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

Cheapest place to get tundra calipers?

 

Good info. Thanks @Blackdawg

 

YES! Finally got this stripped fucker off the front diff...used a Dremel with a small cutting wheel to notch the plug then hit it with a chisel and hammer.

Always clean your front diff plugs out before attempting to loosen them...never making that mistake again

 

I said fuck that and welded a huge nut to it haha

 

I was gonna go that route but don't have a welder, was going to buy a cheap flux core one just to get the job done but read about this method and figure Id try it first...plug was ready to come off I think but I had stripped it real good. If it was on there much harder I probably would have had to weld a nut to it

 

Yeah took me at least two tires I think. Works now though

 

Always smack the plug with a ballpine hammer first, almost become finger loose. Learned this from @thefatkid

 

Damn! That is way better than the results I got from the 3M kit. I might have to get the Meguiar's and give it another try. Did you get the headlight clear coat as well from them? I highly suggest using it now that you have nice headlights again. It will keep them looking nice much longer.

 

Finally was able to change the oil for the first time since I bought the truck. I had ordered a new drain plug with a magnet on it and it took forever to get here. Feels good to know that all fluids except the coolant have been changed by me and I know are now fresh.



I also changed the washer nozzles out to the Honda ones. I can't believe I've got Honda parts on my truck now... They are way better at least!



And finally, I extended the rear diff breather. Not that I have many water crossings to worry about here, although we do have monsoon season. Just less shit to worry about. I kind of want to extend the trans/t-case breather (is it just the one on the driver's side for them both?) since I looked and it was really caked up with mud and crap. Wonder if it uses the same fitting as the rear diff? Maybe a 90 or 45 fitting would be better since it's kind of close to the trans tunnel of the cab.

 

Dropped a tranny's panties today (~171k miles).


4.5 qt initial drain. 1.5 more after dropping pan and filter. Replaced filter with

$35 WIX 58030 Automatic Transmission Filter, Pack of 1

WIX 58030 kit. Some sludge on bottom of pan and magnets, but no obvious tranny chunks. Filter had plenty of schmoo on the mesh, so glad I replaced. I think pan had been dropped before due to that metal gouge on the corner that looks like a lazy mechanic went at it with a flat head screw driver. I had Toyota red FIPG on hand but chickened out and used the gasket that came with the WIX kit. No leaks so far.

Didn't remove sway bar but deff would have if I had messed with the FIPG goo to prevent screwing it up. Bought a "legitimate" inch pound wrench (came with a certificate of calibration even!) instead of a chineseium jobber from the usual scumbags e.g. the horror fraught. Used it on filter and pan bolts to get things nice and toight (88in filter bolts, 65in pan bolts).

Filled with Toyota Type IV. Shifts seem slightly smoother, although I remember the transmission holding the taco steady on my inclined driveway while in D, which now it doesn't... huh. Didn't notice any problems with some mild "spirited" driving around the block, but I haven't taken it on the freeway to kick the tranny down and trash it real good.

 

It had a liquid coating that you wipe on with a sponge as the last step. Says it's supposed to last a year. We shall see...

 

hm thats a solid "meh" from me.

I wish you could find those bulbs closer to 4300k.

 

Lots of scattered light above the fence. Definitely blinding oncoming and those in front via the rear view mirror.

 

The color is too white and the spread isn't very good. Cut off is too soft too. Almost impossible to judge output from a phone camera or any camera really. So have to go by your word of mouth on that one after you've had it a while.

 

He could take a long exposure with the aperture closed up a lot and we'd be able to see the cutoff better. Color temp is a personal preference thing, I think super white like that looks terrible but it's every bit as functional as more yellow

 

Ben, Theses are honest critisisms.

But I suspect you expected this and are not surprised because you were going to do this regardless because the look is more important than the function.

 

True. But even then it's difficult to do that in a photo. Just never really resembles what it does. No camera is like our eyes.

Yeah Im over the pure white. It makes things also appear brighter than they are. It also fatigues the eyes much faster. But you're right its a personal preference thing.

 

time will tell.

 

hahaha. Well, I know you to be a function>form guy so this seems to be out of character for you.

 

So apparently the PO welded the leaf with a 3 inch block in mind. Geometry is hilarious.... glad new frame soon