Remember this truck? If you don't, we showcased it in August '05 in relatively mild trim but still boasting several key upgrades that made it a smoother, more capable off-road truck. The front suspension was graced with a pair of bolt-in Camburg coilovers that made the most of the front suspension as delivered. Camburg uniball upper control arms combined with the OEM lower arms for improved durability in the dirt. Stock-length CV shafts had no trouble bridging the distance between the front differential and the wheel hubs. A set of Nitto Mud Grapplers let us put the truck through its paces as we encountered sand, mud, and snow (yes, it does snow in SoCal if you're in the right places) during our photo shoot. The Grapplers grappled the ground even more aggressively, thanks to a TRD supercharger bolted to the already-impressive 3.4 V-6. It was a good truck, but there was still untapped potential hidden in the Taco'.
A long-travel front end was the best way to further tap into the Tacoma's talents. The OEM lower arms have disappeared and have been replaced with a pair of plated, boxed lower control arms. The Stage I upper control arms have been shelved in favor of a pair of longer Camburg 'arms. In long-travel trim, the Tacoma CV shafts no longer reach the front hubs, so a pair of Tundra 'shafts now spans the distance as the new front end cycles through 13 inches of wheel travel. The bigger travel numbers gave us the perfect excuse to get as far away from the pavement as possible and wring out the truck in the name of photography, product testing, and fun. Hey, someone's gotta do it.
The rest of the truck remains the same as before, which means it works impressively. It also means that there's still Tacoma talent yet to be tapped. Shortly after our Stage II photo shoot, the truck changed hands. By now, the new owner may have found a bit of grit hiding in the truck's nether regions, as we were able to find sand, mud, and snow once again. Sorry about that! Sort of...
Since the upper control arms are under much less stress than the lowers, urethane is a fine material to use for pivot bushings. A pair of grease zerk fittings means that there's no excuse not to lube the urethane if it gets loud and squeaky. Dry urethane has an ugly tendency to creak and groan. The upper clevis for a Beard limit strap is visible on the framerail to the left of the control arm. | 
The Stage I rear suspension wasn't changed, and it still works well. A stock-length Deaver leaf pack easily bolts in without modifying the spring hangers or the shackles. A pair of Bilstein 5150 piggyback-reservoir shocks does a great job of damping the rear end at low to medium speeds. If this truck's new owner wants to go even faster, he can create Stage III. We'd suggest a pair of 62-inch Deaver leaf packs, and a longer, larger-diameter set of shocks poking through the bed and bolted to a bedcage. Stage IV? That would be a full bumper-to-bumper rollcage. No off-road truck is truly ever finished. | 
No shortage of ground clearance here. |
A 4.56 ring-and-pinion calls the front differential housing home. Toyota tucked the diff nice and high in the chassis and hid it behind the lower control arms' front crossmember. | 
Using Tundra CV shafts lets long-travel 4x4 Tacoma owners purchase replacement 'shafts almost anywhere -- no need for one-off custom items. The CV shafts follow the control arms as they cycle through 13 inches of wheel travel. | 
For Stage II, Camburg undid the previous shock and bolted a 10-inch Sway-A-Way coilover in its place. An adapter plate configures the stock coil bucket for the shock's upper eye. For better bottoming resistance, the OEM rubber bumpstops were deleted in favor of SAW pneumatic items. |
Remote-reservoir shocks run cooler and can last much longer under harsh off-road conditions without fading. The downside to remote-reservoir shocks is that it's sometimes tricky to find a good home for the reservoir. This one is neatly tucked out of the way on the framerail. | 
From the aft end of the truck, we can see the machined stainless steel steering extensions; these simply splice in line between the stock inner and outer tie rod ends. Although rack-and-pinion steering makes for great handling and steering response, the average rack-and-pinion simply isn't as strong as an old-school steering box and pitman arm. The Tacoma doesn't have an average rack-and-pinion; it's as well engineered as the rest of the truck. While it's possible to break anything with enough off-road abuse, we've yet to see a Tacoma steering rack fail. | 
In place of urethane, Camburg uses uniballs on all of its lower control arm pivots. "We found that urethane bushings in lower control arms just don't hold up the way we want them to," remarks Camburg's Jerry Zaiden. "Urethane also flexes under load, so using uniball pivots makes the steering and suspension better controlled and more accurate." |
Here's the biggest news. The Camburg lower control arms are metallic works of art. The MIG welding is some of the best we've ever seen, and the boxed, internally gusseted arms are strong enough to outlast the truck, and outlasting a Toyota is no easy feat. |  | |