The Frawg!

[rockfrawg]

Welcome to my build thread....kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Here it is the day I bought it:





The Specs:
1997 Toyota Tacoma Regular Cab 4x4
2.7L Fuel Injected 4-cylinder
5-speed W59 Tranny - 3.95:1 1st gear
Chain Drive 2 speed Xfer Case - 2.28:1 Low
105" Wheelbase Stock
4.10 Gears(?)...(maybe)

[rockfrawg]

The previous owner installed:
LCE Header
Short shift kit
Heavy Duty Clutch
2" Spacer Lift and 2" Add-a-Leaf
Manik Grill Guard
KC Spot Lights
Alpine 6.5" Door Speakers
Alpine CD Player



Stuff I've Done:
True Flow Air Filter
Red Top Optima

First thing had to be tires, 265/70/16 BFG/AT KOs and got rid of the Tundra wheels for factory wheels



Saturn 3-door Seats



After the Alpine got stolen...



...I replaced it with a Pioneer and mounted it in a Tuffy LockBox Center Console
(remote gain for the amp mounted on the front of the box)





At the same time I built a box, had it sprayed w/ bedliner, and put in an MTX 10" Sub
(the wires are for the power inverter, they're hidden under the carpet now)



Wired up to a 400 Watt MTX Amp mounted to the rear bulkhead



Threw the 750 Watt power inverter leftover from the F150 under the passenger seat



while I was working on the seats I pulled the doors off and made them quick disconnect

[rockfrawg]

I've had to do very little maintenance in the ~22,000 miles since I bought it (has almost 188,000 now)...replaced the valve cover gasket and while I was at it put in new spark plugs and a couple new belts. When I came down for the reunion in Feb I stripped out the spider gears in the IFS...took it over to Busa's and he welded it up for me. While I had that out I sealed up the oil pan.

Thats about all for now...more in the works...

[bburris]

After the Alpine got stolen...

The boy JB was a friend of mine 'till I caught him in my car tryin' to steal a alpine...

Sorry, that's all I have to contribute.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

John, don't you dare post any pictures in here....

[DRAGOONRANCH]

oh, and needs more triangulation!!!

no, seriously, looks like a sweet little truck. Now lets get it ready to tear the **** out of it!!!

[rockfrawg]

well ED...if you notice the date on the 1st couple pics I bought it the end of July `05...been beating the ever living....ever loving.... ....sh!t out of it since then. First time I broke anything was @ the reunion out at 47 (and i've gotten 3' of air under all four tires). its got a few extra dents now. i have not washed it since I bought it and those pics have gotten me to wondering what it would look like if I did...it did look nice, huh?

well, here goes with the not so distant future plans....

SOLID AXLE SWAP

AXLES:
HP D60 Front - i've got my name on a HP ball joint D60 (lockout-to-lockout complete ready to bolt in and roll) for a reasonable price locally but cant pick it up 'til after the 4th which gives me time to ask questions. I wanna run high steer, duh, but the best option I can find is new knuckles and high steer arms from www.solidaxle.com with their stuff i would have to swap spindles, etc with chebby stuff, which I dont want to do. alternatives are mill, drill and tap for D44 arms...is this something Hughes Fab could take care of for me??? has 3.54s in it, need new gears. should i hold out for a kingpin? (dont really want to, unless something comes up quick). John Brown??



D60 Rear - leftover junk from the F150. already has 4.88s in it. open, would probably weld it. Should be able to use factory driveshaft if I get a flange yoke for the pinion.



TIRES/WHEELS
37"x12.50"x17" Goodyear MT/Rs mounted on H2 wheels
already have the tires and the wheels arent costing anything. plan to move to 40"s or 42"s eventually.

GEARS:
the guy selling the D60 has 5.13s he bought I could probably get for a really decent price which would mean having to get 5.13s for the back. If I had to setup the gears again anyway, i would probably find some D70 rear, 35 spline shafts and put in a 35 spline spool. the gear ratio to tire size ratio would stay the same from where i'm at moving to 37"s and 4.88s...would obviously be a bit better if i were to go w/ the 5.13s. Worth the difference with the transmission and xfer case ratios listed above?

SUSPENSION
Front - 3" Lift Rear springs for an `85 Toyota Pickup...almost the exact same measurements as the Rancho 44044s.

Rear - 63" Chebby half ton springs. Dual shackles in the rear.
"Best flex for the money" - pirate4x4.com

STEERING
Still pretty much up in the air...will probably do an assist similar to what Chris Feller did on the 4Runner...hard to pass up for under $130, but thats only if I can tackle the knuckle/high steer problem.

MISC
hoping to bob the bed, and possibly dovetail it (narrowed tailgates...Jimmy...TITS...). build new rear bumper. build new front bumper. tow points (for pulling others out of course).

Progress
I've thus far collected the front and rear springs, an IFS gearbox, and like I said, i've got my name on a HP D60 to be picked up in two weeks.

Springs:



Steering Gearbox - rebuilt, drilled and tapped........just in case...









have a long parts list and will start making some phone calls tomorrow to gather information about the stuff I need to collect, specifically shipment time so that if I wait to order until I get the front axle i'll know what all I need and how long it'll take to get here.

Input? Budget minded suggestions?

[JeepPhisherman]

All I see are red x's. How was the gear box rebuild?

[rockfrawg]

All I see are red x's. How was the gear box rebuild?

windows update had reset my server computer...need to turn that off

pics should work now ... i put them all there for you and your 100MB limit ED.

rebuild was cake, took about 2 hrs...just take your time

[AggieTJ2007]

looks good, oh I think you will like 56" chevies better, more than adequate flex and not so much overhang.

Or dodge half ton springs are about 56 or ford springs.

Build antiwrap bar for rear at least, probably front too.

[rockfrawg]

anything will be an improvement over the overhang i've got now....even just pulling the receiver hitch and new rear bumper.

I should still be able to bob the full 12-13" with the factory shackle hanger where its at using the 63" chebbies. i might go to a shorter spring later that will let me move the rear hanger forward but since the 63"ers allow me to reuse the factory hanger it'll save a little work.

A LOT of people love the 63"ers so I figure i'd give it whirl.

I do fully understand the 56"ers might be better but i've already got these now so....really.....it all boils down to the fact that i'm pretty lazy

[AggieTJ2007]

looks like a good project so far

[DRAGOONRANCH]

I'll give ya 100mb you sumbich!!

You will like those 63"s, they are the fullsize's 52"s for the minitrucks.

[rockfrawg]

as long as I end up with the ball joint 60 i'm going to try to have the knuckles machined down and run 44 arms on both sides...do the steering right the 1st time.

whats the best/cheapest place to find D44 high steer arms that will clear the H2 wheels??

running the steering up high, what kinda pitman arm should i look for? the guy at sky mfg told me with a stock drop it could cause binding. they offer one thats advertised as 3/4" (actually works out to be about 1.5") less drop than stock, as well as one thats completely flat...i'll probably mount the box tilted forward (like stock) to prevent binding on the input shaft and seems like flat would hit the frame. so what do y'all think will be best?

[JeepPhisherman]

Depends on how forward you mount your axle. Most running the flat pitman arms have their axles moved 2-4" forward. Otherwise you can notch the frame to clear the nut on the TRE or heim with the flat pitman arm or run a less than stock and not mess with the frame.