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

Yeah I'm running the axle with the 4runner backing plate rn. I don't have a press otherwise I'd try to swap the taco backing plate over, and my guess is that it would fit just the same as the regular elocker shaft.

 

I worked at AutoZone and we will happily loose money to make the customer happy

 

Well... I hit a deer today. just popped out of the trees and ran right in front of the truck. Truck seems to be okay but, among other things, I lost the little trim piece that goes beneath the headlights. the side marker light also took a beating, my CB antenna stud is bent, and the bumper got pushed back a little bit. Hoping all of these are easily fixable. as soon as I can get to an auto parts store and borrow some 1/2" drive tools I think that i'm going to loosen the bolts on the bumper and then see if I can get it pulled back out. one of the braces for the headlight protectors is now touching the chrome grill surround, wheras it wasn't before. I picked up the metal trim piece off the road but to be honest I'm not sure if it's worth salvaging. I'm definitely going to replace the trim piece and fix the bumper alignment but the other stuff may have to wait. Anyone know the part number on the trim piece?

on a similar note, ARB has just earned themselves a customer for life, as well as Toyota. the truck took it like a champ, I honestly didn't feel anything, all I head was a loud bang that coincided with the impact. that and the antenna was noticeably bent after the impact. If I hadn't had the bumper, I would be willing to bet I would be looking at a new headlight, grill, radiator, driver's side fender, bumper, and potentially more. Hands down saved the truck from being towed, and it still drives fine, headlights are good, etc. just looks a little funky now. If i didn't care so much about the way the truck looked (i like to keep it intact as much as possible) I honestly would just fix the bumper and call it good.

 

Doesn’t look too bad! I’ve seen a lot worse. Did the deer make it?

 

yeah, the damage isnt too too bad. it's mainly just that my truck is my baby and... well I'm a bit OCD when it comes to taking care of it. As far as the deer... it didn't make it. It flew about 15 feet to the other side of the road, skidded another 10 off into the ditch, and then when i went to check and see if it was dead it was. My best guess is that it broke it's neck on impact and died quickly.

 

All these dog platforms and Im like

stay in bed or stay home

 

Like usual, you're the bestest.

 

No solo arms. Doing the TC cam tab gussets. Chaos in their name is appropriate.

 

The gussets are in but like some of their other kits, they were quite the challenge to make work. It took twice as long as it should have and there were some anxious moments but the truck is back on the ground and rolling.

We reinstalled the arms without swapping bushings. The main reason was a jig is going to be required to remove the whitelines. There was no easy simple way to do it without destroying the bushings in the process and possibly causing damage to the arms.

Makes me wonder if anyone on here has tried to remove/replace a set of whitelines yet. If so, I'd sure like to hear about their experience.

 

Do the Eimkeith ones since they are off. The fit is awesome and they basically make your LCA’s smooth like butter.



Especially since you like cracking stuff

Edit: looks like I got to you too late lol

 

I have the same window sticker. Roll Tide!

 

Just replaced the oil and the brake pads. Air filter next

 

All my dogs have ridden in the back of the truck.

 

just ordered a 12oz can of 3L5 spray paint and clearcoat from Automotivetouchup.com. the shipping times were pretty far out so i figured that I ought to get the ball rolling now. still not sure what i'm going to do about the marker light or the CB stud but i'll try and bend the stud back and i might just have to live with the marker light. If i can't bend the stud back then i'll either just buy a new stud and spring setup or (if it's the mount it's self that's bent) then i'll move it to the other mount on the bumper. As far as the tools i brought to college, I neglected to bring a 1/2" drive socket set or extension. I have a breaker bar and torque wrench (extra stuff that i threw in) that are both 1/2" but I'll go to Harbor freight today and pick up a set of sockets and an extension. planning on buying these replacement trim pieces off ebay: https://www.ebay.com/i/193576419702...zl_1GXr9uRSrcfVS7vuDSFSVJ3zWXneYaAjg7EALw_wcB. after looking at the old one and comparing it to pictures of the new product it's not worth trying to fix. especially when the replacement parts are only $20 for a pair. I might be able to fix it if i had access to my whole shop with a bench vise and all but I have none of that here and to be honest, I'm not real excited about trying to bend it back with a framing hammer, some channellocks, and a set of slip joint pliers. it's well worth my time to just buy a new part and paint it to match the truck.

 

Start em young

 

Well, that’s a bummer. Sorry to hear about the difficulty of getting them out. That’s enough for me to return the set I got, and go with sleeveless inserts you bought. A few extra bucks to make swaps easier is well worth it in my mind.

 

Interesting. Makes me feel better without tearing the axles back apart. I wonder when the axle shafts changed in the 4runners?

I think it would have been obvious when I put the bearings on if the bearing seat was not correct for the bearings I had because I would assume it would not press together correctly. Also, if the 4Runner shafts were slightly longer than my original axles, I would think the 4Runner axles would not be able seat and bolt up.

 

lol also did a new dog platform. Just posted in the unique mods thread

 

Sealed my tailgate.

My 98 has never had issues with dust or moisture coming in through the tailgate gaps, but holy geebus the 04 is awful. Last weekend drove down a FS road for 50+ miles and all our gear was coated with dust.

This picture doesn't show just how much dust made it into the bed.



So I ran the tailgate seal down the vertical sides on the truck but decided to run it along the bottom of the tailgate itself (cutting out material for the drain holes) rather than along the front edge of the bed itself. In order to proper seal the tailgate the bulb seal would have had to be 3/4" above the bed which obviously would have been ridiculous. So I ran it flush with the bottom edge of the tailgate.

Just doing the "light" test I feel confident this will seal out all dust and moisture coming in from the gaps. Prior to sealing it, tons of daylight coming through. After sealing it, there is zero light coming through.

Only issue is the tailgate is very tight to shut now. And opening.. if you don't push in a bit first the handle is being overly strained. I'll just have to get used to pushing in a bit when unlatching the strikers. Or hopefully the bulb seal compresses just a little bit over time.

 

Did this with my truck about a year ago, works awesome for keeping dust out and the majority of water. I do have to lift my handle up while I push the tailgate closed now because of it.

Also, be aware that with that seal your tailgate may come open when youre off roading/ on bumpy ass roads. Mine did it all the time so I had to put an eyelet in the tailgate with a hook attached to my sleeping platform in the bed to keep it from opening on its own.