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

Today, my friend and I installed a new rear 3rd member from ECGS with 4.88 gears, Eaton Detroit TrueTrac LSD, and solid pinion spacer. It rides smooth and regained the torque I lost when I went to 35s. On Monday, we installed the driver side fiberglass bedside. Next Sunday, we should be tackling the passenger side and finishing up odds and ends on the driver side like fitting the tail light and riveting/bolting in the gas neck holder and fuel door.

I've got a new gas cap to install on mine at 117,500, but mine is being replaced because I destroyed it when I removed the stock bedside. I forgot to take it out first. Oh well... They're cheap.

Looks good, Randy. You might want to consider some sort of rubber (liquid electrical tape maybe) for the bottom of the 2x4s, so they don't rub through the bedliner over time.

 

Good idea! Never considered that. I don't think it will be an issue since this stuff is so rugged, but I will certainly keep an eye on it.

 

Also, thanks for the assist earlier alleviating my concerns about the diff nut torque.

 

Yeah of course, I'm happy to hear that the 3rd member install went well!

 

Me too. It was a little sketchy getting the new OE paper gasket on the studs as it's a tight fit. I had to work it down evenly a little at a time. I got it on without damaging it but was really wishing I had a spare handy just in case.

 

Yakima rail mount feet. I don’t think those are but they might be Thule rails.

 

Man i need this....

 

Well, I ripped off my mudflaps in what i could say is the most fun I've had in my tacoma. Went out on some fun gravel/mud roads with about 13 other trucks from the PNW factor of the forums. It was a ton of fun! However, I realized I need to buy some sliders, ditch lights, and new wheels (really only sliders and a high lift jack tbh). It was great seeing everything I can spend money on in a taco..... front/rear bumpers, racks, tents etc.... needless to say my wallet is about to take a beating

 

Not today but yesterday pads roters and calipers, cleaned serviced and adjusted the rear breaks and fluid filmed my new frame with my friends spray applicatior which was super easy and with the wand I could get all the hard to reach places!

 

Thanks! I currently have about a 2 week turn around for that setup. Due to my tedious nature it also required a test fit to get the racks to line up. The rails were installed on the customer’s shell (not by me) with about a 3/4” pinch from front to rear and there was also a 3 degree pitch built into the mounting feet for the rear rack to accommodate for the curve of the shell so that everything bolted up flat and tight. Small details like that make a huge difference in finished install and are a pet peeve of mine if I’m going to have my name on something.

 

Still have a long list, but got a few things done today.

RoKbLoKzcsksz installed



getting an ARB prepped for paint so I had to make a couple brackets for fog leds


think I got them located pretty well and have some adjustment builtin I can play with



Brackets got fully welded btw.

Replaced air filter too! Need to do plugs next.

Got three weeks before a trip to get the suspension installed, bumper blasted, painted and mounted, run power to the bed, swap out a somewhat involved sound system and probably a dozen other things I'm forgetting. I miss daylight and +70* weather.

 

Got the Pelfrey dented bumper pulled out/fixed. Did some wheeling to test things out.
Hello Chattanooga TN!

 

Before and after done today!

 

sweet wheels!

lookin good

 

Thank you! Now I am thinking of getting rid of the chrome rear bumper and Tacoma badges. I dunno..maybe.

 

Mentioned that I was about to put all-terrains on to my girlfriends dad and he suggested just picking up a set of steel rims and putting mud terrains on them for when I want to off road and keeping my highway terrains for around town. They came with the truck and only have ~10k on them. Decisions. Decisions. I can get steelies locally for like $100.

 

Pretty much all the branded roof track kits have proprietary cross bars so their "feet" don't work with off the shelf square stock.
Slot nuts or T-nuts are what is used to attach to the tracks. Just a square of metal that fits in the groove with a threaded hole in it. You can buy them on Amazon or make them yourself. Those look to be Thule tracks so 3/4" (20mm) wide by no more than 3/16" thick with 1/4 x 20 threaded hole(Thule uses 6mm x 1.0) Make sure the tracks are sufficiently secured to the topper, they don't always use enough of the holes in the tracks when they're installed. You can make your own feet by cutting short (3"-4")sections of 1" square stock aluminum with angled cuts on the ends to access the slot nut screws and a hole in the middle for the cross bar bolt. Or just buy a pair of Thule load bars with Podium feet and the fit kit for tracks(comes with its own slot nuts). More expensive by far but zero diy.

 

Thule and Yakima tracks are the same size so the feet of either system will fit.

 

this looks amazing! where was this?