Box Rocket '03 DC Tacoma Build

[autofinesse]

Took some photos tonight. I spent a few days last week doing a fall cleanup on the truck before winter hits. The wheeling season had taken it's toll on all the armor and wheels. I pulled the bumpers and sanded and repainted them so the winter salt wouldn't cause more rust. Sanded and repainted the sliders. Put a fresh coat of paint on my CO2 tank and a few other bits too. Hope you don't mind a photodump.

What size are those tyres and rims ? And what lift please, looks amazing

 

[Box Rocket]

33x12.50 tires
15x8 wheels
~3.5" lift from OME + 1" Body lift.

 

[Benc]

33x12.50 tires
15x8 wheels
~3.5" lift from OME + 1" Body lift.

I thought ome only made a 2" lift for tacoma?


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[Box Rocket]

It's more like 2.5" depending on the components you use. I'm running 882 coils which are the tallest ones and a 10mm trim packer in the front. In the rear I have the Dakars with the extra leaf from OME and 1.5" longer shackles. So I'm easily 2.5" if not closer to 3.5" already in the rear before the 1" body lift.

 

[Dwill817]

Of course I've considered it, but it won't happen with this truck. A little background. I cut my teeth rockcrawling in my FJ40 and it was pretty built and I ran some gnarly trails in it. I had an '85 pickup with a solid front axle at the same time that got some trail use. A little later I had a very built '93 pickup with a solid axle swap and dual t-cases etc. That entire time I've also had my FZJ80 Land Cruiser. So I definitely know all the benefits (and drawbacks) of having a solid axle up front. For this truck and how I use it a solid axle would be the wrong choice. I don't need a better rock crawler. I still have the FZJ80 and it can handle all that stuff until I build another FJ40. This Tacoma is the truck I want to use for exploration and higher speed dirt tracks. It still rockcrawls surprisingly well IMO with the IFS. In fact it does well enough that I really see no need for a solid axle. It already handles some of the difficult trails in Moab. If I wanted to run the most extreme trails in Moab or elsewhere I wouldn't do it with this truck anyway even if it did have a SAS. It too long, not great departure angle for the extreme stuff unless I got it a lot taller and did some extensive body modification. Frankly, your 1st gen truck would be a better candidate to build up for that type of use. This Tacoma is miles better at the exploration and desert road type travel than any other truck I've had.
.
So that's a long-winded response. Short answer is this truck would not benefit from SAS. If anything changes with the front end it will be a move to a long travel IFS setup so I can go faster in the desert.

Thats about the responce I was expecting! Just wanted you to outline it for me and all the others who have wondered.

I absolutely loved your old 85 and the 93. Coming from both of those and the experience you had with them, what do you think was your best suspension set up? I'm going partial OME for now, but have strongly considered changing directions and its hard to get advice without a bunch of cussing drunk rednecks (did I slip up and say that instead of pirate4x4) hollering RUF/Chevy 63's. No doubt its a comfortable ride and flexy, but not for me. I don't want to spend lots of money only to run someone's worn out leafs and if one breaks you have to hunt down another set and rebuild a leaf pack. I much prefer to be able to order and simply replace.

 

[Benc]

It's more like 2.5" depending on the components you use. I'm running 882 coils which are the tallest ones and a 10mm trim packer in the front. In the rear I have the Dakars with the extra leaf from OME and 1.5" longer shackles. So I'm easily 2.5" if not closer to 3.5" already in the rear before the 1" body lift.

I have the same kit as you with the 882 with the trim packer and the extra leaf and I only got about 2" maybe 2 1/4" lift but my truck is prob a little heavier. How are your rear bushings holding up? Mine are shot after a year.


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[Benc]

I have the same kit as you with the 882 with the trim packer and the extra leaf and I only got about 2" maybe 2 1/4" lift but my truck is prob a little heavier. How are your rear bushings holding up? Mine are shot after a year.


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Just saw your previous post on the bushings. Keep us posted on how the factory bushings hold up.


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[Wainiha]

Nice rear suspension travel Box Rocket. As usual your set up is awesome.

 

[Box Rocket]

Just saw your previous post on the bushings. Keep us posted on how the factory bushings hold up.


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The factory sleeved bushings in the main eyes are the best option really. There is not a lot of room between the spring eyes and the sides of the spring hangers. Changing to poly bushings is an option but the shoulders of the poly bushings will get crushed and become useless in short order because there is just no room in there. The rubber flexes good. The problem with the sleeved bushings is anytime you have metal against metal it will seize up over time. Be generous with the anti-seize when you press the sleeved bushings in and you should get a decent life out of them. Fortunately they're not hard to change since they will wear out.

Thats about the responce I was expecting! Just wanted you to outline it for me and all the others who have wondered.

I absolutely loved your old 85 and the 93. Coming from both of those and the experience you had with them, what do you think was your best suspension set up? I'm going partial OME for now, but have strongly considered changing directions and its hard to get advice without a bunch of cussing drunk rednecks (did I slip up and say that instead of pirate4x4) hollering RUF/Chevy 63's. No doubt its a comfortable ride and flexy, but not for me. I don't want to spend lots of money only to run someone's worn out leafs and if one breaks you have to hunt down another set and rebuild a leaf pack. I much prefer to be able to order and simply replace.

For a solid axle truck, the best suspension setup I've had was on my '85. I had custom 5" Alcan springs that were matched to the weight of the truck and I had them built an 1" longer than normal to improve shackle angles. I was running Bilstein 5150s for shocks with that setup. It rode and flexed VERY well for a leaf spring setup. The suspension on the '93 was similar but it had AllPro springs since they were on it when I bought it. It did fine but was not as good as the Alcan springs. So if I had your truck I would have some custom Alcan leaves made with some good shocks and go to a quality high-steer system with a later model IFS steering box and it would be a smooth setup.

For a non-IFS truck the recipe is totally different.

 

[Dwill817]

For a solid axle truck, the best suspension setup I've had was on my '85. I had custom 5" Alcan springs that were matched to the weight of the truck and I had them built an 1" longer than normal to improve shackle angles. I was running Bilstein 5150s for shocks with that setup. It rode and flexed VERY well for a leaf spring setup. The suspension on the '93 was similar but it had AllPro springs since they were on it when I bought it. It did fine but was not as good as the Alcan springs. So if I had your truck I would have some custom Alcan leaves made with some good shocks and go to a quality high-steer system with a later model IFS steering box and it would be a smooth setup.

For a non-IFS truck the recipe is totally different.

I'll transfer my response to PM so we don't cloud up your build thread because I have some questions.

 

[Box Rocket]

So about a week ago a guy on a local message board posted up a wanted ad for a used RTT. He was in a bit of a hurry since he and his wife were headed out on a long road trip this week. I decided, what the heck, and told him I could sell my Tepui Autana tent if he was interested. I did this because since I have the new Ruggedized XL tent on the trailer, the Autana was being used exclusively on the truck and my bedrack is not high enough to utilize the annex with the Autana anymore. So the plan was to sell the Autana w/annex and get another tent without an annex for the truck. The local guy called me a couple hours later and he happened to be just a couple miles away at the time and came over to look at the tent and the deal was done. So I sold it last weekend and ordered up a new Tepui tent the next day.

I haven't seen it yet (it was delivered to the house this afternoon) but I ordered the Kukenam Sky. This tent is the same size sleeping area as the Autana but the roof opens up for star gazing/ventilation. I'm not so much into the star gazing aspect of it, but I am sure I'll use the open roof of the tent for photography. I can't even count the times I've peeked out a window of the tent in the morning to see some great wildlife. I can't ever get a good photo from inside the tent and they take off when they hear me try to get out of the tent. Now I can just stand up quietly in the tent and capture some of those cool moments.

Another nice thing is it's the same color as the gray tent on the trailer so now the tents will match. Should have pics and a review on the tent in the next few days once I can get it mounted on the truck.

 

[richard310]

I love the way you've setup your Taco! Look forward to seeing the new addition/replacement!

 

[toyotech]

Nice can't wait too see the tent installed and set up. The sky view sounds cool


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[Box Rocket]

I got the tent mounted last night but it was late. Today has been crazy so I don't have pics yet, but at first glance it looks like a cool setup. Obviously identical to the standard Kukenam but the open top features seem to be designed well. Looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Costman13]

Pictures. Or it didn't happen!