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

Today I Prepped the drivers side CMC. When I bought the truck somebody had "tried" to clearance it I guess, but it was hacked as you can see. I'll cut a plate at work tomorrow and weld it in sometime this week if the weather holds. I also relocated my trailer plug. Used a 2 1/8" hole saw to cut the hole. Don't mind the hardware, its all I had that would fit. I'll grab something less obnoxious tomorrow. Both of these things I got the idea from Tacomaworld, so thank you Tacomaworld.

 

Last week I started a week of upgrades/maintenance... It was supposed to be one day but....

Before:
Got Freedom Off-road UCA's, 3" lift spacers, 2" AAL with axle wedge shims, front bearings (thanks 05Taco4x4! https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/wheel-bearings-hubs-4x4-prerunner-165-ea.537080/), and East Coat Gear Supply's needle bearing replacement busing and removal tool, and some Amsoil Synthetic 75W90 Gear Lube.
I rented some of the major tools I need from Auto Zone since they'd let me keep them longer with less hassle. Got torque wrench that goes above 180 ftlbs, the 35'm axle socket, the slide hammer with attachments, and the tie-rod fork set.
I thought my buddy and I could tackle all of this in 6 hours or so.....LOL.

Got the wheel bearings out and realized the bushing from ECGS had a hairline fracture...They sent a new one right away, but that meant pulling the drivers side front end apart twice. Always check your parts before you start. I couldn't live without my truck during the wait and had to drive with some toe'd scrubbing for a few days...

The orientation of the UCA bolt made for real slow going on the drivers side, even longer on the passenger side. I even spent some time trying to get a quick replacement so I could cut the passenger side bolt off.

The spacer lift was a spacer swap. The truck had 1.5"lift spacer when I bought it, but I wanted the full 3".

Only got the front done minus the needle bearing replacement the first day and it took 7 hours. So much learned.

Two days later I got to the rear. Hated the severe bro-lean in the interim. Followed this roughly:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/aal-install-second-gen.54186/.
Wish I'd have closer. Mistake I made was trying to leave one tire on the side I hadn't gotten to yet and didn't have tall enough stands. This made the axle landing very hard to pull into place seeing it back together. I also broke a hacksaw and cut my finger pretty badly on this one. But I love having a little bit of the stock forward lean dynamics back. Closer to leveled than stock, but I feel a big difference in the corners.

Friday, my second needle bushing arrived in perfect condition. Took 5 hours to get in and out to the success side of the front diff. The first diff seal fouled when I was installing it. Sent my buddy for a replacement and he came back with the wrong one. Had to go down myself. This video is the best I've found on this job: https://youtu.be/m9W31KGy6k0

Today I took it in for an alignment at the highest recommended in my area by those that know. Jerry & Walt's Complete Auto Care in Eugene Oregon. I explained I wanted some extra caster as I'll be going from 32's to 33's in the near future.

I bought this truck 25k miles ago. I had no idea it could drive this nice! Totally pleased with the upgrades made.

Here's the after:
Still got a headlight swap and some stereo install stuff to do. I'll keep y'all posted on that soon.

 

Good luck with the BMW. We recently sold ours. We’ve had 15+ vehicles in the last 20 years and it was the biggest POS we’ve owned. Absolutely hated it! I’ll never own another one.

 

The only good BMW to have is a leased one. Expensive to maintain. Expensive to repair.

 

Which bed cover is that?

 

Access Literider

 

Installed the Tacomabeast Interior LED Light bulbs, not the best pictures but you can see the difference for sure

Before:


After:

 

Hope it's not a V8 X5

 

I got out of a 550i into my Tacoma.

The BMW was the fastest, best looking, most comfortable, and unquestionably least reliable car I ever owned. The last repair took 7 weeks and cost $12k. Thank God for warranties.

I just got another recall notice for it yesterday relative to it catching fire.

 

They're nothing but computers on wheels! Lol

 

I used basic leds from local auto parts store & been in for 3+ yrs now. No problems

 

Get you some of

$19 Turtle Wax 50834 1-Step Wax and Dry, Quick and Easiest Step to High Shine, for Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles and RVs, 26 oz. Double Pack with Microfiber Towel

this Turtle wax and dry. You spray it on while the truck is still wet after washing it then dry the truck down. Makes drying and waxing 1 step and the shine is pretty good afterwards. I used it on a couple cars before my truck and love it. Now with my black truck waxing is a MUST to retain a somewhat clean vehicle.

 

Whoa. What is this magic in a can?

Bye felicia.

 

Someone's feeling extra smartass-y this morning

 

Exactly. Too damn smart for their own good!

 

My wife couldn’t park hers in the garage for the last 5 months because we got 2 recalls and they both said “do not park in a closed structure due to possible fire” so it was being parked in our driveway. When I called, one of the recalls had been out for 18 months with no current fix and no ETA on being able to fix it! Ridiculous.

 

Dude, nice!! Wish I could fab stuff that nice haha

 

In the last picture there, what's that mount you're using for your Firestick?? I'll need something like that to account for the over sized hole in the ARB mounting tab once I get around to changing my setup.