Responsible Adult, and why I am not one.

[FreshSeaBass]

Yeah I saw your thread and I like that tube-in-shear thing you did but I’m not sure I can make it work in my case since I’m probably going to have to cut up under the cab a little. I’ve got a bunch of 3/16” plates and a chineseum plasma cutter in my Amazon cart, so I think I’m going to cut similar to how @slander did and just plate the shit out of the joint.

I think my big question mark is how to actually butt the tube up to the frame. Will 2” wide tube slide into the frame with a tight enough gap to actually get a good weld? Or am I going to be bending the frame to close that gap?

My Chineseium 50 amp plasma cutter is a hauuuuuusssse...

The 2" tube will lay into the outside wall of the frame and you'll likely have a bit of a gap to the inside where it begins to taper down, but I would cut some slits, running length wise at the top and bottom of the frame and C-clamp that tightly to the tube inside, then maybe punch a couple of holes in the wall of the frame and rosette weld it.

That would effectively be the same as a tube in shear; maybe fish plate over the top of it all to have a long joint.

 

[thezentree]

My Chineseium 50 amp plasma cutter is a hauuuuuusssse...

The 2" tube will lay into the outside wall of the frame and you'll likely have a bit of a gap to the inside where it begins to taper down, but I would cut some slits, running length wise at the top and bottom of the frame and C-clamp that tightly to the tube inside, then maybe punch a couple of holes in the wall of the frame and rosette weld it.

That would effectively be the same as a tube in shear; maybe fish plate over the top of it all to have a long joint.

Pretty much what I was thinking. I’ll post pics of what I come up with when I get there. 50/50 chance I have time to start cutting before Christmas

 

[LT99]

My lotos chinesium plasma cutter lasted 2 days.

 

[Stairgod]

My lotos chinesium plasma cutter lasted 2 days.

I had one last for almost a year and a half.
Second one is still going. Glad a got an Everlast for the plasma table though.

 

[thezentree]

Primeweld 50A and adjustable pipe stands on the way. Can anyone tell me where I can find a good deal on some free time?

 

[Stairgod]

Primeweld 50A and adjustable pipe stands on the way. Can anyone tell me where I can find a good deal on some free time?

eBay??

 

[thezentree]

eBay??

Seems they’re fresh out. I’ll keep looking…

Help me figure out what to do with my rear suspension. Right now I think it’s got some aftermarket Tacoma leafs, but I’m going to cut all that off when I redo the rear frame. Eventually I want to do 63s, but I’m really tempted to use the springs that are on it for now since the truck sits level and I don’t want to spend months trying to figure out a 63 leaf pack that keeps the truck level.

That means I get to cut spring and shackle hangers off later, but it’s less work now.

Thoughts?

 

[Stairgod]

Seems they’re fresh out. I’ll keep looking…

Help me figure out what to do with my rear suspension. Right now I think it’s got some aftermarket Tacoma leafs, but I’m going to cut all that off when I redo the rear frame. Eventually I want to do 63s, but I’m really tempted to use the springs that are on it for now since the truck sits level and I don’t want to spend months trying to figure out a 63 leaf pack that keeps the truck level.

That means I get to cut spring and shackle hangers off later, but it’s less work now.

Thoughts?

My two cents? Fuck the 63s. Won't gain much more travel for a ton of work.
Save the energy and link the rear eventually, then you get to cut and add more shit.
Ain't hard to cut shit now that you have a plasma, so...

 

[G_Raw]

My two cents? Fuck the 63s. Won't gain much more travel for a ton of work.
Save the energy and link the rear eventually, then you get to cut and add more shit.
Ain't hard to cut shit now that you have a plasma, so...

63's aren't about travel. It's about how soft they are and the flex. You're right that travel isn't gained...but flex is! 63's are way less work. Buy 63's and a 63 kit from ruff stuff. Spend a weekend cutting, measuring and welding. Then ride out. The measuring on 63's is nothing. Mount leaves at center pin. put axle back up to axle. mark you eye centers. Tack hangers and shackles. Load it up. flex it. move hangers and shackles if desired before final burn. If you link it be prepared to relocate fuel tank. Then measure, tack, and articulate 100 times before deciding to burn things permanently. Definitely more than a weekend job but will allow for much more travel and articulation. I can take measurements of the 1ton first gen Tacoma we did that has 63's in the rear if you want.

 

[Stairgod]

63's aren't about travel. It's about how soft they are and the flex. You're right that travel isn't gained...but flex is! 63's are way less work. Buy 63's and a 63 kit from ruff stuff. Spend a weekend cutting, measuring and welding. Then ride out. The measuring on 63's is nothing. Mount leaves at center pin. put axle back up to axle. mark you eye centers. Tack hangers and shackles. Load it up. flex it. move hangers and shackles if desired before final burn. If you link it be prepared to relocate fuel tank. Then measure, tack, and articulate 100 times before deciding to burn things permanently. Definitely more than a weekend job but will allow for much more travel and articulation. I can take measurements of the 1ton first gen Tacoma we did that has 63's in the rear if you want.

63s are a budget build bullshit slap a set of junkyard springs on a truck that they were never intended to be on and will never have the correct spring rate for the weight.
Funny thing about words is that definitions seem to vary. What exactly is flex? What is travel? What is articulation?
You say that travel isn't gained but flex is, then later on you say travel and articulation is gained. Which is it?
Could you be using the term flex as meaning less resistance to change in state of the spring, i.e. lower spring rate?

A stock length set of springs can be made that are every but as flexy as a "set of 63s" and will have the same spring rate and almost the exact same amount of travel, and will perform just as well without all the work of making/buying spring mounts, measuring, tacking, articulating 100 times, etc .

 

[G_Raw]

63s are a budget build bullshit slap a set of junkyard springs on a truck that they were never intended to be on and will never have the correct spring rate for the weight.
Funny thing about words is that definitions seem to vary. What exactly is flex? What is travel? What is articulation?
You say that travel isn't gained but flex is, then later on you say travel and articulation is gained. Which is it?
Could you be using the term flex as meaning less resistance to change in state of the spring, i.e. lower spring rate?

A stock length set of springs can be made that are every but as flexy as a "set of 63s" and will have the same spring rate and almost the exact same amount of travel, and will perform just as well without all the work of making/buying spring mounts, measuring, tacking, articulating 100 times, etc .

You are correct on my definitions.

Articulation=Travel. They are both discussing the axles vertical movements

Flex refers to ability to achieve that motion. This is a discussion of spring rate. Two sets of leaf packs rated differently will allow different amounts of travel on the same rig going over the same obstacle. I.e one pack may give 3” of travel vs the other giving 5” on the same obstacle. People argue that it’s the same as articulation. But both packs have the ability to give you 7” of travel yet on the same rig over the same obstacle one is allowing more travel then the other. That is flex.

But my reference to more travel and articulation was regarding linking the rear end. Which takes more work. I agree that this is the ideal way to do things but this a timely and financial investment to pull together.

So in short yes 63s only allow more flex. Not more travel. And yes it it due to spring rate. And I can do it in a weekend for under $300 dollars and see improvement over stock leaves. And no I don’t think most people want to spend multiple weekends and thousands of dollars to link the rear and.

Either option gives you an improvement over stock setup

 

[thezentree]

I may still do 63s since I'll lose the spring hangers when I cut the frame off (they're pretty crusty and not worth saving). I just don't want to spend a bunch of time swapping junkyard leaves around to get it to match the front. This thing has a long list of stuff it needs to be roadworthy and as much as I joke about "my wife gonna be pissed when I steal her garage spot lol," I don't want it to be there for months and months.

Also I just dumped a bunch of cash on a trip to Puerto Rico in February, so there goes budget for Tacoma stuff.

 

[thezentree]

I put a driver's side outer door handle in it tonight because it didn't come with one.

I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.

Oh and I'm gonna order trail gear spring hangers because I'm pretty sure all the suspension came from all-pro ...and trail gear actually has parts in stock.
Wife works next weekend, my plasma cutter and welder actually work, and I got all the rusty-ass bed bolts out of it the other day

 

[thezentree]

 

[thezentree]

Got everything measured out. That little Bosch laser level is my favorite thing ever.

The drivers side frame rail is super tweaked, so I’m going to base all my vertical measurements off the passenger side frame. I’m getting kinda nervous about what I’m going to find when I cut the slider frame plates off. I’m hoping I can start cutting tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday.

 

[Stairgod]

Don't worry about it.
If shit is fucked up cut and weld. All fixed.

You got this!!

 

[HavingaGoodTime4x4]

Don't worry about it.
If shit is fucked up cut and weld. All fixed.

You got this!!

Seems legit

 

[thezentree]

All this and only had one minor cutoff wheel oopsie

Holy shit this thing is so fucking rusty. The horse collar is gonna have to come out too, and all of the spots where the slider pads were welded on are gonna get cut out and plated

 

[thezentree]

God damn adding pictures to a post with a phone is fuckin terrible. Anyway, this thing has sprouted frame rails:







I'm fairly impressed with myself for not fucking this up so far. As far as tying into the factory frame, I'm thinking something like this, where I cut two holes in the frame just ahead of the cab mount and plug weld the box tube (red), then fish plate over the whole thing. I'm probably going to take that cab mount off and replace it because it's pretty well rotted too, so I'll just put it back on over the fish plate (blue sketch). I'll add big plug welds where the fish plates tie into the box tube too.



For the inside, I'm thinking im going to butt some plate up to the edge of the factory frame and angle it in, same for the bottom, and then do another fish plate over all that which attaches to the factory frame as close behind the horse collar as I can get it, and on the angled box tube. All I have is 3/16" plate, so that's going to end up being a thick chunk of steel, but should be strong. I don't have a press brake so I'll have to do the ol' notch the plate with a cutoff wheel and then weld it back up to bend it, but at least it'll all be one stretch of plate.




Y'all think I need fish plates on the top and bottom of the frame too?

 

[Stairgod]

Most of the force on the frame is vertical, so any cross members should handle the horizontal forces .
Your plan seems sound.