so i was looking around on downeys website and noticed this about my truck. 2003 toyota tacoma

http://www.downeyoff-road.com/Chassi...ents/index.htm



WARNING –– TACOMA LIFTING LIMITATIONS
Toyota sold you a Tacoma with Automatic Differential Disconnect (ADD) - shame on them! These vehicles are limited to approximately 2” of suspension lift. These vehicles do not have manual unlocking hubs, consequently the front axles and CV joints spin 100% of the time the vehicle is in motion. Beyond 2” of lift would put the CV joints on sufficient angle to buzz you out of the cab at highway speeds (not a problem in off road terrain where the speeds are very slow and/or the CV joints are constantly changing angle). Unfortunately, your only remedy is Downeys new manual hub conversion kit. None of this is an issue for Tacomas with manual locking hubs, they can be cranked-up to 3 of lift because they free wheel at highway speeds.



after reading this. i was kinda disapointed. i know auto lock hubs are crapy but never realized they were going to be a problem with a larger lift.
I have the 2" revtec spacers on right now and was hopeing to go bigger to achive more travle.

has anyone ever heard of this being a big problem and where can i get the manual hub convirsion kit? i looked all over downeys site and found nothing. next step is to send an e-mail

Andy

 

http://www.offroadsolutions.com/prod...conversion.htm

 

thanks. thats exactly what im looking for

 

Or...do it junk yard style: http://sonoransteel.com/junk_yard_manual_hubs.html

 

most guys here (im pretty sure) have around ~2.5" give or take a bit. ive got my fabtechs cranked to almost 3"..and no CV issues so far...well maybe a bit of squirt off the clamps, but no torn or ripped boots. no ribs are touching at static ride height either. and certainly not any vibration. id love to have manual hubs, but the cost of the downey or ORS conversion or even the junkyard swap is way too tax for me at the moment (manual hub'd tacos here are pretty much non existant). presswork is needed to retain my ABS...the bearings themselves are a couple hundred from what i read?!? many guys over at ttora are flogging their manual hub setup so you might want to keep an eye over there.

IFS and wheel travel dont belong in the same sentence (unless youre talking TC long travel) you may get more droop using certain suspension/locker setups..but that can bite you in the arse HARD...just ask bamachem...

id go with new suspension to get ~2.5" - 3"s of lift and call it a day. maybe add a BL to clear bigger meats...

just my webwheelin' CDN $0.02...

 

damn chuck, now you put yet another mod on my list!

anyone here in so cal done this?

bob

 

not yet bob....

not sure if i should do this or a solid axle swap... lol

 

besides me, i'm not sure. i know of a tacoma guy who did a warn manual hub swap, he seems happy with it.

 

i think charles & jim are the only 3rd gen runners (actively posting) that have. i know theres another..but cant remember his name. most others i see are on tacos over at ttora.

a guy out here has the downey kit. about 1500 after install i think he said. for that much..id rather put the $ into a swap...

 

chuck,

i know after talking with jeff the marmot (cool dude) at pismo 2 (or was it 3?), he said his ORW manual hubs was "not worth it" because of cost/benefit reasons.

so was it worth it? and significant benefits? and in total, what did it cost you?

bob

 

asi remember, parts were around 500, and labor the better part of a 1000. i'm happy with ithe mod. it's nice to unlock em for street driving and nicer to know if i toast one while wheelin it's not as big a deal as with add hubs.

 

chuck,

sounds like it was about the same price as the ORW kit. any imporvement in mileage and less wear on cvs?

bob

 

no noticible mileage change. my cvs have held up well, i know that. i've had them since january and no leaks or anythng. i don't know just how much better off they are due to being in a manual setup, but spinning all the time can't help em.

 

pondered this as well. but it cant actually be bad for them can it? i thought that since theres no power goin to em and theyre 'just along for the ride'..theyre OK. with boots in good condition of course. i mean ive found them to be a pretty stout setup, and have yet to break one...maybe im not wheeling it hard enough? i keep going back n forth on whether to do this swap. the pro's n cons pretty much evens out..so i just decided that i'll just learn how to swap cv's (quickly) and carry spares...and save my $$ for something else...