My 09 Tacoma build

[heeltoe989]

Amazing skid! Where did you have it fabbed? Somewhere in The Great White North I assume.

It was a collaboration from three people as my TIG welding skills flat out suck and I didn't want steel for the extra weight and rust problems that would come up regardless of what I coated it in.

I had the idea of a full belly skid on the front, and the gas tank skid. I bought 3 sheets of 1/4 aluminum and Ian Hoyle from Hoyle enterprises ( welder and fabricator ) and Kevin at HRT Off-road ( welder and fabricator ) also where I get 90% of my parts for the truck from made it happen.

The outcome was more than what I thought and its taken some very good hits and scrapes and has held up without any problems and at about 55lbs for the front skid and 15lbs for gas tank skid its at a great weight.

 

[luni]

If the vehicle is bouncing off of obstacles, wouldn't that be an indication of too little damping as opposed to a soft spring rate? Let me know if I'm way off base here; if I'm right, it seems like improved shocks should cure that issue.

***EDIT*** One more question -- Are any of the common coilovers for the Tacoma truly height adjustable, or only via preload? Sorry for the noobish question.

I see what your getting at the bounce I'm referring to is the initial dip when coming off or going up an obstacle where as any subsequent rocking would be dampened by the shock. Sucks to knock your undercarriage when you would otherwise have the clearance. A stiffer spring rate will limit up travel making for some hairy off-camber situations but for the extra weight we wheel with the vehicle would handle appropriately.

Not sure I understand the question. The height is adjusted by adjusting the preload. An adjustable coilover maintains correct geometry, unlike a spacer which "lengthens" the strut to generate preload, and simply pushes the spring down, extending the shock at rest, lowering the control arm down lowering the wheel in its arc of wheel travel. As long as you stay within the manufacturer's limits, usually 2.5-3 inches of preload, you won't have to worry about coil bind or snapping UCAs or spindles. But if you're adjusting up to 2.5 inches of preload for 1-2 inches of lift it's time to rethink your spring rate In which case you should go see heeltoe.

 

[deadbeat son]

I see what your getting at the bounce I'm referring to is the initial dip when coming off or going up an obstacle where as any subsequent rocking would be dampened by the shock. Sucks to knock your undercarriage when you would otherwise have the clearance. A stiffer spring rate will limit up travel making for some hairy off-camber situations but for the extra weight we wheel with the vehicle would handle appropriately.

Thanks for the clarification; I see what you mean now. I haven't had a chance to get off road with the truck yet to experience this. I'm going to make time to get into the mountains Saturday afternoon and then I may get to see the problem first hand.

Not sure I understand the question. The height is adjusted by adjusting the preload. An adjustable coilover maintains correct geometry, unlike a spacer which "lengthens" the strut to generate preload, and simply pushes the spring down, extending the shock at rest, lowering the control arm down lowering the wheel in its arc of wheel travel. As long as you stay within the manufacturer's limits, usually 2.5-3 inches of preload, you won't have to worry about coil bind or snapping UCAs or spindles. But if you're adjusting up to 2.5 inches of preload for 1-2 inches of lift it's time to rethink your spring rate In which case you should go see heeltoe.

Coming from the sports car world, there are many different flavors of "coil-over" suspension. Many people buy coilovers which can only vary height via preload. They try to lower the car by adjusting preload of the spring and the result isn't always favorable; the spring needs a certain amount of preload to ride properly. Likewise, in a truck, the more preload you place on the spring, the stiffer the response is going to be (as well as the higher the ride height will be.) With the cars, the nicer coilovers have a means of lengthing the lower mounting point independent of spring preload. This allows you to dial in the perfect amount of preload for your application's specific weight, while still allowing you to adjust your ride height appropriately. I was hoping some of the offroad coilovers would have this capability as well, but it may be a weak point for expedition use; I'm not really sure. Regardless, none of the coilovers I've seen for the Tacoma look like they have this adjustment.

Thanks again for the help! New tires should be mounted up tomorrow and as long as I can get enough chores done around the house, I'll be heading out for a trail ride Sunday!

 

[deadbeat son]

Here's a picture of a height-adjustable coilover to better explain what I'm referring to. See how the lower mount is adjustable separately from the spring preload?

 

[Streakerfreak]

I'm terrible with explaining the technical stuff. Have you seen a pic of say a pair of Camburgs?

 

[deadbeat son]

Thanks, I've seen a similar photo. I haven't found any Tacoma COs with height adjustable lower mounts. Like I said, it may be a weak link in an offroad setup.

 

[Streakerfreak]

Thanks, I've seen that photo. I haven't found any Tacoma COs with height adjustable lower mounts. Like I said, it may be a weak link in an offroad setup.

Oh alright, yeah that is pretty much the design that they all use in various forms.

 

[heeltoe989]

the main reason I'm now using a King Spring up front. 14"x700lbs

I didn't like all the preload I was putting into the Icon spring. I did eventually brake one. I have less preload now and more lift, a little stiffer ride yes, but handles the bumper and winch much much better than before and handles the trailer WAY better too, less body roll. I will sacrifice a bit of off-road flex, but when I'm off camping loaded it will make all the difference in the world.

If your thinking about a bumper and winch for the future I would highly recommend this conversion.

Thread #301
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8586&page=31

 

[luni]

Thanks, I've seen a similar photo. I haven't found any Tacoma COs with height adjustable lower mounts. Like I said, it may be a weak link in an offroad setup.

You're definitely tracking. In a lowered sports car set up I would think you don't regularly take the suspension to the extremes of it's articulation. In an offroad set-up changing the length of the shock without correcting for the geometry elsewhere, like the control arms, causes additional stress to other components.

In a phone conversation with Icon and another offroad shop when I was first considering going to 700lbs springs they explained that preload does not effect the spring rate. The spring isn't being compressed, it's simply extending the shock. "Preload" can be sort of deceptive terminology I suppose. In order to compress the spring (read: shorten) the shock would have to be fully extended at the limits of it's downtravel.

 

[deadbeat son]

In an offroad set-up changing the length of the shock without correcting for the geometry elsewhere, like the control arms, causes additional stress to other components.

I get what you're saying, but doesn't installing a coilover already do this? You put on a longer than stock shock giving you a lift; therefore it changes the geometry and nothing else compensates for that. That's my whole issue with an aftermarket coilover. OR...does the bottom eyelet to the top mount remain the same regardless of preload? It doesn't seem like that would be possible.

 

[deadbeat son]

Okay Luni, after a little more analytical thinking, I get what you're saying. With the COs designed as they are, when you adjust the preload, you're NOT adjusting the overall length of the shock, you're simply adjusting where in the range of motion of the shock the resting place is. With the adjustable length CO, you would change the overall length of the shock without adjusting travel which could cause issues regarding to range of motion.

I'm not trying to be argumentative here, this is just my first IFS truck and I'm trying to fully understand what's going on with it. I also realize things are designed the way they are for a reason, and there's no need to reinvent the wheel; you guys have been there and done that. I may not be the quickest at figuring this all out, but I'll get there!

 

[Applejack]

Good luck on your build deadbeat son and fellow Lucero fan.:victory: I wanted to add one nit pick about CO's. They are noisy as heck! At least the Donahoe's I had on my previous 4runner were. It was something that caught me a little off guard I must say. After chatting a little with other CO users, this was normal, but it drove me batty. I know I can be a little bit of a picky poo sometimes but squeaks and rattles drive me nuts. That is why I decided to go with OME front shocks and coils on my Taco build. I know you're not looking for too much of a lift but, not now anyway, but despite the new ride height (2.5 inches) it rides and handles waaaaaaay better.

 

[ksj]

Good luck on your build deadbeat son and fellow Lucero fan.:victory: I wanted to add one nit pick about CO's. They are noisy as heck! At least the Donahoe's I had on my previous 4runner were.

I've never heard a thing from my Icon's (formerly Donahoe).

 

[heeltoe989]

I've never heard a thing from my Icon's (formerly Donahoe).

X2 from My Icons........the only things that make a bit of noise are my OME Dakar leafs, they seem to creek and bang in the cold weather and flexing, no matter how much I grease them.

 

[Applejack]

I had the "Leaf Squeak" with my factory leaves but nothing so far from my OME's, but they are pretty new. I hate the squeak.
Funny that you guy's have no squeaks in your CO's. My brother just got a set of Icon's for his Frontier, and while they are not as squeaky as my Donahoe's, they're squeaky too. Maybe somethings not adjusted right?? It was a pretty straight forward install. ?????