seanpistol's 01 Tundra

[01tundra]

I would buy a piece of 1/8" ABS plastic off Amazon and a cheapo plastic welder kit from Harbor Freight and weld a splash guard to the bottom of your existing intake pipe. You could even take a small torch and bend the plastic into an arch facing downward. Drill a about four 1/4" holes in the plate on the centerline of the intake pipe as rosette weld them together.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007WTF02?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

http://www.harborfreight.com/welding/plastic-welders/80-watt-iron-plastic-welding-kit-60662.html

 

[theBullfrog125]

Going to do a 63" Chevy swap soon, with longer shocks in the stock position.

I know this is on a T100 and not a Tundra, but our rigs are similar in curb weight stock so I thought I'd post up for ideas. Chevy springs perform great, I pulled them off a 2003 Silverado. With 6 3/4" shackles, Trail Gear mounts below the frame, and a Fabtech AAL I get a solid 3.5" lift over stock, and about 2" with topper and RTT + gear. My front hangers are custom and ultra low profile, the front spring eye is like 1/2" away from the frame. I ended up running tube between the frame with mounts for the shocks, something like 3.5" lower than stock. That way I could utilize the full travel of a 10" shock without having to go to a 12". They get close to bottoming out but with that fat overload I don't think that will happen but I'm going to run bumps anyway. Sorry don't mean to thread jack but thought I would share my experiences.

^I still have a good 4 inches of available downtravel in that last pic.

 

[rickashay]

Nice T100 Bullfrog! As I was scrolling through the pics I was thinking, how the hell did he mount his rear hangers to the bottom of the frame rails?! T100... not a Tundra... makes sense. Lucky you... we have a little more work to make this swap happen. Regardless, can't wait until the spring and can get going on my Chevy 63 swap also. Thanks for sharing pics with the shock mounts!

 

[01tundra]

Nice T100 Bullfrog! As I was scrolling through the pics I was thinking, how the hell did he mount his rear hangers to the bottom of the frame rails?! T100... not a Tundra... makes sense. Lucky you... we have a little more work to make this swap happen. Regardless, can't wait until the spring and can get going on my Chevy 63 swap also. Thanks for sharing pics with the shock mounts!

 

[seanpistol]

Nice Bullfrog. As you can see above, the hangers are on outriggers outside the frame on the 1st gen Tundra. I'm hoping I may be able to mount the rear shackle hanger higher up on the frame to keep my ride height lower. If not, I'll use a shackle in the vicinity of 4".

I want my shocks in the stock location because this is a do-it-all rig for me. Dyogim made a lot of good points about that with his own 63" swap. I don't want to experience the excessive body roll from shocks in a /-o-\ geometry with my 450 lb snowmobile in the bed all winter on curvy, snowy roads. But, I do want a longer shock to be able to take advantage of the available droop after the swap. I do like how you were able to utilize the full stroke of your shocks with that crossmember, good idea.

Just got back from a 1700 mile road trip. The 3.91 gearing with 35s is pretty miserable. My mileage sucked and the truck has no balls... feels like I'm towing something. Need to the regear asap.

And as I do every few months... been having thoughts of selling the rig and picking up an OBS powerstroke to tow an old solid axle Toyota on a trailer.

Going to dig into the intake in the next few days.

 

[theBullfrog125]

Wow! 1700 miles, that's quite the drive. ×100 on the gearing, best mod so far for me was regearing. Way under rated, I wondered how I put up with the stock gearing for so long!

I realized after my earlier post that Tundras have different shackle mounts. Learn something new everyday I guess

As you know the thing about Chevy springs that makes them desirable is the fact that they are super long which means they can droop like crazy, but longer springs also means they can be quite soft. I too wanted to run short shackles but was actually surprised how low my truck sat when I used the stock thru the frame mounts and stock length shackles... the rear actually sat an inch lower than the front which was stock height at the time. I don't know if different years of half-ton springs will yield different results but 2000+ Silverado 1500 springs (2+1 overload) didn't sit high at all like I thought they would. I had to go to a lift shackle in order for it to sit level using the stock shackle mounts.
With around 500# of gear in the back (topper, RTT, camping gear), the current rear spring rate is great with an AAL, the springs don't touch the overload. There's a bit of body roll but nothing that makes me uneasy, i know the roll is because my RTT is mounted so high.
I've had that much weight in the back without an AAL and it was rough because the springs sat on the overload, but shackle angle can play a role there I think. I learned a lot when I bit the bullet and did the swap, there are a lot of variables that can affect the outcome.
Looking forward to what you do with your intake!

 

[dyogim]

There are different 63's. 3 leaf with overload and a 4 leaf with overload. The preferred is the 4 with overload.

 

[theBullfrog125]

Right on Mike, I'm aware of the different springs, believe me I read the FAQ on Pirate many times and looked at many builds. I should have worded it differently. I wasn't sure how to compare the newer 2+1 pack to the older packs and it appears since I used newer springs than most use I can't really compare ride height to other 63s. If OP wants to use 2000+ 1500 springs I can definitely say from experience they are super soft and require extra support to properly handle the extra weight of a do-it-all vehicle.

 

[seanpistol]

Just noticed you have 4.70 gears so I have to share a story... I pulled a 4.70 front diff from a junkyard T100 a couple years ago thinking it was going to work in my Tundra. After I found out it wouldn't work, I had it on the classifieds and was constantly renewing the ad until just last week. Wanted it out of my driveway so I sold it for $25 to a guy that was going to put it into his long travel first-gen 4 runner. Several people on the local 4x4 forums told me a 4.70 diff ratio doesn't exist... counting the ring and pinion doesn't lie!

 

[theBullfrog125]

Just noticed you have 4.70 gears so I have to share a story... I pulled a 4.70 front diff from a junkyard T100 a couple years ago thinking it was going to work in my Tundra. After I found out it wouldn't work, I had it on the classifieds and was constantly renewing the ad until just last week. Wanted it out of my driveway so I sold it for $25 to a guy that was going to put it into his long travel first-gen 4 runner. Several people on the local 4x4 forums told me a 4.70 diff ratio doesn't exist... counting the ring and pinion doesn't lie!

I read that earlier in your thread. I didn't want to pay for new gears at the time and was looking for 4.88 for the 8.4 and it was impossible to find used. I found a guy selling an 8.4 in 4.70 and at first I thought he was high but then I did some googling and found this site http://www.brian894x4.com/Toyotapickup4Runnermodels.html
And i also did what you did and checked Carpart. So I bought the rear complete third for less than new gears would be, then I happened upon a '93 T100 part out and pulled the VIN. A call to the dealer later and low and behold I had a set of 4.70s. I will say they are some BEEFY gears. Much thicker than the stock 4.10s.

 

[theBullfrog125]

Don't 1st Gen Tundras and non-TRD Tacomas share the same front and rear diff? You might get lucky and find a early non-TRD single cab 4x4 Tacoma with factory 4.56s. It would be plug n play for you.

 

[seanpistol]

Yes. I've had Taco 4.10 diffs in the Tundra before. As far as I know you can find 4.30, but 4.56 doesn't exist from the factory. Long story short, I won't buy used gears again. The rear 4.10 third that was in "excellent condition" with a "brand new" ARB on it was not as described. It had a burned up ring gear, and the ARB unit had a remanufactured part on it. Found out after I installed everything and the rear end would ring on acceleration. The guy took it back although he said he wouldn't since I bought it off ebay. My 3.91s are back in with an ARB unit, but I ordered 4.56 Nitro gears this morning after much debating going 4.88

 

[theBullfrog125]

Nice! I think 4.56 is a good ratio for you considering it sounds like you do a good amount of highway driving.
Enjoy getting your optimum powerband back :wings:

 

[seanpistol]

Yup! According to the gear calculator here - http://www.rocky-road.com/calculator.html, going from the stock 30.6" tire on 3.91s to the new 34.9" tire, the optimal ratio is 4.45. 4.56 is still slightly over geared, which I like, but not as drastic at going to the 4.88s. It's close enough that my speedo and transmission shift points should be near perfect without adding a truspeed or similar.

 

[theBullfrog125]

As far as I know you can find 4.30, but 4.56 doesn't exist from the factory. Long story short, I won't buy used gears again. The rear 4.10 third that was in "excellent condition" with a "brand new" ARB on it was not as described. It had a burned up ring gear, and the ARB unit had a remanufactured part on it. Found out after I installed everything and the rear end would ring on acceleration. The guy took it back although he said he wouldn't since I bought it off ebay.

Only early years of 4cyl Auto 4x4 Tacomas got factory 4.56, they are quite hard to find. I think it was 1995-96, I've seen a few on Craigslist here locally. The link I posted up earlier claims there is a 4.56, not saying the link is the only authority on Toyota gears but it was right about the 4.70s!

Anyway, I agree I definitely wouldn't buy used gears without seeing them in person first. That's too bad you had to go thru that, nothing sucks worse than going to all the trouble to buy and install something just to find out it wasn't as advertised.