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

KK6KND here. In my truck I use a yaesu ftm-400dr and on my belt a yaesu ft1d which is the companion radio for it.

73!,

-PyroTaco

 

Question on these wheels and tires I just got for free. Is it worth pulling the studs out? Tread is good, they came with lug nuts and center caps too, and they are a 265 tire compared to the 245 I have on now.

 

Companions? Do you run dual radios? Thinking about putting a ham in my taco, but dont want to loose the cb.

 

Needle nose pliers will do it. Get a six pack, chair and some tunes. Then it will be worth it.

 

Guy I ride to work with has them on his Tacoma and likes the wheels. He had to use wheel spacers with them though

 

I might have them test fitted before I do anything else then, thanks for the heads up

 

Installed @TOTAL CHAOS Bed Stiffeners. I didnt know my bed was warping until I installed these. Now my bed feels much more solid and dont have to worry about it separating in the future. ****Recommended to use Loctite****

 

Hope to finish my audio install today. Rockford fosgate power series 6.5's all doors. JL audio 8" sub behind passenger rear seat powered by 500w JL amp. Audio control dsp for the mids. This I'm proud of. Made an amp rack to fit behind drivers side rear seat. No cutting, drilling. Fits all crossovers and amps. Herculiner because black paint looked like ass. Nobody will see it but I wanted it to look nice.

 

No pics but I changed the oil and installed a Fumoto valve.

Also ordered a new Bando Serpentine belt and Gates idler pulleys from Amazon.

 

Pretty good writeup here, Make sure you use Maf cleaner only, nothing else.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2009-2nd-gen-maf-cleaning.530945/#post-17003504

 

Thank you

 

Ah I see, did you guys have the option to (after the assessment was done) provide the costs of said items such as bumpers, light bars, fuse blocks, etc. that would be taken with the "totaled vehicle" and get that money back instead of the items?

Like if they assessed the damages to say $30,000 and that totaled the truck...
Then I provide costs for the tires, wheels, sliders, bumper, lights, etc -- say that totals $10k

Will they then write me a check for $40,000 ?

 

No. But you can negotiate and get more than the first offer. It's like haggling price when buying a truck.

 

I’ll look into it. I definitely want a solid mobile unit, we do a lot of camping and adventuring. My handheld is a BF-F9v2 with a Luiton antenna. What antenna do you have paired with that Yeasu?

 

Got to test out the BFG KO2s off road. Remote cabin getaway with the wife for our anniversary.

 

I plan on running both. I mean better chances of raising someone in an emergency. I have a buddy with both in his FJ as well. Of course he’s got more interior space than we do lol.

I’ve also seen options where you mount the HAM antenna and then run the cable to a handheld in the cab so you basically would have a removable radio if that makes sense.

 

I have a simple Nagoya ut-72 mag mount. It does plenty well for me and I get darn low SWR reading with it. I’ve hit repeaters 50-60 miles away with ease on 2m and 70cm with low power output. The yaesu radios I have are great in digital and analog. The built in aprs is fantastic as well.

When I first start in ham radio I had a radio shack htx-202 and a ton of different baofengs. The htx was solid and the baofengs did ok, but I stepped up my game into much better rigs. In fact, I got arid of the baofengs awhile back and never looked back. They get things done in a pinch, but are cheap junk in the end with several issues that plague them.

-PyroTaco

 

This was yesterday, but got my Roll'n'Lock tonneau cover installed and box lights (reused from the tool box I had in the Tacoma before).

And the lights

I do have a question though since I have lost the use of the bed rails. Is it possible to install another set (shorter though) below the existing set?

 

Companion as in like the HT version of the mobile rig. It operates with near exact feature but lower power for out of the truck. They also share a ton of the same programming so carrying over programming from one to the other is a breeze.

As for running cb, for sure run both. Just make sure you have good spacing between antennas.

-PyroTaco