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

Glad those lines worked out for you. Looks great!

 

I had a similar issue I dont rember if it was right or left but ended up having the intermediate stering shaft replaced. The joint on the end was binding.

 

Got my lights installed!
And some day time pic's of the bumpers

 

The town of Moab has closed "all lodging, including camping" to new visitors. I don't believe this applies to any of the Federal lands/Parks.
This was a local municipal action so the Fed stuff "should" remain open, for now.

 

I have a canyonlands permit coming up, so closely watching what the parks are doing.

Been wanting to get some spring, desert mountain biking in too, so we'll see how that plays out.

 

Does anybody have the part numbers for the outside window trim for both front and rear windows on a double cab?

 

I dont steal

 

Well, time for new LBJs on the Tacoma. Full story: Oh, It's Time - New Tacoma LBJs

...and a short video on checking for play.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/bu2rQMxXV2M

 

I snagged this from another thread the other day. It’s just the front windows, but should help your search get started.

 

FRAME FLEX: PLATING VS BOXING?

I didn't notice that my truck frame was flexing that much until I got a Vagabond Drifter installed. I believe the cause is no fault of Vagabond, but the overhang on the weak 1st gen frames is the perfect combination that results in the truck to be like a bucking bronco on concrete highways between 50-65mph due to the consistent spacing of the concrete pads and the wheelbase of the truck.

So with that, I have narrowed the issue down to frame flex, but I haven't isolated it to which part of the frame just yet as I'm not sure how to measure flex.

The first video was a few months ago and I'm rambling a bit, but it shows the truck bucking from the inside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj1ozqaZbvs


Yesterday, I finally remembered to take a video from the outside showing how the truck is flexing by simulating the movement/flex of the camper by oscillating it by hand, then I had my friend do the same so I could look around the truck.

https://youtu.be/5b1AbR8gkDA

https://youtu.be/7IfwNI25v5I

https://youtu.be/iiuoDRd-JXs


The bed seems solidly mounted, no cracks or issues there as the bed / 8-clamp / Vagabond interface are all a solid piece moving, so I have narrowed it down to the frame.

Any ideas on how to better narrow down WHERE the frame is flexing and if the outer plates would stiffen it enough? I don't want to bother doing the outer plates just to find that the frame flex is further forward where the reinforcements don't do anything/enough.

 

Do you have any photos of these welded on?

 

Not any good ones.

 

After I welded the outside plates and boxed the frame.

 

Just box it and shock relocate while you are there.

 

That's what I'm thinking, but I don't have the resources to do it myself - hoist/rafters to rig up lifting the camper & bed, welder, etc etc.

 

Just do both. The kits are cheap enough to do so.

 

If I drive up to you, do you want to do the job? I don't have the workspace or welder to prep (remove & store camper/bed, remove paint, prime, weld, paint...)

 

Id do it for sure. But right now I don't have the space either which is why Frank is still out of action. Would take like a weekend though. Unless you wanna do rear shocks then be a 3 day weekend max.

 

That ignition lock fix is in my future on at least two of my three Gen 1's. For now I finally decided to tackle the "door handle" drama I've been suffering with on two of my trucks. My '03 had a broken plastic handle. Common problem. My '01 had a cylinder lock issue that caused the door to lock from both inside and out with no hope of getting it open!

I viewed this video as a guide and decided to fix both https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcYaJKlhX5s

I really didn't want to rely on aftermaket parts, so I checked on-line and found a local junkyard with a '01 Tacoma that I could strip. Although the parts would fit any of my trucks, when I found the truck the handle had already been taken.


So I went on line and ordered a new one for $96 from a dealer.

I then started to look at my cylinder lock isue on the '01. Not being able to open the door was a pain, so I took the bench seat out to get at the door panel and broke the door clips to remove it. No problem, I've got replacements.

Because I needed these vehicles fixed, I went to AutoZone and bought a aftermarket handle for $32.99 (part #91319) and a cylinder lock for $44.99 (part # DL74690). I figured I would either take them back or keep them if the OEM unit came and wasn't that much better.

I'm glad I decided to try and fix this even with limited mechanical skills because I learned there are really only four parts to the manual door/lock system. 1) the exterior handle 2) the key cylinder 3) the inside door handle/rod and 4) the latch lock mechanism with the four primary rods. The simplicity of these vehicles is really great.

The aftermarket handle from AutoZone wasn't far off from the original, so I desided to install it on the '03. It was an easy swap. Just remove the two rods 1) the one (w/plastic white connector) that works with the exterior handle and 2) the (pink connector) one that that connects to cylinder lock. Remove the two 10mm screws, pop the new hanlde in, install the lock cylinder in the new handle, reconnect both rods and your in business. Lube everything up inside and reinstall the door panel and hardware and your good to go.

On the '01 I hated the thought of having to use two keys (one for ingintion and one for door) by changing the lock, so I talked to one of my buddies who said we could remove the bad tumblers inside the existing lock and make it work. I had no idea how to do this, but he did. Sure enough he held the key in place while he told me how to fish out the bad little plates. We ground a few things down, reassembled it, lubed it, and walla I had a working lock again.

As a novice mechanic, I would tell any Gen 1 owner that (other than messing with the cylinder tumblers) this is a job any Taco owner can handle. It felt good to have working doors again! Lubricating everything made both doors like new. I highly recommend owners with door issues tackle this problem.

Door handle was toast



Here's the area you need to get into:



You can see how the handle sits in the hole with the cylinder lock exposed on the inside.

 

Post in the Colorado bs thread and see if anyone can help you. If they've done it before it easily done in a weekend.