Steve's 81 Toyota "angelo" build

[zukijames]

keep up the work man sucks my sami wasnt running when you were down in moab.. i posted a trip report from a few days after you guys left check it out so you can see that my sami really does work sometimes lol.. and when you get done flat bellying this come down to moab and help me flat belly mine!!

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks Yota. I may just end up doing that, or notching the frame, we'll see. Thanks.

 

[sixstringsteve]

keep up the work man sucks my sami wasnt running when you were down in moab.. i posted a trip report from a few days after you guys left check it out so you can see that my sami really does work sometimes lol.. and when you get done flat bellying this come down to moab and help me flat belly mine!!

Haha, nice. I've been working on this thing every day. My front axle housing is now trussed, armored, I shaved the drain plug off, and I installed the creeper gussets. I just need to clean it up and paint it, then the housing will be done.

I've got a few more things to do. Today I'm planning on grinding off the shock mounts, steering/axle bracketry on the frame, and the front body mounts. Then I plan on building my front hanger. I'll be using parts from sky and parts of my own idea. We'll see how it goes. It'll be 1" forward, with no drop. At least, that's the plan.

Here's my trip report from Moab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ONKFkJHkzY

I still can't believe how easy that tacoma made escalator look. I owe it all to my spotters.

 

[zukijames]

i had never seen that hole after the first part of escalator.. ive been up it twice but never had a spotter or even walked up it.. but both times i felt something weird right ther the first time it like pushed me back hmm maybe i'll start trying to go around it a little bit . cool trip report i like the video for the whole report idea

 

[sixstringsteve]

you're insane, trying escalator without even walking it first! I've walked it PLENTY of times, but this is the first time I've tried it in a vehicle. You make it look so easy.

I just did a video for the trip report because I'm running out of space on my Picasa account, and I didn't want to upload a million pictures of one trip. It works I guess. Wish you could have run a few more trails with us, but I'll be down there soon enough once that 81 is done.

 

[Panos]

i loooooove tacomas! man i miss mine

 

[sixstringsteve]

i loooooove tacomas! man i miss mine

Which one of your previous 400?

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'll be workin on my truck tonight if anyone wants to swing by and hang out. I'll start at about 5:30. I'll be doing my front hanger and IFS steering box mounting. I still need another rear toyota leaf pack, so if anyone has a set, let me know.

 

[toyota rockhead]

hey steve i didnt even know this was your build. this is Josh i dont know if you knew this was me on here or not but your truck is looking good man. we need to get out and go wheelin once you get it all put together. i didnt even know you were building a toyota or that you had that taco its been too long since we have talked apparently

 

[sixstringsteve]

Josh, remind me who you are, I'm having a hard time. Sorry, it's embarassing to admit that, but I'm sure it'll come back to me soon. What was I wheeling when we last went out? WHat were you wheeling last time you saw me? (Sorry, I remember people better by their vehicles than their names)

Hey, come wrench with us tonight if you're not busy. I'll PM you my #.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Next work will be done on Saturday afternoon. Once again I spent more time on other peoples' rigs last night, so mine didn't progress.

 

[zukijames]

Get working on it are those springs going to work. Are you using a drop hanger to keep the dif pointed in the right spot or are you going to use shims?

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks for lighting a fire under my butt James. I just finished Lee's (Yota4runner) firewall tub. It's nice to have that out of the way so I can work on my own truck now.

Today I am painting my front axle and rebuilding it with the dirty 30s and 6-shooters. I'll be cutting off all the bracketry from the frame that I don't need (shock mounts, front hanger, and some steering stuff.

I'm going to use the Trail Gear hanger. It's dropped about an inch below stock. I'm also running dual cases as well as a HP front third, so I'm sure my driveline angle will be fine.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Yeah Rick, you've gotta come check this out. Your build was an inspiration for mine. I"ll post some pics up in a couple hours once the front hanger is welded in.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Great news:

http://www.trail-gear.com/rock-assault-axle-housing

Left-hand drop for tacos now. I don't know how wide it is, but it's good to know there are more options out there for SAS tacos now. a D60 would be beefier and stronger, but it's good to have options.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Man, I hardly got anything done today. If I had a plasma cutter I could have saved about 4 hours. I've still got about 4 hours of grinding off body mounts and front hangers till I can make any progress.

In the mean time, I have some questions for y'all.

1) As I understand it, the 79-83 frames were 1" shorter in front than the 84+ This means I have to put my hanger 1" forward.

2) the RUF conversion uses longer springs, so my hanger has to go an additional 1" forward. At this point, I won't be touching the factory crossmember. Has anyone here got any info on RUF on a 1st gen?

 

[ricsrx]

I did a RUF on mine originally, then put on some used and flat TG 3 '', I liked the RUF better but i needed more lift, I think I am going to put some OME 2'' rears on the front next.
I am still using the stock front hangers and longer shackles in the rear stock location as well.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Was your shackle angle all messed up when you ran RUF? Since they're longer than stock springs, I was told I have to move the front hanger forward some. I"ll be doing RUF and adding a leaf or two for a tiny bit more lift. I don't want a ton of lift on this build. I've heard good stuff about OME, let me know how you like it.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I must work slower than anyone. I know the next few updates will only be of megrinding off more bracketry. Here are some table scraps for you guys:

Before:

After shaving the drain plug and adding knuckle gusstes, large gusset, and diff protection:

Spent most of Saturday grinding off shock mounts and bump stops. If you've ever been in this place, then you know what I went through:

So, I didn't get any of my goals finished, other than to paint my front housing. What else is new. Like I said, the next week will be updates of me grinding off the front body mounts, front spring hangers, and the remaining driver's side shock mount.

I wish I could jack my truck up behind the shackles, but there isn't enough weight in the back, the front is too heavy. Oh well.

 

[zukijames]

Progress is progress man that axle looks good