Inferno.Overland's '04 Tundra DC Build
- Thread starter Go4Lo
- Start date
OutOfBounds
Adventurer
Those sliders look great. I love that they double as a step/running board. Any chance you have a set of drawings for them with dimensions? I'd like to build some myself eventually, and I'll freely admit I'm 1. lazy and 2. not very good at the design aspect of fabrication.
Watt maker
Active member
Very nice build! Looking forward to see where it goes from here. I'm also considering picking up a 1st gen tundra to build.
As for the 6112's, I run them on my 4th gen 4runner and find them to be as close to a rebuildable coilover as you can get. I'm pretty happy with them so far. That being said, I run them on the 4th notch (early 6112 with only 5 notches) and a spacer on the driver side, which is just about perfect for a mostly stock 4th gen with 2" Icon springs in the rear. However, I'm building a steel full plate bumper for the front with a steel cable warn winch and I already know it's going to be too much for the 600 lb springs that come with the 6112's. I already have a set of King 14" 700 lb coils to try out.
Keep the pics coming!
As for the 6112's, I run them on my 4th gen 4runner and find them to be as close to a rebuildable coilover as you can get. I'm pretty happy with them so far. That being said, I run them on the 4th notch (early 6112 with only 5 notches) and a spacer on the driver side, which is just about perfect for a mostly stock 4th gen with 2" Icon springs in the rear. However, I'm building a steel full plate bumper for the front with a steel cable warn winch and I already know it's going to be too much for the 600 lb springs that come with the 6112's. I already have a set of King 14" 700 lb coils to try out.
Keep the pics coming!
Go4Lo
Explorer
Thanks! No, unfortunately the rear shocks are not adjustable but they feel great so far.
Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately I too am lazy and didn't take the time to draw them out. I can give you rough measurements...95" long, which is the exact width from the back of the front flare to the beginning of the rear flare on a 2004 Double Cab. The base sliders are built from 2x6x3/16 rectangular tubing. Held in place by 4 legs built from 2x2x3/16. Each leg length varies in length slightly for a custom fit to the cab. The 4 legs are welded directly to the 2x6 slider and then welded to a set of Trail-Gear.com L-shaped 3/16" frame plates that are fully welded on all sides, bottom, plug welded and gusseted. It's a LOT of welding but they are stout, which this pig of a truck needs :costumed-smiley-007
I got the 700lb coils in over the weekend so check out my write up.
Go4Lo
Explorer
Eibach 700lb Coils
Ok, so for anyone who's interested I did some 1st Gen Tundra, Bilstein 6112 R&D work this weekend on my truck. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the coils Bilstein supplied with the 6112 kit. In order to get the desired 2.5" lift of out them I had to run full pre-load, notch 8 of 8 on the shock body. Even with this much preload the coil felt overloaded and the truck had a lot of body roll. I do not run with a front a sway bar so I admit that is a contributing factor to body roll but even so the coils just felt too squishy and soft for the heavy double cab. It's possible the supplied coils would be a perfect match for the lighter Access Cab Tundra's?
Based on all the online hearsay and forum chat I was confident the included coils were a standard 14" 600lb 3" ID coil manufactured by Eibach, painted black with Bilstein markings. Boy was I wrong....let's just say I'm glad I went with a 16" coil, otherwise I would have been backtracking. The included coils measured out to 15.25" long and just over 3" ID. You can see in the picture below the new 16" Eibach coils are only 3/4" longer. :Wow1:
Even though the new coils are only marginally longer they are much stiffer which means I can run less pre-load for an equal amount of lift and less body roll. I wasn't sure what notch to start with so as the truck sits now both are set to notch 4 of 8. With the Eibach's this setting gave me approximately 1/2" of additional lift and more controlled ride. The truck has a level stance at this setting so I could possibly drop down one additional notch to introduce a little rake and provide an even better ride.
Moral of the story....these coils pair very nicely with the 6112s, ride well and still give me room to adjust up or down, weight dependent.
Ok, so for anyone who's interested I did some 1st Gen Tundra, Bilstein 6112 R&D work this weekend on my truck. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the coils Bilstein supplied with the 6112 kit. In order to get the desired 2.5" lift of out them I had to run full pre-load, notch 8 of 8 on the shock body. Even with this much preload the coil felt overloaded and the truck had a lot of body roll. I do not run with a front a sway bar so I admit that is a contributing factor to body roll but even so the coils just felt too squishy and soft for the heavy double cab. It's possible the supplied coils would be a perfect match for the lighter Access Cab Tundra's?
Based on all the online hearsay and forum chat I was confident the included coils were a standard 14" 600lb 3" ID coil manufactured by Eibach, painted black with Bilstein markings. Boy was I wrong....let's just say I'm glad I went with a 16" coil, otherwise I would have been backtracking. The included coils measured out to 15.25" long and just over 3" ID. You can see in the picture below the new 16" Eibach coils are only 3/4" longer. :Wow1:
Even though the new coils are only marginally longer they are much stiffer which means I can run less pre-load for an equal amount of lift and less body roll. I wasn't sure what notch to start with so as the truck sits now both are set to notch 4 of 8. With the Eibach's this setting gave me approximately 1/2" of additional lift and more controlled ride. The truck has a level stance at this setting so I could possibly drop down one additional notch to introduce a little rake and provide an even better ride.
Moral of the story....these coils pair very nicely with the 6112s, ride well and still give me room to adjust up or down, weight dependent.
tyv12
Adventurer
Very interesting, my SAWs are at the end of their life and a I was waiting for feedback. Take it on the highway yet? Specifically how does it fare on short sharp bumps as in tar snakes or uneven bridge approaches, my SAWs are very harsh on that kind of thing and I'm looking to get away from that
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Go4Lo
Explorer
3rd times the charm
I've put 200-250 miles on the truck over the last few days since the new coils went in. Mixed driving between interstate, secondary roads and rough city streets. With the pre-load set at the 4th notch up they were a bit too stiff and too tall. The truck sat dead level on all 4 corners at 38.25", ground to fender. I prefer a little rake for load handling and a slightly smoother ride so I tore the front end apart for a 3rd time this evening and dropped the clips down 2 notches. At this point I'm only 1 notch up from what Bilstein considers stock height so the coil pre-load is less and the front end came back down approximately 1/2".
I'm hopeful I don't have to repeat this process a 4th time as measurements now read 38.25" in the rear and 37.75" up front and the front suspension "stiffness" level seems to be about perfect. Time will tell...:smiley_drive:
On another note the next project will be a new steering rack and 4 new TREs and possible lower ball joints. I've got a dead spot in the steering wheel that's causing the truck to want to wander and following cracks in the road. The poly rack bushings helped but didn't solve the problem. Since I've been under the front end so much lately I spent some time trying to diagnose the dead spot. I'm confident I have it isolated to the rack itself and I'm equally confident this rack is original to the truck, meaning it has 223K on it so it's most likely due.
What's everyone's thoughts on reman vs new aftermarket racks? Most of the forum chatter seems to support the A1-Cardone reman racks sold by Napa and several other parts stores.
I've put 200-250 miles on the truck over the last few days since the new coils went in. Mixed driving between interstate, secondary roads and rough city streets. With the pre-load set at the 4th notch up they were a bit too stiff and too tall. The truck sat dead level on all 4 corners at 38.25", ground to fender. I prefer a little rake for load handling and a slightly smoother ride so I tore the front end apart for a 3rd time this evening and dropped the clips down 2 notches. At this point I'm only 1 notch up from what Bilstein considers stock height so the coil pre-load is less and the front end came back down approximately 1/2".
I'm hopeful I don't have to repeat this process a 4th time as measurements now read 38.25" in the rear and 37.75" up front and the front suspension "stiffness" level seems to be about perfect. Time will tell...:smiley_drive:
On another note the next project will be a new steering rack and 4 new TREs and possible lower ball joints. I've got a dead spot in the steering wheel that's causing the truck to want to wander and following cracks in the road. The poly rack bushings helped but didn't solve the problem. Since I've been under the front end so much lately I spent some time trying to diagnose the dead spot. I'm confident I have it isolated to the rack itself and I'm equally confident this rack is original to the truck, meaning it has 223K on it so it's most likely due.
What's everyone's thoughts on reman vs new aftermarket racks? Most of the forum chatter seems to support the A1-Cardone reman racks sold by Napa and several other parts stores.
seanpistol
Explorer
I have a reman rack from Napa with lifetime warranty. Feels the same as stock... my steering is tighter than my girlfiends 07 Subaru. It returns to center, doesn't track or wander... no issues at all. Changing the rack out is a PITA.
Go4Lo
Explorer
Thanks for the feedback. Interesting to hear you say the rack is a PITA given all the extensive work you've done to your truck. On the surface it doesn't appear to be that difficult. Unbolt the PS lines, loosen the steering shaft clamp, drop the outer TREs and unbolt the rack from the sub frame.
Repeat for reinstall and then bleed the pump by turning the wheel lock to lock multiple times until all the air bubbles are out. Maybe I'm missing something??
On a side note I'm going to try adjusting the the rack guide first. It's the free option 😉
seanpistol
Explorer
Haha, nope that's it... But you can really make any job sound that simple. How much corrosion you got? Get a tie-rod puller. Make sure you strap your steering wheel down. Getting everything to line up by yourself is the biggest pain in the ***. Another set of hands makes most jobs easier and it's a luxury I almost never have. I had 4 ratchet straps (and one broke) around the rack and onto my bumper to get the middle bolt to line up. And the damn slip joint from the steering column... Changing the timing belt was a less frustrating job. It's not rocket appliances, but every bit and piece of it seemed to give me a harder time than what was necessary. Sometimes that's just how it goes, not going to be the same experience for everyone.
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rickashay
Explorer
Worst case Ontario he'll have trouble lining up all the little parts as you mentioned Sean, but I'm sure he'll finger it out.
seanpistol
Explorer
Go4Lo
Explorer
My favorite kind of educational experience