Toyota Tacoma Fender Supports

[Smithers]

I have already cut out and strengthened the passenger (left) side front fender of my Tacoma and I'm in the process of doing the drivers (right) side. Why? Well to make more room under the hood. I had to do this to make room for a large intake on the left side and of course I have to make the right side match, plus the added room will allow me to shift the fuse assembly, the charcoal canister and the battery away from the engine a little bit.

I've also wanted to do this for a very long time. The Tacoma fenders are somewhat strong but if one structural portion of the whole fender wall or front support gets bent or dinged - the whole thing folds like a house of cards. So cutting all this weak stuff out and plating it with 1/8" steel and bracing it with tubing is what it really needs. After a little bit of that kind of work the left fender was SUPER strong and I haven't even braced it with tubing yet. I'm pretty excited about how strong the whole front end is becoming. I remember going over rough terrain and watching the front end jiggle around in front of my eyes... like the hood was bopping up and down and the fenders were flopping a little too much for my taste. Now it's going to be rock solid. Keep in mind that I've built onto the stock frame supports but I'm building in polyurathane supports for vibration/noise.

So check it out and I hope this gives some people some ideas! I've always wanted to do this and it's so easy I wish I did it a long time ago. All you have to do is have a 4" grinder or two, a stationary belt sander helps and a small MIG welder... that's basically it. Then you just need to go bum some steel from your buddies. I was able to collect steel from 3 friends to bring my whole thing together. :D Thanks to them.

Here is my left side pretty much done. I'm just going to paint it when everything is bolted in and I'm completely done with the supports that I want to put on the corners. This is TOTALLY strong enough but the small corner supports I want to put in are so easy and will double the rigidity of the whole front end. The Lexus V8 in this Tacoma will really be stressing this body and chassis so I'm just playing it safe with more supports.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_189.jpg

[Smithers]

This is basically what I've got on the left side. I wanted to post this picture because it also shows my main tools in the background. I have a grinder with a grinding wheel and a grinder with a cutoff disc on it. I recommend buying 15-20 cutoff discs because if you have thick steel they burn out fast. If you buy 5" cutting discs they last a LOT longer than the 4'5" discs... so take that into consideration. You just have to be SUPER careful using these tools. They cut very very straight lines on their own without any guides... they are amazingly fast too.

You will go crazy changing wheels on the grinders. I highly recommend you have a nice one and then go buy a cheap one like a craftsman or a Harbor Freight special. The higher end grinders are always more quite and that makes a difference when you are working with them for more than 5 minutes! MAKE SURE AND WEAR EAR PROTECTION the whole time you are working with this sort of stuff. The cheap ear foam plugs just pop in real fast and you can still hear most everything including the stereo so you get way used to it. Plus when you are grinding and welding bits of steel just want to go into your ears naturally so you will actually feel your ear foams blocking fragments that are trying to deflect into your ears... seriously ear protection is important.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_186.jpg

[Smithers]

With these pictures you should be able to replicate anything I do pretty fast. I spent a long time thinking about what I was doing when I first did it to the left side. Then when I got to the right side I was able to really speed things up and get crazy. It took me about 4 minutes to outline and chop out the whole fender with the cutoff wheel on the little grinder. Hold onto that thing tight when you get close to the corners!

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_190.jpg

I have a lot of time and experience using these grinders and I always wear thick long sleeved shirts and gloves. If you don't you'll be miserable. Just grab some crap denim clothes for your steel working outfit. And I recommend buying one of those skull caps from the welding supply store to keep grindings and sparks out of your hair... because you WILL feel that stuff going right to your head.

[Smithers]

And here we are all cut out. Removing everything and peeling it back is easy and takes about 2 minutes if your quick. Hold the wires away from where you are cutting with one hand and take your time cutting slowly to be safe. The cutting wheel cuts very well and is easy to control if you take your time. And wearing ear protection will allow you to focus and not be stressed out by the shrieking tool while you are doing it.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_191.jpg

[Smithers]

As in the picture you can see that I cut underneath the curved portion along the side. With this done you can pull out the sheet metal (wear thick gloves! the cheap leather work gloves work great for everything except welding cause they catch on fire : ).

Then once you pull it out grab some big channel lock pliers or use your hands and bend it outward to make each piece concave style. You have to cut the length of the fender inside with vertical slices because there is a slight curve to the whole thing and it makes it much easier.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_192.jpg

Then I use a big hammer with a flat side and the other side has a ball on it. This is just for metal working and they work great for stuff like this if you haven't used one before. You just tap the metal and it will do anything you want it to. The metal will fall into and up against what is left and the bottom edge will pop against the outer fender and the part that was cut will hold the bottom up when it reaches that point. You want to get the whole thing pushed up in there with the hammer and come back to tack weld it all. It makes it pretty rigid with this alone. I think I measured 8" from the firewall that I left in tact. The rest is collapsed all the way to the front.

[Smithers]

Then I cut out a little plate and welded it to cover up the hole that is left towards the rear. I just use a piece of cardboard for any shape I want to cut out. Then with a knife I get close with the shape and then use a pen to make any notes on it or small lines that I'll need to cut with the grinder.

Here you can see all the sections collapsed and tac welded up into the out fender. Pretty smooth so far eh?
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_193.jpg

[Smithers]

This is the optional part that ups the ante quite a bit. This is more advanced stuff here so read through before you decide if you want to consider cutting out the footwell area of the cab. As you see above mine has taken a beating and I had to hammer back the seams of the body because the tires were hitting them constantly. They also take a beating from rocks that are spun up and off from the tires. I remember hearing loud pops that were really annoying. They were a lot louder than normal becuase the material they are made from is so thin.

Plus you can't weld ANYTHING to the cab of the Toyota Tacoma. The material is just super thin and even if you were able to connect anything to it the material would just pull apart since it's too thin to support any kind of force.

So I just grab the ol cutting wheel and cut it out. Cutting the steel to cover up the hole is a little tricky and when you weld it - it takes forever cause you have to use the lowest setting and use tack welds around the whole thing or else you will burn through the body when too much heat is applied. It takes a long time.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_194.jpg

[Smithers]

If you do this you surely want to integrate the curved section here with your supports. This is the last strong section in this whole area and you want to preserve this rail and the pop welds that are holding it to the cab. This is a decent foundation (well all you have to work with) to help you strengthen this area. So grab a knife and cut back the bonding glue so you can see where the seam is. When you can see the seam you can then cut back the thin steel right up to it and remove the angular, jagged edges from your first cut. This is the surround you want to prep to weld your steel plate to so shine it up good. I like to use the grinding wheel to get the steel nice and shiny to prep for the best weld possible.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_195.jpg

[Smithers]

I was pressed for time as the day winded down so I didn't take a picture of the prep before I installed the plating. But here it is and that kind of welding takes forever. As you can see the curved edge is welded to it. Once you start welding that curved part you can use your hammer to bend the rest of the curved part and the outside cab wall closer to the steel. The steel plate is straight and bending the cab against it straightens things out a little bit more while you are welding it up tight.

Yeah this is 100 times stronger than the factory Tacoma cab and fender supports.
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_196.jpg

[Smithers]

So today I went just a tad backwards. Moving back to the left side I test mounted the front clip (grill) and the new headlights up to the front of the truck. Well I already knew the mounting points were only going to be the same along the top. I knew I would have to fudge the bottom mounts to make them work as well as the mounts for the new headlights. Instead of spending the time to modify the stock sheetmetal I just decided it would be wiser to just build it from scratch. I should have done this at the beginning but I was just intimidated by having to do this detail oriented work. But in the long run it needs to be done and it's not a good idea to put any time into something that you'll just want to redo later on.

I just cut the top headlight mounting area and it basically just come off. I have plating welded in behind the sheet metal that is just below the headlight so I cut it free to reuse it. I also cut another plate the same size so that I could make a 3D piece to work with instead of just a single plate of steel.

[Smithers]

Here is what I have now. The red arrows show where the new clip will mount to just fine. I'll be using tubing below for the bottom which will have tabs welded on with these square holes. Then the blue arrows simply are mounting points for the outer fender and I'll have tubing stretching out to that side with tabs for mounting those. Then the green arrow shows the original ear of sheet metal that goes into the bumper bracket I made that goes across the front. I'll just recreate this in heavy steel and the rear of it will be welded at a right angle to the steel plating that will be the front of the body. Kinda hard to picture it I know but it will all be done tomorrow. That piece with the green arrow is just resting on the boxed frame mount that I made.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_198.jpg

So the boxed plated piece will just weld to the bumper mount and tubing will go up from there to mount to the inner fender support that looks like a diamond in the upper left. And tubing will go out to the blue arrow fender mounts. Might as well do it for the long run. It will only set me back a day and it will look much better. I'm still retaining the stock sheet metal piece that goes across the whole hood line. It's the last thing that keeps the truck looking Toyota and not full race when you pop open the hood. :)

Now I feel like a real idiot. Before I did my whole engine swap I could have just cut all of this out in the first place! That would have made things incredibly easy for engine placement and measuring and fabbing all the adapters... jeesh! I feel dumb. BUT rebuilding the whole thing after all that time would have really been hard. Now I'm starting to wonder if I should make that whole top sheet metal piece detachable. Well when I put the tubing across the whole front end then it's going to be permanent so I'll just leave it there for now. I see myself making tabs for those mounts eventually... hmmmm. >:\

[Smithers]

Today while making my boxed front fender mounts I thought it would be fun to MIG weld one together and then TIG weld the other one. :D A lot of this build is instructional and I have a lot of people wanting to talk about the differences between the two methods. So this is kind of a neat way to demonstrate the outcome of two different welds on the exact same type of part.

I'm sure everyone reading this knows which one is the TIG welded part right?
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_199.jpg

[Smithers]

A little more about MIG and TIG welding if anyone is not a welder here: One is obviously showing much more consistent welds. The one on the upper left is MIG welded together. It's a pain in the butt to get the wire to puddle up flat all of the time because as soon as you hit the trigger the power is ON and you can't adjust the amount of current but you have to lay down the wire into puddles anyhow regardless.

With the TIG on the lower right you can see the pattern of welding is MUCH more consistent. This is due to much more power being at your fingertips and you can add the rod material when the temperature and the material you are welding together is ready to take it. But in contrast when you use the MIG it's GO GO GO as soon as you pull the trigger. With the TIG its a much slower process but it's more controlled, albeit, a little more complicated because you are using a piano pedal to control the rate of current, your primary hand holds the gun and the other is in charge of adding material with the rod.

If no one is going to be looking at your work, go ahead and MIG everything up and call it a day. :) But with some more patience and practice you can TIG things together for a stronger bond and a much better looking outcome. As you can see I went ahead and grinded then belt sanded most of the MIG welds as they are inconsistent on such old steel and get a little sloppy sometimes.

Here is actually how the parts will rest together on the front of the truck. I had my front "bumper" looking bar poweder coated krinkle black. The black bars main purpose is actually to mount the radiator but I made it look and could function like a bumper/hoop.

The Toyota Tacoma headlights basically mount just above these boxed supports on each side.
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_1uzswap_200.jpg

I was thinking of making tab on the front of those boxed pieces I made so that I could take the bumper piece off and on the front like it did on the stock body material. But then I just started thinking why? I'll just weld it together and get it over with. I'm not planning on taking it on and off and it doesn't need to come off for access to the radiator or anything. So I'll just weld it all together in the morning and then start working on the fender mounts. I'll have to grind back some of the powder coating but no big deal. Needs to be done.

[Smithers]

Alright! I'm back! I took a little time off to go to the SEMA Show out in Las Vegas this year. I had to go check out all the new stuff, say hi to all the hot models, talk to some mfg reps and take tons of pictures of other peoples fabrication work. It was a crazy time as usual.

Now back to work. I feel guilty as ever for the pause in the progress due to my absence. As you know I just chopped off the whole front end off so I can just put my efforts into building the front end right. All this work to make things nice and straight up front is key in regards to getting everything built to last.

I could have just put things off until tomorrow but I wanted to make sure and weld the boxed supports to the front cross member support. Then tomorrow morning I can move forward with the fender supports.

Before welding things together I had to break out the angle gauges and squares to get things straight and true. Just eying things won't due here and there is no way I'm going to weld things together without making damn sure the measurements are going to be the exact same on both sides.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_01.jpg

[Smithers]

I moved things around to make all things level and the angles right. The Empire angle finder is perfect for my purposes. Yeah there are more accurate tools out there... I saw them at the SEMA Show and I was drooling! But the old fashioned tools work great for things other then aerospace engineering like this. :)

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_02.jpg

And here we are with one of the strongest Tacoma front ends in existence. I could have used tubing but I don't want to start cutting and bending it in my garage. The mounting possibilities on these boxed pieces are a lot more abundant as well. This way won't have to weld tabs with gussets on them or have to cut the tubing off and start over when it's time to cage the front end/ engine.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_03.jpg

[Smithers]

Here we go starting to look like a Tacoma again. With the main front supports welded up I can can finally start making some more tabs to mount the grill and headlights. I'll be keeping the factory upper crossmember for about one more day as I use it for reference to mount the grill tabs. It's so flimsy I just can't see bothering to reinforce it.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_06.jpg

[Smithers]

Showing the factory upper support. This picture showing things coming together. It's a bit tricky making things line up so that things will look factory. The crossmember looks good but is really weak. I'll probably cut it off once I take some more measurements and install a piece of tubing. Then I'll think about welding it back in and supporting it along from side to side. I'm about 50/50 on keeping it at the moment.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_05.jpg

[Smithers]

Now that I got the grill supported and in place I could cut out the upper crossmember. It's really interesting how the corner markers on the Tacoma actually connect the front of the side fenders and align them with the headlight. I'm lucky to have a neighbor who has a matching Tacoma so I could borrow some of his parts while I mock mine up. I gotta order them this week.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_07.jpg

I have cut out and bent some 1" chromoly tubing to go across and before it got dark I made the side supports to mount it. I'll play it safe and wait until morning until I line things up and start welding the brackets that will hold it in. The whole front end is going to be removable so whenever I'll need to work on the engine or build my front suspension it will be much easier. I'll have gussets and plates on both ends of the bar that will have bolt holes to mount it on the sides. Then I can make some quick tabs for the front clip, radiator and finally the hood latch.

[Smithers]

Yes this is a boring picture but to have the headlight mounts made and things pulling together means a lot to me. Besides the plastic and the side fenders everything else on this Tacoma front end is made from scratch at this point. I can't believe how much better this newer front end looks. I've always been jealous of the newer style front and most importantly the better headlights!

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_08.jpg

[Smithers]

The beginning of building the removable upper support.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_09.jpg

More supports will be built to secure the corner vertically as well.

[Smithers]

Showing how those crazy angular plates on the ends hold up the headlights. It sure did take some time with some squares, measuring rules and levels to get it perfect.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_10.jpg

[Smithers]

And finally I can show how the radiator will be mounted. The tabs will be easier to make then I first imagined... depending if I want to make a carrier to cradle it in place or not. I would like to make one for the bottom but I can always make one later. Tab will work great for the time being. I'm just stoked to see the front coming together and looking like a Tacoma again.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_11.jpg

[Smithers]

Here we can see that I didn't want any chance of the lower radiator coming in contact with the ground which is a problem on the factory Tacoma setup. There is no way now. :D Of course that crossmember looks like a bumper but it is tucked up enough to go just behind the factory bumper. Eventually it will be used for support for a custom bumper or replaced. Most all of this work will be covered with the factory bumper. I'll be building the supports for that today as well as the mounts for the radiator. Then the front will be all done... I think!?

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_12.jpg

[Smithers]

Just incase someone thinking of doing something similar. Here is a closer look at how I arranged the radiators. It took me a tad longer to spot and measure the mounts for the AC radiator just because it's really hard to hold these things in place and I'm a little short on clamps to hold things temporarily. You can't have enough clamps! Then I ran out of welding wire while putting the last couple of tac welds on the supports, blah blah blah...

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_13.jpg

[Smithers]

Today I had to spend a good amount of time getting the bender to bend the tubing a little more and to do it correctly. And I had already welded on the inner supports so it was extra annoying but I got it. It doesn't feel like I'm making much process lately but the details I've been taking care of have to get done. I want to make sure these components fit together absolutely perfectly to make this truck user friendly in terms of servicing and taking care of it AND adding on more things in the future like a custom bumper, new offroad lights and air horns and stuff. I want stuff to be tight and organized up front.

To get the radiator in the front end you can either bring it up from the bottom or remove the bolts in the left side and swing the cross pieces open like a gate. It works pretty nice I must say.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_15.jpg

[Smithers]

I went through great pains to make sure that the factory Tacoma air conditioning condenser fits up in front of the radiator. I pulled it off too. I'll have to make custome aluminum lines to connect all of the AC components and this will come down the road. For now for the sake of time I'm just going to put the condenser up in the rafters until the spring time. Who needs AC in the winter? I'll survive until next year I'm sure. I'm just glad all the measuring and design work needed to make the room is over with!

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_14.jpg

[Smithers]

Another tough subject to address on the front of this custom Tacoma front end was the mounting points for the adjustable headlights. I just didn't have a good place to attach some tabs so I grabbed some rod and welded it across the gap. It worked out great and looks pretty sweet. I removed the factory plastic mounting contraption and just affixed a long bolt in the empty hole on the headlight assembly. I'll soon put a tab on the rod I welded in place and then weld some threaded bolt length to the tab, THEN I'll use a double ended coupler to join them. This way I'll be able to simply twist the coupler to adjust the mounting point... if all goes well. :D

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_16.jpg

[Smithers]

A picture showing some more detail on how things are arranged. Everything has plenty of room and is very symmetrical on both sides. It came out better than I thought it would. What really sucks is when you weld something it causes some shrinkage between the two pieces. From time to time this causes a tiny bit of warpage in other places so sometimes there is need for adjustment in another area in order to keep everything super straight. Why spend the time to be so perfect? You have to be anal on this to keep all of the lines straight where the headlights and grill lines come together.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_17.jpg

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_18.jpg

This stuff takes a super long time to get right. I'll finish up the tabs tomorrow and then all of these front end parts will be off to the powdercoater!

[Smithers]

Talk about custom this is kinda of ridiculous looking. Oh well it's what I'm rolling with for now as there is no way I'm buying the newer bumper to update and match the grill. This will surely force me to build an offroad style bumper made from tubing. I do want to make one eventually but I might have to make one sooner now that the front end will have to stay like this until then.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_19.jpg

[Smithers]

So does anything look different? Can't see much change in the front supports? Look again, a little closer.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_20.jpg

Yeah right I spent all day making tabs, supports and measuring things a million times to get it just right. I'm really happy how everything comes together just in the right places. Building the whole front from nothing really was a fun challenge and the name of the game is plan ahead. I always kept in mind that I would have to mount more and more stuff as I went along so I made attachment points on the main structural stuff and used right angles as much as I could. This helps keep great reference points to measure from to keep things straight.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_21.jpg

Orange Arrow: One of the mounting tabs for the front clip mounting points. The factory crosspiece uses rectangular holes and plastic clips for mounting but I prefer the round holes, no clips but zip ties. :D

Red Arrow: Inner headlight mounting tab.

Violet Arrow: Lower radiator support.

Blue Arrow: Outer fender support uses one cushioned bolt to mount each side.

Green Arrow: Main left fender support that uses a pair of larger bolts to mount each side.

What a bunch of work! Just glad to be done with all those details. Now to clean up some welds and cart it off to be powdercoated.

[Smithers]

Another side view of the Toyota Tacoma front bumper mounts, fender mounts, radiator supports and front grill mounts. You won't see me rear-end anyone ever in this truck that's for sure... with all the work that went into this stuff... just crazy. It makes me want to build a tough pre-runner bumper just to protect all this stuff!

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_22.jpg

[Smithers]

Alrighty I'm pretty much done with the front end support system for this Tacoma. It's come out quite nicely. Here is what it the Toyota looks like without the front end support assembly in place:

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_23.jpg

And here is what it looks like installed with only of the main bolts in place - the bolts that hold it down at the bottom. I'll be adding a little more material for strength and to make it adapt to the upper fenders at each end. The top ends will be held on with just two bolts on each side.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_25.jpg

[Smithers]

I did plan for the upper front part to be detachable from the lower part but it just didn't make sense to go through the trouble because it can come off in one complete piece. I can also use the tabs I had planned for that to mount lights or horns or whatever.

Here is another view so you can see the main bumper mounts that I threw on there. These aren't measured but when I put the bumper in place I just welded them where they needed to be. I'll also be completing the welds on the lower frame brackets later on when I drive the truck to my friends shop to use his welder on em. At least I didn't do this before because I have to leave open space to secure the nuts to the bolts that come down from above... and I had to weld on the bumper support as well. So boxing them in is best done when everything is mounted.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_27.jpg

[Smithers]

And here is a pic from behind the drivers side. Like I said I have a little more work to do on the upper fender mounts and I'll be adding a support on each side to finalize it. It will look sweet but I have a feeling I'll be building a new beefier upper cross piece when I put a rollcage in the truck and redo my front suspension. :D

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_28.jpg

[Smithers]

V8 Tacoma project progress has been slow this week. I have been slowed down a bit by a headcold... everyone in town seems to be getting sick. But back on track, I made the support shelf for the battery, the charcoal/evap canister and power junction box. I made a good effort to keep these components raised up a high as possible so as not to interfere with the tires path that it travels up into the fender. This has always been a tight area and if you even put an aftermarket battery cable terminal on the stock battery location it will likely hit the hood. With longer wheel travel the battery is often relocated to the back in offroad trucks unless you raise the body up off the frame.

I have lifted the body, yes, and with the larger tires and increased travel that I want something has to be done. And of course I have to do this because I removed everything up front. Here is what I've come up with so far that will have to hold me over until I put a cage in the whole truck.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_32.jpg

[Smithers]

And big surprise... I am laying down the Optima on it's side. The dimension on it's side is 2 inches lower than if the battery was right side up. I'll be insulating it with some rubber to keep it from wearing through the weaker plastic on the side. We will see how it holds up. This really lets me tuck the battery up in the fender area and it puts the Optima battery terminals closer to where they need to be anyways.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_30.jpg

The rail type system I made from a couple 2ft pieces of tubing is really stout and holds everything inline very nicely. Being mounted with 3 mounting points I'll be powder coating this section as well. Cutting the inner fenders out and tucking the edges of the body really makes it nice when it comes to mounting these components away from the engine.

[Smithers]

Up under the fender of this Lexus V8 Tacoma you can really see how nicely things push up into there. There is no way the tire will come up that far into the body. I took this while I was adjusting the height of the battery shelf. I'll be reinforcing the side of the inner fender even more with a plate of steel that I cut for this purpose. After this the mounting points will be much stronger and welded into place.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_31.jpg

Another look at the side fender mounting area:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_29.jpg

[Smithers]

Just before I took the front end support to the coaters I made sure to reinforce the mounting points just in case. For good piece of mind I put some 5/8 or whatever tubing pieces inside the holes and welded them top and bottom.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_38.jpg

Polished up and providing good piece of mind:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_39.jpg

I'll be working on welding up the boxed frame mounts and probably adding some extra material to the mounting holes as well. Probably just double plate it while I'm finishing it up.

[Smithers]

Now one more thing that's pretty important: the hood latch for the new 2004 Tacoma hood that I have going on. I measured my neighbors newer hood latch location and it's the same as my older Taco so I put on my old hood and started to scratch my head.

Here is a shot looking upward from the bottom with the latch on the hood receiver so I could see where it needed to be secured when shut.
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_40.jpg

If you look closely you can see the chalk marks I made to show just where the steel taps would need to be welded in place. The tabs need to be about 9/16 away from the tubing and I trimmed some excess steel off the latch a little bit to make it fit in place better. It's very hard to describe all the small tricks I used to make it fit exactly where it needed to go, sorry.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_41.jpg

[Smithers]

And wallah! Here are the tabs welded into place and super sturdy compared to the original factory mounting points. I made these tabs from the same thick plating I used for the foot area firewall plates. Just drill some holes in these and the Tacoma hood latch will bolt right up.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_43.jpg

[Smithers]

Cleaning up some last minute things before I took the whole Tacoma front end to Powdercoating USA to be processes in krinkle coat black.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_42.jpg

The battery tray all finished up and cleaned for coating.
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_44.jpg

[Smithers]

Hanging out at Powdercoating USA here in Paso Robles. They do an incredible job prepping the parts and applying a beautiful, consistent finish. I am lucky to have these guys in my backyard!

My piece waiting for sand blasting:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_45.jpg

Everyone needs a truck to play with. One of the projects under construction:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_46.jpg

And OF COURSE everything that can be powdercoated will be:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_47.jpg

The Powdercoating USA Paso Robles Facility. Powdercoating USA also known as Pacific Metal Finishing:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_48w.jpg

[Smithers]

Woohoo! How about this? And notice the new curved hood resting on top.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_36.jpg

And a look behind the grill showing everything mounting up just fine:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_35.jpg

[Smithers]

The nice even powdercoating makes my work look even better. ; )
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_34.jpg

[Smithers]

Not exactly the easiest way to convert the 1996 style Tacoma front end to a 2004 Toyota Tacoma grill. But I did it. :)

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_37.jpg

[Smithers]

Ahhh another morning... The Costco Dark chocolate mint coffee is going. Here is what I got done yesterday... both sides 1/4" steel plate and painted.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_49.jpg

[Smithers]

And now that it's time to bolt on the left and right supports to the firewall and front end I had to raid the bolts bin! Standard high grade bolts for that stuff so there is no possibility that they get used somewhere else on the truck. One thing that is annoying on this truck is that there are 10 different types of the same thread bolt all over. So you can't tell which style of bolt goes where. It's really a PITA cause they are just slightly different - not very distinguishable.

Anyhow nice shiny new bolts for the front:
http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_50.jpg

[Smithers]

Here is a look at how I strapped down the battery. Since the base is so strong and holds the battery well I just opted to throw a limiting strap over the top of it that I picked up from Poly Performance in San Luis Obispo.

I actually made sure to make the studs for the front support long enough so that I could bolt anything else to them when the time came to secure the wiring and other things. It's nice to see it all come together. The nuts and washers are kinda temporary for now. I have a bracket in mind that I want to make when I have time and after I'm driving this truck around.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_51.jpg

[Smithers]

This pic shows the left side all finished up and bolted together. Every mounting point on both sides has a rubber pad under each foot to help a bit with vibration and any movement.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_56.jpg

[Smithers]

Air filter housing mounted: check.
Battery mounted and secured down: check.
Hood receiver mounted to crossbar: check.
Wiring re-wrapped and mounted to frame: check.

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/1uz_tacoma/tacoma_frontend_fab_52.jpg

[Smithers]

And just a little info on the lights I used. I ordered 2004 lights and I got a whole set for the front and the back. I bought my new 2004 tail lights and corner lights for my truck for like $145 shipped free in 2 days. I looked on eBay and ordered the best priced ones I could find and I didn't order FROM eBay. I called the help number they had listed and offered to buy directly from them. Come to find out I was calling some call center and when I asked them WHO I was buying from the lady said http://www.discountbodyparts.com/ which is also part of http://www.usautoparts.net (http://www.usautoparts.net/).


They aren't super high quality like they are from Toyota but they are really nice and I know they will work for years. Heck, they came with lightbulbs installed. For my headlight housings I bought used Toyota ones from Ebay for cheap.