Topic: building a 2WD crawler pro's and con's

[NaturalDisaster]

so i was thinking of building the 3rd gen 4x4 i have now or finding another till i started reading and researching around some. i have found quite alot of talk about building 2wd's. i want to build a 3rd gen xtra cab it seems like the biggest pro of the 2wd is the frame arc making it possibly easier to keep the truck sitting low.

here is what my ideal build would consist of over time

-1 tons 60 front 14bolt rear from the start
-3rz or 3.4 eventually. undecided which one probably find a 22re truck and rock it for awhile
-duals maybe triples (flatbelly)
-leafed front and rear allpro springs probably till later then maybe alcans
-keep it as low as possible on 39's-42's

pro's and con's of a 2wd?

mods move elsewhere if needed

Thanks for any help Ryan

[fade]

Pros is you get one thats probably never been off road or hacked or beaten on to bad. Who really races a 2wd truck thats got a 4cly? Also you get the arc of the frame rails for keeping it low.

Cons, you have to build a whole new cross member and cut holes in the floor for transfer case, have to redo everything on it but your doing tons so it doesn't really matter.

Pro's for a 4wd is you get a transfer case, and probably a top shift if its a 22re and you get the right crossmember, and possibly a rear drive line that might work depending. you get bigger fender wells and arch's for the tires.

Cons messed up low hung ifs 4wd frame.

[THK Matt]

there is no flipping "Waffle" crap inside the frame!!! so when you cut the holes for the shackles... its much easier.
No boxing of the motor mounts needed!

along with what Fade said.. he nailed it on the dot.
I'm glad I picked a 2wd over a 4wd to start from.
Going to be much easier

[NaturalDisaster [OP]]

Thanks for the info anything else feel free to add

as far as the floor and crossmember goes i'm not so worried about it as i will cut most of the tunnel out for a flat belly and build my own crossmember

i will buy a set of 4wd front fenders for it and the bed on all 3rd gens i've seen look to be the same as 4wd but the bed may get ditched anyways.

my next concern is i want it to sit as low as possible so i was thinking of frenching the hard mount and moving the shackle up on the frame in the back to lose some height but what can i do to get the front to match the backs height if i use say like an allpro 4'' lift spring? can i run a shorter shackle and replace the trucks factory front crossmember in front of the rad with the front spring hanger bar

Thanks again for the help

[Rocksurfer]

Infernal's Macho Taco was bred from a 2wd Tacoma and like others have said you can build it to what you want it to be since you have a blank slate to work with.

[playtoy]

I built a 2wd drive last year and honestly If I build Another one im going to look for a 2wd. The front suspension on the 2wd basically unbolts with 2 mounts u have to cut, A hell of a lot easier than a ifs 4wd. I mounted my front hangers up in the frame to get it as low as possible. Its pretty low on my 39.5 iroks, I could go alot lower if I wanted to with the frames arched just like a older straight axle frame. The only thing that I didn't like was some of the 2wd didn't have efi and I had to convert mine which wasn't bad with another harness.

[playtoy]

Here is some pics of the frame clearance and front hanger design. Hope this helps.

[Mavericks]

have any side shots of the truck? looks pretty nice.

[kneedownnate]

If I were building an 84 or newer, I'd rather start with a 2wd for the higher arch in the frame.

[playtoy]

[Mavericks]

truck looks like it has a nice ride height on 39.5's

[Peterbuilt84]

What's the frame to ground measurement on that? Looks great btw.

[BUDDERS]

If I wreck my '85 4wd, I'm going to convert my '87 2wd with all the SA parts from the 4wd.  It alread has a built motor 4wd fenders and decent paint anyway.

[playtoy]

To the bottom of the frame below the door i'm right at 2 feet. I could get it lower if i switched to a fj 80 steering box and cut the inner wheel wells where the battery is. It works very good where the height is now so I think i'm going to leave it alone.

[NaturalDisaster [OP]]

been awhile since i've check the thread. Thanks for the info playtoy thats a great looking truck. do you have a build thread? what leafs where you running on it?. Thanks again for the info guys. i wanna find a 3rd gen so i dont think fuel injection will be to much issue plus i wanna do an engine swap when i can anyways