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I thought the same thing at first. I'm sure they tried it. That is some tight off angle bends to make though. If you were ok with cutting and welding to make those sharp bends I can see it happening. One stick with no welds just won't make those bends. I dig it just the way it is though.
Let's see em!
Sorry guys, I've been quite busy this spring as usual. I've spent my free time getting our Trip Reports updated on both Facebook Albums and our Website Gallery. (I was previously more than 1 year behind on trip reports.) Now with those updated, I can update my Tacoma Trip Report Thread which is 8-months behind. So I've got some work to do still.I was supposed to have already done four trips this year with the Tacoma: One in Canada, one in California, one in Arizona, and one in Texas. I've missed them all because I haven't gotten the Tacoma ready for the trails again yet.Currently, both diffs are out again for new prototype 5.29:1 R&P gears from NITRO, as well as changing my final drive ratio to a cool 580:1.I'm still waiting on a few machined parts to complete what I believe to be the strongest street-legal steering upgrade for the 2nd and 3rd gen Tacoma platform (hopefully also compatible with early FJ C and 4th gen 4R). To illustrate, my Tie Rod Ends have gone from their factory spec 14mm up to now 23mm (170% STRONGER!!!!!!!), the diameter of the inner tie rod where it commonly fails has gone from 13.97mm to 21.75mm (142% STRONGER!!!!!!!).....................guys that is over 2.4 times stronger than stock , and my steering rack is now 49% heavier and massively stronger than stock My steering has been upgraded so beyond a night and day difference that I need a new idiom to describe it. At this point I'd be willing to stress-test it through a trail with my 40s aired down to 1 PSI in 1st gear 4WD with the rear drive line removed. That is how confident I am about it. It won't break, which means other things will break, which is great because I'm continuing to push the IFS envelop further and further where it hasn't gone before. To this end, I am already anticipating the next failure and am well underway in developing additional components, especially now with a certain company no longer in business I have zero reservations holding me back.I plan to test out multiple prototype parts in Hollister the last weekend of this month before driving the truck 3,400 miles round-trip to Texas the first week of May for the Toyota Jamboree. It would be beneficial for me that I get this thread updated before I leave for Texas.Regards,BigMikeI guess I can't end without a few parting photos. Driving this truck around on 40s has been incredible! Looking forward to sharing some stories. I now have over 500 street and highway miles on the new steering setup From March 23:From March 24:and from March 29:
I think the bumper looks fantastic and accomplishes exactly what you were going for. The only thing that could be improved is possibly tightening up the bends on the top bar to better follow the body line. There two triangle shaped voids that look a little out of place.
unbelievable! Im about to get into a 2nd or 3rd gen, and knowing you're doing these testing and upgrades. excites me. im in awe everytime you post about this!
I'm incredibly happy someone is taking the time to build parts to make the newer generation trucks truly capable
In all my years of off-roading, I found that the lighter the better and tried to reduce and minimize weight whenever I could.
Does this mean a short throw shifter will be developed?
Thanks for the comment BD. We did consider tightening that bend and also adding smaller diameter tubing to close it up, but as others mentioned the die (especially our larger than normal 2" die) couldn't possibly get tighter bends in there. I also considered adding flat plate.....but then I'd be departing from the tubular design I'm trying to pay homage to.During the design process I did compare the gap to our classic 1st gen bumper, and while this is not as pronounced as it is on the Tacoma (specifically in the head-on view), gaps do exist even on our MC bumpers of yesteryear. I know this is a stretch comparison at best, but it helped me get over the void during the design stage.
More specifically it cannot be trusted. This is one of a few reasons to go SAS that I'll have to tackle to change the status quo.
To illustrate, my Tie Rod Ends have gone from their factory spec 14mm up to now 23mm (170% STRONGER!!!!!!!)
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