What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

Good Saturday to Everyone!
Today, I had the pleasure of meeting 'Crom' and was most fortunate to receive his help in performing the automatic transmission fluid flush and replace.

This procedure removes all 12 quarts of old fluid with brand new fluid, rather than just removing 3-4 in the pan and diluting in 3-4 new quarts.

The process is all gravity, no 'power-flush'. I was warned about the dealership power flush as it may stir up particles and cause a clog or other issue.

Crom has detailed the 'gentle-flush' process here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-43#post-11372529

Crom lives about 40 miles from me, so it was necessary to let my Tacoma cool down before doing the work. That was perfect as it was early (for me on a weekend) and we took his car to have breakfast while my Tacoma cooled.

The process (see link) replaces the darker, old oil, quart for quart (liter for liter for out Canadian friends) with new, clearer ATF. Crom recommended Valvoline Max Life ATF, under $18 per gallon at WalMart. Crom (Nick) assured me he did meticulous research on the product and it exceeds Toyota brand ATF ratings.

It took about 2 hours to do the change and about a half hour to test the electronic readout of the temperature sender and top off the fluid. I will let Crom explain better if anyone needs it. Crom is a highly detailed tech guy and that was very reassuring. If you have been following his build posts here on Tacoma World then you know his attention to detail is very high!

I did a test drive around the block, including reverse and all seemed good. The drive home already seemed smoother in the shifting than before and I know there is new, clean synthetic fluid in there! My 2010 Tacoma, 6 years and 9 months old, has 88,600 miles on the odometer. I am happy to have this done now, rather than wait to 100,000 miles.

Thanks, Nick/ Crom, I appreciate your kindly performed service today and it was nice to meet you. It was fun talking about the desert, Baja travel, and our shared admiration for Paul (HB Murphy) on the trail.

 

It was great to meet you finally after 7 years on the forum. Glad I could spare a little time and help out. Enjoyed our conversations. In addition to receiving your magnificent book titled "Baja California, land of missions", which everyone should have a copy of, I now have a little genuine Baja California in my driveway that rubbed off while working under your truck. It is precious and awesome to me! lol. Thanks!!

 

So over the last week I have installed my OME 887 on my Billie 5100 set at 0. Got my LR UCA in and had the typical weld rusted LCA bolts and sleeves. Had to cut 3 of them out and was able to get one out and clean. Decided to get OEM bushings and what hardware I needed. Work is crazy now so I thought I'd just get the dealer to push in the bushings. Quoted 150 tax in, though ok with me. Got a call from them saying they couldn't do it but referred me to a shop that I have bought some stuff from before. Called them and was told 100$ installed, even better. So had a friend drop them off and called that day to see if they were done. They were, so had someone pick them up. No they want 220. I talked to the service writer and said no, I was quoted 100. "Well it took longer that we thought". Didn't get a call they just went ahead with it. So ended up paying 150 + tax. Got them home and today go to put them in. One is bent and will not go in the frame mount. So sitting in my chair in the garage looking at the arms now that have damage from when they pushed the bushings out. One bushing moves, give it a hit with my hand and it goes flying out and onto the floor. Get the other LCA and same thing. So now both of my LCA are damaged and in need of replacing. The shop that ruined them isn't open till monday at 8 so now I have to try to get them to buy me new LCA witch I don't think will go over easy with them. I did however get my new axles in both sides so that was good.

 

I did that by eating less spicy food!!!



Oh wait....you said rubs...

 

kicked off my audio project with sound deadening...

audio thread

 

Got the center console switch all connected tested and buttoned up for my new-to-me KC's! The blank switch on the right is next - perhaps some under hood, bed and under side LED's.

 

KC's finished.

 

Put on my toolbox. I found some 5/8" lug bolts that slid perfectly into the rear track in the bed. Drilled some holes in the box, put on some rubber washers and it bolted right on. No holes drilled in the truck. I used some hook bolts to anchor the front of the box to the plastic trim on top of the sides to keep it from bouncing for now, but as soon as my side rails come in I'm going to make a solution to anchor it to those.




Installed an Ultragauge MX 1.3. I mounted it above the rear view, been getting about 23 MPG around town.




Also started a prototype mount for an aux fuse box install I'm planning. Used some angle iron from Lowes mounted to the side and cut some thick plexiglass to fit. Planning to keep in in for a while to see how it holds up to the heat. If it works out I'm gonna break out the heat gun and bend it so that the main part is level when I start mounting things. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out so far though.




One more thing I didn't take pics for, changed the manual trans and rear diff fluid today. I used Redline MT90 in the trans and Mobil 1 synthetic in the diff. Was very pleased with the simplicity of the two jobs, and my transmission shifts so smoothly now! The diff fluid that came out was disgusting as well, dark black with a gray metallic sheen. Previous owner obviously didn't know about changing that one.

 

Picked up this ARE Z series locally on Craigslist today. 8 months old, color matched and with Yakima rack system.

question for the experts: right now, temporarily the cap just sits on the plastic trim without any weatherstripping. What did you use to water seal the cap to the bed? Especially in the front of the bed? (since the gap is bigger in the front)

 

Saw the pillar Ram Mount post last week and thought this is one of the best and most practical mods I have seen on TW. I immediately order everything I would need on Amazon and received them all on Thursday. Could not sleep last night cause I was so excited to do these mod this morning and just got done with everything. I always look for improvements (not much more could have been done with this one) but noticed that no one was putting back the bolt cover on the handle lower mount bolt. To me it just looked a bit incomplete, so I merely drilled a 5/8" hole in the center ( needs to be drilled in a bit of an angle though) and I think it makes the finished product look a lot cleaner. The other issue I knew would arise is that whatever devise I put there (mainly an I-phone) it would eventually need charging, so I ordered the McTuning power socket with voltmeter. This way I can eliminate having a cord run across the steering column to the center dash for charging. Here is the link to the mode I got the idea from.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...gps-phone-holder.372250/page-10#post-12344487

 

don't be mean

 

I have the same canopy. Installer ran a big ol bead of silicon across the front. Side rails didn't need any. No leaks. The more I think about it, I wonder if instead of silicon, you use a garage door seal strip.

 

LCA maintenance sucks. Even more so for crappy work. Id consider an aftermarket replacement arm by Moog or Dorman. Then bill the shop for the damage and arm cost. Etc. Good luck!

 

Didn't think about silicon right off the bat. Thanks for your input.

Anything you don't like about the cap?

 

Double Bulb Super Cap Tape

 

Cap has been great. No issues. However, I, like many before me, regret not getting the win-doors. But certainly not a deal breaker.

 

Just checked and that is the ticket for me. Thanks Nick

good to hear. I thought about sliding windows and windoors over tilt outs but at the end it was the sleek lines of the z series that did it for me

 

*Be warned, I'm about to unload too many photos*

Well... here we go, before and afters...
Gotta say, I'm pretty happy with it

Don't mind the missing bolts in the rings, still have to helicoil a few

#dirty5s

 

Made a fire extinguisher mount.

 

Ya, better looking than most out there IMO