Which front end LT kit and why?

No, got rid of stock tank to keep the truck balanced. Still waiting on parts coming back from the laser cutter. Haven't been down to see it after dropping it off. Been super busy with life. Was supposed to go yesterday or today and with my gramps, it didn't happen. He's getting better slowly and steadily. Thank you for asking.

 

No you remove the evap / filler equipment from the stock tank and make room for links and other stuff - I have an onboard air system in that spot on the other side on my 1st Gen.

 

@kasnerd Saw your truck at JDs shop the other day, lookin good man. I think I'm gonna get the same treatment to mine, front and rear

 

right on. JD does it right.

 

Would you mind posting/pm’ing more about your 36gal tank/cell?
I’m interested in what you’ve bought/made and how it’s carb legal as well as if it keeps oem gauge and other stuff...

 

It's a JD concoction from a GM tank (I think) and a custom cage/mount they built off a laserscan. Obviously the spare isn't there anymore and you could absolutely run both, using the 36gal for extending range. Here's the preview from JD: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...el-and-934-cv’s.626274/page-143#post-24541760

 

Having researched the hell out of this subject prior to my decision I went with JD Fabrication LCA setup to take care of all those issues and shortcomings to start with. Then I decided on TC 3.5" Race series kit with secondary bypass shocks. Why TC? customer service and parts availability was one reason. Solid quality parts and well designed system was another. I looked at JD Fab LT kit, but I wanted 3.5" and not 2.25" since I was replacing a TC 2" LT on my truck already. Their LCA set-up is second to none and a terrific upgrade or a good to start for a ground up build. You can choose whatever brand kit after that as many others are quite good. Having shocks properly tuned for your own application is another must, don't rush and buy just anything and throw it on. Another consideration is axle build. This time around I chose to start from scratch with a new outer CV(a manual lock hub setup actually) and did not try to disassemble stock axle outer CV. I broke down stock axles last time and do not wish to repeat that exercise. CVJ Axles also sells prebuilt LT axles which makes the whole job a lot easier. Yes, everything is expensive and trying to cut corners on any step of the process cost more $$ down the line. That's my 2 cents worth, but look at all the responses and benefit from everyone else's experience with the various options and choices. TW guys have tried just about everything and are not shy about giving their honest opinions. Have a great LT type of day!

 

I appreciate the thoughtful response! I went to JDs facility and met Jesse, and I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on his 2.25" kit with the LCA pivot. 3.5" or 4" is a little much for me because most of my driving is rock gardens or otherwise super narrow trails. Flying through the desert is only a small part of my driving, so it doesn't make sense to optimize for that. Plus, I really don't wanna go through the hassle of putting on fiberglass.

 

Throwing this out there - no shock will be tuned exactly for your truck from the factory or shop. You need to tune it on the truck running your complete suspension on a tuning minded session or you’ll be leaving performance you paid for on the table.

 

Total Chaos or Camburg for a daily driven truck.

You need something that handles well on pavement, has immediate parts availability, and is from a well-established company that will be around in a decade and still producing parts for your kit.

I love a squared away small shop and custom fab work is awesome - but when you break a control arm on a one off or low production kit, you're screwed if you need the truck for things other than hucking it in the dirt.

 

I really like Dirt King. Banged out the whole front on a weekend at home. Great products, clear instructions.

 

Total Chaos Race or Expedition is my vote

 

I second DirtKing. They have the cleanest kit by far, fully boxed. Also they have the most "usable" shock travel of 3.5 kits. TC runs extended rod ends on their kits, whereas DK does not. (see pic 1)

Proof is in the pudding; You are supposed to get your axles machined to accept the sharper angles at full droop. DirtKing offers this service for your stock CVs, or you can purchase a set already done from them. I went with RCVs at the time though.

I too knocked out my install in about 7 hrs. Very clear, well provided instructions. Their packaging is "annoyingly good"

Also worth mentioning, their customer service IS the absolute best. I have first hand experience with TC, Baja Kits, and Dirt King.

That said, I do have a freshly rebuilt Baja Kits +2 kit for sale, with assembled CVs, new bushings, uniballs, and everything.



Dirt King on left, TC on right

 

A couple quick reasons why I went with Camburg...
-Renowned racing experience and design
-LCA uniball pivots as opposed to bushings like other brands. Bushings will bind when you align the truck; uniballs do not. Smooth cycling
-1.25" uniball on UCA as opposed to 1" like others
-good starting price point

Yes, the downfall is that it will be more costly to replace the uniballs instead of bushings. The uniballs will also transmit more vibration through the chassis

 

Not attacking you, just some food for thought based on your comments

most "usable" shock travel of 3.5 kits.
"Useable shock travel" is negligible in this comparison, motion ratios would be more important, and they are going to be so similar within the factory limitations that a properly setup/tuned shock will not be able to tell the difference anywhere.

Proof is in the pudding; You are supposed to get your axles machined to accept the sharper angles at full droop
What proof, and what pudding? Is Dirt King claiming additional suspension travel/angles from their 4wd front ends? Sorry I dont pay attention to them specifically, the reason I ask is that TC/Camburg have proven that stock CV's will run just fine within the specified parameters/angles.

Again, not attacking you, just opening up dialog, and this is certainly not a knock on Dirt King as they make great stuff.


Here's my opinion: Were it me starting over and I was sticking with a kit that keeps the factory upright, I would find Total Chaos, Camburg, Dirt King kit used. Rebuild all the joints, clean it up and run it and utilize the saved money on the rear end. I would also run a 10" shock on a hoop that connects over the engine to both sides, making sure to utilize the entire available travel, allowing for more spring rate options (dual rate if you want) and adding strength to the front end to keep those shock buckets from twisting your frame.



Side note: @Matty0317 Have you measured the block height of your front springs compared to your shock setup/preload? you appear to have that spring completely bottomed out (or extremely close). Have a pic of your front end cycled? you may be giving up a little up travel

 

Ok... it's not about axles. It's about the CVs. When you "lift" all you are doing is changing the angle of the CV. The more "lift", the more angle, the more wear and stress. This is why going to RCV or other upgraded joints like 934s is necessary., otherwise the stock CV will always be the weak point and you will break often. The only time you modify an axle is for length.

If you are picking out hardware to go faster, rock crawl, bigger tires, etc...there's added stresses applied elsewhere, especially the pencil thick tie rods, how they connect to the spindle and Toyota's weak steering rack. Suspension isn't "a done deal" with just UCAs, LCAs and a coilover. This is why LT kits are not worth a damn if you don't upgrade the rest of the hardware.

JD Fab addressed all these issues with their offerings.

 

Sure thing, Here is the pudding I'm referring too, This is what they are claiming/advertising on their website. (Under the Tacoma long travel kit, under the specifications tab.) I personally did not have my axles machined, instead I got RCV shafts which, allow higher articulation. I have not had any binding issues in my CVs.

https://dirtkingfabrication.com/collections/tacoma/products/long-travel-kit

• Wheel Travel: 13.5”
• Amount of Lift: 0-4”
• Track Width: 3.5” wider per side
• Maximum Tire Size: 35”
• Maximum Backspacing: 4.75”
• Minimum Rim Size: 16”
• Coil over Shock Size: 2.5” x 8”
• Bypass Shock Size: 2.5” x 8”
• Bump Stop Size: 2.0” x 2.0”

4WDTo achieve the full amount of travel on 4WD models you must install the 1” diff drop kit and machine the inner CV’s for more articulation. We offer several services for machining CV’s and complete axle assembly Click here to view the services we offer and additional information on CV machining.

Shocks
For the best performance and to achieve the full amount of travel you must purchase our spec built shocks or have them custom built based on our coil over spec sheet. You may also use Tacoma OEM replacement coil overs (King, Fox, Icon) with 600lb springs and 1.5” wide lower eyelet spacers with ½” mounting holes. These shocks will work but limit the amount of wheel travel. The OEM replacement coil overs include reservoir mounts that may not be compatible with our double shear kit option. Our long travel kit is also tabbed to accommodate bypass shocks. The bypass shocks will allow for superior suspension dampening and tunability. To mount the bypasses we offer a weld on bypass shock hoop kit (DK-811910) that can be purchased separately. The bypass shock hoop kit requires welding and modifications to the frame. For extreme off-roading the kit has the ability to accept bump stops along with the coil overs and bypasses. The use of bump stops will alsorequire welding and modifications to the frame.

Wheel Travel
When shopping long travel kits many consumers tend to focus just on travel numbers. This is the reason many companies claim inaccurate numbers or don’t disclose the amount of work involved to achieve these numbers. Our goal is to build a suspension system with the highest amount of wheel travel without requiring major modifications to the vehicle or compromising its overall drivability.

Tire Info
When using 35” tires with this kit modifications to the wheel well will need to be made. The firewall pinch weld will need to be folded over and front cab mount needs to be shaved to avoid contact while turning. The upper wheel well will also need to be modified to avoid contact at full bump.

While I agree with you that the shock tuning and motion ratios will play a bigger role for high speed running vs tavel, the OP did mention that the build was going to be a "do it all rig", not just high speed desert running, which was exactly my same idea in LT selection, too. I did want the additional travel, as negligible as it might be.

Good advice, I found my first LT setup used as well.

I do have a significant amount of preload on these 16" 650s, This is to achieve the ride height I'm looking for; The coils are not completely bottomed out, but close. It's not ideal for now as the tire contacts the inner fender (in situations like the picture I posted) so that is all the uptravel I'm going to get out of it for the time being. I am looking into going to an 18" coil so I don't have to run as much preload.

 

Fwiw a longer spring that has the same weight constant will require the same amount of preload for the same weight vehicle to achieve greater ride height - a heavier spring wouldn’t need as much preload for more ride height.

 

my current springs are 16". Going to an 18"

The spring will still compress the same at the same rate, however with it being 2" longer overall, the preload will not be as much. Also the block load is about 600lbs heavier.

 

Right, but as Anthony mentioned since the spring rate (or constant k) is the same, you will require the same amount of preload to set the ride height despite the length. Although, a 16" spring has 7.5" of travel and an 18" has 8.13" so you you can preload the 18" spring more and not have to worry about binding.