Building an expedition-worthy 06 Tacoma

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
offroad_nomad said:
Have you read the three part write-up in Offroad Adventures Magazine titled "Project Maya Hunter?"

Project Maya Hunter: Part One

Project Maya Hunter: Part Two

Project Maya Hunter: Part Three

08photo00.jpg

What a brilliant idea! Get a bunch of sponsors to donate the ultimate expedition vehicle for an archaeological dig. Hmm, the mental gears are grinding...

Thanks for the links - killer articles!
 
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ArchaeoTaco

Observer
New Shoes

Alright, after some sage advice from all of you, I rearranged my priorities and sprung for a new set of tires. I found a local dealer who with some Maxxis Bighorn MT's in stock, and was able to sell my BFGoodrich Rugged Trail tires for $250.

I can't wait to try out these bad boys on a muddy trail! They certainly look the part:

newtires1.jpg


newtires3.jpg


My ride to work today along I-25 was a lot louder with more swerves:victory:
 

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
jnelson4x4taco said:
if you dont mind me asking, where did you find the tires at and what was the price. Im in denver too and i am lookin at those tires as well. thanks

I found three dealers with these tires in stock around this area. The cheapest was at Elder Auto in Denver (303.756.2886), for $140/tire. If you're going to get them installed, though, I'd go with Ron's Tire in Englewood (303.781.2133). They quoted me about the same price for the tires ($140.27 each), but they have better prices for installation and balancing.
 

Lost Canadian

Expedition Leader
ArchaeoTaco welcome. It's nice to see another 05+ being built for expe. travel. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your rack idea's. I'm currently talking with a local fab company about getting a rack built myself. I have to meet with the design engineer next week and go over what I want so I'm frantically scouring the net for idea's. www.johnduff.ca will be building the rack. Anyway I look forward to your build up.
 

Ursidae69

Traveller
Holy cow, those tires look awesome and glad to hear that you got 250 for the old ones, that was fast work! :clapsmile
 

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
Lost Canadian said:
ArchaeoTaco welcome. It's nice to see another 05+ being built for expe. travel. I'll be sure to keep an eye on your rack idea's. I'm currently talking with a local fab company about getting a rack built myself. I have to meet with the design engineer next week and go over what I want so I'm frantically scouring the net for idea's. www.johnduff.ca will be building the rack. Anyway I look forward to your build up.

Thanks! Good luck on your custom rack. Here are some of the folks on this forum who have rack systems that I'm using for inspiration:

Mark's setup:
IMG_6565.jpg


TacoDoc's setup:
tacodocsexpeditionrack-2.jpg


Pasquale's setup:
Pasqualesexpeditionrack-4.jpg


Cell4soul's setup:
cell4soulexpeditionrack-1.jpg
 

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
Ursidae69 said:
Holy cow, those tires look awesome and glad to hear that you got 250 for the old ones, that was fast work! :clapsmile

:beer: Thanks! :beer:

I put an ad up on Craigslist yesterday, and immediately got about a dozen calls. Shoulda asked $300 :p
 

jnelson4x4taco

Adventurer
thanks for the reply on tire price, those sure look good on your truck. hopefully ill be able to save my pennies and get a set!!
 

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
TACODOC said:
I like those tires alot!

Thanks! They certainly help out in the soft snow that has fallen over the weekend. On packed snow/ice, I don't notice any difference in traction over my old ones, which is good, because I thought I'd have reduced traction with MT's.

Can't wait to get them offroad!
 

ArchaeoTaco

Observer
Weight Issues

Does anyone know how much weight I can put on the truck before I need to upgrade the suspension and start considering a lift?

E.g., if I put on a new front bumper, toolbox, bed rack, rooftop tent, and load it down with a couple hundred pounds of gear, am I asking for trouble?

It would be nice to have the camping situation (i.e., rooftop tent) completed before spring/summer expeditions, but I want to make sure I'm proceeding correctly, and if I need to put that money towards better suspension/lift first, then so be it.
 

jim65wagon

Well-known member
Personally, now that you've gotten the tire situation handled I think you can safely and reliably get where you want to go and back without a lot of drama. My way of saying the Toyota comes with an excellent stock suspension and you can probably begin you camping list...adding the front bumper and winch may change that though, you may need to at least do the coilovers to counteract the added weight to the nose. Unless those tires rub you shouldn't need to lift; or trim wheelwells. BTW you wouldn't be the first on this site that runs close to max GVW. We all seem to weigh a lot on here!:cow: :chowtime:
 

BajaTaco

Swashbuckler
ArchaeoTaco said:
Does anyone know how much weight I can put on the truck before I need to upgrade the suspension and start considering a lift?

E.g., if I put on a new front bumper, toolbox, bed rack, rooftop tent, and load it down with a couple hundred pounds of gear, am I asking for trouble?

It would be nice to have the camping situation (i.e., rooftop tent) completed before spring/summer expeditions, but I want to make sure I'm proceeding correctly, and if I need to put that money towards better suspension/lift first, then so be it.

I think if you are adding rock sliders, all of the camping equipment, and a winch bumper, you will end up with an upgraded suspension, be it now or later. I don't think the stock suspension will be up to the task in the long-term. There are two ways you can go:

1. Add all of the weight on the stock susp. and just take it easy and be careful with the driving. Document all of the differences in ride height and GVW as you go ("before" & "after" measurements). After you are all complete with adding weight, determine your gross weight and how much lift you need, and place an order for the suspension accordingly.

2. Draw up a list of modifications you plan to make, and estimate what the weight will end up being. Weigh your truck now, as-is, and then provide all of these numbers to your suspension specialist of choice, along with the desired amount of lift, and get the suspension ordered and installed ahead of all of the weight increases. I would recommend adjustable coilovers for the front, so that you can make fine adjustments to the ride height as necessary. For the rear, you can make up some adjustment in ride height with shackle length if you need to, or even small spring-steel spacers on the bottom of the leaf packs.
 
Anything over 1/4 your recommended payload as a constant load (rack, sliders, skids, etc) and I bet you'll find it's time to look at stiffer springs. That's a slippery number and really an educated guess but ya gotta keep in mind that Toyota has been building suspensions for unloaded US street use for a while now, and while they may rate your truck with a little over 1/4T working load (max IIRC is 1400#ish, working load is half that), you'll be all over the bump stops with 700# in the truck offroad. I was all over the stops with an unloaded truck and stock suspension, now with stiffer springs and the load I carry I can still flex to the stops but my butt isn't dragging :p. You can get by with stock suspension and heavy loads, but your capability offroad will suffer.

When you're adding tube, here's a quick rule of thumb. Thicker walls means the tube is less likely to deform or crush from a point load--good for sliders and other body protection. Larger diameter means stiffer tube, so you can drop the wall thickness if it's not body protection...for example a rack. You'll find there are some combinations where you can use a large diameter thinwall tube and it will be stronger as well as lighter than a narrow tube with a thick wall.

Basically, diameter has more effect on strength and stiffness than wall thickness, so if you choose the right stuff you can keep the constant load down and save space for steak and beer.

Something else to consider when weighting the truck is keep as much as you can in front of, or centered over, the rear axle.
 

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