Lowered Toyota...

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Beefed Taco, Sep 9, 2015.

  1. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    ...it's not a 95 & earlier but it's still a Toyota Mini, and it is sporting a 93 axle swap so it can tuck the 18 x 9-1/2" +23 with 225/40-18 at 5-1/2" / 7" drop. It's notched and has all the other mods necessary to not just look good on the internet, but actually ride nice and smooth in person. I know it's not as exciting here if it's not a old Yota, but the mods on these trucks are very similar when it comes to lowering them properly. :waytogo:

    Here's the build for anyone interested.

    The Silver Ghost - Toyota Tacoma Forum
     

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    Last edited: Sep 9, 2015
  2. YOguyDA

    YOguyDA Addict

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    Siiick!!!
     
  3. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    haha, thanks man. Appreciated.

    And here's a list of the parts that were in the bed when he drove it home. Said it drove like a dream and nothing bottomed out or rubbed. No air shock setup either, which is usually the best way to haul when low & static. It was at least 1-1/2" lower in back than the pics above are showing. :waytogo:

    1 pair stock coils
    2 axle shafts
    2 backing plates
    1 Taco axle housing
    2 6 lug leaf packs
    4 big tires on stock steel wheels
    1 little tool box he had back there
    1 pack of stock lug nuts
     
  4. Da_Roach

    Da_Roach Toyotaholic

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    Glad to see you are still around. Have not seen many post by you in awhile. Great work done. Any work in progress photos from this build?
     
  5. TRUCK ACTION

    TRUCK ACTION Grand Toyotaholic

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  6. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    There is a link at the bottom of the first post. Click on it and it has pics of some of the stuff I did. Bed and frame work, and axle rebuild-swap. Thanks for asking. (The Silver Ghost) :waytogo:

    Thanks man. :)
     
  7. patrickgraven

    patrickgraven Veteran

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    When swapping axles to a narrower version is it usually bolt in (i have a 1993). Can the parts from one axle swap to another (say if I wanted to put one from a 84-88 or 79-83).
     
  8. White Trash

    White Trash Toyotaholic

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    Yes.
     
  9. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    Yeah the axle pads line up from axle to axle, but there are a couple little things when it comes to those 90-95 axles. I may have the exact years wrong, but what I'm getting at is those early 90's axles all seem to have wider than normal leaf perches (pads), and in those years Toyota did that crazy big rubber padded thing around the leaf springs.

    This means if you're using a early 90's axle with the wide pads, you need to use the ubolt plates for that axle otherwise your ubolts will be at a funky angle. And since Toyota did this funky rubber pad setup, the holes on the 90's axle where the leaf bolt sits (or pins on a lowering block) don't fit right because the hole on the axle is huge. 7/8" to be exact, and most lowering block pins are in the 1/2" range. (see pics in post #10 below)

    This tells me there are a ton of early 90's trucks out there running around with lowering blocks that have a bunch of slop if they got rid of that crazy rubber pad thing when they dropped the truck.

    My 99 Tacoma has a 89 axle, which has the smaller (normal) leaf pads, just like the 95.5-04 Tacoma. So when I swapped the 89 into my Tacoma, I was able to use the Tacoma ubolt plates, which means the shock mounts on the plates were correct, and the pins on the blocks fit the hole on the axle pad correctly because the 89 trucks didn't use that weird rubber pad setup with the huge hole on the axle pad.

    When I swapped this wide pad 93 axle under this Taco, I made sure to tell him to provide the ubolt plates that went with it, so his ubolts would fit the holes on the ubolt plate correctly . What I didn't take into consideration is the 95 & older trucks have the shocks on the opposite side of the axle compared to Tacoma, so I had to cut, plate and reweld his ubolt plates so the lower mount was where it needed to be. A easy fix.
     

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    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015
  10. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    Here's what I did for the large 7/8" holes that are on the 93 axle...I cut and pounded in a couple pieces of 7/8" DOM tubing so the block pins would fit better.

    And actually, this truck came to me with a DJM 3/4 kit, I took it from 3/4 down to 5.5" / 7", which means his blocks are crappy aluminum DJM 4" blocks, so it was important that his pin & hole fit good without slop.
     

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    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015
  11. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    One other thing I noticed when I compared his 93 axle to my 89 axle, was his his seemed to measure 1/2" wider each side, from the backing plate mounting flange (the end of the axle where the 4 nuts are) to the center of the leaf perch (pad)
     
  12. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    I knew I was doing a axle swap on this truck, what I didn't know was that the 93 was dirty filthy and worn out. I knew I'd be using his Tacoma 3rd member, hard lines, and brake parts, but what I didn't know was that the 93 axle needed a complete rebuild. Inner and outer seals and bearings.

    And for those interested, no, Tacoma axle seals and bearings don't work, I tried to save him $ but they're interchangeable, he had to buy new seals & bearings for the 93. About $100 in parts. (excluding oil & silicone) Not too bad I guess.

    Anyone who's ever messed with pressing the bearings off of these axles, sometimes just to get a backing plate they need, knows the amount of work they are.

    Since I needed the Tacoma backing plates, I got to do twice the amount of press work. I even made my own bullet proof tool for the job. (after destroying my first design) I made the 2nd one more Beefed and a better design.
     

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    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015
  13. IronNam

    IronNam Grand Toyotaholic

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    Nice to see you're alive and well!
     
  14. Beefed Taco

    Beefed Taco Addict

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    NOT interchangeable.

    Thanks. lol :waytogo:
     

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