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

So what did you get?

 

Haven't bought anything yet, looking to get a Yamaha WR450F when AZ starts to cool off again

 

Ah! Dirt bike route. Very nice.

 

I attempted to finish the driver side front-end work. But I ran into two roadblocks. First I couldn't detach the brake line from the flare nut. I got it loose all the way but it would not detach so I just reconnected the old brake line. has anyone run into this problem?

Second I didn't realize that my lower shock bolt is completely stripped.

Should I go to the dealer and buy one or order one from Camelback? Please advise thank you. I have roughly two weeks to finish this job.

 

that frame, its soo clean...

 

Those threads don’t look that bad

 

Today as I was packing most of my tools, tacoma parts, and other car stuff in boxes and storage totes I took a look at the control arms I picked up and started to look at the bushings. Took a flathead to them and tried to move them around like Timmah! did on his video and man they were still good. So I searched for the oem bushings and got it. I went back and looked at the bushings and noticed that part of the part # was on them so indeed the previous owner used oem bushings. SCORE. Now I need new bolts and camber bolts. Will probably do this in a month or so.

 

How in the hell is the undercarriage so clean

 

I ran into a lot of issues with my brake lines when I changed them during my lift install. What won’t disconnect? The soft line has a u shaped clip that holds it on that bracket near the control arm. Sometimes these get essentially fused to the bracket and can take a bit a prying and poking to remove. If it’s the hard line you can’t get to break free from the soft line, we’ll my only advice is pull harder.

Regarding the shock bolt it doesn’t look too bad, that’s just wear from where it contacts the shock tabs and the bushing. I’d get a new one for peace of mind. When installing the new one however don’t try to just hammer it into the hole. Put your trucks bottle jack between the wheel well and uca and push the uca down until the holes are lined up. However this is only really applicable if you still have a sway bar on.

 

Im a bit OCD... i used lots of brake clean cans and shop towels. it doesnt hurt that its a TEXAS truck.

 

i couldnt separate the hard line from the soft line. ill try again later. i didnt have this issue on the passenger side at all. just super messy and cramp working in that cramp space. really crappy placement for that connection. i tried to hand thread the nut onto the bolt and i couldnt get it past 2 or 3 threads.

 

I replaced my brake lines with Goodridge SS lines last month, to avoid the mess, use something (or someone if they are willing to sit for that long) to depress the brake pedal all the way to the floor & keep it there while you're replacing the brake line.

What you want to do is connect a hose to bleeder on the caliper to drain into a container, loosen the bleeder, then press the brake pedal all the way to floor & have it held there. I used to work on cars for a living so I have one of those telescoping hood props that I placed between the pedal & the seat.

Now while you're changing the brake line, you won't get brake fluid constantly dripping out & you can take all the time you need without worrying about mess.

 

damn. this would have saved me ALOT of rags, cursing and brake fluid. i ordered some LCE Performance Brake Lines. they dont give (twist) very much when you attach them to the hard line and caliper. i had to reinstal a few times. (Noob with brake lines i guess)

 

But there's no dirt or clay...that's crazy

 

Wisdom teeth got removed today and I still don't have my truck back but got the POR15 kit in today along with the new wheel. Wheel has the complete wrong backspacing so back it goes. I'll just wait until I get the truck back and the tires dismounted so I can get real measurements of the wheels.

 

Speaking of brake lines, I did mine easy enough...but tried helping a buddy out with a 2014 2nd gen Tacoma last weekend, and his flare nuts on each brake line was impossible to loosen. To the point where giving it any more strength would have twisted the brake line and snapped it. Is there a different procedure to theirs? Looked just like ours with the metal C-clips and 10mm flare nuts. Couldn't figure out why the damn thing wouldnt loosen off.

 

Another trick when installing SS brake lines (or even just standard rubber brake lines) is to start at the caliper first, route & attach the brake line mount (if the vehicle has one), then attach to the hardline last. This helps eliminate the misalignment with lines that don't twist much.

 

Do I rattle can my rear bumper and save the doh or powder coat it?

 

I rattle can all my armor, the bumper rally doesn't ever need touchup but the sliders do once a year and so does the bed rack

 

I had mine powder coated along with my bed rack for $150. I just touch it up with some Ford touch up paint I have laying around. I am going to POR15 and bed line the sliders though