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

toyota Tacoma side View   |   toyota Tacoma side View Whether it's at the very beginning of our custom life, when we don't know any better, or a few years later when we are deep into a project and financial woes force us to cut a few corners, most of us have had those rounded-off corners come back to bite us in the ass. Rounded corners usually result in roadside repairs prompted by broken parts, but hopefully no bodily injury. Unfortunately, lots of us have unknowingly taken big chances with our lives and that of our loved ones because we've piloted unsafely customized trucks. Ignorance isn't a good excuse, and this story is intended to educate you enough to spot bad fab work when you see it. What you do with the knowledge we give you is entirely up to you, but hopefully you'll make the right decision and wait to save up the money needed to have someone do the job right. Our story begins with one of our friends, Eddy, who bought a beat-up Toyota Tacoma that had once been fitted with a hydraulic suspension. The hydros were long gone when Eddy made a cross-country trip to come work alongside the Sport Truck staff in Southern California. One look at his truck and we were amazed that he even made it across the state line. We had to do something or his truck was going to fall apart and become a potential danger to himself and others. Take a look at what the crew at Go-EZ had to work with and how they fixed the bad back half of the Tacoma's frame. toyota Tacoma homemade Bedliner   |   toyota Tacoma homemade Bedliner Part One: The Patient
1. The homemade bedliner that's peeling away from the rusty sheetmetal of the poorly constructed step-notch cover only hints at the offensive fabrication violations hidden beneath. Take a deep breath and hold on. This is gonna be a bumpy ride.



toyota Tacoma new Suspension   |   toyota Tacoma new Suspension What's under the truck?
Once the Go-EZ crew determined the extent of the damage to Eddy's Tacoma, a gang of new parts from AVS, Slam Specialties, and Mac's Spring was brought in to replace the old suspension components and mounting locations.





toyota Tacoma steel Wheels   |   toyota Tacoma steel Wheels The Final Word
Eddy likes the old school, so he had Tom from Kustoms Inc. flake the stock Toyota steel wheels on top of a gold powdercoat base before clearing them. Then, Eddy had Performance Plus Tires stuff the wheels into a set of BFGoodrich Silvertown Radials he got from Coker Tire. The tires measure 185/60R15 and are filled with nitrogen rather than air because nitrogen is a stable gas that won't allow moisture in the tires, keeping the pressure even. It's also been reported that nitrogen tends not to leak out as quickly as air, so that means you might experience better fuel economy. Don't take our word for it though, because we haven't tested this theory. You can find more information at www.performanceplustires.com.