Damage while 4 wheeling

What all have you worn out? Just wondering lol

 

check my build thread. you will actually see what all ive worn out.

 

Hey you had em swapped quick and it was HOT. I was impressed!

 

I've replaced pretty much every every suspension component at least once, including multiple CVs and LCA bushings. I have busted two rear shocks on the trail before and of course had my share of blown tires. Considering how I've wheeled this thing it's amazing things haven't been 10 times worse.

I can think of two times something happened that just stopped me in my tracks. First was after I had the truck a year or so and the trucked died and black smoke came from under the hood. Well my battery had moved and snapped the ground wire... which led the the other engine ground wire burning up. An easy trail fix and I immediately created a much stronger custom battery tie down support.

The other time I was on a steep, twisted incline and the truck died. After fiddlefucking around for 30 minutes I realized my exhaust pipe had been bent up quite a bit (from a previous trip) and the O2 sensor was making contact with the metal above it when the truck was articulated a certain way, blowing a fuse. I just borrow a fuse from something else to get home. For a little while I put some material between the O2 and metal above it and carried spare fuses. Eventually I bent the pipe back down a bit and haven't had a problem since.

 

Nothing but one big shot to my passenger rocker panel.

Still rocking the same suspension that it rolled off the factory floor with... 165,000 miles later.

 

Iyts the rear axle not being square. Called dog tailing.

 

The rear looks off but his front passenger wheel/tire looks like it's about to snap off.

 

All the posts about scratches and body damage is not answering the original question. None of that is actual breakage or mechanical failure. I think the OP is asking what are the most likely things to break and require on-trail repairs to get moving again.

I haven't personally broken anything yet, but the most common things to break are:

1) CV's
2) driveshafts (usually from contact with rocks, not actual Ujoint failure)
3) lower ball joints
4) Tie rods

 

I flooded my front end. Needed a new alternator, new starter, new airbag sensors, and replaced flooded fuses. 100% my fault it happened though.

 

I would generally agree, especially with the first two. If you're not dumb on the trail, things normally don't just spontaneously fail. Something like a ball joint or tie rod end shouldn't just break unless you've completely failed to detect a "failing" part beforehand (pay attention to the vehicle) or you've accidentally hit a small boulder at 20mph or something. And in that case of negligence, nearly anything can happen to most any part.

Most things you can kinda tell when they're going bad. The only thing I've ever worried about in the back of my head when in the middle of crap-road and nowhere, 20 miles from the nearest sign of civilization, was a fuel pump going out because that is something that can just stop you dead in the water without warning... which is why I replaced mine at 200,000 miles "just in case."

I am not one of these paranoids who carry a shit-ton of parts with me wherever I go. Pay attention to the vehicle's needs and stay within reasonable limits... and as a last resort some duct tape, bailing wire, and ingenuity should get you back to home/shop

 

Only ever heard that called dog tracking. Seems dog tailing is something else entirely...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dog+tail

 

Doesn't change the fact that tie-rods and ball joints are common failures. Yes they typically fail because of neglect and can be avoided but the fact of the matter is many people don't stay on top of the maintenance of those items and they are on the list for failure prone items.

 

My comment was food for thought for the OP and not meant to change any of your "facts." But I'd still disagree that tie-rods and ball joints are common failures... for a 4x4 Tacoma. Of all the parts on a truck those are some of the most likely to fail, but it is definitely not a common occurrence for those to break on a trail.

 

"common" is relative. I don't mean to say it happens all the time, but other than driveshafts, and CV's, what else do you typically hear about as mechanical failures? So while it may not be "common" as in "often" but there aren't many other things that go wrong on a more frequent basis. That's part of what makes the trucks so cool. Pretty darn reliable if you stay on top of maintenance.

 

When you say matnience how in depth do you mean? And how often do you do it?
Sorry I'm sorta new to all this :/

 

100% agree.

DJ, for me it means knowing your vehicle and what the parts are, what those parts do, and how they wear. Consider the type of driving they have been through and how old they are. Use your senses... visually inspect stuff periodically, listen for strange noises, and learn the feel of things to tell if something is "different." There's no magic formula, it's a combination of common sense and experience. Like I mentioned, most things don't just spontaneously fail, there are indicators. Everyone's different, but I try to stay proactive and take care of things before they get serious. I can't afford to take chances for the types of wheeling I do (very remote, sometime alone) and I like the piece of mind.

If you want more info on maintenance, look up the 30k, 60k, 90k recommendations and other user-generated recommendations on the TW forum.

 

Got my 2nd gen stuck in the snow... got pissed bounced it off redline in 2nd gear for about 2 minutes, slid sideways into a tree, dented the bed and broke the tail light..

My 1st gen double cab hasn't really beed offroad too bad.. Probably more that I don't know as far as hitting things.. I rallied the piss out of it through mud and rocks, in attempts to soften the front leafs... ended up breaking a weld.. so the trucks can take quite a bit offroad.. I think the most damage will be weight capacity overload, and stupid little adjustments and maintenance items.

 

Thanks Chris, the only problem is my truck has a body lift, shot shocks and leaf spring, and a loud flow master exhaust making it kinda hard to hear/feel much, she has 163000 miles on her and the previous owner I know didn't take care of it, wish I had known this previous to purchase.. Got a good deal though and dad jumped on it for my graduation present.

The previous owner blew a alternator fuse, couldn't get the fuse box apart I guess so he tore the plastic off the fuse and wrapped regular wire around the two open blades! Talk about a fire hazard?!?

 

2 front diffs
1 rear diff (and bent the axle when it broke, its now leaking)
Gas tank gauge doesnt work, and tank is about half the size it used to be.

But I would say the truck is very durable, I was driving like a complete jackass when I broke the diffs.