Tacoma Confessions

[Hawker25]

Have you read up on the diff drop over at Tacomaworld.com general consensus was that diff drop does more bad than good. I ordered one from toytec and ended up sending it back after talking to the guys over there.

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[Caribou Sandstorm]

Have you read up on the diff drop over at Tacomaworld.com general consensus was that diff drop does more bad than good. I ordered one from toytec and ended up sending it back after talking to the guys over there.

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I don't see how it is any different with the FJ/4runner/100 series.. But I will talk with Christo. Robbie also a great resource on this, as well, as he has seen it all.

I am not sure how many of the '16 Taco guys, have progressed through 3 previous IFS versions. Is this their first rodeo modding a Toyota 4x4 IFS?. I qualify reports and threads in that way when I read them...what else have you modded kind of thing, is this your first experience with lifts, UCAs, etc..??.

I agree with the diff drop and have seen it both ways.

But I will do some additional reading, as I am no expert but have been down this modding road now on 3 previous late model Toyotas.

 

[Romer]

Chris,
Coming off a bit strong my friend

You don't do a diff drop on a 200 either. and this isn't my first Rodeo

 

[DaveInDenver]

What type of vehicle is this? The CV's don't look so angled, maybe it has a diff drop?

I am probably going to diff drop the Taco, My FJ and 4runner CVs were pretty angled with 285s. And I am looking for longevity for this rig.

I plan to put 295's on my Taco, which are 33.5s vs 32.7.

Tire size doesn't make any difference for CV angle. It's all the amount of suspension lift. My CV axles were slightly negative before lifting it. The Tacoma IFS uses the same parts as the 4Runner/FJC but the frames are different and the geometry is slightly different. For example Camburg makes different upper control arms for the Tacoma than the FJC, they are not really interchangeable.

That photo is my truck, just put FOX 2.5 IFP coil-overs and Camburg UCAs on it last week. The springs settled a little, probably closer to 2.25 to 2.5 inches over stock. That's about all I'm going to get I think out of them. I can tell you with 100% certainty there is no diff drop on my truck.

Depending on what I can find i stock tomorrow I'll be putting on 235/85R16 pr 255/85R16 so this should be plenty of lift, so I'm not worried. I may put a 0.25" spacer on the driver's side since it wants to sit a little lower than the right side. I'm not trying to stuff the super wide tires on like you. If I can get 4 of them the 255/85R16 BFG MT is about 33.3" overall but being just under 10" wide on stock 7" rims it won't require any fender trimming or a body mount trim to fit like the 11" and wider 33"+ tires do.

Toytec knows their stuff about Tacomas and their opinion was it causes more problems than helps.

I never ran a diff drop on Imelda and CV axles didn't suffer. Totally different IFS and she has hub locks, that makes all the difference in the world IMHO. But the angle on the axle was fairly significant, especially when it still had ball joint spacers and shaved lower bump stops.

 

[AxleIke]

It's your truck, mod it how you see fit.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Chris,
Coming off a bit strong my friend

You don't do a diff drop on a 200 either and this isn't my first Rodeo

Ken run along now, shouldn't you be moderating someone in mud?

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Tire size doesn't make any difference for CV angle. It's all the amount of suspension lift. My CV axles were slightly negative before lifting it. The Tacoma IFS uses the same parts as the 4Runner/FJC but the frames are different and the geometry is slightly different. For example Camburg makes different upper control arms for the Tacoma than the FJC, they are not really interchangeable.

That photo is my truck, just put FOX 2.5 IFP coil-overs and Camburg UCAs on it last week. The springs settled a little, probably closer to 2.25 to 2.5 inches over stock. That's about all I'm going to get I think out of them. I can tell you with 100% certainty there is no diff drop on my truck.

Depending on what I can find i stock tomorrow I'll be putting on 235/85R16 pr 255/85R16 so this should be plenty of lift, so I'm not worried. I may put a 0.25" spacer on the driver's side since it wants to sit a little lower than the right side. I'm not trying to stuff the super wide tires on like you. If I can get 4 of them the 255/85R16 BFG MT is about 33.3" overall but being just under 10" wide on stock 7" rims it won't require any fender trimming or a body mount trim to fit like the 11" and wider 33"+ tires do.

Toytec knows their stuff about Tacomas and their opinion was it causes more problems than helps.

I never ran a diff drop on Imelda and CV axles didn't suffer. Totally different IFS and she has hub locks, that makes all the difference in the world IMHO. But the angle on the axle was fairly significant, especially when it still had ball joint spacers and shaved lower bump stops.

Your angles did look perfect to me. Good stuff here Dave. I will call over to Toytec this week. I know those guys over there. Good guys and you're right they know their Tacomas. Would be great to be able to skip the diff drop. Just want to make sure I don's base it on that one thread in Tacoma World.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

So the 2017 Tacoma information is coming out..

Some dealerships already have a few showing up. Not sure if any in Colorado have any yet, sounds like the price bumped up a bit to 41-ish for a TRD off road with the Premium & Tech w/JBL, like I have.

So far the only difference folks are talking about over in TW are gear ratio change to 4.30 vs 3.90 and the back window now opens electronically. My kids open the back window, so guess I don't need the electronic window opener.

The gear change seems like a big change, should help with performance, which has kind of been a known issue. And if your gonna mod with bigger tires 4.30 would be better with 33's than 3.90. I did not really notice too much performance hit with the FJC when I added 33's originally at it had 3.73 gears.

I wonder how possible, difficult it would be to swap out the 3.90s for 4.30s, down the road? I like the idea of Toyota OEM parts... Wonder if the odometer could be updated somehow..

All in all, not a whole lot of difference between the 17s vs. 16s, other than the addition of the TRD Pro.


My initial first 30 days of driving the Tacoma are surprising me a bit. I like it a lot more than I anticipated.

-Really fun to drive around town and on highway
-pulled my off-road trailer well on highway-some searching for gears but known issue and I go in for the TSB on the 22nd
-great for throwing sports gear in back
-picked up the rubber read bed mat so stuff no longer rolls around back there
-technology in cabin is really cool
-wireless Qi charger pretty cool

 

[DaveInDenver]

The power rear window is the only thing that is for sure.

The ratio change is pure speculation. No one knows and it's very unlikely Toyota changed it. You cannot trust the door jamb axle codes to mean anything.

You can order third members and gears from Toyota if you ever want to change ratios, but it's not really necessary when the aftermarket gears are fine and honestly I'd trust Robbie or Joe to set them up, probably more than the factories in San Antonio or Baja, Mexico.

Remember you have to change front and rear (I'm not sure the Tacoma World yahoos in that thread realize this). You can probably correct the speedo in the ECU but I'm only guessing it's a variable.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

The power rear window is the only thing that is for sure.

The ratio change is pure speculation. No one knows and it's very unlikely Toyota changed it. You cannot trust the door jamb axle codes to mean anything.

You can order third members and gears from Toyota if you ever want to change ratios, but it's not really necessary when the aftermarket gears are fine and honestly I'd trust Robbie or Joe to set them up, probably more than the factories in San Antonio or Baja, Mexico.

Remember you have to change front and rear (I'm not sure the Tacoma World yahoos in that thread realize this). You can probably correct the speedo in the ECU but I'm only guessing it's a variable.

good to know. I am glad I did not wait for a 17.. the price went up a few thousand and I was able to get a good deal on a 16. From what I saw, the dealerships did not lower the 16s until late July and early August.

 

[DaveInDenver]

From what I'm seen there's no design reason to have waited for the 2017, the rear window being the only change.

Otherwise it seems there's been very little engineering or manufacturing changes or updates. The automatic transmission shifting TSB to update the firmware is probably implemented at the factory now. They didn't fix the lower control arm whistling/howling/noise, whatever that is, where they insert plugs into the drain holes when a customer complains. The hood ribbing adhesive still breaks lose (like it has since 1979).

The one thing I want to find is the 6 speed manual from a wrecked 2016+ truck. The RA60F in my truck works great but the ratios are funky. They're using the RC62F now and the ratios make more sense. For example 4th gear in my truck is 1.193:1 while in the RC62F it's 1:1 like it should be. So my 5th is 1:1 and 6th is 0.85:1, essentially the same as 5th used to be in the W56 and other Toyota transmissions. They went back to 5th being 0.85:1 in the RC62F and 6th is now an actually useful RPM drop at 0.72:1. The RA60F just requires more rowing through gears since each step isn't quite right, at least for a person like me used to driving the old Toyota manuals.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

I don't think I have ever seen a picture of Donna..

 

[DaveInDenver]

This was a couple of weeks ago after I got the lift on, tires and alignment done.

FOX 2.5 IFP and 13"/600 lbs Eibach springs, Camburg B/J UCA in front
Dakar CS047R and FOX 2.0 IFP smooth bodies in back
BFG AT KO2 235/85R16
Mobtown bolt-on sliders

I've got about 2.25" of front lift and somewhere around 2.75" of rear lift.

I'd like to eventually change the rears to 2.0 with reservoirs and adjusters. It rides great but I can get underdamped on some road surfaces with just so spaced crack joints with the bike rack on the back. It's a high frequency bounce so it's too much spring and the levered weight that far off the back just accentuates it. Imelda did the same thing with Dakars and OME shocks but I thought the valving in the FOX would reduce this, but not so. I may also just try re-valving them or a heavier (or would it be lighter?) oil. Probably valving is the way no matter.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Dave, looks good.

How did you mount your HAM radio?

I have a Yaesu 2800M, I bought years back for 109.00.. Single band.

I am trying to figure out the right spot. Looks like it will work best under glove box. then run antenna on hood.

 

[DaveInDenver]

The radio is mounted quite securely by a combination of velcro, chewing gum and the shear force of it being jammed between the center console and a seat cushion.

The radio face is mounted on a Panavise InDash AMPS bracket.

The antenna is mounted on a CBI ditch light bracket.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Nice I think I am going the Velcro route also.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Mine's going under the passenger's seat eventually. I just ran out of time this summer and needed it installed. If I put my back seats back up it will end up in the foot wells bouncing off stuff. But having an Access Cab the question of rear seat passengers has come up exactly never. Once I get the radio mounted the back seats are coming out completely.

 

[coax]

I'd like to eventually change the rears to 2.0 with reservoirs and adjusters. It rides great but I can get underdamped on some road surfaces with just so spaced crack joints with the bike rack on the back. It's a high frequency bounce so it's too much spring and the levered weight that far off the back just accentuates it. Imelda did the same thing with Dakars and OME shocks but I thought the valving in the FOX would reduce this, but not so. I may also just try re-valving them or a heavier (or would it be lighter?) oil. Probably valving is the way no matter.

Not sure what tools you've got on hand but if you happen to need, I've got a bunch of fox shims (5/8 shaft), nitrogen bottle/regulator, etc if you decide you wanna dig into your valving.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

Buying at the end of a model season, has it price benefits but naturally, I am curious what the new model will have that I don't.

Have not confirmed the re-gear chatter from TW and actually for my family I think the electronic window in the back would be less of an appeal. My kids like having the control back there to open and close...

Before I made my purchase, I had been hitting the Toyota Website daily to see if the 2017 Tacoma's would be up and see the options etc...

Yesterday, the site finally flipped. TRD PRO MSRP is 43,700.00, some reports they are getting 46,700.00.

And it looks like no sun roof on the TRD PRO.

They look cool no doubt but that seems spendy for a Tacoma.

 

[Caribou Sandstorm]

First mod, kill the chrome.. Plast-dipped it. really prefer it over the chrome.

Also trying tire sizes..

I have waffled more than a politician on tire sizes.. The issue I see is max size/fit without body mount chop for now. As far as I can tell Taco's are limited in tire width also.

Dave I am guessing you did a bunch of research for the size you have?

The 255's fit fine with stock set up did not try any articulation but I did not like the stance, so I think I am going 285s and not sure if BFG AT KO2s or STT PROs.

-SPC UCAs purchased, not installed
-Lift figured out, just need to spend the money, probably next month
-TRD Trail teams wheels black, 16", next week!
-Thule Xsporter rack purchased, PITA to install, installing. super beefy , will use for paddle boards and RTT