Frame differences, 1999 vs 2000 reg cab 4wd?

TL;DR I cut my 2000 reg cab 4wd in half and rebuilt the frame out of box tube because oh my god so much rust, but the frame diagram I have for a 1999 doesn’t match the factory frame dimensions for my 2000. Did they change?

Long version:



I have this diagram. I am trying to locate the rear spring hangers relative to the circular hole ahead of the rear cab mount, because the measurements I took before I cut it apart are apparently not good (first try put the spring hangers too far forward):



Since the frame is cut in half, as a sanity check I wanted to measure the distance between the spring hanger and shackle mount:




By my math, the straight line distance between the spring hanger bolt hole and shackle bolt hole should be like 49-5/16”. Measuring it on the frame section I cut off, that distance is 53-1/4”

What gives?

 

Went out and measured my 1998 4WD Access Cab, it is 53-1/4 from spring hanger bolt hole to shackle bolt hole. I doubt yours changed in 2000. Maybe the cab configuration causes the difference? Leaf springs seem to be the same length. Odd...

 

You're the man.

That tells me that I either can't do math or shouldn't trust that frame diagram I found.

Would you be willing to measure the horizontal distance between that round hole in the frame forward of the cab mount and the center of the spring hanger bolt hole?

 

The big thing I’m looking for is the distance between the circular hole forward of the rear cab mount and the spring hanger so I can properly set my wheelbase. This diagram says it should be like 35.5” but I measured (and finished welded) my spring hangers at 34”. A guy on another forum with a 98 reg cab also measured 34”, but that put my axle too far forward in the wheel well and makes the driveshaft too long.

 

My Access Cab does not have the round hole you are talking about, can't help you there.
The next round hole in front of the spring hanger on my truck is 52 inches, you can't even see it in the picture.
You need someone with a regular cab to measure.

 

I totally missed the access cab part in your first post.
Thanks for checking anyway.

 

Interesting that there are differences between Access Cabs and Regular Cabs....aside from body mounts.
You would think the frames would basically be the same.

 

Agreed, weird they didn’t just stretch the frame to make up the difference.

also, that frame diagram that says it’s for a 99 is looking like it’s really for a 96-97. A guy on another forum with a 97 measured 35.5” inches between that circular hole and the spring hanger bolt, which matches this diagram.

 

That was my first thought when you started describing the differences. The 95.5-97 6-lug Tacomas use a shorter leaf pack that carried over from the pre-Tacoma pickups. The frame was revised to use a longer leaf pack for 98+.

 

Bump for anyone with a 98-04 reg cab 4x4 who would be willing to measure the horizontal distance between the center of the rear cab mount bolt and the spring hanger bolt (I’m trying to eliminate variations in frame features as a source of error. Surely the cab mounts are the same?)

 

I can get that for you the next time I am crawling around. I have a 2000 4x4 reg cab.

 

Hey I want to jump in on this conversation as I am having a b*tch of a time sorting some suspension issues in my 2000 Xtra cab. I basically have the same problem as you.

Someone did a frame repair on my truck like 10yrs before I got it. They did a beautiful job, but although the welding is great, something is screwy with the spring mounts and as a result, brand new OEM springs are basically flat, my rear shackle is pushed completely back (no room for travel) and the ride is hot garbage.

I had a spring shop put in the new springs and when I brought it back because the new springs didn't fix the ride at all, they said "the front spring mounts were welding back on in the wrong place, the OEM springs are too long now".

So I had a fab guy go in and try to fix that and he came back and said that both him and another mechanic found the mounts to be in the right place.

So the only frame diagrams I can find online say that the horizontal distance between the front spring hanger bolt and the rear upper shackle bolt should be 1235mm (48-5/8") but measured on my truck with a plumb bob on flat ground, the horizontal distance is 1335mm (52-9/16").

This leaves me floored because this is actually LONGER than stock, while the shop said it was shorter...

 

I've been scouring the net looking for a proper frame diagram and comparing part numbers.

Did you ever come up with a final measurement, and when installed, were your springs working properly? The only diagrams I've found have been here on TacomaWorld and I want to find other official sources to compare to.

My truck is a 3.4L 5spd Xtra cab, US model made in Jan of 2000 (I know that the springs changed in Sept of 2000).

Anything helps, we've stumped 3 mechanics.

 

Hey ZenTree, did you sort this out? Were you using the frame diagrams from this thread?:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-gen-ext-cab-frame-diagram.780481/

I just found an error in one of those frame diagrams and posted about it on that thread. According to the diagram I corrected, your math is spot on, so I want to know what you learned. I am killing myself trying to figure out wtf happened with my spring mounts.

 

I can't speak to the ext cab frame diagram, but the dimensions in that Mitchell book for a 1999 reg cab are NOT correct. They are for the early shorter leaf springs.

 

This is where I'm struggling. I can't seem to find proper data on what springs were used when. Using Rockauto and other sites, they all say the same springs fit from the beginning of the 1st Gen Tacomas until September of 2000. I confirmed part numbers using my body code from my truck and running the VIN through a VIN decoder to confirm the body code. I used a Toyota dealership parts site to confirm the part numbers were correct.

What did you end up using for your spring hanger dimensions and did it work out correctly?

 

I put the bed on it, bolted the shackle and spring to the rear mount, and got the rear axle centered in the wheelwell at ride height, and welded the spring perches where that all lined up. It's not perfect, but for how shitty my truck is it doesn't really matter lol