What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

I did something similar (or even worse) earlier this year. Towed a crx on a car transport with a full bed of parts/tools up the Grapevine (Bakersfield to San Diego). Maxed out at 40 mph during the steepest grades. If I were to do it again I'd most likely rent a full size truck from UHaul to do the towing. Putting that much stress on a 200k+ motor/trans was probably not the smartest thing to do. I was more concerned about braking but the Tundra brakes did very well...glad I had upgraded before doing this.

A couple of months later I noticed a leak from my rear axle seal and got a slow leak from my radiator. Replaced both axle seals, radiator and did a full front and rear brake job. Not saying that the tow caused all of this, but I'm sure it helped accelerate the wear on some, if not all of these components.

Since you have Tundra brakes as well, these are the only differences I can think of between your truck and mine:

V6 4x4
285/75-16
BAMF Sliders
RAT Skid Plates

 

Damn man you're crazy! Unluckily for me I have the 4 cyl which has something like 2,000 pounds less towing capacity than the v6

 

A rebuilt battery from rockauto is something like $1,400. With the smog and dolly fee I have a decent Honda for less than $2,000.

Otherwise I can just flip it if I don't feel like keeping it haha

 

Great day here in Phoenix, nice overcast weather to work in. @c jackson came to help with engine mount bracing activities. Thanks for the tig welds! Making the separated mounts solid, bracing stock frame brackets.
In progress currently.
Hope you folks get something done on your rigs too!

 

I have a 4cyl too, but the manual makes mine fun and zippy haha. Still pulled 4k with it just fine, stopping and maintaining control is the big concern with towing. Go slow leave room to stop you'll be fine. Also make sure OD is off and don't use ECT or you'll be less likely to lock the TC in 3rd and it'll build more heat than necessary.

 

I wouldn’t tow it with my 4 cylinder. Your at max tow weight. I would have someone followe me behind. But that’s just me.

 

Started to work on my mount design for some bolt on sliders

 

I totally meant to reply to @synergy10 with that comment haha.

I'll try my luck with my truck. It's only 50 miles.

 

50 miles is a lot less than my 200+ tow...haha. Just take it easy and you'll be fine. Brake/anticipate a lot sooner as mentioned previously.

 

50mi? Hell I'd probably take my chances and drive it haha, but yeah 50mi isn't gonna be an issue towing. What tow dolly are you using? At 50mi you could just use your AAA to get it home haha.

 

Today I installed the Marlin Crawler short-throw shifter base and lever kit I've seen recommended on this forum. It all went well except when it came time to install the lock ring. The lock ring provided by Marlin Crawler did not fit their own shifter base. After trying to get it in for an hour I finally gave up and reused the original lock ring and it went in on the first try. Other than that hiccup, I'm very satisfied with the kit and my shifts have a positive feel to them that I really enjoy. It's not what I'd call "smooth" but it's a far better feel than stock. The lever is also a few inches longer, to accommodate trucks with body lifts, I assume. Manufacturer provided an excellent step-by-step guide on how to do the job. Kudos to them for that!

Original:


Upgraded:


While I had the lower dash apart, I went ahead and fixed one of the 12V aux. power outlets that hasn't worked for years. I tested for continuity and I wasn't getting any on the positive. I took the thing apart and put it back together and it worked. Not sure exactly what I did to fix it.

 

FIFY

 

I actually went with the negative 10 because it seemed to have a BUNCH of bodylean after the lift. The wider wheels helped that a ton.

 

How bad I wanna do this isn't even funny!

 

I've done this before without loctite. It didn't last but a few months tops. Maybe I'm thinking of something else but I used Yamaha gasket sealant not just put it there dry.

 

A buddy helped me install some yellow ditch lights today.

 

Washed it

 

Make sure they don’t rub the cab. Will make an annoying as sound.

 

This guy on Craigslist rents his own out for $40 a day. It's a Stehl Towing brand dolly with surge brakes. It has the four pin trailer harness.

 

Adjusted the front coils, threw on the wheels and finished installing manual hubs. Next is 1” body lift. Tires are rubbing at half lock out hope the BL will help some, if not then I’ll do some trimming.