07 Super White Tacoma... From Canada eh!

[freeze]

mmaaxx requested that I share a little bit of what I've been up to with the Tacoma up North. So here it goes.

I purchased the Tacoma back in 07 to be my DD as I have my 81. I think where everything went wrong is when I got the Off-Road package! Sure I thought... I'll need a locker for mild camping trips and backcountry skiing.

So here it is. I don't have build photo's but for future updates I'll get some shots to share.

This is how she sat at Race City a week after I bought her 07
No Mods:


First Off Road trip for the Tacoma at Airplane 08
First Mods:
- OME 885 Coils/OME Shocks
- OME AAL/OME Shocks
- Mickey Thompson 285/70/16 MTZ
- Pro Comp Wheels
- Topper


Poser Shot by Powerderface Trail 08
Next Mods:
- All-Pro Plate Bumper (Nudged a tree in a really tight section in Crowsnest)
- All-Pro Skid Plate
- All-Pro 1" Uniball UCA


Second CT4WD trip to Waiparous 09
- Light Force 240's
- PIAA 510
- T-Max 10,000
- All-Pro Sliders
- All-Pro Locker skid
- High Lift mount
- ARB H/O Compressor


CT4WD 2 Day Trip to Crowsnest 09
- All-Pro Long Travel W/Fox 2.5
- All-Pro 3" Rear Leafs W/Fox 2.0
- All-Pro X-Fer Case Skid


MCR8 Trip to the Rubicon 09
- Yakima Bars
- Roof Basket
- Rotax Fuel Cell
- Scepter Water Can


In Canmore 09
- Camping Labs Roof Top Tent
- Upgraded All-Pro Plate Bumper


In Exshaw 10
- All-Pro rear bumper
- OME HD leaf added to the All-Pro Pack
- Front Yakima bars


In Moab 10
- Custom Tube Rack by Yota Chad
- Hutchinson Bead Locks
- Mickey Thompson MTZ 315's


In McLean Creek 10
- Amsteel Blue Winch Line
- Safari Snorkle
- Updated LT Cromo Lower Control Arms


Upcoming
- Marlin Taco Box w/4.7's
- Waeco Fridge
- ARB Front Locker w/4.56
- Re-gear rear 4.56


Here's the write up for the All-Pro Long Travel Kit. I'm not sure if this would fit the Hilux or not.

I'd like to thank Sarah at All-Pro for really making this happen.
I've had the pleasure of working alongside All-Pro and National 4WD to get the Tacoma and our Association outfitted with parts and I can say by working with Sarah, she's awesome!

The kit arrived just in time for the National 4WD open house and the shocks came at 2PM the day before the event.

The Parts & Install Review:
The All-Pro Long Travel Kit includes some really beefy looking parts. The UCA's look very similar to the regular All-Pro UCA's just wider.


The LCA's are really beefy as they are some solid pieces of art. The one thing that's missing is wheel stops for stopping your wheel from over turning, which the steering rack ends up doing. You can see the Lower uni-ball that allows for more travel.


The stronger steering linkages are really nice looking pieces and look fairly beefy as well.


So out comes the OME coils, OME shocks, spindles, CV's, and steering. You'll notice that the rear also came out and will be replaced with All-Pro's 3" kit with Fox Shocks.


The hardest part of the tear down was getting the outer's off the axle! A member of CT4WD and tech from a Toyota dealer in town mentioned that you need to point the inner cage all the way around till you find the weakness in the C clip.. then just have at'er! These take a long time to take off...eh!


The installation was fairly straight forwards. Basically bolt in the steering linkages...


Then bolt in the lowers and uppers....


Weld and paint the spindle gusset...


Bolt on the lower uni-ball...


Install the shock...



Pound the CV's back on the new axles.. and have a Tim Horton's Ice Cap.


Pound the CV into the diff and connect the spindle to the UCA and LCA. Instal the extended front brake lines


The rear shocks look extremely nice! These just bolt in along with the leaf pack, U-bolt flip and extended rear lines.




The on-road review:
So far I can only provide an on-road review as the CV boot popped off before our trail run on Sunday. On the road....all I can say is AMAZING! The Fox shocks are set up to soak up the larger bumps really well.

On the first test run, oriontaco, JJ and myself hit some speed bumps about 4" at 50K/h and barely felt it through the front but did feel a little kick from the leafs out back. Driving over the pothole littered road it was very controlled and the shocks did a great job of soaking up the initial hit.

On the loading ramp the All-Pro LT kit almost got the same point as the 81 with Marlin's 4" leaf kit. This is pretty impressive! The American Expedition Vehicles rep's white Jeep 4Dr Rubicon made it a foot higher. Once everything breaks in I believe this will flex out a little more!




Next will be a trail report after I hit the Crowsnest Pass Thursday and Friday.... Rocks, Dirt, and roots...

[freeze]

Some more photo's and videos:

[9W6VX]

Hmm..... nice........

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[freeze]

Some Vids:

Rubicon MCR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LUc2ghxZM

Crowsnest Pass (Alberta, Canada) Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDXANcgPnjY

Crowsnest Pass (Alberta, Canada) Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DkobXYy_x0

CT4WD Easy Run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v_rKpWFxY8

[Chancha_Blanca]

She lools nice mate.

Would the Tacoma be in the size range of the Ford F-250?
Would i be correct to say the Topper is the canopy?

Regards,
Marcelo

[freeze]

The Tacoma is in the same size range as a Hilux I believe. Feels like it would be close to the 250 though!

You are correct... a topper is the canopy!

[Hilux Max]

Thanks freeze for taking the time and jumping on board.....its appreciated. I know a few of the blokes here wil be interested in the writeup.

GreenHiluxGuy, one of the members here recently spoke with AllPro and they said they are currently testing a mid travel kit like your running for the hilux.....so we'll see what the future holds in that department.

Very nice truck you have there...always envious of not only your trip reports on TTORA but the scenery you get to wheel in...fantastic!

[freeze]

Hey no worries Max!

oooh can't wait to see a Hilux with the LT kit on there. That would be awesome!

[Boof]

Nice setup looks well thought out and setup for your use

[Skog07]

Welcome Freeze to the forum.. What a build up....
And thanks for the awesome pics...
Just noted that the kit also includes longer drive axles for the front CV's this would push the Tripod deeper into the housing and prevent the some of the problem out here of over extension and breakages...
Alos mate feel free to use the photography section as well for some of your great pics.
Cheers
Skog

[Hilux Max]

What do you mean skog "pushing the tripod deeper into the housing?

The kit is a medium travel kit......so the UCA and LCA's are set to position the axle and wheel track wider apart by I beleive 2 inches per side, which is why the longer outer cv shaft is needed.

due to the wider track width, it would allow you to comfortably setup the truck to sit at a proper 4 inches without cv problems if that was what you wanted.

Here is the same kit on a Tacoma with 315's -

[Skog07]

Ahh. Ok Max.
Just noted that the CV joints were extended. Which would possibly reduce the chance of one poping out when the suspension is at full downward travel. I seem to recall a while ago trying to nut out if Prado driveshafts could be installed into Hilux Cv's as they are 10mm longer or something?? But at 2" per side these would probably be too long.
Its a nice Tacoma that is for sure.
Cheers
Skog

[Bull]

Post deleted : off topic.

[KTM525EXC]

- Mickey Thompson 285/70/16 MTZ
i wish we could get these tyres here in aus
gr8 rig Freeze it looks sweet as!!!!
Troy

[freeze]

Hey thank you for the great replies.

I am running shafts that are longer than stock. At full droop it does look like the angle is pretty interesting on the inner CV but haven't had an issue yet. Most times when at full droop there isn't alot of weight on that wheel causing it to bind out.

It really is an amazing set up for IFS and hopefully it makes it to Australia.

[Monster Rides]

Hey Freeze,

That is an awesome set up on your truck... really impressive.
Quality write up as well... are you trying to put Max to shame!!


Did you do a lot of research on that particular Allpro kit before you made the purchase?
Did you look at any other kits?

If you dont mind the question... how much does that kit owe you for components only?
And if you did it again would you do anything differently?

I am interested in a kit like that for my next truck, I have also been looking at kits from:

Total Chaos
http://www.chaosfab.com/96504.html
This kit is available locally, and is what I am probably going to look at buying.

Camburg
http://www.camburg.com/toyota%2005%20tacoma.html

ToyTec
http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=76&Itemid=72

Any feedback or info you have would be greatly appreciated.


The scenery of the places you go 4x4ing is stunning, really beautiful.
Thanks for the info and insight into the 4x4's and environment in your neck of the woods!


Cheers
Matt

[freeze]

Hey Freeze,

That is an awesome set up on your truck... really impressive.
Quality write up as well... are you trying to put Max to shame!!


Did you do a lot of research on that particular Allpro kit before you made the purchase?
Did you look at any other kits?

If you dont mind the question... how much does that kit owe you for components only?
And if you did it again would you do anything differently?

I am interested in a kit like that for my next truck, I have also been looking at kits from:

Total Chaos
http://www.chaosfab.com/96504.html
This kit is available locally, and is what I am probably going to look at buying.

Camburg
http://www.camburg.com/toyota%2005%20tacoma.html

ToyTec
http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=76&Itemid=72

Any feedback or info you have would be greatly appreciated.


The scenery of the places you go 4x4ing is stunning, really beautiful.
Thanks for the info and insight into the 4x4's and environment in your neck of the woods!


Cheers
Matt

The nice thing about this LT kit is the performance and the fact that it only adds 2" per side. Apparently Total Chaos's kit isn't quite ready for the Tacoma yet. There's some geometry differences between the FJ/4Runner and Tacoma.

When going with a Long Travel kit instead of just coil-overs you're changing not only the stance of the Toyota but the way it's able to articulate. It's hard for an IFS truck to stuff a tire on an incline as the weight distribution goes to the rear and leaves not enough weight up front to compress the coil. With the LT kit you get more leverage so the coils can compress more easily over obstacles.

This is why I was so impressed as it handled similar to a solid axle'd Toyota. Hood staying flat over obstacles no matter if you were going up or down.

I researched cutting everything out and going with a solid axle from an 80 series, but All-Pro came out with this kit and a little competition on TTORA that I ended up winning runner up that gave me a great discount on the kit.... couldn't pass it up!

Thank you for the compliments. I watch 4x4 TV quite a bit and really think the same thing about your landscape...beautiful!

[Monster Rides]

Thanks Freeze...

What you say makes a lot of sense, and to be honest hadn't thought of it that way before in regards to weight transfer and leverage.

Certainly food for thought on the next suspension set up I install on my new Hilux.

Do you have any good contacts at All-Pro?
I really like the set up you have... very comprehensive.
I think I would be willing to import a kit and fit it based on your feedback.

Cheers
Matt

[Hilux Max]

Matty, the lower control arms are different to the tacoma, which is why it wont work till AllPro releases the one they are developing for the hilux.

[KTM525EXC]

hey Freeze

have you by any chance measured how much travel you have with the all pro long travel kit? it would be interesting to see
cheers Troy