I talked to a 2002 Taco owner last night at our local 4x4 club and he has actually twisted so much he dented his cab with his bed.

 

The 3rd Gen 4Runner frame is alot closer to the older Mini than the Tacoma. But in the end it's not really all "that" different.

You want to see a frame? Look at ANY FJ frame. Our FJ-62 frame is soooo much beefier than any of the Mini, Helux, anything else Toyota made it's crazy.

Compare an FJ frame to something.

 

The pics I posted on the previous page are of our 1996 std. cab 4X4 Tacoma, notice that the c-channel section of the frame starts just behind the cab. So on early (1995.5-1997?)std. cab trucks at least, the frames are not boxed. Can somebody check on other years. Also check on different cab lengths. The dbl cab and xtra cab use the same frame so I'm sure they are the same, but what about newer std. cab 4x4's etc? Let's clear up the confusion once and for all. As far as the spring rates being different, different Tacos have had different shocks and that could affect the stiffness when pushing down on the bed. Also Our 96 taco had 52" leafs while most have 57" I believe, so it would be nice to clarify once and for all what years had what spec as far as frame, leafs, shocks, etc.

 

My '99 reg. cab is boxed just past the rear spring hanger (not shackle) and i belive that toyota started using longer leafs in '97 or '98 im leaning twords '98 because of the styling change, but i may be wrong, someone else will clear this up for you

 

My 97 xcab 4x4 is boxed right until the spare tire carrier

 

Just fix it its easy.







Get those plates from trail gear.

 

dude this thread is like 7 years old...

 

Wow!! Good detective work. You should do a writeup on how you figured that out.

 

And your right. I should have started a new thread like everyone else.

 

That's not a fix. Just a bandaid.

 

Ya but I would still recomend it at a minimum. And If your not beatin on it, theres no need to box in the frame.

 

Except to prevent frame cracking, flexing, twisting, etc..
Boxed frames are stronger frames in EVERY way possible.

 

Yaaaa. Im sure that 3/16 piece of steel I added does nothing at all
I should grind that off of there right away.

Im runnin 33's and its a dd/work truck. If I was goin wheel it hard core id box in the fram, replace the springs, and the list wont even fit on this page. All im sayin is if you own a taco you should (AT LEAST) do this. Thats why I posted to an old thread instead of starting a new one.

 

Hate to say it, but all you did was strengthen that part of the frame, and hardface it.
Useful if you're running an SASed rig, or you want something to better mount your air-shocks, coilovers, etc..
But in your case, you didn't really do much for the entire structure.

 

More metel = more metal. It has been proven to prevent frame damage. PROVEN.

 

Just because you doubled the thickness, doesn't mean you doubled the STRENGTH OF THE ENTIRE FRAME.

In fact, theres a reason the boxed frames are only about 3/16ths of an inch thick.
And theres a reason why most competition buggies only use .120 wall tube.
And theres a reason why you can make a boxed frame that's 1/8th inch thick, and have it be 4x stronger than an open channel frame that's 1/4" thick.

Not only that, but now you've made that one portion of your frame less prone to flexing. Somewhere along the line, you're probably going to develop cracks along the edges of where you've welded, because the metal surrounding the fish plate you put on still wants to flex, bend, twist, etc. while the metal that you hardfaced won't..

Heres an idea. Go put one piece of 4" C channel, in your best vice, drill a hole in it, put an 8 ft cheater bar on one end, and move it to where it twists. Measure the amount of twist you can put in it.

Now, you get a same length, same thickness piece of Square Tube, drill a hole through both sides, put your cheater bar through, and tell me how much you can twist it. In fact, if you want, go a size down on the box tube. Post your results back here.

More metal, doesn't always mean stronger.

 

I would think that for most people it wouldn't be an issue.

 

Never said I was strengthining the entire fram. Just the spot thats known to bend or tweak. And ya for the last time, I know fully boxed frams are stronger. But I dont have one. Nobody is tryin to sell this as the best fix. But its a start. If it makes the fram even a tiny bit stronger, then it helps.



Go argue with trail gear.