Bought the truck (1st gen Tacoma), now what? :P

[Clutch]

I am running stock UCA's with Camburg 2.5's. OME Dakar heavies for the rear. With 32X11.5X15 BFG AT tire.

Have one of the over load springs out of the pack right now, why it looks a little squatted in the rear. Took it out when I had my SnugTop on it.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

Thanks for the suggestions on suspension, lights, and roof top tents / Wildernests!

So I've figured out what the previous owner did for the suspension. It's got a 3" block lift kit with rear shocks from Tuff Country on it, and a front pre-load spacer and front strut spacer. The website says it can accommodate up to a 36" tire. The ride is pretty jerky when hitting bumps, I'm thinking because they never changed the upper control arms to accommodate the lift. I know blocks aren't the greatest for hitting the trail with, since they can contribute to axel warp and a myriad of other issues. What do you all think? Is it worth hitting the trails with, or spend a weekend wrenching beforehand to stay safe?

Overall, I'm thinking of changing it out with the Complete Old Man Emu suspension kit and ditching the blocks completely. My only question is this: do most of you change your upper control arms, and if so, which ones did you use? The tires that are currently on it are Cooper Discovery's AT/3 265/70R16. I don't think I have any reason to change the tire size anytime soon for my uses, but am open to hearing why I might want to.

Wheel it, just take it easy, pushing it a little is a good chance to rattle lose any other issues it might have. The harsh ride is probably due more to the type of lift than the UCA's, I would budget in new UCA's but only as a replacement for the stock ones when they are actually actually ready to be replaced.

 

[2scars]

Or, if you keep the lift to below 2.5, re bush the OEM UCAs. That is what I have planned, I don't have any real issues with alignment.

 

[RangeDrive]

Don't mean to thread Jack but Clutch, where did you buy your 'nests from? I am in search of one but can't seem to find any. I have scoured craigslist ads writhing 12hrs of me

 

[Clutch]

Don't mean to thread Jack but Clutch, where did you buy your 'nests from? I am in search of one but can't seem to find any. I have scoured craigslist ads writhing 12hrs of me

Found it here in Idaho.

In my searches on Search Tempest, see them in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington mostly.

Since they were made in Colorado, seems like they stay out West, not many made it to the Eastern States.

 

[yurtdweller]

Took the truck in for the frame inspection on Friday morning after I found some big holes in the rear cross member. It had been sprayed in 2010 for the recall, and Yota says you have until 15 years when it first rolled off the lot to keep getting it inspected in case there is failure, for a new frame. Just got the call today, they got a new frame on order for us! Wahoo! Now, what do you folks in the Northeast spray on your frames for salt and corrosion protection? I want to make sure to protect the new frame!

Also noticed that the CV boots closest to the inside are leaking. Seems like a common issue with lifted trucks. Since this is my first lifted truck, I'm learning all sorts of things I'm thinking about getting rebuilt CV axles from CVJ with the longer boots, has anyone here done that and had good success? I've heard good things about CVJ.

Also have a tear in the front control arm steering boot. Blerg. That one sounds less fun than replacing CV axels because it needs an alignment after doing that work. Might do it and the suspension together to batch together the need for the alignment!

Haven't ordered the new suspension yet, as I'm trying to figure out the order that I'll do all of this work in, so it's making me hesitate on buying parts... In the meantime, I signed up for Mid Atlantic Overland Festival and will be helping CVT tents run their booth there, so I got a discount on a RTT! Considering not taking the truck, though, due to the repairs needed. I don't think I want to snap off the current frame while wheelin' Just kidding, it isn't that bad, but I won't have a truck cap to mount the tent to by then anyway. So now I've got to figure out how to mount a RTT to the '01 Subaru Forester! :smiley_drive:

 

[Colorado_Outback]

Check out Fluid Film for corrosion protection.

 

[yurtdweller]

Well, lots of time has passed since my last posts, but work on the truck has progressed! First, took care of the suspension. This project definitely took a while due to the amount of corrosion on everything, and lots of sawzalling of bolts. It also took a while to get our rear leaf springs - about a month after we finished the front, they finally arrived! Wheelers had them on back order for a while. The CV axles were rebuilt from CVJ in Colorado, and they are super nice. The Old Man Emu suspension rides like a dream compared to the old worn out setup! This work was completed between September 4th and October 8th.

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[yurtdweller]

While working on the front suspension, I noticed the ball joint boots were all torn up and made a note to replace them soon. However, when I went to get an alignment, they were so bad that the shop could not do the alignment. Being a small, unassuming looking woman, they gave me their shop quote on the repair for just the right upper ball joint, and alignment. $448.39! So I took my truck to Toyota, ordered my $32/each ball joints, and we spent the next Friday doing the work on both sides.

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[yurtdweller]

A couple of weeks ago, Toyota finally got in the new frame, and a week later she was returned to us with a new frame, new lower control arms, new hard brake lines, tons of new bolts, new brake fluid and freon. One thing I noticed when I inspected the truck is that they mounted just a portion of my gas tank skid plate back on - the piece that was attached to the strap! Where has the rest gone?! They said when they dropped the tank, it fell apart. OEM, the skid plate is over $500, and the warranty repair doesn't cover it.

So I ordered one made by Low Range Off Road and installed it last Wednesday, before our 8 hour drive to Connecticut to take the truck, and ourselves, off road for the first time under the supervision of OEX.

We met Erik from OEX at the Mid Atlantic Overland Festival and really wanted to train with him. Thankfully, he was open to working with us on Thanksgiving weekend, and we learned a whole lot about the trucks capabilities, how to drive in various situations, and what to work on next to improve the trucks abilities on overland trips.

Our rear bumper is pretty much just a thin piece of rust bolted onto a nice new frame, and with the lack of recovery points on the vehicle on the moment, that will be our next project.

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[yurtdweller]

In the month that we waited on our rear suspension pieces to arrive, we started to work on the roof top tent setup. It lived on the Subaru until last week, because we still don't have a solution we like. In September, we took off the roll bar and we drove to New York (Niagara Falls) for a truck cap we found on Craigslist for $200. We had been looking for one since we had bought the truck, but they are few and far between.

Next up, we decided to try using a ladder rack that comes up around the truck cap for the roof top tent. This setup sounds like a good idea, but the problem is that the tent ends up way too high above the vehicle, about a foot above the truck cap. I'll be working on welding our own design during the holiday break from work.

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[yurtdweller]

Another limitation we hit on last weekend, besides the lack of recovery points, was the general lack of protection we have under the vehicle. The stock skid plates are rusty thin sheets, and the step bars might actually cause more damage than not having them at all. Skid plates and sliders are in the future of this truck, but probably not until next summer.

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[robert]

I see you added the Wheeler's bump stops as well. I've been happy with mine, front and rear, for the price. They're not Timbrens but for the price and the type of wheeling I do they are perfectly acceptable and better than the stock ones for sure.

 

[yurtdweller]

Yup, the old ones were missing, so it was time to find something. These do the trick


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[wvtradbow]

Wow Yurtdweller,you're very lucky getting a new frame,I just bought a 04 extended cab an found a hole in the frame,took it to my local Yota dealer,when they looked up the VIN they said it was coated in 2010 an there was nothing I could do about it,so I got POd went in the parking lot an called Toyota an was basically told the same thing,under the "limited recall" they had,the lady told me that they met the responsibilitys of the recall when they coated it,an they wouldn't do a frame replacement,but she would open a "file" on it what ever that meant..Now I have 3 toyotas registered with them an she asked if I wanted to trade it in,i said NO but started thinking if they gave me a GOOD trade in "maybe" So I ran back into the dealership to see about a trade in an the service guy I was just talking to said "they would give me "trade in value" of a tacoma with a bad frame. Now I'm real Pi$$ed off and said I WAS a huge toyota fan,I have 3 but they're really pI$$ING me off,His response was "you ought to work on this side of the desk" THE END Sorry to hi jack your thread,just had to vent...Your truck looks AWESOME btw