Author Topic: 1986 XTRA Cab Truggy (Read 5053 times)

DutchVDub · « **on:** Oct 01, 2020, 01:57:51 PM »

Over the summer I gave up on building a full tube buggy and wound up trading the chassis and some parts for this 1986 XTRA Cab with a flat bed. It was pretty well setup with Alcan springs, Sky's Offroad SAS, HP front third, 5.29's/ARB's front/rear, 30-Spline Longs up front, what I believe is a 4xInnovations interior cage, Marlin dual cases with 4.7 main, PSC assist, winch, and 37's on steel wheels.

I met the guy about halfway and then as soon as I got home I loaded it up to go do some mild wheeling and camping.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #1 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:14:38 PM »

I met up with a buddy who had just finished up a 3 year long build on his Early Bronco. Its stretched, on coilovers front/rear, caged, and fuel injected now along with a bunch of other neat little tricks. This was basically a shakedown run for both of us and both rigs did great w/o any real issues.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #2 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:19:46 PM »

The one thing I had noticed on that trip is that the E2000 external fuel pump mounted down on the frame rail didn't seem too happy having to pull fuel up and then back down to itself. Between that and needing an emissions test (requiring a proper filler neck) I made a few changes. I started out by building a pseudo headache rack for the flat bed. I then used a remote reservoir shock mount to move the fuel pump closer to the tank. After that I finished it up by mounting a filler to the headache rack. In the end the pump seems much happier and the enviro-nazis gave me the pass.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #3 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:28:38 PM »

Everything seemed all nice and happy in the Toyota world after that. I quickly welded up some little tie-down brackets on the rear axle in time for another trip on a more challenging (though still fairly moderate) trail where the Toyota once again performed perfectly. I was finally ready to just let my wheeler be and focus on my CJ6 diesel project when FB Marketplace popped its little head in and ruined it all. I scored a silly smoking deal on a set of 4 aluminum bead locks with decent tread Nitto K-Spec stickies that I couldn't turn down. SMH, time to go down the rabbit hole lol.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #4 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:46:02 PM »

With a trip to Penrose, CO to run Indy/Patriot/Liberty trails I decided I should probably go through and do some checks/maintenance on the truggy. I pulled the front axle apart and verified that the ARB and gears were in good shape, also verified that it did indeed have 30 spline Longfields in it. I added some harnesses, made the doors removable and converted them to manual windows so as to prevent caving them in. I also added some roll bar padding, retorqued and locktited the studs into the hubs and knuckles, replaced some worn TRE's, installed chromo inner hub gears, and other little things. Penrose isn't necessarily full buggy rated, but it is up there and now I was running arguably way too big of a tire for the Toyota axles so I wanted to make sure everything was tight and in good shape.

I literally got it all slammed back together the night we were heading down. I just set up my sleeping pad in the bed of the truck and woke up to a nice sunset with my pretty little truggy looking over me.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #5 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:49:33 PM »

The next morning after some instant coffee thanks to my Jetboil I unloaded the truggy and pulled the doors. Then we just kind of bs'd while waiting on a buddy to show up with his buggy. Once he arrived we dropped into Indy and the fun began.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #6 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:51:00 PM »

Dropping down Bunker Hill

DutchVDub · « **Reply #7 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 02:57:30 PM »

After Mike showed me the line it was my turn to climb the exit out of Patriot.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #8 on:** Oct 01, 2020, 03:18:17 PM »

All in all the truggy did awesome. It climbed all the technical sections and worked its way through the trails with little interference from me. It pretty much just creeped its way along. The buggies could go much faster between the obstacles than I could, but I never really slowed them down as it was just making continual and steady progress.

After the climb out of Patriot they wanted to drop in and run it backwards. I opted to ride in the XJ based buggy as I didn't feel a need to just bash the Yota like that after such a win. We then pulled back around to grab it, had lunch, and then dropped back into Indy so we could go out Liberty. The trip was great and the little Yota impressed all. Not to say it didn't make it out completely unscathed. The second time down Bunker Hill I was too far left and scraped the cab a little. I also got some rash on the bumper corners, my flat bed, sliders, and even a little bit on the driver side fiberglass fender. Oh yeah, and somehow I still managed to bang the tiny front diff on a rock despite having about a mile under it with 40's. Overall though it was awesome and just an overall fun trip.

The truggy definitely proved itself and I was able to identify a few things I wanted to fix/address. The first thing was brakes. It has vented front rotors and a V6 master, but still the 12+8 front calipers and drums out back. I literally could not stall it out in double low dropping down the bigger rocks. As such I have ordered new rotors for the front (worn anyway), 12W V6 front calipers w/ pads, an FJ master cylinder, TG budget rear disc conversion, and stock solid axle front pads/rotors/calipers for the rear.

The other thing was axle width and steering, or lack there of. The steering stops on this thing are extended out over 5/8" over what my buddie's stock 83 has, probably to keep things from rubbing. It also came with 3" spacers on each side up front. Even with 4.5" BS wheels this makes for some cruddy steering angles. As such I've got a TG +5 housing on the way that'll keep my width where its at but let me lose the spacers. I'm hoping this lets me adjust the stops in significantly and helps in the turning radius department. I do also have a set of 1.5" spacers for the front that will help push it out to 64"+ WMS for a little extra stability. To round out the front axle I'm replacing my Marlin Crawler high steer arms with FROR keyed ones that have the larger pins, 25mm bearings, and beefed up bottom caps. I'm also replacing all of the knuckle and hub studs with ARP's. So now its torn back apart in the garage as I await parts and hopefully a trip out to Moab at the end of the month as well as hitting BV Carnage when my buddy gets back from his deployment.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #9 on:** Nov 20, 2020, 06:13:15 AM »

Bit late of an update but I did get everything swapped over. The new TG +5 housing showed up quickly. I took all of my wheels/tires to work and used the big tire machine to dismount them so that I could flip the tires around and get the better tread on the outside. I also got the brakes installed on the rear axle, rebent the brake lines, and added a little weld on pumpkin guard. One of my stock rear shafts was bent at the flange so I swapped it out with another one. I have since ordered some Yukon rear shafts and will be installing those at some point for extra peace of mind.

I am having some issues with the disc brake conversion out back I need to sort through, and I definitely want to add a parking brake back in. I'll probably do a t-case mounted one, but I'm not sure yet.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #10 on:** Nov 20, 2020, 06:15:05 AM »

Up front I got the TG housing installed with the new inner shafts. I tore apart the 10+ year old OG Longfield birfields to clean/inspect them and they looked great still. The keyed steering arms with 25mm trunion bearing pins were worth the wait. They installed super nice and between those and the ARP studs I'm pretty confident that I won't have issues with my steering arms or the knuckle bearings. I did keep 1.5" spacers (had 3" spacers with the stock housing) but the steering angle is much improved and nothing rubs up front when flexed and full lock. I did add steering stops back on after these pics and have them set at right when the TG Trail Safe wiper seals make contact with the axle tube. I unfortunately don't have any pics of it on the trail as I didn't take any, but other than some quirks with my brakes and all of my bead lock ring bolts coming loose everything seemed to work well. I do want to shorten the WB a bit and probably ditch the internal cage for an exo cage. Rework the flat bed at the same time, possibly link the rear, yadda yadda yadda. You know how it goes. It just never ends.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #11 on:** Jan 14, 2021, 08:37:08 AM »

After getting everything buttoned up I took it out to BV Carnage and got denied at the waterfall. Other than that it worked well and everything seemed pretty good. I did have to tighten my beadlock ring bolts again as they started losing air, and my brakes needed to be rebled to get the pedal to stay firm. Otherwise all seemed good and I was able to sort those little problems out. I was looking forward to just letting the Toyota be and getting back to work on my CJ6, but apparently the truggy had other plans.

A buddy and I decided to do a quick little trip up near Laramie, nothing too intense just a chance to get out and wheel a bit. To our surprise it had apparently snowed up there (both Cheyenne and Northern CO had none) and things were a bit slick. We both went over the first obstacle no problem, its just a big rock that you can easily drive around but fun to climb on. The second obstacle was a big 3ft tall ledge on a hill. He made a few attempts but couldn't get his tires to hook up with the snow and ice. After he backed up and took the bypass I decided I'd at least give it a shot. See if my longer WB and 2" taller tires would make the difference. I came up to ledge and the front end drove right up, then the rear started to climb nicely. Just as it felt like the rear tires were going to crest over the ledge though the truggy slid back down and I was rewarded with a nice "pop" noise. 40's 1: 8" R&P 0

Ironically on the drive up there I got hit up by a buddy who wanted my Nitto K-Specs and had a built 9" he was trying to sell. So on the way home I worked out a deal that involved me essentially replacing my K-Specs with 40" Patagonia Black Labels and getting a TG 9" housing with 6-lug 35 spline Nitro shafts, spool, Yukon 3rd, Yukon spool, Yukon aluminum pinion bearing support, and wilwood brakes that was already setup for a 4-link.

I ordered up a bunch of heims and brackets from Barnes4WD, gears and a toyota flange from Summit, and a Sky's t-case parking brake. So far I've modified the Sky's bracket to work with my FROR crossmember and pulled the rear axle/suspension out of the truggy. I'm going to strip the 9" down and start mocking up links. I'm hoping to keep the flat bed as is but with 16" air shocks I figure I'll probably have to ditch it, assuming I can even make things work with those shocks. They're ADS 2.5" units that I got as part of some parts trading. If I can't make them work I'll sell them and go with 14's.

The 9" is 68" WMS so its wider than my TG front axle. I did get a stripped GM D60 front axle though so the plan is to start putting that thing together after the rear end is done. I'll probably link the front at the same time and go full hydro steering when I do. I already have a double ended ram and ram mount for it. I just need gears, a spool (or I can weld the stock 4.56+ carrier), steering arms, and hubs/brakes. I'm going to make it 6-lug as well and upgrade the stub shafts too while I'm at it.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #12 on:** Jan 18, 2021, 10:27:22 AM »

Finished pic of the Sky's Offroad Parking brake mounted up with my FROR crossmember.

Wainiha · « **Reply #13 on:** Jan 18, 2021, 03:53:31 PM »

WOW! you guys are badass. I would be scared.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #14 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 01:33:04 PM »

I started on my 4-link yesterday. I placed the Barnes frame mount just under the cab and up against where that crossmember sits on the frame. I then just made the lower links the correct length to keep my wheelbase the same as before. I was going to try to keep the air shocks under the bed, but that wasn't going to work. I unbolted the center section of the bed surface to make more room for it.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #15 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 01:46:27 PM »

Going off of the existing axle mounts and using the previous WB as the set point my links wound up being 36" eye to eye on the lowers and 37" eye to eye on the uppers. I set the shock for 6" of exposed shaft at ride height with a 10* forward and 10* inward lean. Right now everything seems to clear fine but I do need to get the tire mounted up and check for clearance there. I might also move the upper shock mount in a little more to keep it from going past 90* in relation to the axle at full stuff/flex. Right now I'm getting tired of fighting PVC links and am taking a break lol.

Pinion angle seems ok through the travel, although it does point down 5* at full compression I think the joint will be fine. It points up about 10* at full droop and is set at 3* at ride height to "match" the t-case output. I'm sure you can see that there is a little bit of flex steer at full flex but it doesn't seem too bad. Unfortunately the only way to make the links longer would be to really cut into that crossmember, or remove it entirely and build a new one. Thoughts or advice?

**The last picture is frame to shock clearance with the axle fully flexed, shock side at full droop and other side at full stuff.

Lewis Hein · « **Reply #16 on:** Jan 20, 2021, 07:04:57 PM »

Is it just the camera angle or is your rear axle bowed the wrong way?

Wainiha · « **Reply #17 on:** Jan 23, 2021, 04:36:33 PM »

Quote from: Lewis Hein on Jan 20, 2021, 07:04:57 PM

Is it just the camera angle or is your rear axle bowed the wrong way?

Axle bowed? I don't understand that. Shouldn't it be perfectly straight? What am I missing here?

Lewis Hein · « **Reply #18 on:** Jan 23, 2021, 08:37:32 PM »

I thought some truck axle housings had a slight upward arched shape and some were perfectly straight. (Obviously, the shafts have to run straight in all of them) This one looks in the pictures like it has a slight upside-down arch shape, like a cup mouth up, but it could be the camera angle.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #19 on:** Jan 27, 2021, 10:49:07 AM »

Quote from: Lewis Hein on Jan 23, 2021, 08:37:32 PM

I thought some truck axle housings had a slight upward arched shape and some were perfectly straight. (Obviously, the shafts have to run straight in all of them) This one looks in the pictures like it has a slight upside-down arch shape, like a cup mouth up, but it could be the camera angle.

I don't know if you're looking at the rear truss on the axle or if its just camera angle, but the axle is straight.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #20 on:** Jan 27, 2021, 10:49:53 AM »

I suspected that my jack stand placement had partially unloaded the front suspension, making the truggy sit up higher than normal, but since I’m a cut twice measure once kind of guy I wasn’t sure. So thanks to some sketchy hi-lift, motorcycle jack, and jack stand rearranging I got the frame sitting at its actual ride height and sitting almost level. This brought the rear axle up higher in relation to the frame and with some more trial fitting the existing flat bed just wasn't going to work, so off it came.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #21 on:** Jan 27, 2021, 11:00:56 AM »

As I kept playing with the 4-Link setup and making sure things were going to work something kept looking off to me. I finally got to the point that I started checking things out on the axle and I realized that the upper link mounts were pushed over to one side of the housing. I have no clue as to why, but I knew I didn't like it and after a few moments of cursing and a beer or two I got to work fixing it.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #22 on:** Jan 27, 2021, 11:59:23 AM »

After removing the flat bed and already having to, at a minimum, make a new one I decided that there was no longer any point to "hitting the easy button" as it were. As such I went ahead and cut off the frame and started working on doing a full tube back half. I'm also going to cut out that crossmember behind the t-case and shorten the wheelbase by about 6", should wind up at 109" or so. I borrowed a buddy's bender and had to relearn the process a bit since I hadn't bent any tube in quite some time. I kept it fairly simple and just went straight up from the sliders, leaving the midriff bulge of the cab vulnerable, and then kept it tight to the lines of the cab so that it wouldn't be sticking out too much. I just went straight across the top instead of adding more bends. It means the corners stick up a little but overall I'm happy with it. Eventually I'll add an exo-cage around the cab and lose the interior one. There is very little headroom currently, and almost non with a helmet on.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #23 on:** Feb 01, 2021, 05:49:34 PM »

I finished up the rear hoop and pulled it back off to fully weld and primer/paint (I only fully painted the side next to the cab). Then I removed that crossmember and got to work cleaning the frame up so that I could tack the link mounts in place. I plated the bottom of the frame rails but I think when I pull the link mounts back off to weld them fully together I'm also going to plate the inside of the frame rails. The frame material is pretty thin so I was to beef up the area where the link mount is. I'm going to start on the rear "bed" area and upper shock mounts next. Bed will be about 40" long, which will let me fit my fuel cell against the hoop and my tool box at the back with a larger enough storage area between the two for my cooler and other stuff.

Gnarly4X · « **Reply #24 on:** Feb 02, 2021, 02:32:29 AM »

Hey D...

I always admire and I'm somewhat envious of you guys that have the "fabrication DNA" in your body! I enjoy the photos and seeing what you guys can do in the garage.

The DIYers in our sport/hobby are just as important as the companies and suppliers to our early Toyota vehicles in keeping it alive and interesting.

I am amazed at how much design, time and skill that goes into these projects - not to mention the $$$$$$.

Here in AZ, I wheeled for almost 20 years. The trails are typically rockcrawling and dusty. Looking back, I can see why the trailered open tube-frame crawlers worked so well. BUT... having a cab that I could close the windows and turn on the AC while driving down the dusty back roads to get to the trail was a big plus. We have Valley Fever here, among other bad stuff, and breathing the dust can be unhealthy to very dangerous.

I like the truggy concept if the cab is kept intact and can be closed to the outside air.

Keep up the awesome project!! $Beer Chug\'n$

Gnarls.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #25 on:** Feb 04, 2021, 06:46:05 PM »

Quote from: Gnarly4X on Feb 02, 2021, 02:32:29 AM

Hey D...

I like the truggy concept if the cab is kept intact and can be closed to the outside air.

Keep up the awesome project!! $Beer Chug\'n$

Gnarls.

Thanks man. A full tube chassis does indeed offer a lot of advantages, mainly visibility assuming its done correctly. You can also get a lower COG without the headache of cutting up a frame and body to get things sitting better. That said, I also like the idea of being able to fully enclose the cab. Being in Colorado its more for keeping the cold out though.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #26 on:** Feb 04, 2021, 06:46:45 PM »

Been working on the rear bed area and shock mounts the last 2 or 3 days with KOH streaming in the back ground. Sometimes I swear I spend half a day just figuring out 1 tube, but its starting to get there.

DutchVDub · « **Reply #27 on:** Feb 10, 2021, 07:44:11 AM »

I added the last of the support tubes to the passenger side. The two tubes meeting the upper shock mount and hard to see is one going from the hoop/slider connection back to the frame rail. Once I copy that last tube onto the driver side I can finally start making my crossmembers and mounting points along the "floor" of the bed area to mount my fuel cell, tool box, etc.