Toyota Tacoma - Fixing the Rear Suspension - Dr. Bad Fab, M.D.

Part Two: Under The Knife
1. Before the old, crappy steel plate and step notch could be removed, the chassis had to be supported as much as possible to prevent it from twisting. To accomplish this, the new step notch was slid into the frame and welded in place while leaving as much of the old junk as possible. The new notch is an 8-incher, which offers much more axle clearance for running large-diameter wheels and tires.

2. Notice that the new step notch is contoured to fit all the way down inside the C-channel framerails. This way, the bottom of the notch can be welded completely to add more support to the chassis than if it was just welded along the top edge only, like the old notch.

3. The new notch is not only stronger than the old one, but Go-EZ went a step further and plated the open portions of the framerails just ahead of, and behind, the new step notch.

4. To replace the leaf springs, Go-EZ went with an AVS four-link suspension with triangulated upper bars. The triangulated bars will keep the rear end from shifting left or right. All of the bars run from the axle to the rear of the truck, which might not be the best design for drag racing or road racing, but for a mini-truck that needs to keep its gas tank in the stock location, this is an ideal arrangement. These bars use threaded inserts to make the bushing ends adjustable. The tubes are cut to length, and the inserts are MIG-welded to the tubes.

5. An angle finder was used to position the axlehousing so that the pinion isn't in a perfectly straight line with the driveline. The pinion angle needed to be set in the neighborhood of 1 degree up or down from the driveline angle to keep the U-joints from binding up and prematurely wearing out. After the pinion was set, the upper bar mounts were welded in place.

6. AVS's bag mounts are pretty slick. The gussets are laser-cut from mild steel, and the tubular upper mounts are a nice touch. The shocks are positioned where they will be most effective: in a near vertical stance as close to the outside of the rearend as possible.

7. Slam Specialties RE-8 'bags provide the suspension action at the four corners of the truck, and Asco 1/2-inch port valves control the airflow.

8. The frame was bombed in flat black paint to keep rust at bay. It was then time to slap the bed back on and move on to plumbing and wiring.