Toyota Cab Mount Chop- Why You Need It And How To Do It

April 6, 2023

We have all been in the situation where we save up our hard earned money, add a suspension lift and bigger tires to our Toyota or Lexus, and the honeymoon is cut short when you hear the tires rubbing the first time you back out of the driveway. Manufacturers design the wheel wells of vehicles to fit stock size tires. Adding larger tires can lead to rubbing, and the bigger the tires, the more they will rub!

Trimming inner fender liners and sheet metal is nothing new, but Toyota Tacomas, Toyota 4Runners, Toyota FJ Cruisers, Lexus GX470s, and Lexus GX460s require a little extra work due to the cab mount location. It may seem intimidating, but modifying the cab mount is nothing to be afraid of. We feel is worth it when you can fit larger tires with the full range of suspension travel. TOTAL CHAOS offers cab mount plates that make this process straightforward. Yes, cutting and welding is required and a 110 volt welder will work just fine. It is important to follow the instructions on where to cut the body mount. If you elect to have a shop perform this installation instead of installing the cab chop plates at home, expect to pay for five hours labor. You can see the full installation instructions by clicking the link below.

TOTAL CHAOS BODY MOUNT CHOP PLATE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Are you more of a visual learner? Well thanks for reading this far! Michael Allen from TOTAL CHAOS walks you through the entire process in this step-by-step video on our YouTube channel:

What Else Can My Tires Rub?

After trimming the cab mount, there are still a few other items that will likely be making contact with your tire at full compression and/or full steering lock. These are the same items that we generally have to trim on all vehicles running larger tires. The pinch seam at the rear of the front fender shouldn’t be cut or it could split open. Instead, use a hammer to fold the seam over so it is flat with the rest of the fender. The plastic inner fender, and sometimes the bottom of the fender flare, will also need to be trimmed. While these plastic components often make a terrible noise when the tire contacts them, the good news is that little damage results to the fender or the tire. We often wait to trim these components until we can see where they have been rubbing and then just remove the offending material with a box cutter or sheet metal shears.

Why Do My Tires Rub?

There are a variety of factors at play when it comes to your tires rubbing – in addition to tire size, your wheel travel, wheel width, backspacing, and amount of caster all can contribute. When given the choice to trim or to limit up travel, we always recommend trimming first. You work hard for that suspension and should do everything you can so it can work equally hard for you. Wider tires and wheels are more prone to rub where a narrower combination can tuck into the fender. Your alignment is a factor as well. TOTAL CHAOS builds our upper control arms with additional caster to allow your vehicle to be re-aligned with factory specs after you have lifted it, but that caster means that the top of the tire is now closer to the back of the wheel well.