'97 tacoma build: Abner

[STAG]

I'll come help Saturday

 

[sixstringsteve]

Great! It's about time I meet you. I'll PM you my address.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Right on, how did the drive line end up working out? Did it collapse back within range once you put some weight on it and let it settle down?

By the way, the driveline looks good. I had a blonde moment. I was afriad of the DS coming apart while i had the rear axle out, so I marked its position. In order to mark its position, I had to wipe off the dirt/grease. So it LOOKS like there's more slip showing, but it's really just a clean driveline. Haha.

 

[skippy]

Get that firewall done and we will get you geared and on your way.

 

[sixstringsteve]

sounds like a plan.

 

[pELYgroso]

Steve, do you need help tonight? I may be able to swing by for a bit in my grubbies.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks for the offer Tyler. I don't need any help tonight, and I'll only be working on it for about an hour, so I'll probably miss you anyway. But if you wanna come hang out between 5-6 to shoot the breeze while I weld my lower shock mounts on, that'd be great.

 

[pELYgroso]

I'll see what I can do!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

By the way, the driveline looks good. I had a blonde moment. I was afriad of the DS coming apart while i had the rear axle out, so I marked its position. In order to mark its position, I had to wipe off the dirt/grease. So it LOOKS like there's more slip showing, but it's really just a clean driveline. Haha.

Glad to hear, I was thinking hard what could have been different on your truck and thought that the 4 Cylinder might be the missing clue but apparently not. Good to know

 

[sixstringsteve]

What's missing is something between my ears.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here are some pics from after the lift:

front before lift:

front after lift:

For a gain of about 1.5-2" up front.



rear before lift:

rear after lift:

gain of about 2.5 inches



trd axle installed

and here's how it sits today. It looks goofy in the pics, but it looks good in person.

 

[Rot Box]

Looking great Steve!

 

[sixstringsteve]

with the u-bolt flip, I had to mock up some new lower shock mounts. They're not entirely done yet, but they're functional. I'm sure there's a better way to do this, but here's what I came up with in the moment.

I cut the old tab off the old u-bolt plate.

then I welded them to these cool tabs that low range had. They're 3/8" thick and they've got a 3" diameter mount, so they fit the tacoma axle housing perfectly.

I drove it down to Orem tonight to pick up my new tires from Bart. It was initially pretty stiff feeling in the back. It felt like a sports car, I could corner without any body roll. Once I loaded up about 150 lbs of tires in the back, it started riding quite nicely. We'll have to see how much it sags when it's loaded up with camping gear.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I picked up my 35's from Bart tonight. Thanks for being so flexible Bart, sorry I came over so late. These things are HUGE. I have no clue how I'm going to make them fit under this little rig. Lots of cutting I guess.

And I picked up my wheels. They're killer wheels, I really like 'em. Tomorrow I"ll get the tires mounted and get an alignment, then I'll take some pics of the wheel/tire combo. I'm really excited to try these treps out. If they perform half as good as they look, I'll be thrilled.

 

[sLcREX]

I think you've built 3 rigs in the time I've gradually collected parts to do 1 lol. Glad to see pics of the progrss man

 

[sixstringsteve]

yeah, it's crazy how much an upcoming trip gets me motivated. This better be ready by hole in the rock. I missed the HITR trip last year because my rig wasn't ready in time. I don't have a ton more to do, so I should make it no problem.

I try not to let a day go by without doing something to it, so every day it's one step closer to being completed.

 

[TJDukit]

Looking good Steve. Your thread is no longer useless. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

 

[blznnp]

I try not to let a day go by without doing something to it, so every day it's one step closer to being completed.

that would be nice, i have worked on my rear bumper for probably 4 or 5 hours, just to fab it up, but that has taken me maybe 3 days to get that amount of time to work on it, course i can't work steady the whole time when i do work on it cause i have to keep my kids from running in the street or down the road.
looks good though steve, can't wait to see it with the wheels/tires on it.

 

[Bart]

Good to see you again Steve and good luck with the rest of the build.

 

[864runner]

I'll try and come by tomorrow night to watch you tub the fenders and clean your garage