SeekingZero - Adventure Build

You could just shove some more grease in the boot then retighten your hose clamp and call it a day.

FYI it is possible to over-tighten the hose clamp and cut into the boot.

 

Aghh now I'm all debating the diff drop... There are so many opinions on it.... Lol

 

Well it just happened so I'm thinking I didn't lose that much and I wasn't driving in the wet, but your guess is as good as mine. There is no noise up there so we'll see. I definitely had to use some restraint when tightening the clamp. Hopefully I got it tight enough without doing damage.

Today I get to try and replace my sway bar bushings and end links. I tried the bolts last night and they are basically fused together with rust. Not looking forward to this.

 

I finally got my sway bar bushings replaced...what a PITA! Those bolts took me over an hour to get out, and there are only 4 of them.

I moved onto the end links since those were easy because I was just going to cut them off. I get the passenger side end link cut and grab the new link out of the box from O'Reilly's and what do you know, the ordered the wrong part!


http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/MPC1/K80596/02973.oap

This is the part they want you to buy for the 1st Gen 4WD models. FFS O'Reilly's, get your shit together. Called em up, got the right ones ordered...they'll arrive Tuesday.

So it looks like I'm driving tomorrow and Tuesday on one end link. Onto other things, I also was able to get the quarter window latches fixed after having the little aluminum pieces in my truck for half a year. Great video here.

 

Some shots of the window latch replacement.




Sway bar bushings in, links...not so much.



And finally put the OME exhaust bracket on too.

 

Looks good, I need to get those aluminum latches for the quarter window.. Plastic ones suck!

 

My sway bar end links and BAMF BPV relocation bracket came in today. No time wasted getting them on the truck.

 

Those aluminum window latches are cool! Has your CV given you any trouble since you put the hose clamp on?

 

I picked those up on Amazon almost a year ago. Been in my truck all this time. I'm glad I got the chance to get them on.

I need to check it again, but I just drove 4 hours last night and no issues. The driving over the weekend didn't cause it to leak either. Time will tell.

 

You would be surprised how much you wouldn't miss your sway bar if you removed it. Especially since you have aftermarket front coils.

Do you have video/audio of how your truck sounds while driving down the road. I'm really torn between a Magnaflow 14 or 18"

 

These were my words, glad he got a second, unbiased opinion.

I'm also glad you got this shit figured out, cause I thought we were going to have a mini disaster on our hands.

 

I thought about it, but since I do all my driving on the road still I decided to keep it on. It's not like I can't take it off later. But I did have to drive a couple days without end links and I felt how it drove without...or rather, didn't really notice a difference.

I don't have any videos of the 14", but its the same one that BoxRocket has and I linked his video below. I have heard that the 18" is quieter. The 14 is louder than stock and you will definitely notice it, there is a drone when driving down the highway, but I don't notice it anymore, especially when blasting heavy metal. I've heard of others swapping out there 14's for 18's because of the 18 is quieter?
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...rocket-2003-trd-doublecab-23.html#post4470746

Maybe later........

Haha! I feel I will always be on the verge of selling this truck for a new Tundra/Tacoma every time I have to cut or beat the living hell out of some rusted part of mine.

 

On the swaybar note, I took mine off and only notice it when I am on an on-ramp and going pretty quick or when I purposefully swerve back and forth a couple times.

It is more comfortable going over speedbumps and pot holes though. I used to jar the entire front end with it on and now it is more of a "Oh, I ran over a hole, oops." not the "Holy S#*@ did my LBJ shear off!?"

 

My friend and I were going to go mountain biking today...but since it was pretty wet and the trails were closed, we opted to test out the new suspension on the Tacoma!












...videos currently uploading!

 

Video 1:
http://youtu.be/C99bNku0IRQ

 

Awesome!! Looked like a great time!

 

Video 2:
http://youtu.be/Br2OGwWSz3s

 

How did the suspension handle??

 

The suspension handled really well, just a lot of creaking. I honestly think that running the suspension through the paces like that softened it up a bit as the ride back seemed smoother.

 

Sweet! Cant wait to bolt everything on my truck then do some trails to test it out!

Truck looks great also, like the simple rear bumper!