Ever left a theme park and still felt like you were feeling the ups and downs of the roller coaster you'd ridden earlier that day? Or perhaps after a long day at the beach, you've tucked yourself into bed and still felt the sensation of waves gently pushing into you. a doctor would tell you that such a phenomenon is a mild form of kinetosis, a condition that results when the vestibular system in the inner ear has been thrown out of whack.
After tearing off the stock suspension (including the sway bar, which will no longer be used), holes were drilled, and the new bumpstops were installed in front of the lower a-arm mounts. There was no confusion as to how big the drilled holes should be, because the drill bit was handily included with the Total Chaos kit. |  | 
In order to bolt on the upper a-arms, the airbag sensor (located underneath the battery) must be disconnected. The long bolt that secures the upper arms to the mount must be guided through from the engine compartment; this is made much easier with the help of an additional set of hands. |
Whatever ... we'll leave the medical terms to the experts. What we can tell you is that this kind of thing can also happen after a long day of blasting through the desert in a truck with an unforgiving suspension. it's a feeling we prefer to avoid. We'd rather drive a rig that sails over dips and whoops without making us feel like we're in a vibrating paint-can mixer. With that in mind, we decided to tear the cheapo spacer lift kit off our '03 Tacoma 2WD preRunner and install a Total Chaos long-arm front suspension system in its place. it seemed to be the best remedy for our lagging motion sickness and sense of balance after a day on the dirt. Oh, and the Chaos kit also just happened to do a much better job at keeping our tires on the ground rather than constantly bouncing up into the wheelwells, which improved the drive control greatly and allowed the Taco' to reach significantly higher speeds in the bumps.
The steering rack must be unbolted, loosened, and moved back in order for the primary lower a-arm bolt to be fitted through the mounting holes and the lower arm's bushings. Once the a-arm is bolted on, the rack can be secured back in place. | 
Once the a-arms have been connected to the truck, the stock spindles (now outfitted with a couple of Total Chaos parts) can be mounted to the lower a-arms. | 
Here is the lower a-arm with the bolt being fished through the mounts. The arm tubes are boxed and a heavy shield protects the underside. These arms are longer than the stock ones, and as such, contribute to an increased width of the entire front end once the kit is installed. |
Total Chaos kits have been race tested for years, and instead of utilizing a bunch of parts that extend components of the existing suspension system, it provided us with incredibly burly replacements for the primary pieces of the truck's front end, such as upper and lower a-arms and new coilovers. We paired Chaos components with a pair of King external reservoir coilovers and ended up with a surefire cure for the Tacoma's lousy handling on rough dirt roads.
With our front suspension ailments remedied, we'll turn to improving the rear setup in the near future (involving a couple of holes in the truck bed, a welded cage, and more King shocks). in the meantime, we wanted to show you what's involved in upgrading the Tacoma's front suspension in order to make it worthy of some high-speed fun. it should be noted that the Chaos kit is not a completely bolt-on operation - there is some grinding and welding involved, so it's recommended that you have a professional head up the install, or at least have some pretty solid experience with this kind of work. also, stock fenders won't allow enough room for the larger components and increased wheel travel, so fiberglass fenders with large wheelwells are a must. installation of this kit involves careful at-tention to detail and many steps - more than we have room to show you here, but the following photos should give you a pretty good idea of the parts and wrenching involved, as demonstrated by the expert install team over at Off Road Warehouse in Escondido, California.
The coilover shocks are secured to the stock upper mounts and then to the front of the lower a-arms. We used King 2.5-inch-diameter coilovers with 500-pound springs. in this photo, the external shock reservoir is still protected by the foam packing wrap for protection until it is mounted. | 
Once the coilovers have been installed, the upper a-arm can be pulled down, and the brake components reattached. Braidedsteel brake lines are included with the Total Chaos kit. | 
The mounts for the remote shock reservoirs were welded toward the front bumper, and the reservoirs were attached with supplied hose clamps. |
The front end of the Tacoma, with the Total Chaos long-arm kit installed, is noticeably wider and helps the tires reach the edges of the fiberglass fenders. The longarm kit, paired with the King coilovers, will help the Nitto tires stay on the ground during high-speed passes through the desert and help the driver stay in control.
After the reservoir mounts were welded on, the mounts that attach to the top of the new limiting strap were welded, just to the rear of the shock mounts. The bottom of the limiting strap was then attached the rear mount of the lower a-arm (the front mount of the lower a-arm has already been utilized for attachment to the bottom of the coilover shock). | 
At this point, the components of the Total Chaos long-arm kit have been installed. before bolting the front end skidplate back onto the truck, the brake lines were bled, the coilover shock heights were adjusted (by twisting the coil springs along the threaded top of the shocks), and a wheel alignment was completed. after some use, the shock height and alignment will most likely have to be readjusted. | 
After the Total Chaos kit was installed, Nitto Dune Grapplers (size 305/60 R18) mounted on 18-inch mKW m48 wheels were bolted onto the truck. Wheel offset can be an issue with Tacomas, and at least a 4.5-inch backspacing is preferred. |