As seen in Toyota Trails!
Various articles written here have been published in TLCA's Toyota Trails magazine and on their website. After roaming around our site, click on the magazines to visit TLCA.
Suspension
The U-bolt Dilemna
By Tony K
To re-use leaf spring u-bolts or not? That is the question.
Seems like the most common answer is to never re-use but I want to know why. Seems to be a lot of opinion in this area but opinions are of little help, facts are what I am interested in.
Suspension Tech
By Tony K
The stock suspension is a bit on the weak side after 20 odd years (or more) that these rigs have been on the road. But fortunately for us there are a lot of options available. You could just replace the stock springs but I feel there are better options out there.
Welding a spring hanger
Day 1 of Rubicon 2010, I hear and feel an occasional clanking sound coming from up front. Now the first thing that comes to mind is a broken birf, and that would not be the first for me. As I press on to catch up to our trail leader, Don, I get out to asses the situation. What I see definitely stands out, my driver front spring hangar is about 6-10 inches below the frame rail. It was a clean break, right at the weld, or lack of weld I will say. These spring hangars are not welded on how I would have thought. Only a few short spots around the edge and thats it. Not even a center rivet helps attach it to the frame.
Spring Under, Spring Over
By Tony Konovaloff
There is no doubt that a spring over rig has a very cool stance when you look at it. You just may want that for your rig but do you need it. And you have to be honest with yourself and admit there is a drastic difference between wants and needs. Like I have said many times, how you wheel your rig should be the main factor in determining any changes you want to make to it.