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

ok, so I have a couple days of decent 50F weather before the next cold front moves in for next week and temps plummet below freezing

gonna do some product testing on the front suspension! all original all weathered, have always tried my best to hose the sloppy winter crap off of them regularly
one side FF
other side Corrosion Free formula 3000

 

The reason why we go out through the wheel well is because it's not possible to go out the bottom on 4wd models. Well, I guess anything is possible but you'd have to spend more time removing something out of your way below like the steering rack which is a lot more work than sliding a brake line out of the way.

 

Yesterday, I finally got around to adjusting my rear drums properly using the shoe adjuster inside the drum. FWIW, I use my parking brake every day and from what I have read that alone should keep those rear shoes adjusted, but in my case it seems that it has not, at least to the level it can be done manually. I raised the wheel off the ground, pulled the rubber plug, used a flat blade screw driver and spun the adjuster wheel until I have a very slight drag on the drum. Put the rubber plug back in and good to go. Drove this morning and what a difference in brake pedal feel and now my park brake engages with 5 clicks.
I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of us first gen owners that have overlooked this just as I have.

 

Best site I have found for learning about sound deadening and what materials to use and where/how/why to place it is here - https://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

They also provide required material amounts for various vehicles which can be really handy when trying to order stuff online to do the work yourself.

 

Sounds like I need to add that to my ever growing repair/maintenance list. I have to pull my park brake all the way out and it still doesn’t hold tight.

 

Here’s a couple of picture of my 2003 trd off-road Tacoma limited. Purchased it about 6 months ago and right away I changed the suspension. It was horrible before. It was raised 3 inches in front and I think either 1 1/2 or 1 in the back. I changed the headlights and I’ve done many mechanical services to it. I did a upol raptor bed liner. But, Nothing inside though.

 

All the little fine details on this thing, at least in pictures 10 ft away, make me think this thing is in really really nice shape.
The body panels and pieces all look to line up true as if they've never needed to be removed. Which is a good thing cause you can never get it put back perfectly as it was original. If it has had work done on the body they did a really nice job... I doubt it though, it looks too straight to have had any body work done on it

 

Are you lifted in the rear? A rear lift can throw off how evenly the parking brake cable pulls to each bell crank. A lift bracket on the axle housing can help correct this. Pulling the parking brake should keep your rear brakes properly adjusted. Adjusting them more than what the self-adjusters do means you're going to be dragging your shoes until they wear down enough to where they're not dragging anymore. I wouldn't recommend people do this. Addressing why the parking brake cable alone isn't keeping your rear brakes adjusted is what I would advise people to do. With your technique, are you really going to constantly be readjusting your rear brakes through the access hole of the backing plate?

 

Another option to the lift bracket on the axle, or maybe even in addition to, is adding a small lift bracket to the bell crank on the drum side, depending on if the brake cable is rubbing on the leaf springs. The cable rubbing shouldn't affect anything but it is possible.

I made some small brackets to get the cables off my leaf packs when I replaced the rear wheel bearings, seal and drums shoes after having a seal go out. Cable don't ride on the leafs any longs, ensuring smooth operation of the parking brake.

 

The other thing I've seen is that if there is a lot of gunk in the rear drums (which can be the case especially if there's ever been a rear axle seal leak), they can gum up the self-adjuster so it doesn't "click over" as easily with the e-brake. If that's the case, then it might be time for a good cleaning (and possibly replacing of the shoes - if they've ever been oil-saturated) in the rear brakes.

Timmy - don't you have a video on this?

Edit: found it! (and @taco57 - I'm not saying this is definitely necessary, just fyi if you need it, and shows you how to get in there to inspect/clean)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJkVEBYSecs

 

Nope, all stock, 249K miles. I fully understand what you are referring to as the geometry can be different on the cable if lifted. The parking brake lever should ratchet the adjuster eventually to keep the shoes just barely touching the drum, not really a drag at all. As many clicks as I got I can assure you this was not happening. My cable is in great shape as I use it daily. Maybe the adjuster was just a little stiff, too tight for the little actuator plate from the parking brake to turn on its own. It is a really simple mechanism that should work. True, this should be automatic but if ignored long enough and by me finally making the adjustments manually as I did, the difference in braking feel is real.

 

That's my next step in brake service. Will be changing the front pads and rotors, get into the rear drums and change the fluid. I do a fluid change every 2 years. Most people I know have never heard of such a thing.

 

I crank the stereo so I can remain ignorant to the problems as they try to distract me.

 

That is exactly how my drag is set.

 

Yes it’s in flawless condition. Might need a paint job in a couple of years tho

 

That’s how I fix wheel bearings

 

Woof. Well I’m fucked now with the uca/tower gussets

 

I've got my front diff pulled, any suggestions on anything to swap out since I've got it opened up? Planning on oil pan and cleaning the pickup tube.

 

Does the front diff need to come out to drop the oil pan? I've been thinking about doing this but haven't looked that closely. Noticed a lot of sludge on the drain bolt last time I changed the oil. Top end is clean tho!

 

Well, some not-so-good-news for the 4Runner. Was parked on the street outside of school where @mrs.turbodb was tutoring, and a 17-year old new driver hit it in the rear quarter panel.

Appears that only the rear quarter panel and rear bumper are damaged, but with older parts harder to come by, there's probably a reasonable chance that it's totaled.

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