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

For the spare no less

 

Are the MOOG tie rods any good?

 

Anyone of you guys recommend a lesser of the evils parts store brand CV axle?

One of my OEM ones needs a new boot, so I'm going to throw a parts store one on while I wait for the high angle CVJ boot kit to arrive. Then I'll swap that one back in.
I have a camping trip planned this weekend so I don't want to grab the cheapest axle I can find and have to do another swap on the trail. Not planning on doing anything really technical but still.

Basically the 2 options I have available close to me for same day pickup are Duralast Gold at about $80 or A1 Cardonne 'Remanufactured' (most expensive @ $130). Not sure if that means remanufactured OEM or not.

Napa isn't really an option since the closest one to me is over an hour away.

 

I used Moog 555 inner tie rods when I did mine about a month ago, seems to be holding up well. I got OEM outers though, if you can I would go OEM on those.

Make sure you get new boots for the inner tie rods too, my kit didn't come with them and I found a small hole in both when doing the job. Had to seal it up with silicone since I didn't have much other choice, but I should have ordered new boots when getting the parts.

Oh and ignore that suggestion from Rockauto about using a pickle fork...use a pitman puller instead.

 

I went Moog inner and outer, showed up at the house today

 

it is all things good, ... gotta represent my area the best i can!
not many nice old taco's left around here

the spare tire carrier went up nice and smoothly, had the hardest time trying to lower it the week before
i cruise the highway, wheel it in stop 'n go traffic and run the occasional muddy missouri river bed .... hills and the such are 'nil around here its all flatland!
those forest trail scratches from Wisconsin sorta took it down a notch for it ...

you cannot see the scratches but they are there
i learned my lesson, especially if they do not buff out when i get to it i am slacking for sure

but WOW that spare tire shines up under there now
no pics yet of it like anyone cares, from a couple months ago

i may have to hit PA and enter one of them shows you always have yours in

you don't shine your spare?
there is nothing wrong with that

i even sprayed it all inside the treads!

 

I’ll have to look into OEM ones.

 

What was the price tag on them?

 

Amazon took 12X.xx from me

 

Damn Amazon

 

Purdy!!

 

what has happened to them!?
they used to be the low cost vendor now upped their horrific prices by 18000% or more! ... on used items!
i tried to return some product that did not work properly as directed
must've been on the chat for half an hour to get refunded $30 on their 'no hassle return policy'!

 

A little update on my third champion aluminum radiator. Since my last post I have driven the same route as before several times.
Now the engine temperature will rise to 192° F climbing hills, it will run 188° F on the flats and 184°F going down hill.
The engine has also been maintaining heat longer than usual.
So tonight I drained the coolant again and removed the thermostat cover, and this piece of aluminum fell out of the end of the thermostat when I removed it.

I'm really not impressed with champions quality control. Now I need to decide if I want to put the URD 170° or Toyota 180° thermostat in.

 

I can go from filthy to car show quality after 4 hours...lol...i still shine my 35s every time i wash her. Takes a whole fucken can.

 

If I do tire wet, I have to blacken the flares. If I have to blacken the flares, I have to wax the paint. Before I know it, the entire day is gone.

But blackening a spare that hides under the truck? That tire black is gonna attract dust like a magnet...

 

I use one of the drive through car washes, and then vacuum/hand dry. They offer a monthly membership for a pretty low rate and include tire shine. My paint has been beat to shit by the AZ sun so whatever but I do like to have the truck as clean as possible in between Offroad trips.

 

I wait for it to rain

 

I’m really bad about washing mine. I used to take it to the car wash after I rinsed it but haven’t in a while. I really want to take it to get fully detailed one day just to then maintain the paint better. But there is so many scratches and body damage that I would feel weird paying so much for my ugly pig lol

 

Just the boots are ripped. But my OCD is kicks in and I wanna replace them because I don’t want anything to happen to me on the trail.

 

You're crazy.