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

Installed hydraulic assist ram.

 

I am not particularly prone to breaking parts, but with that said i do like the abilty to make repairs like that. IMO simpler is better most of the time, and i think that most people on here will agree with me. plus i do like the red. matches my truck well! we'll see, they aren't too much more expensive than the SPCs, and are still significantly less than the All-pros, let alone the TC or Icon ones.

 

Its' all fun an games until you hit the mud spots...


DeTour-85.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

yeah 315's.

Those look just like the rubber bushings i just had to sawzall out of my SPC arms. What a fucking bitch. I bet that is why they are cheaper. The Poly bushing that SPC runs does not have that metal lip and the ridges.

This is the poly bushing:




Nothing else goes on it. Just presses into the arm and a metal sleeve into the bushings.

 

I ran the hell out of the Freedom Off-road ones because I had so many Amazon points from business travel. They made it through the Rubicon, so meh, get the ones that color match and be a happy camper... I figure I went the least expensive route for a decent UCA and I beat the hell out of my toys, anything you choose will be better than stock.

 

Just me. There is enough room in the containers for another person’s stuff and little room between the containers so they stay put when I play on the trails.

 

Stay at home really had me wanting a change of color. Few months ago, it started with Plasti-dipping the front and back bumpers, grill, and hood. Which led to pulling the dip on the back bumper and Raptor Lining it cuz I like it way better. Now, I got so tired of the peeling clear coat I decided to sand down and play with some color options. Plasti dipped one side red to give me an idea of what Raptor Liner-red tint, the entire truck would be like but than I went with another option and hit the left side with Gloss Sunrise Red...


So now, gotta decide which red and gonna pull the dip on the grill and bumper and Raptor Line it, not sure about the hood- black or red...I did raptor line the fender flares and gas tank... and yes I could take this to a shop and pay $$$$, but there’s no fun in that.

 

looks good. I say it depends on how you use your truck. if it's more a trail rig, then i'd go with the raptor liner. holds up well and won't even flinch at stuff like branches, light tree or rock contact, etc. if it's a daily that sometimes sees off-road use, then i'd say go with the gloss red. my vote goes for the latter just based on looks but take that with a grain of salt. hell, even if you don't wheel your truck or leave the pavement often the raptor liner is still a great choice. just depends on the look you're going for. paint looks good though, you're far better at spraying on color than i am. i'm just too damn impatient.

 

This last 3 weeks I...
-welded up a rear bumper with 2 4xinovation hinges that lets my bike rack swing out of the way of the gate doe not ruin my recovery angle... and will soon hold many jerry cans and/or a wheel
-attached an addicted front plate bumper which was a PITA because the 2004 lacks the last 3 or 4 inches of frame.
-rigged up blinkers and a license plate light after frying my made in china lights i ordered long ago
-came up with a much better way to move the winch from front to back when needed
-put the front license on the fairlead because I got too many warnings from the C.S.U. parking "services" department that i had no front plate. But it looks kinda showboaty so i might take it off.
-Painted the bumpers, then again, then sanded it off because it looked like crap, then did it all again, I hate this paint. Lamented no longer being able to find the tractor enamel i had in decades past.
-Chassis Savered the first 3 feet of the interior of the box frame and any rust near the front bumper.

Today I....
-ordered convertible rag top restoring stuff from england and will restore my soft topper soon
-called junk yards for a replacement rear left door. I have been looking for a year. again and again and again I fail.
-ordered hockey pucks from Slovakia not China or India
-removed washer fluid tank and ordered a new smaller one. trimmed plastic.
-used an endoscope to check for interior dead spaces for rust or dirt... hey.... there is sizable dead space between the plastic bed liner and the exterior body.... so I am now looking at marine websites thinking I might add a few deck plates to access that space. It could be a decent cache of emergency stuff, a roll of tools, spare parts, wd-40 and some Oil.
-took some measurements for a bed rack

 

Cooper Pros FTW. Best tire i have owned. I have aired down to 8 psi and they float! I don't dd the beast now but they do great on the freeway. And like matt said, they arent load. (I actually like when tires hum. Lol)

 

That's what I plan on getting. Simple enough for a daily and I can always reinforce if it looks like it won't hold up. I'll just paint it myself to match.

 

A certain degree of hum is definately not a bad thing.

As they wear, my Duratracs are starting to sound like Darth Vader's Tie Fighter... I'm not mad.

 

Drove it to work to test the hydro assist on the street. The entire time I had Bill O'Reilly's voice in my head, "FUCK IT!!! We'll do it live!!!"

 

pictures!!!

 

has the raptor liner cracked when your bumper flexes? Thinking of doing mine but the bumpers seem flimsy. Wasn’t sure how much flex it would take.

I say raptor liner it but I may be bias as I’m slowly buying everything to do mine in either OD green or Voodoo blue.

 

Ordered everything to do a satoshi grill on my 2000. New grill to hack apart and precut mesh with land cruiser emblem

 

I want to do a 02-04 front end swap so bad! I’m settling in this for now haha.

edit: what did you mount the lights on?

 

O rly. Maybe too flexible of a spring? I plan on doing dual antennas up front, one being a firefly and the other an AM/FM antenna. I was going to try without springs first and see how it faired.

 

i've got a single antenna mounted on one of the provided tabs on my ARB bumper. it flexes a bit but hardly at all on trails. the antenna is so light that it really doesnt put too much pressure on the spring. with that said though @Yetimetchkangmi was running a 4' antenna and i'm only running a 3'. even still, i can't imagine that it would've hit my windshield even if it was mounted on a ditch light bracket. i mainly put the spring on so that i wouldn't snap the antenna going in parking garages or risk it on lower hanging branches. personally i wouldn't even consider running a fiberglass antenna without a spring... MAYBE a steel one. it really only starts to flex over noticeably going at 80+ which is rare given that the speed limits in WA are 70 max (or at least it's supposed to be).

for reference the spring i'm running is a Firestik brand heavy stainless steel one. here's the link to it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00042LC9M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

That's the one I just book marked. I think mine will be a touch heavier because I plan on putting a lift and lay on it too, but still should be okay at 3ft.

 

The raptor line hasn’t cracked. Been about 6-8 months. I love the way it looks. Better than the dip or chrome IMO.