I bought a Taco'...

[Christ]

Was considering a removable aero-cap type deal for starters, since I can work on that while I'm driving it around.

As far as the Tru-Trac LSD, if you can find me one for under $150, I'll buy it. Then I"ll still have to swap disk brakes onto the rear, which will still cost me more money. I want discs b/c they're simple. I hate drum brakes.

The Exploder/Mountaineer rear end is ~1" larger tube diameter, same width between the leafs, same pin diameter for the centering pins, etc. It's about 1/2" narrower wheel track though, which works nicely for wheel skirts on a lowered truck. No need for the "bubble" in the skirt, I can just weld in some metal to make it match the OEM sheet metal lines.

From what I read, the 2RZ is rated for about 145 HP @ 5kRPM (something like that). I didn't get a peak torque figure or a dyno sheet for a stock one yet, but since I was doing 35 in 5th, and still able to accelerate without too much vibration, I'm sure some longer gears will do me great!

So a tach cluster will cost me about $20, but I'll take the old one back and get $20 yard credit for it, so that's a free swap.

The axle, I don't think I'll be able to take the old one back, other than for a core, which isn't enough to worry about. I'll probably either sell it or use it for something else.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Christ

For an EV hybrid, I thought about using a 2-piece driveshaft, with a dual-shaft electric motor between the two shafts. When there is no current, it will only induce as much drag as the weight and frictional losses from the bearings (negligible), but when I need extra power, or when I want to run EV only, I can throttle the E-Motor up and use it. (I'll use one that at full speed will only take me about 25 MPH, hopefully.)

Just make sure that you can't exceed the maximum RPM of the electric motor at the maximum speed of the truck. A double-shafted DC motor should do fine. If you wanted more traction for snow, you could theoretically put in the diff/axles from the front of a 4WD and drive them separately with the EM.

One thing about rear discs--they tend to drag a little more than drums. Probably won't notice it on a gasser, but it has been brought up often on the EVDL.

[Christ]

There's something I didn't think about... if there is no power to the electric motor, does it matter how fast it spins?

Could I put a relay switch on the VSS so that when the driveshaft speed gets too fast, it cuts all power to the motor? Would that work, even though the driveshaft will definitely go faster than 1320 RPM...

I dunno where I can find a 10 HP electric that has dual shaft and revs to like 3-4k or more?

I know that rear discs drag a bit more, but there are fixes for that, like return springs, etc, which allow them to open up just further than they normally would, without really affecting pedal travel.

Thanks for the tips and all so far guys! Keep it coming!

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Christ

There's something I didn't think about... if there is no power to the electric motor, does it matter how fast it spins?

Could I put a relay switch on the VSS so that when the driveshaft speed gets too fast, it cuts all power to the motor? Would that work, even though the driveshaft will definitely go faster than 1320 RPM...

I dunno where I can find a 10 HP electric that has dual shaft and revs to like 3-4k or more?

I know that rear discs drag a bit more, but there are fixes for that, like return springs, etc, which allow them to open up just further than they normally would, without really affecting pedal travel.

Thanks for the tips and all so far guys! Keep it coming!

The RPM limitation I'm talking about is where the motor comes apart because it's not balanced to higher RPMs. For an Advanced DC motor I think this starts fairly north of 5,000 RPM. (You can also band the comm to increase this.)

I imagine that most forklift motors would do okay in this space. MetroMPG, do you remember what Jim said your motor would take, RPM-wise? I think all of the Advanced DC motors are also at least 5K. You could probably take a few minutes with one of the online RPM calculators to figure out what the maximum driveshaft RPM is, given the gear ratios and engine max RPM.

If you find an article on how to DIY return springs, I'd be interested, as the Clunker has rear discs.

[Christ]

Before you go trying to add springs to the calipers, you should make sure that you've greased the slide pins, lubricated the piston, and checked to make sure that there are no fluid leaks or other problems with your calipers. That's preliminary, because I can't advise you to make your calipers do something they don't normally do without making sure that they're safely operating on their own.

There is also a problem with adding springs to the pads to push them back. Once they begin wearing, the spring will keep pushing them back just as far, so the actual brake surface will be further away from the rotor as they wear more, and eventually, it will effect your brake pedal feel. I'm not sure how to stop them from pressing back out too far.

[Christ]

My idea is something like this:
http://www.akebonobrakes.com/oem/bra...on_springs.gif

Except making sure that the spring at full length is ONLY wide enough to move the pads about 2mm from the discs. I believe that 2mm is enough to keep the pads outside the boundary layer of any air that might get trapped on the rotor as it spins.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by Christ

There's something I didn't think about... if there is no power to the electric motor, does it matter how fast it spins?

Could I put a relay switch on the VSS so that when the driveshaft speed gets too fast, it cuts all power to the motor? Would that work, even though the driveshaft will definitely go faster than 1320 RPM...

I dunno where I can find a 10 HP electric that has dual shaft and revs to like 3-4k or more?

You should be able to spin over the motor pretty fast, if it isn't making power, since they grenade at ~6-7k rpm under power, and w/ the gearing/wheel size your taco has the motor won't see 6k rpm until ~135mph.

In terms of a suitable motor, a warp 8" at 72V would probably do it. It would make ~20hp@30mph, up to ~40hp@60mph, and back down to ~20hp by 80mph. In terms of off the line performance, it wouldn't be very good because motors like to be around the middle of their rev range in terms of efficiency, so at 10mph the motor would maybe make 5hp at ~50% eff, w/ worse eff before that. If you just wanna cruise around at ~25-45mph w/ the motor, and use the engine for highway and acceleration, then a small inline EV motor would be great. If you want to use it to accelerate too, w/o being slower than the MB powered minivan you were thinking about, you'll need a bigger motor and probably pack, or a motor that's designed to make a lot more power at a much lower speed, about ~500-1000rpm or so, since you don't have a gear box the motor can take advantage of.

Come to think of it, a 8" or 9" motor in the same setup would probably take your minivan w/ the small merc diesel from super-slow, to reasonably slow. Provided of course the diesel could push your minivan well enough at 50mph to get decent mileage.

[Christ]

Well, I might have found a use for the Taco's axle, once it's swapped out: I might be able to put it under Cara for the Hybrid Assist system that I was thinking about to begin with.

Then again, I might just sell Cara at some point. I hate to say it, but if the wife won't drive her, and I've got something I'd rather be driving, that has the same level of utility as Cara does, she just might have to go.

That'll be something to be seen in the future, though.

I might also have a source for electric motors, possibly, even though I'll have to scavenge parts and build a frankenstein... I used to work on forklifts for a guy... we parted on not-so-great terms, but maybe if I talk to him, let him know what I plan on doing, I can get my hands on a few junker motors and give him back the bad parts, and build myself a motor from them. Maybe.

[Christ]

Need bucket seat opinions for The Taco.

Preference is given to Toyota buckets, car or truck, but will consider anything. Colors don't matter yet.

INCLUDE A PIC!

[taco]

good luck with seats. stock had a 40/60 and a bucket but oth are hard to find.

y do u need rear disks? the bpv works great the rear are hardly used for hard braking.
changed mine out at 225k and they were half worn.