I guess Ill start from the begining . . .
I met SWAINBULIT
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=553236 on the Ultimate Adventure this year and he schooled my ass on Toyota stuff (and how to break it
). Between him, all the Homegrown guys
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=603296, Got Propane buggy, JRT, and all the other big-ass-tire Toyota wheelers, I got motovated to try to run 39.5" IROKS on all Yota stuff. The problem was that I still had my POS that I took on the UA this year
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=548960Lady luck found a way though: Ben was selling the truck that I wanted as a DD AND had the truck that I wanted to build AND wanted to trade his two Tacos for my Acura SUV AND it gave me an excuse to make a sweetass road trip to the Rockies. So New Years weekend me and a Heep buddy of mine are taking a 2,652 mile road trip to Colorado. 1,326 will be driving the Acura up there and then 1,326 miles will be driving the '98 3.4L, 5 spd, 4x4 Taco towing the '96 2.4l, 5 spd, 4x4 Taco on a dolly.
The story on the '96 is that a guy ran mud in the front diff instead of oil and it blew up, broke the drive shaft, which then flopped around and tore out the brake lines, busted the slave cylinder, and busted a hole in the side of the bellhousing. It will drive, but you cant shift gears or use the brakes. Sounds perfect to me
Plans:
-Stock 2.7l motor with T-100 oil pan stuff
-W59 bellhousing
-W56 tranny
-Ultimate duals with 23 spline coupler and chromo output
-leafs all the way around
-'85 front end with HP 3rd, 4.10s, 30 spline chromos, hub gears, knuckle studs, and hub stud upgrades, High steer with hydro assist
-stock "8.4" rear
-2.5" backspacing, 17" MRW wheels
-39.5" IROKs
-Warn 9.5 XP
-half internal-half external roll cage
-A/C
-Get ride of the Burble paint
-Stauns and Chromo rears when $$$ allows. I have two complete Taco rear axles if anything should let loose before then.
Ive got the front end pretty much built, the winch, leaf springs, wheels, and duals already. I just ordered the 39.5"s on fri. I called 4Wheelparts to see how long the 10% off and free shipping sale would be going on, and after he told me next week, I decided to wait on the tires BUT THEN he threw in the FREE Smittybuilt air compressor Before you order anything online, be sure to call them and harass them a little, it will be worth big $$$
I sent my Longfields back as they were popping a lot. Theyve been in three different trucks over the two years and were swapped no questions asked The chromo output will be mailed back with the new birfs.
On my last truck, I was breaking rear ends more than I really wanted too, so Im upgrading the strength or the front and rear 3rd members and going higher in the ring gear. The plan is that the chromo output on the t-case and the 23 spline coupler will minimise breakage there. We shall see.
Im sticking with leafs this time as the coilovers were more prone to catastrophic failure than I liked. One loose jam nut can let the rear diff rotate up 90degrees, break the drive shaft, bend the output flange, bend two coilover shafts, smash the gas tank, and overall cause a :pokinit:ty day on the trail. I take my two boys riding with me, and I just want something a little more dependable: factory motor, leaf springs, and all parts that I have spares of
Oh yeah, and it has A/C.
If I get bored with this truck after a while and think that I am really driving it to its full potentail, I might link the front, but not right now.