Going up!

[Jaydee914]

I just found a guy up in LA selling a set of 33" MT's with 300 miles on them. I talked him down a bit and I'm picking them up this weekend. A 1" body lift is on it's way as well, so I'm stoked! I can't wait to get back out on the trail with the new setup (but first, I need to find some time to get it all installed)!

[troyboy162]

woohoo! whatcha rollin with now?

[Jaydee914]

Maxxis Big Horn MT, 285/70-17, which are a solid 33". I was thinking of holding out for a set of 34's, but they would have needed a lot more work and a bigger body lift to fit, and might have required a regear. And the price couldn't be beat!

These will give me a little more traction and sidewall. The body lift will help for clearance, but I'm going to need to do some more cutting, including the body mounts. The cutting shouldn't be a problem - it's just getting a filler piece welded back in that I'm going to need to figure out.

[troyboy162]

oh hell yeah! Going full MT and cutting/welding...I knew this day would come lol. How much cutting and welding is needed? I'll could give you a hand so long as you understand my welding is pretty ugly most of the time haha.

[Seanz0rz]

YAY! Looking forward to seeing it in action!

[Jaydee914]

This is what needs to be cut and welded. http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1965

I might take you up on your offer... Wanna help with a body lift? Beers would be on me, of course!

[Jaydee914]

YAY! Looking forward to seeing it in action!

Me too!

[troyboy162]

Yeah that looks pretty easy. The body lift will be easy too. Will the tires hit that body mount on the street?

[Jaydee914]

Don't think they'll hit on the street, but I'll definitely need to get it done before I venture off road. And there's plenty of other trimming to be done as well. Thinking I'll get them mounted up, trim the fenders, cut the mount and make a template to fill the cut first, then get the welding and body lift done a bit later.

[Good Times]

It'll rub only on full lock with a lot of skinny pedal. Drive carefully and you'll be a-okay. Prob not trail worthy until you get a chance to take care of the clearance issue.

=) happy modding!

[Jaydee914]

Troy, do you have the ability to fab up the filler plates to weld in? I assume you do, since you made up all those custom brackets for your suspention. (So was that a dumb question???)

[troyboy162]

Sure can. I've got a bunch of steel plate here too in a few different thickness

[Jaydee914]

Good deal! Are you around on the 13th?

[troyboy162]

I should be but I won't know for sure until next Friday due to overtime. I can let you know.

[troyboy162]

just like this?
http://www.toyota120.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1965&highlight=body+mount+chop

[Jaydee914]

Yeah. I don't think we need to get too complicated with the cut. Maybe we do the body lift first then figure out how aggressive to go. I'm thinking a simple straight cut like on page 2 would be enough.

[troyboy162]

sounds good. do you have to mod your steering rag joint for the body lift? Anything else happen on the 4th gens? The problem is we'ed use a hi lift to lift the body. Its impossible to tell if you are just lifting the body or breaking something.

[Jaydee914]

The kit I picked up has a steering rack extension. There might also be something else, but everything is included. I'll check over the directions and do some more research.

[Jaydee914]

Well, the tires are on and the body lift and cutting is complete. Thanks a ton for the help Troy!
It turns out we didn't really need to do the body mount chop after all. The tires are well forward of the mount and there shouldn't be any contact.
As for the body lift, what was supposed to be a 4 hour job took at least double that. Moving the clamp on the steering rack proved to be the most difficult as it was fused in place and needed a torch to free it up. Other than that, it was pretty straightforward and we lucked out as both bumpers stretched to fit back on so no gaps are showing.
Unfortunately, the new altitude the truck reached messed with its yaw sensor so my skid control wouldn't let me go over 8 miles per hour on our test run. A quick web search and a paper clip cleared that right up though!
That new altitude also forced the temporary removal of my bike rack to get out of Troy's garage! Oh well, I wanted to relocate it up there anyway.
And of course, pictures soon...

[Seanz0rz]

Glad it's done! Looking forward to seeing those 33's chew up some rocks!

[troyboy162]

pics or it didnt happen. these are forum rules : P

Also nothing is more unsettling then a truck that wont drive over 8 mph after you have worked on it lol. That was crazy lol.

[Jaydee914]

Seriously! I'm glad it was such an easy fix.

[Kryptoroxx]

All this wasted white space should be filled with some pics ;) Glad the truck was lifted and fixed though.

[Jaydee914]

Before...
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/14/b4726f7fb1e0bc36646cfb26ca49177c.jpg

After!
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/14/40393c0be55989cd51aadfb7eaf523e2.jpg

[troyboy162]

she is lookin damn capable these days! I think that 1" gap on the sliders is perfect now. Those things will flex up with hits and eventually bend upward a bit.

[Jaydee914]

Definitely. The sliders used to contact the body while flexing in the past but they should function correctly now.
These pictures don't do the difference justice at all. Much taller looking now. With the much more aggressive tires, crawling and climbing should be much easier now.

[troyboy162]

Hey JD I just linked this post to a friend whos buddy just went 33". I actually thought you had 34" tires when you were at the house. You've got some tall 33" haha. Apparently his buddy is rubbing on one of the control arms, but I dont have any more info. Are you rubbing anything yet?

[Jaydee914]

Yeah, they do seem pretty tall.
No rubbing at all yet, although I haven't really had an opportunity to really flex it at all yet.

[troyboy162]

snow run tomorrow? I know your flat out over there, but I'll throw it out in case your plans changed

9am at the big bear dump
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2551761#post2551761

[Jaydee914]

Damn, sounds fun but I just got home a couple hours ago and I've got a bunch of stuff to take care of at the house before I take off again Sunday night. Have fun!

[boyfester]

So JD, with a body lift are you separating the body from the frame? Is the height from the ground to your sliders, for example, the same height? Just wondering why you went with a body lift instead of a suspension lift or spacers from Toytec or Daystar.

Marc

[Jaydee914]

I already had a suspension lift of about 3", but I needed more room in the wheel well for the 33" tires.
And yes, the body is separated from the frame and spacers are put in between, so my sliders and hitch, for example, didn't move. I didn't gain any clearance - just the ability to fit the bigger tires (and my sliders don't contact the body when they flex now).