2010 I even said how hard would it be to move them forward an inch or two like some home Fab guys have done.

very good point.

[BigMike [OP]]

Hello guys,

I am so far behind with updates.........maybe I should just give up.

For example, this boring video was filmed four weeks ago....