2000 Turbo Taco - Race Truck Edition, to include wannabe fabricator and machinist stuff(PIC HEAVY!!)

I think it's time to develop some kind of thread to document my progress on this corner carver.

Basics:
2000 5lug, Regular Cab 5MT 2.4 2RZ - started off as my daily driver in 2011 when I bought it from a guy on customtacos.com.(used to be THE site of mostly 5lug street\performance guys) He had already lowered it, but other than that it was completely unmolested with 70kish miles. I had a 2007 Access Cab 5lug before that that got totalled in a rollover accident. It was lowered too, but just the DJM kit and X-Runner suspension/QA1 rear shocks. Now I have several vehicles, and the First Gen is becoming more and more of a track only vehicle.

Not so basics: Current modifications - (not all inclusive because I've had this truck for 12 years and can't remember everything!)

Turbo(22~PSI), forged rods\pistons, LCE upgraded valves\springs (forget which kit, they're stock size but coated), LCE Stage 2 cams, AEM FIC6 Piggyback, Walbro 255LPH fuel pump, W58 trans, Competition Clutch brand Stage 4 - 6-puck sprung hub, 4.11 gears, Detroit true-trac, 17x9 steelies, Toyo Proxes RR Semi slicks, QA1 single adjustable coil overs in the front with 8 inch 565lb coils, URD short shifter, Addco rear sway bar, Alcan custom leaf pack(unsure of the amount of drop it provides, was installed by previous owner), beefedtaco drop blocks(uneven to level out the taco lean), modified the stock LSBPV to be adjustable, rear disk conversion, front BBK made from Cadillac CTS-V Brembo calipers and Evo8(or maybe 9, been too long to remember) rotors machined to fit the stock taco hubs, stainless steel braided brake lines for the front soft lines, early 2000s Celica bucket seats...(will continue to add if I can remember anything else)

Current project:
Deleting the archaic leaf springs that do not do well in road course\autocross style racing - Triangulated 4 link with cantilever coil over setup. I've always wanted to do the 4-link, but the cantilever system was very recently inspired by a particular show that I watch on YouTube called CARCASS on the POWERNATION channel (I pretty much watch everything on that channel, but it's specifically from that series). They built a pro-touring style Chevy Silverado, and I just fell in love with the design. Not only the way that it looked but the way that it performed and was so easy to design and tune.








This is the truck that inspired me. They did a circle track style 3 link with a Panhard bar instead of what I'm doing with the triangulated 4-link.

 

Here is how my suspension looked before I cut everything out.



Pulled the bed because I was getting serious.



Dropped the tank and removed everything that was required to hold it up. Plan is to downsize the fuel tank and put it somewhere else for better weight distribution. Right behind the cab is my current idea, but not solid as of yet.



Everything cut off from the old leaf spring setup. Still have some cleaning up to do on the forward leaf hangers, but that'll get done after all the new fab work is done. I got rid of both of the factory stamped steel bolted on crossmembers, and replaced them with 1.5"x3" rectangular tube 3\16" wall, and fully boxed the frame except for that last little bit where the rear bed bolts pass through.
Also going to be beefing up the support between the forward bed mounts. You'll see why when those pics are uploaded.

 

First...

 

I have tons of pictures, but TacomaWorld's file upload system blows...1 pic at a time?! Come on! If there's anything you wanna see don't hesitate to ask, I either have a pic of it or can get one easily.

 

It might seem like each post is just random pictures of the process...but that's because it is at this point, lmao. I'll be sure to try and keep any new actions in order as I go, uploading after the fact is awfully annoying

 

That’s impressive.
I’ll definitely be following this one.

Looks great man

 

So this is the area that is going to have a regular crossmember like you can see in some of the pictures in the before posts, but it's going to get some extra beef directly between those two upper link mounts. When I measured everything and tack-welded it in place everything was great. The gaps between the upper and lower link mounts were just the right amount of space for my 1.5"x3" crossmember to slip between them and tie everything together. Then I made a rookie mistake... But after all, I'm still a rookie. I'm learning as I go here but should have known better for sure. When I fully welded all of those brackets in place the gap between the driver's side upper and lower brackets drastically reduced. That can only mean one thing... Too much heat. I did too much welding in that area back-to-back and it tweaked a little bit. But that's ok, at the end of the day I've got a really good welder and plenty of cut-off wheels/grinding discs. .

But before I commenced cutting anything back apart and trying again, I had an idea. At first I pried and pried to try and get it to move back the 1/4" that it needs to move... It wouldn't budge, maybe a 1/16" if any at all. Then it hit me. Surely I've got some way to use mechanical leverage to my advantage. So I stopped messing with it for a little bit, the wife called me in for supper, and I thought about what I was gunna do. When I came back out to the shop I remembered I had an old scissor jack and plenty of scrap pieces of steel, so I set it up and started splitting it. Initially, it didn't have the bungee cords holding the piece of pipe in place or the C-Clamp. But when it came apart on me after a moderate amount of tension, I stopped and thought of a way to keep that pipe from coming out in a hurry and destroying either my cab or my face. I ultimately settled on some bungee cords, they didn't need to hold it from coming loose at all, just slow it down if it was to come loose. The C-clamp came into play when I realized the passenger-side bed mount was moving just as much as the driver's side. Well, that one didn't move like the driver side did after welding, so it needs to stay in place. So I slid a small drop piece from the 1.5"x3" tube between the two brackets and C-clamped them down so they'd stay. And it worked out in the end. I was able to move the driver's side bed mount/upper link bracket the right amount to be able to slide my new crossmember in. It wasn't an easy slide, but it doesn't have to be a loose fit, tight is nice, and I like that better anyway. The angle finder was there to keep an eye on the pipe in case I couldn't tell it was moving and about to catapult itself out of there.





BTW, those are Barnes 4WD link brackets, and the uppers are installed backward because it gave me a better angle for my upper link bars. But it wouldn't be custom if you did it like everyone else.



Here are my links all welded up and cooling down.

 

Today's project is to finish the crossmember design and get all of that fully welded together, to include extra reinforcement for the bed mounts.

Here is how it looks as of today, the link system is basically done. Everything is installed to check more clearances. I'm like 99% positive I'm going to have to notch the factory crossmember that's just below the cab at the back wall due to driveshaft contact. The overall height of the truck will be slightly lower than it used to be, and I've got wear marks on my driveshaft where it's made contact before.

 

When you have no binding until an absolute extrema level is good, right?

 

.... I thought this was a slammed build not a long arm pre runner

 

Now the limiting factor becomes the cab. This should be plenty. Time to grind and weld!


Easy enough!

 

Now the axle hits the bottom of the frame notch before the driveshaft even gets close to the crossmember. I ordered some slim bump stops to put in the frame notch as well, since I do plan on trying to get the stance a little bit lower. It's never had bumps since I've owned it, but I think that's because the previous owner put an overkill (in height) step notch in and the axle never even got close to hitting the frame. But I ain't complaining!



Phone resting on the driveshaft for this pic to show all the clearance it has now.

 

Love it

 

Got the crossmember in place and welded up. I plan to box those open ends up, but it's time to go in for the night.

 

The coilovers showed up today. Along with this rear-end upgrade\overhaul, my front single adjustable QA1s have seen better days(they've been on the truck since I got it!), so they're getting swapped for the newer versions also upgraded to double adjustables. The front springs are still perfectly fine besides probably needing a spit shine, so I didn't waste the money on new front coils.

 

Some more parts came in for the cantilever setup yesterday.

When I ordered the end link pieces (round tube with bushings) I thought the bushings were going to be a softer material, like maybe poly or something along those lines, and I don't like soft bushings, especially for a race truck application. So, I looked up what the best material was for a ridged bushing (that's not metal obviously) and it turns out Delrin seems to be highly regarded. So then I looked up the price of delrin bushings for my application...what I found was they were extremely over priced. So then I order a 2" x 12" "stock" piece of delrin material for 15 bucks. I bought a mini lathe almost a year ago to try my hand at learning a new skill. So why not make some bushings? Seems doable, and I had no idea what I was doing when I started. So I planned it as best I could. Keeping it simple (stupid) was the key here. I basically took some measurements the round tube (rod end, whatever) and cut a piece to size. On my first try, it turned out waaaaaaaaaay better than I thought it would. Only hang up is I need an actual 1 inch drill bit. I made the hole with a 7\8 hole saw, because that's what I had. I bought the hole saw kit thinking it had a 1 inch in it, and evidently I can't read. But that just means I have more tools to order, which is always a good thing.




But in the end, the rod ends actually came with ridged bushings anyway. But at least this skill will not be wasted because I have several toys that could use these things

 

Hell yeah! Those bench lathes can really be a life saver for little things that add up fast.

 

Reamer not a drill bit. They produce much smoother and precise holes.

or get a boring bar but I doubt you'll be as accurate.

 

I do need a boring bar anyway, so that's on my list of needed tools just for owning a lathe. Lol

I'll have to look into the reamer thing as well. Is that something you would use when you are close to final size, and then you finish it off with the reamer? Googling now!

 

reamers are great for final sizing and they produce a much more concentric hole than a drill bit. The downside is they rely on the accuracy of your chuck just like a drill bit. Boring bars give you the ability to align the OD and ID but they introduce human error in setup and use.