What have you broken/replaced on your overweight Tacoma?
- Thread starter dstefan
- Start date
kalieaire
Observer
I'm at 6060lbs.
About 20k (48k and change right now) w/ the Habitat on top. But I need to sell it because I'll be doing a slew of upgrades which will take at least a year.
- Update to Heavy Duty Deaver Pack (it's a custom request leafpack)
- Boxing the frame + tubular crossbrace
- New Shackle Hangers
- Considering a Dana 60 Currie rear axle upgrade w/ 4.56
- Long travel ??????????????????????????????
- Dual transfercase upgrade
- 35" tires
- Have to fix my front bumper mount because they were bent during a recovery
Things I've already done:
- Replaced Needle Bearing in Front Diff
- All-Pro Expedition pack (it's flat now)
- Icon Suspension
- Total Chaos Upper Arms
- Rear Diff Breather
- Running Timbren SES
- Marlin Crawler HD Lower Control Arm Brace (it's really to just support the alignment tabs so they don't keep getting bent)
- Refinished the headlights because they were getting foggy
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
A small truck is small, no denying that. More interior space and a larger bed come with an exterior dimension growth. If that works in your home parking situation and can fit on the trails you intend to run then there's not a lot of downside to a full size.
roving1
Well-known member
I think the spring hangers, bracing and boxed frame weigh more then my truck lol.
dstefan
Well-known member
Wow — that’s quite a tube support job!
Can you tell us how much build-out/gear you were packing inside that Habitat in the bed?
Also is that a Relentless Fab front bumper? Curious how difficult and how much side pull, if any, it took to bend the bumper mount. Did your bumper have any lateral tie-ins to the frame rails?
dstefan
Well-known member
Yeah I’m leaning F250 at this point. If I wasn’t going to add a camper shell, I’d keep my Tacoma forever. it’s been just great. I’ll be sad to sell it ?, though I still may keep it and try to be lightweight.
The F250 is frustrating at the moment, as the 2020s won’t be out till Dec, and they have a new HD 10 speed built from ground up that I’d like to hear some feedback on first.
kalieaire
Observer
Yea, Our boy Milo don't mess around.
In terms of gear in the bed, it's my:
- fridge + frozen food + frozen water
- spares + recovery gear
- xjack
- spare cv axle
- oil
- hardware
- straps
- snatch block
- shackles
- 7 gallons of water
- 20 lbs propane tank
- stove
- 5 cub packs full of stuff.
- 2x dry food + spices + sauces
- 1x coffee
- 1x stove/pots/cooking stuff
- 1x tools (zip ties, nuts and bolts, tape, socket set, velcro, etc)
- sleep gear
- 2x sleeping bags
- 2x sleeping pads
- ultralight bivy sack
- 2x wool blankets
- gas heater
- chainsaw + gas + ppe
- medical kit
As for the Pelfrey bumper, I was on top of a hill pulling a Subaru up. I hadn't put the braces on yet. so thin sheet metal holding the bumper bent. If you plan on ever needing to use a winch, make sure you get supports that bolt directly into the frame and don't use the crash bar mounts. On the todo list is to take the front bumper off, remove the plate, and weld in some 1/4" steel with a gusset and new studs.
shade
Well-known member
Good advice.
Lots of good thoughts on this thread.
My .02cents. I think it really comes down to how to loaded rig is driven. if you are at or over capacity, and drive it the same way as you might if it was unloaded, well.... crap breaks. My second gen taco could barely be called modded for the first hundred K I put on it with just a topper, better tires, and a high lift in the back. However, I use my tacoma extensively in the back country and front country. It is called upon to move fire wood, garden dirt, lumber etc etc all summer long. Winter has it pulling trailers with snomos on it, a dirt bike is mounted on the hitch racks for other times of the year.
We all know the stock suspension sucks. With that being said, I still make it a hundred thousand miles with the only mod being a bump to ten ply ties with it often loaded at capacity or beyond. Not hard to do when out collecting firewood. Shocks and springs were basically gone at that point. Brakes were on the way out. All of this of course was on my 2012 regular cab 4x4 five speed manual 2.7.
I guess my point is given the list of mods you have you should be more than fine. the truck is still a baby in terms of miles and you have replaced many of things that might fail. The only thing I would suggest if you do decide to keep the tacoma is a custom leaf pack. I had a local spring shop ( boise spring works) putt on 5100's on all four sides and build me a custom rear spring pack that was rated at the actual weight rating of the truck. Ended up with about two inches of lift total and the truck sits level with a thousand pounds in the back no problem. NO more dive on the rear end / squat when trailering.
I replaced the stock brakes at 130 K. Between the over loading and one emergency stop pulling a u haul trailer near provo utah they were pretty much gone on the front end at that point. I was onyl able to milk them that long given the manual transmission and down shifting.
Drive smart and be intentional about weight and the tacoma will surprise you in terms of how stout it is and how long it will last. Most of my over loaded miles have been offroad and in 4x4 in the mountains of utah, wyoming, and idaho.
best of luck.
My .02cents. I think it really comes down to how to loaded rig is driven. if you are at or over capacity, and drive it the same way as you might if it was unloaded, well.... crap breaks. My second gen taco could barely be called modded for the first hundred K I put on it with just a topper, better tires, and a high lift in the back. However, I use my tacoma extensively in the back country and front country. It is called upon to move fire wood, garden dirt, lumber etc etc all summer long. Winter has it pulling trailers with snomos on it, a dirt bike is mounted on the hitch racks for other times of the year.
We all know the stock suspension sucks. With that being said, I still make it a hundred thousand miles with the only mod being a bump to ten ply ties with it often loaded at capacity or beyond. Not hard to do when out collecting firewood. Shocks and springs were basically gone at that point. Brakes were on the way out. All of this of course was on my 2012 regular cab 4x4 five speed manual 2.7.
I guess my point is given the list of mods you have you should be more than fine. the truck is still a baby in terms of miles and you have replaced many of things that might fail. The only thing I would suggest if you do decide to keep the tacoma is a custom leaf pack. I had a local spring shop ( boise spring works) putt on 5100's on all four sides and build me a custom rear spring pack that was rated at the actual weight rating of the truck. Ended up with about two inches of lift total and the truck sits level with a thousand pounds in the back no problem. NO more dive on the rear end / squat when trailering.
I replaced the stock brakes at 130 K. Between the over loading and one emergency stop pulling a u haul trailer near provo utah they were pretty much gone on the front end at that point. I was onyl able to milk them that long given the manual transmission and down shifting.
Drive smart and be intentional about weight and the tacoma will surprise you in terms of how stout it is and how long it will last. Most of my over loaded miles have been offroad and in 4x4 in the mountains of utah, wyoming, and idaho.
best of luck.
shade
Well-known member
A recurring theme is preventative maintenance. If you know you're pushing the design limits, it should be expected that parts will wear out quicker.
When I read trip reports with clearly overloaded trucks blowing out ball joints or fragging CV & U-joints, I have to wonder how obvious the wear was before they started the trip. The same goes for reports about trashing a rear differential by "just backing out of a driveway." Could that happen? Sure, but it's likely the damage was done long before teeth started flying off the gears.
When I read trip reports with clearly overloaded trucks blowing out ball joints or fragging CV & U-joints, I have to wonder how obvious the wear was before they started the trip. The same goes for reports about trashing a rear differential by "just backing out of a driveway." Could that happen? Sure, but it's likely the damage was done long before teeth started flying off the gears.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
My experience @shade is that ball joints and u-joints usually give you warning before catastrophic failure so as long as you or your mechanic are giving them a once over during oil changes and chassis lubes the likelihood of failing on the trail is minimal.
I've blown CV axles on the 1991 and without actually tearing them apart to reboot it's not obvious and from what I can tell it's not necessarily predictable even if you're a conscious driver. If you use your truck in low range there is always going to be a chance you have the right angle, right droop, right amount of skinny pedal to break one.
Diffs I think are somewhat the same. A stock truck is very unlikely to stress them (with the exception of the front on an FZJ80 or UZJ100, which are pretty well understood to a weakness). If you lift, load, go with oversized tires you eat up design margin. This is particularly true of the 8" e-locker in the back of 2nd gens, which is IMO at the design's limit. That's why the so-called 8.25"/8.4" is inherently a better design and the 3rd gen axle is a legitimate improvement.
I've blown CV axles on the 1991 and without actually tearing them apart to reboot it's not obvious and from what I can tell it's not necessarily predictable even if you're a conscious driver. If you use your truck in low range there is always going to be a chance you have the right angle, right droop, right amount of skinny pedal to break one.
Diffs I think are somewhat the same. A stock truck is very unlikely to stress them (with the exception of the front on an FZJ80 or UZJ100, which are pretty well understood to a weakness). If you lift, load, go with oversized tires you eat up design margin. This is particularly true of the 8" e-locker in the back of 2nd gens, which is IMO at the design's limit. That's why the so-called 8.25"/8.4" is inherently a better design and the 3rd gen axle is a legitimate improvement.
shade
Well-known member
All true. Spinning oversized tyres and the shock loads that may create can cause all sorts of failures, especially on an overloaded truck.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
It doesn't even have to be anything that involved. I think just rolling around under your truck while you wait for the oil to drain - tugging on things, poking around, inspecting, wiping off road grime and dirt - goes a long way. But doing your own maintenance or having a regular mechanic (who, like a doctor, sees trends and changes) is becoming less common.
kalieaire
Observer
Perhaps, but I can't tell if my balljoints or spherical bearings have play unless they're unloaded.
I change all the transmission, differential, and transfercase oil at my 15-20k service interval. During that time it simply makes sense to remove the wheels and unbolt my upper control arms to test for play. Once that's unbolted, it's easy to check the LCA balljoint, the UCA spherical bearing, look for tears or cracks in the CV boots etc.
We go on trips that are several thousand miles. YMMV but it doesn't make sense for me to go on a 4000 mile trip to find a broken u-joint on the prop shaft after hitting the first trail at mile 700 when I could've taken care of it during my last scheduled maintenance.