Rear axle swap is in full swing, and the rear suspension update is at a stand still for a little bit. I'll explain in a bit.
While I'm not swapping out the leaf pack, I am putting longer shackles on the truck. The rear will sit about an extra inch taller and interior help level out the truck with LT up front.
PXL_20220619_181127825.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
Had to cut the old shackles out, but these new ones are definitely beefier compared to stock.
Here's ride height and full droop with only axle weight. Full droop is probably a little more than what I will actually have since I'll be prioritizing up travel this time around.
PXL_20220619_182758623.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220619_182834378.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
Out with the old...
PXL_20220619_195045903 by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220619_200321977 by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
And full pause on mounting up the rear axle. Unfortunately I didn't think to measure the rear axle tubes on the Sequioa axle, and it turns out that the Tacoma u-bolt flip kit I bought from RuffStuff didn't fit at all. Silly mistake as well, but I did order the u-bolt flip kit before I got the axle. I do already have 3 1/4" u-bolts on order, so hopefully next weekend I can get the axle set and the pinion angle set.
PXL_20220619_221843019 by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
As for the rest of the time I spent on the truck, I cut my bedsides back to match the front fenders. This did include having to cut the gas tank door, which sucked, and I dropped the angle grinder on it and it left a good dent.
PXL_20220620_183016249.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220620_183053372.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220620_183119972.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220620_204516884.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
PXL_20220620_225500953.PORTRAIT by
Cory Bechtold, on Flickr
Overall, not too bad. Once I get the truck out of the garage I'll be able to tell how good or bad the cuts are, but the passenger side is looking pretty good. While I think the cuts are going to look a little bit ridiculous on 35s, it's the only way I can do it without just leaving the holes for the fender flare clips. Either way, I'm digging the no fender flare look right now. Hopefully the new u-bolts arrive this week and I can work on getting the Sequoia axle set in place.
I'll end this with an update on my motor. I dropped off everything my builder needs to finish rebuilding my motor. While I won't be seeing my motor for a little bit longer, I know that next month I will have my motor back as a long block. As of right now, my dad and I are aiming for August to have the truck out of the garage and, this might be pushing it a little, possibly at Marlin Crawler Round-Up this year. MCR is definitely pushing it since I need to break in everything and test it before I run the Rubicon. Doable? Yes, but it's going to be close.