The Scenic Route

2006 Tacoma Sport, 6MT, DCSB, SWB
May 2018

Jan 2018





Been on TW long enough to know I should be selling my computer, and not starting a build thread.

As it goes, however, I'm in deep enough, and have issues and questions that span so deep into the TW archives that I thought it responsible to stake out my corner of this forum to do my necro-ing in a somewhat contained fashion. It should also serve me as a log-book to help me keep track of my mods and maintenance.

To Date Mods

ARB front bumper - PO installed
WARN M8000 - currently out of service
WARN VR8000 - $500.00 at princess auto, what?!
Winch Solenoid Relocation Mod
Winch Power Switch
Winch Remote Thru the Firewall - no popping the hood, just flip a switch and go

Stock Bilstein Struts - folded in half, junked
Monroe Struts - installed wrong, wore out top bolt at the hat, junked

Bilstein 5100s, OME 886s set at 0" - so far, so good. Not advised, but we're still rolling
Total chaos UCA - on second uniball and bushings. needs weather sealing somehow, not made for canada

Stock leafs - literally fell off the truck in traffic
RideRite air bags - sold, super rough ride without substantial weight in bed
2" blocks- thrown off a bridge (not true, i use them to hold my chalk line doing layouts, waste not want not)


OEM toyota leaf tsb - sad face, needed help
Skyjacker AAL - not advised, just get dakars
SuperSprings - temporary fix, bro, until I get Dakars..
this combo of tsb leafs, skyjacker aal and supersprings at max setting gives me satisfactory rake and load limits.. for now

Bilstein 5100 shocks. - shoulda got 5110s
3degree axle shim and carrier bearing drop - no vibes under load

AFE cold air intake & AFE throttle body spacer - PO installed (I really like the whistle)
JBA headers - see non-foulers
Magnaflo twin exhaust, no H or X or Y pipes, just twins - maybe not the best
I'd never spend my money on performance upgrades, but I've learned to love the sound, and I'm willing to work thru the CEL and resolve the issues caused by headers
OBD2 Bluetooth Adapter and Torque App
Non-Fouler Mod

Gy6.35 Reverse Light Mod
LED hood scoop Mod
LED headlights - but I recommend doing this instead

BackSeat Carpet Mod, Ferda Dogs
Leather seat covers - dog life, cheap cdn tire, good nuff
RuggedRidge floor liners - outdoor life, huge improvement come detailing time
Sony XAV-601BT - good enough
Reverse Cam - bought a used tailgate with the camera, so wired it up. Very useful
Reverse Cam Anytime Switch - keep an eye on the trailer
AC 400w anytime
AC outlet in the cab
ABS kill switch - ???

tires:
Toyo Observe GSi-5 265-70R17 - best winter tire available.. they just need a skinny fitment
BFG KM2 265/75r16 - pretty happy on and off road

these and the toyos got scrapped due to a bad toe in issue, caused by my TC uniball wearing out.. took me a while, and several CVs to figure it out

Michelin latitude X-ice 265/70R16 - winter rubber, better than all season, but these tires suck, and back to stock size?!.. cost me 200, I needed winter rubber

Update May 2018
Made a pit stop in Calgary and picked up a set of five 255/85r16 BFG KM2's on landcruiser rims, 4.5 BS
Very Happy



Disclaimer:
The following is a history of the truck, and it hasn't happened very fast, or efficiently. If your time is important to you, skim the photos and save yourself.
August 2014:
I found my truck sitting neglected, for sale in a driveway in a small mountain town in British Columbia, I'd admired it before, but never thought it'd be mine. It retrospect, it really doesn't make sense that it sat for sale for so long. Granted his asking price was much higher than what I paid.

It had been sitting for quite a while, with body rust and wounds, and general dis-repair. Original engine had been swapped out at just under 200,000km due to blown head gaskets, with an '07 engine that had just under 100,000km..
Aftermarket exhaust (jba headers and magnaflow exhaust) had caused the O2 sensors to fail, so there was a check engine light on, the guy was very up-front about everything..
This was a bush truck, that had lived a bush life, and very evidently had some scarring.. But I am a bush man, and really didn't see any of this as a problem, because I knew I'd be beating it up myself, and if she's already scratched up I need'nt feel bad when I start doing damage, the hard part was done.
All in I paid less than 15k CAD (<12k usd). In august 2014.
I think I did well, considering I find this vintage of tacoma for around 15k today, in 2018.



Step One: lose the nerf bars.

Two: sand and paint the arb, looked terrible.
Three: was add an aftermarket double din head-unit, because the exhaust was so loud it drowned out the radio, and I needed aux/bluetooth.

This is a Sony xav-601bt, was highly functional until I switched from a Sony Xperia android to a google pixel.. Mirrorlink, ^^^ was sweet, plug in usb and it screen mirrored my phone for nav, etc.. Google phone won't do it, and there's no chance of a firmware update on the head unit.
Dash kit was Schosche I believe, it's a piece of crap, and until I upgraded suspension it was a daily chore to re-seat the trim.. Definitely fits, and good enough, but not a snug/permanent fit.. 5/10
NEXT, take it up to the Kokanee Glacier, and try to get stuck.. Just went till the tire tracks stopped, and followed some skidoo tracks.. Made it a decent way before progress was just painful, found a place to turn around, and actually got hung up.. 20 minutes with a shovel and we were free. The most impressed with my new truck.

Then life threw a loop, and I landed up out of the mountains, back in the prairies.
Not much going on with the truck during this time, folded the stock struts, and replaced them with some monroes, for cheap, and fast

Knowing what I do now, I could have saved myself 3 pairs of struts, and hundreds of dollars, and had what I wanted for the truck without the grief, buttt... that's why it's the Scenic Route build. Everything has taken me a few attempts to get right..


Pick up in late 2017, and I'm in northern alberta living in a parking lot in my 18' TT

Only thing to note, is this trailer is a heavy bitch, and built like a sail, and it cost a foolish amount to drag it across the prairies and up north. This is where I start digging for problems, and falling down the rabbit hole of TW.

Found me a used canopy on kijiji, $700.. Wrong color, but we aren't picky. At the same time picked up a set of used km2s 265/75r16 on 4runner rims.. $250.. rims didn't fit over the calipers, so it was another 200 for steelies.

In the same week, I took on the BHLM, and I think it changed the look of the truck significantly.

Also, meet Roo, the pitbull, and Gemini, my boxer/bulldog/pit mix. Life is my tacoma and dogs, they're going to be sharing the spotlight here.

This was right after installing Bilstein 5100s, with 886s on 0" but right before removing the 2" blocks and ride rite airbags from the rear.
I knew at this point that I'd get my desired lift without having to screw around with airbags, and spacers were just bad news. Sold the ride-rites for $100 to a heep

Sway bars were long gone.. Left in a pile in Manitoba

Here she is without the block spacer in the rear...
Picked up a set of matching steelies for the back.
I also hit up my local napa auto parts and had them make me a few cans of SWB paint.Color matched canopy!

At no point was the bed empty, I am a framer, and carry a full outfit of tools with me, so the bro-lean was part of life for a while.
Here was my custom bed storage for carpentry tools.
She got pretty heavy.
She got pretty a pretty bad bro lean, bro.
So I bought a trailer. Based on what I'd learnt pulling my TT, I went light.

6x12, plus 2' v nose, slanted front, all aluminum.
Single axle, and just shy of 1000#s dry. I figure after adding brakes, spray-foaming the walls/ceiling/underside and building the shelving, it's probably 1250lbs.
Next big step was a replacement VR8000, for my M8000 that was seized, and will eventually get rebuilt and slammed into a future HC rear bumper. Threw a Rigid bar into the skewp, and blacked out the very last bit of chrome.

And last major visual mod was a yakima roof rack for my canopy. Spent four months waiting for The Truck Outfitters to decide that there was no such thing as a windoor for a Raider Vagabond cap.

I can understand why folks spend $3,000 to have everything put together and nicely color matched, but for $700 cap, plus the cost of spray paint and roof racks, I feel like a winner. One day I'll get real ambitious and do a proper buff and polish clearcoat, to get the color match up to a higher spec. But for a few cans of spraypaint in my back yard, I'm damn impressed.

To follow: the trailer build, the property build, and the never-ending battle to beat the poor MPG



"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess."
-Red Green

 

When I bought the truck, the PO very clearly explained that the aftermarket JBA headers were causing a CEL condition, based on the HO2 sensors not being able to account for the modified AF ratio. It was explained to me that as long as I kept an eye on the codes, to ensure that the CEL wasn't hiding more codes than the o2 related codes, it wasn't a problem.

My research on here, and common sense now make it pretty clear that I've been dumping fuel across central and western canada for the 4 years that I"ve owned that truck. Coming from a little hyundai accent, my expectations weren't that high in terms of economy, so I didn't clue in.
The tacoma is still competitive with mpg, there's some folks on here getting about the same km/miles to a tank, until I try towing. Then it goes down the drain.


I also suspect that I have pooched my cats.


I've been driving around with the following codes since I purchased.


I determined that both downstream HO2S were kaput, and replaced them both, a few days apart.
Taking a tip I found online, usually applied to older machines, I also purchased two pairs of Spark Plug Non-Foulers, to back the sensors out of the direct flow of exhaust gasses. This is a $20 dollar solution, that otherwise would be a $200(cad) fix thru URD O2 simulators.



I also started experimenting with steel wool placed between the sensor and the intact non-fouler plug, to act as a further buffer.








I put the new sensor into Bank 2, and drove it around for a while after resetting the CEL
Result:


What causes the P0057 code?

• The most common cause of the P0057 trouble code is a faulty bank 2 sensor 2 oxygen sensor.
  
  
• Some other possible causes are faulty powertrain control modules or damage to the wiring in the heater control circuit.
  
  
  
  What causes the P0158 code? Bank 2 Sensor 2
  • Failed rear oxygen sensor
  • Failed rear oxygen sensor heater circuit
  • Engine coolant temperature sensor bad
  • Shorts, breaks, or exposed oxygen sensor wiring
  • Excessive fuel pressure
  • Necessary power control module (PCM) update
  • Failure of the power control module (PCM)

The P0606 is a code that will inform you that there an electrical issue with you ECM, and if you were to take it down to toyota, they would replace your ECM, and take your firstborn child in return. There is quite a bit of evidence, however that having a damaged downstream sensor will trip this code. So I ignored it for now.

I was kinda confused that Bank 2 Sensor 2 was giving the error codes, as this is where my new sensor was.
At this time too, I also dug a bit deeper into my obd2 Bluetooth code reader to determine whether I was in open or closed loop condition.




Okay, so we we're in closed loop, so it wasn't using open-loop A/F ratios , and it was using Sensors for my AF mix. Which was definitely a step in the right direction. Still not convinced that it wasn't leaving pools of fuel on the road everywhere I went.

Installed the second replacement HO2S, reset the CEL and went for a drive.


Came up with the following codes.




So I had a new code about to trigger my CEL, the P0012 (just a pending code, at this point)


I had traded my P0057 (bad bank 2 sensor) for a P0157 (lean mixture Bank 2)


And traded a P0158 (too much fuel Bank 2 (driver)) for a P0138 (too much fuel Bank 1(passenger)

Went for a cruise, and took it out onto the highway, and the pending codes triggered the CEL pretty quick, I think going over 60mph is one of the conditions for the CEL. Reset the codes, and made it home with no light.


I also pulled my OCV valve, my camshaft sensor, and the OCV filter, tested the function of the valve, and it was fine.
The filter was pretty grubby, so gave them all a bath, reinstalled, and the p0012 code has not come back.

I am going to experiment with denser/looser steel wool packs in the non-fouler plugs to see if I can't get a fully clear code situation.

annnd if I still have an intermittent CEL I am going to skip a step, buying the URD o2 sim, and go directly to the OVTuning solution. I figure for an extra few hundred bucks, and solve a whole range of driveability issues that I've learned to live with.
Will continue to update with progress, gone to go for a drive and see what I can see.

 

Just got back from a quick rip, bunch of city driving, bunch of highway driving, and bunch of off-road power line driving in 4x4.. The P0157, and p0138 are still showing up in pending. Going to do some digging and find out how seriously I should be taking these. After 50km no check engine light, so it's sensing some undesirable ratios after the cats, but not enough to trigger my CEL, I am still concerned about the P0157, it might be causing my engine to pump more fuel into the mix, screwing with my mpg.. I'd love to have it read normal, or fuel rich if anything..

Edit: Cannot determine if clearing logged faults also clears pending faults, but a fault will stay in the system for 40 warming cycles (temps going from cold to 160F) before they clear from the system, I might have to disconnect the battery to clear the pending fault, but I'm going to leave it for now and see if they trigger the CEL over the next few days


Here are some screenshots of instant MPG readouts at 110km/h and 120km/h.. which seem to suggest that I get better economy between 2500-3000rpm than 2000-2500. these readings were pretty consistent. Also, the mpg average for this rip was very high, and does not seem to correlate with the fuel gauge.. i still feel like i'm running rich.. this is going to take some time to get accurate feedback..





Also, I really need to get 33's on there.. I'd take that 10% decrease in rpm for highway speed...

 

For the dogs:
I removed the back seat bottoms a long time ago, I don't have human passengers all that often, and when I do I just fold the seat backs upright, and it's fine. Most of the time I'm not taking people far.
It's much more practical for my purposes, I had been throwing a floor mat across the back of the folded down seats, but it still slides around a bit, and it is a pain to access the storage under the seats. So I got ambitious and cut out pieces of the floor mat to adhere to the back sides of each seat.


I layed them out, cut out the holes for the latch, scrubbed down the seat backs for a better adhesion, and liberally applyed shoe-goo/automotive adhesive onto the seat back, then firmly pressed the carpet down. I installed the floor mat upside down for easier cleaning, and less dog hair embedded into the carpet, as kind of a last minute decision. Do no regret.

I put some heavy crates on the bottom edge to ensure the glue set with the mats tight, left it overnight.
Few weeks later and the dogs are happy, my equipment doesn't slide around, and cleaning it out is a breeze.


The mat was a $5.00 factory cut off from Princess Auto, and I used the better part of a $5.00 tube of glue..

 

New banner pic. Nice

 

WOOHOO I wasn't the only one

 

Thank ya.. they make it so easy to do cool stuff!!
and welcome!

 

Have the banner pic saved on my laptop for a few weeks now.

 

I kept hoping I'd run into a red DCSB with a SWB cap..

 

That's a good lookin' banner, there tacomaworld. I'm gonna -borrow- that... And paint my rear hubs, like tomorrow

 

Banner is gone.

 

Just read through. I love this kind of build. Great work OP!
Excellent choice the one @tcBob!

 

Last night after a long drive, bombing thru some deeper snow along the power lines and letting the dogs blow some steam, checked the status on my fault codes. Still no CEL. But these two were still lurking in 'pending'

P0157
p0138

After my drive to work this morning, I noticed the CEL was back

..it's just for the passenger side sensor..
Going to pull Bank 1 sensor2, and try repacking with more, but less dense steel wool, as it seems to have calmed down the bank 2 sensor 2, or at least made it less sensitive..
I'm also very sure that this is a case by case scenario, and there is not going to be a sweet spot that'll work for everyone, but for the time being, I'm happy to screw around in hopes of resolving my issue on the cheap.

Also going to try to bust free my two upstream AF sensors and try giving them a bath, i suspect they're pretty gunked up.. and stuck af..


Edit:
Progress on the CEL and HO2 sensors is going to be on hold for a couple days until the roads dry up at least enough to make it from the car wash to the garage without packing the frame full of snow. Doesn't matter how often I clean it, 5 minutes on the road and it's covered.

I'm also not going to get too carried away with my cheap-o o2 sensor fix, I suspect I'll be purchasing a tuner to take care of my issues regardless.
Given the choice between the URD O2 sim, and OVTuner, I'll bit the money bullet and get some gains out of the deal.
Will Update this with pertinent information.


Update Feb. 26, 2018

Went 150km on a 1/4 tank of gas, and no CEL light today..
Pulled in for a much needed suds and scrubs for the truck, and noticed the CEL was back on..
Going to pull in into the garage and pull the sensors, and drown them in dielectric grease.
I have never gotten that kind of mileage with my truck though, it was at 60km before it dipped below the F line.

I'm usually happy to see 100km per 1/4 tank, I know it's not a proportional gauge, but something's making my engine happy, and running with a proper AF ratio.

Also noticed that my sensor voltages are reading 0 for a while after first starting up the truck.. They start to give normal readings after it warms up, I'm thinking it could very well be a connection issue.

 

For any mighty boosh fans


"I think it's gonna be alright, look!"
"Mod wolves!"

 

Bad ass build, subbed. Though I thought you had a military rear axle when I first saw the banner pic

 

The property build

Last summer I was browsing kijiji, which is my equivalent to reading the daily news, (more useful, less depressing) and I came across a subtle add in my hometown of Kenora, Ont.. Sioux Narrows Raw Land For Sale..


After a little bit of research I realized exactly where this was.
at first I thought it was a substantial drive from Kenora, way out of the way, but quickly realized that this was smack dab in the middle of my childhood stomping grounds


5 km from where I have spent substantial time working on various projects building cottages and renovations, potentialy have some connections to people with machinery, and there is a private marina on Lake of the Woods in the top arrow (right).
French Narrows, the property owned by my father before his passing in '95, not an 8km trek thru the woods. He had tried to put a road in to close to Witch Bay Camp (a private fishing lodge) but came up against the MNR and protected species habitat, and had to forsake his plans to making it accessible by land.


By the time I put all this together I was ecstatic, a quick phone call to the realtor to ensure it wasn't sold already, and I gave notice to my clients and roommates that I was gone for a couple weeks. 24 hours later I was packed in the truck with my dog and down the road.

A little over 1900km from fort mcmurray alberta to what will be my front door.
A week later and I had hiked into the property, gps the best location for roads, started the permit process, and made an offer.
They came back the next day with a completely reasonable counter-offer and I accepted.
80 acres of old mining claim, with mineral and surface rights, for significantly less than anyone should ever pay for property.

Photos of the trail in.



At about 2.5 km from the property line the trail in (which is mostly a quad trail for the locals to get to gravel pits for target practice, I was the only truck to venture down there in what looked like years) grew over and got a bit wet, 500m further than this last shot there is a significant drop that would take everything the tacoma had to get thru, so we walked in from here.


This was the wettest portion of the trail in, feet were still dry in runners, but predominantly cedar, and some boggishness.
Mostly it was balsam fir, semi-mature.

Not too dense, but there'll be some chainsaw work for sure


Quite a bit of heavy rock, very sheildy, and sand mostly where there is something other than rock.

So far as I can tell, I own everything ^^^^^^^ in this last photograph..

Me and my truck just can't wait to tool around out here.
And the dog too, Gem was quite impressed with the elbow room



Right now I am dealing with the MNR and halfway thru the process of getting a road permit to punch access in to the property through crown land.
It is turning into a fairly lengthy process. In the meantime I'm trying to be patient, staying busy where the money is good, so that I can make the most of it when I am allowed to punch a road in.


Couldn't help myself though.. Had to pick up a toy for the project

ms 271, $300 used off kijiji...
never pay retail, ever.

 

Thanks, and welcome.. Noo, just a rusty AF hub, I'm supposed to be painting that hub today, actually.. but it's not even locked, yet.. just LSD

 

The trailer build.


With the used market being so good where I am, I had an impossible time not acquiring more tools than I could comfortably store in my short box. The first time I had to make two trips to job site because I couldn't fit everything in the truck I started watching kijiji for trailers. I am extremely protective of my tools, I put everything away, under lock, key, camera, and alarms so I can go take a piss off-site.

I've been ripped off before, and figure it's just best that it doesn't happen anymore. So dropping tools off at a site to go get more tools did not sit well with me at all.

I was undecided about what size to get, most jobsite trailers I've used in the past were 7x14, and I wasn't too keen on going smaller. But 7' wide trailers don't offer any view behind you. They are a pain in traffic, they are a pain to park, and they are a $$$ pain to pull. I've used tow mirrors before pulling my TT, and while they do work, they look hokey AF, and really don't do a very good job.

At the end of the day, my mind was made up when I found a killer deal on a 6x12 slanted v-nose aluminum trailer by lightning. It was far away, but it was also the week before christmas, so I could take the opportunity to go see family for christmas, and borrow my brothers shop to do the preliminary mods on the trailer.

So off I went.

It looked just as good in person as it did in the adds. Year was 2012, and it had been stored indoors, except when it was being used to move the guys possessions from ontario to saskatchewan.. Only wear was some gravel dents from being pulled by a big lifted diesel, and the door trim had been damaged from loading heavy furniture in. I will be doing much worse to it I am sure.. I handed him $3k, he handed me the title.. Good Deal!


Made it 60km down the road and realized I had burnt 1/4 tank of fuel and started panicking.. Pulled over, and went over everything.. I had checked everything out at the property, the tires were junk, and I'd be buying new tires, axles were fine, leafs looked good.. I figured I'd check the temperature of the hubs, maybe the bearings were bad... I put a knee on the tire and sunk in, they were quite low.. I hadn't checked my psi.. Filled them up to proper psi, and hit the road.... mucho bueno, pulled so much better than the TT, mpgs were barely effected..


Made it to my brothers house, pulled a set of brakes off my tandem axle Travel Trailer, and threw them on.. Pulled the plywood off and blasted 1" of foam between the studs and on the roof, and about 2" underneath,
I was using the frothpak 200 kits, which are pricey, but if you've ever tried using air equipment in -30, they don't work... I wanted to be able to run a small heater in the trailer overnight and keep my equipment within operating temperatures. I had done the same with my TT, and lived in it thru a northern winter with a 1500w heater, so I knew it worked.

Just having the 500w halogen light in there, it got uncomfortably warm with the doors closed.

Next I started shelving, I didn't have much of a plan, so I just started cutting plywood and making custom sized cubbies for the essential/bigger tools.


I was also experimenting with my new router.. Usually it would have been 2x4 frame and plywood shelves, but I wanted to make it as light as possible, so mostly 3/8ply, with some 1/2" for the bigger stuff, and routered grooves with lots of PL premium.

After a day of cure time I'm convinced I could back out the screws and dance on the shelving, the router/glue combo is insanely strong.
and I don't see how it could have been more than 100lbs of material to fully equip it.


Everything has it's space, and everything is staying warm.. I found that when it drops to -40, I have to move my compressor next to the light/heater and have direct heat on the block, or it just coughs at me in the morning.
I also punched a hole thru the trailer to run power/air manifolds. I run a cord to the power source, and air from the trailer to the job, and the compressor stays in its spot.

I also just finished wiring up a battery to the 7pin harness, to power my security.
No photos or real details of security, because that's how it works.


Total cost of trailer. little less than 4k cad (not including tools and security)

 

My DIY super cheap antenna fix.
Pretty common problem with tacoma antenna's is corrosion of the bracket, to the point where it completely siezes up, and will simply break when you try to remove/replace it, or, in my case, before you even look at it.


The replacement parts cost $100us, and the procedure is fairly complicated.
I barely ever use my radio, and spending an afternoon, and a pretty penny on replacing something that does very little for me just didn't sound like a fun time.


My solution?
JB weld

I peeled the boot up, broke off the remaining pieces of the bracket,and gobbed JB weld all over it

Recommend you use quick set, there is no great way to hold it in place while it sets, and any more than 5 minutes and I may have gotten bored.


After it set, I filled the boot with an automotive adhesive and re-seated in where it was.



For 10 minutes, and $10 of adhesives, my antenna is no longer rocking back and forth, radio still works..
Remember, If she doesn't find you handsome, she should at least find you handy.

Edited for photos, thx @tcBob