I just got back from my buddies shop, he was finishing my sliders up, took a few pics of his other Project
The owner of it was there also, and he said he might be in Ocotillo when a few of us out here are meeting there the weekend before Halloween. I'd like to see this truck flying over the dunes and whoops like it was built to.
On a side note, he said he's selling the stock parts that he no longer needs, like: Hood,Headlights bumper,fenders, basically everything up front that no longer exists on his truck now.

 

Damn, that's sick! I like it!

 

Oh yeah! BA-BIE! I want that!!! Drool, drool, drool

 

thats sweet except for he has the wrong tires for sand.. mudders will just dig you in

he should get something like a/ts or wrangler GSAs

 

That's a sweet rig! I love how 4runners look in that red!

 

that thing looks like a beast, what part of san diego is he in? Also whats he doing for rear suspension?

 

East county
Right now he's got Bilsteins-which I might get- once he switches to coilover rear end.
If he trashes the bils I'm going with OME.

 

Yeah, that thing is sweet! It's going to do awsome in the desert. How much wider are the arms? Wow, looked again and it has 4wd too!

 

Man that thing is wide! I'd like to see the finished product for sure.

Chris

 

So 18" is a lot more (4") than total chaos and ATS ever made isn't it? Is this the longest travel kit available then that anyone has heard of?

Chri

 

I don't think it is a kit. Looks totally custom to me. $$$$

 

It is a kit: http://www.esbfabrications.com/suspension.htm

Chris

 

im going to go with longtravel like this. It looks freakin sweet and it has soooo much travel. I will also retain the 4wd with the tundra axles. I would like everyone's input on this though.

 

Well I believe the Inland Trucks (ATS), Camburg, and total chaos kits all use the tundra axles if I'm not mistaken and provide anywhere from 12-14" of travel. This kit from ESB fabrications looks like it provides 18" of travel, and I'm not sure of the axles they use.

Chris

 

Basically what it comes down to is this, the more you lengthen each side(a-arm), the more vertical wheel travel you can achieve. You are just placing the wheel farther away from the pivot which will allow it more leverage. So to pull 18" of travel you need to go at least 5" wider per side. TC kits only go to the same width as a stock Tundra(3.5" wider per side). This is ideal for most of us who want to run tight trails, drive on the street a lot and also don't want fiberglass that looks that different from the factory fenders. The other benefit to this width is that you can plug and play with Tundra CV's which unlike Tacoma/4Runner tripod joints, are actually true CV's. Because they use 6 large ball-bearings to pivot instead of three smaller roller-bearings, they allow for higher safe operating angles. Check out our article on ORS Tundra CV's here http://trailslesstraveled.com/viewarticle.php?id=41 . On a trophy truck in the desert the width is great for the added stability it provides at 100mph but on the street it can be annoying when trying to fit into tight places(like between a car and a curb in the right turn lane). That truck is very nicely built, I am curious to see what he does to the rear to allow it to keep up with that awesome front setup. There is no way to really widen the back of a 4Runner without doing a lot of permanent sheet-metal cutting and fiberglass molding. Both ESB and Velocity Fab are both making 18" 4WD IFS LT kits FWIW. Most any desert fab shop will custom make you a kit for a few grand plus the cost of shocks. If you wish to keep 4WD at this width, you need to have custom lengthened CV axles (same goes for Total Chaos LT Tundra kit, it is 3.5" wider per side than a stock Tundra!)

Velocity Fabrication (San Luis Obispo, CA)
http://www.desertrides.com/features/...city/index.php

Esco. Sick Boys Fabrications (ESB Fab.) (Escondido, CA)
http://esbfabrications.com/

It is nice to see the crawling community so receptive and willing to embrace some of the benefits of the desert world! If anybody has questions about this kind of stuff feel free to ask or check out our website.

-Sean

http://www.trailslesstraveled.com

 

You've definitely made some good points. Not having to buy custom length CV's an help to save a lot of money, especially if one breaks, and they definitely will. I've decided that I'm going to work on my rear suspension, drivetrain lift, gas tank relocation, and then work on the front end with the great possibility of a solid axle. We'll see!

Chris

 

hey sean- do you have a shop in town? or is there a place we could hook up? seems you have some good knowledge and i would like to bounce some ideas off you on 4th gen 4runners, beer is on me!

 

They did not make the 4Runner suspension I posted at the beginning. It was made by Dok Tech in San Diego.
It was a one-off, totally custom,Baja was right $$$$
He considered offering it as a kit, but I don't think he will. It took alot of time to get right, and I don't think the demand is there. Plus he's got like 3 truggys he's building in his shop right now and a Suburban with a similar long travel setup. He's swamped.

 

We have offices of of Locust st. downtown. not far from Bruno's and many other bars...the office phone is 423-5060. Gimme a call!

-Sean

 

Santa Cruz!!