TL;DR - why didn't I install limit straps earlier. These things make the suspension so much more enjoyable.
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TL;DR - I need limit straps to prevent the shocks from over-extending, which can lead to shock tower failure.
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It seems like just a few weeks ago that I replaced the spherical bearings on my ADS coilovers for the first time, though it turns out, it was actually a few (4) months ago. Prior to that, I'd put some 27K miles on the new ADS suspension (see installation) - miles that really proved to me that it was a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, on our last trip down to the Eastern Mojave, the coilovers had been squeaking again. Well, really they'd been squeaking before we even left - but with only 7K miles on the odometer since the previous change,…
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TL;DR - I think I need to replace the spherical bearings again. Already. They are squeaky and I've only put 14K miles on the new set.
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Today was going to be an easy day working on the truck. I knew what I had to do and it wasn't hard. I'd gathered the parts I needed - twice really, since the first time I tried to do this work, I found that I needed some additional bits that I thought I wasn't going to be replacing. And unlike some of my more advanced projects, I had all the tools for this one already. After 27K miles on the ADS coilovers that I installed earlier this year, it was time to replace the spherical bearings. Well - the…
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TL;DR - Replacing the spherical bearings, misalignment spacers, and lower shock bolts is done and things are working correctly as far as I can tell.
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TL;DR - it's been about a year and my spherical bearings are getting squeaky; time to replace them.
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TL;DR - Moving the resis to the top of the frame means there is no more rubbing and I have my turning radius back.
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April 2, 2019. I like to think that I live and learn. I'm also a creature of habit, and I wonder if I'm starting down the same road I've been down before. See, with the Tacoma, I thought long and hard about the first set of aftermarket suspension that I put on it. Originally I wanted to spend a couple hundred dollars. Luckily - and before I spent any money - I realized that I didn't want a block lift, I wanted a suspension lift. So then I did a bunch of research and came up with Toytec BOSS coilovers as…
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March 31, 2019. Ever since we picked up the 3rd Gen 4Runner back in September 2018, we knew that it needed some work to really be a viable family adventure vehicle. Some of that work is cosmetic, and some is mechanical - but all of it took a back burner to the various trips that we had planned and the winter weather that prevented too much work on any of the trucks. But now, things are starting to look up for the 4Runner. Spring is here - or at least threatening to be - and it's time to start getting…
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TL;DR - I recommend running front suspension with as little pre-load as possible. Having removed about a third of the pre-load from my ADS setup for this trip, the ride was much better and the suspension felt like it was able to work in situations where it was previously hitting full-droop.
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January 15, 2019. What can I say? It's the end of an era, sort of. Really, it's the end of a transition period for the Tacoma - a time when it was transitioning from daily driver and home renovation hauler to a more dedicated exploration vehicle. It was nearly three years ago that this transition started, one of my first modifications being a new Toytec BOSS lift in order to support the Relentless armor I was soon to install. Over the last three years, that @Toytec Lifts setup has done everything I could have asked of it. No, that's not right…
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Not only functional, but they look good too!
TL;DR - the ADS setup is working great. We didn't do much dirt travel this time, but what little we did do was no problem at all. More to come in the future.
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December 17, 2018. I'm generally pretty good at building things with my hands, but in relocating the rear shocks on my first gen Toyota Tacoma, I'd royally screwed up. If you haven't read about that, I'd recommend checking out the previous post in this series - Rear Shock Relocation - Fabrication and Failure, where after I'd permanently welded a bunch of stuff to my truck, I'd discovered that I couldn't go over bumps taller than about 2-inches. Not good for adventuring out on dirt roads. But, failure is a great learning tool, and I'd spent some time figuring out why…
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December 3-4, 2018. Rear shock relocation day was finally here! Zane @Speedytech and I were up bright and early so we could be at ADS right around their opening time of 8:00am to pick up the rear shocks they'd been holding for me for the last couple of months. As generally seems to be the case when it comes to truck parts stores, we were both like kids in a candy store as we ogled around the ADS facility. Definitely quite the setup they've got going on there! Tyler, who'd been helping me with my shocks, walked us around for…
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December 1-2, 2018. For years now I've run what I'd call "work shocks" in the rear of the truck. First a set of Gabriel Hi-Jackers that I put on to carry heavy loads, then a set of Monroe MaxAir MA820's when I installed the rear lift - these shocks were great for carrying heavy loads since I could add air pressure to push the rear of the truck higher. But as truck use has changed to more exploration (perhaps even the overused "overlanding), it's become clear that the ride provided by these shocks is not ideal. The rear end takes…
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April 23, 2018. A 2000 Toyota Tacoma only comes with so many safety features. Built two decades ago, there was no traction control; no forward, backward and side cameras; no blind spot radar; and definitely no Toyota Safety Sense™. These were the days of kids riding in pickup beds for fun, seat belt warning chimes that buzzed twice and shut the hell up since they realized that if you were going to wear the belt, you'd have put it on already, and ABS-as-an-option. These were the days before SMS; before we needed our cars to protect us from ourselves. Of…
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I've never been a car guy. I can tell you all about the details of construction and woodworking - how the various bits of a house work, how to precision tune a saw or plane. But when I looked down and saw two flaking, worn bushings that were connected to "some bar" and my lower control arms, I wondered, "What the heck is that, and how screwed am I?" As it turns out, that was my stabilizer bar, and I wasn't really all that screwed at all. But I'm getting ahead of myself. See, the first thing I did was consult…
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January 3, 2018 When I got my Alcan leaf pack, I knew it was top quality. I really liked how the guys at Alcan asked what I wanted from the pack, as far as "every day" weight in the back, as well as "loaded" weight for adventures. So far, I've been really happy with how it has held the weight in the bed, provided a better ride than my OEM leafs (which were perpetually riding on the overloads and bump stops), and have given the truck back it's aggressive stance, even when loaded. Once I got bigger tires however, I…
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