2001 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner - Project Venture Toy

We tacked a set of lower link axle brackets to our axle housing such that the link bolt center was slightly below the axle centerline. This was a case where we had to use alternative brackets due to using the D60 axle instead of the All-Pro hybrid.

The Solid Axle D60 uses a bolt-on top steel plate on the pumpkin to accommodate any type of welded bracketry one might want to add. We tacked on two plates to mount the upper link for the suspension. All of the All-Pro links, except the lowers, use high quality FK rod ends.

Here you can see the axle as it sits under the front of the truck. With the link mounts tacked in place and the links installed, we tacked the All-Pro upper shock mounts on the frame rails. Steering rods were originally mocked up with some scrap tubing we had andusing some oddball rod ends we had lying around.

All-Pro provides a set of round threaded bungs for the lower shock mounts. We welded them to the backside of each knuckle, checking for brake caliper and brakeline clearance as the knuckle steered close to the shock. All-Pro also supplies a small bent bracket for each side to complete the double shear mount setup. Mounting the lower eyes here instead of on top of the axle allows All-Pro to use a decently long shock without the added trouble of cutting up into the inner fenders and having to relocate items in the engine compartment.

We located the All-Pro panhard mount on the frame to clear our draglink and to allow the panhard rod to clear the front axle cover. The kit design provides a panhard rod that is over 80 percent the length of the draglink to provide good steering tracking over the travel range and minimize bump steer. The included brackets are all cleanly designed and welded assemblies.

With all the suspension parts tacked in place, we cycled the axle to a fully stuffed position straight up and articulated it to check clearances and shock travel. Careful placement of all the moving parts allowed the axle to move through its range of motion without interference. With our 25- to 26-inch bottom-of-frame dimension, we estimate our setup to have about 4 inches of up-travel.

As we suspected, the top driver side portion of the D60 pumpkin wanted to occupy the same space as a portion of the oil pan when the axle was fully stuffed upward. As such, we chose to avoid the inevitable pan dent we'd suffer if we left the pan unmolested. We modified the oil pan for better clearance, sacrificing maybe a cup or two of capacity in the process.

The All-Pro steering kit includes frame plates and sleeves to mount the IFS steering box, a pitman arm, replacement firewall plate, and new steering shaft components. The parts are top notch and All-Pro uses Borgeson shafts and needle bearing u-joints which we've found to be of excellent quality.

The complete rack and pinion steering had been stripped off the truck. Next, the steering shaft components and the firewall pass-through plate were removed from the truck.