What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

The lower bushing on one of my bilstien 5125 rear shocks was sloppy after 30k miles. I looked through the rear all-pro lift kit that I got and found that they sent fox shocks lower bushings that was not needed ( the bilstien came with their own). So at lunch I got a peace of card board and laid on it on the snow and took it out. Used the drake press at work to swap out bushings. Works great now.

next on the to do list is
Cobra cb (thinking of mounting under seat)
ecg front dif bushing
Led fog lights

 

what about all the fan boys that think they need a manual trans on the trail though. Front and rear lockers with an auto trans is where its at folks. Go check out a purpose built rock crawler for you ladies that don't believe me. With an auto your not griding the gearbox and you can feel the axle wrap. Keep doing what your doing man. Maybe you can teach these young pups to drive in the dirt! I had a full size Truck with 36 TSL's and could hold my beer and push the pedal and go any damn where I wanted.

 

With a stock Tacoma 4WD system you don't want to lock up the front diff because it'll break front axles/CV's quickly. But I totally agree with you on an automatic trans.

That's why there's a Dana 60 (or2) with a locker in its future.

 

solid axles from a F250 with a 6.0 that shit the bed is where I like to be on a trail. Every junkyard in America has a cheap set of axles waiting on us.

 

this looks like it would reduce flex on trail...

 

driveshafts made out of paper cant handle very much abuse and trailside ujoint repairs suck ass.

 

Did a little arts and crafts project today!


After a wheeling trip to Utah a while back I realized that with my wheel/tire combo (295/75r16s on 3.5 BS SCS F5s) I rubbed bad. So I pulled the flares on the trip and shittily trimmed the actual fenders...

I’ve been driving the truck around like that for a year and a half. Turns out that cutting wasn’t enough and I still rub the fenders at times at full bump and lock. So today I cut that shit more.

 

Nice! PLUS it’s lined up with the bumper now

 

I like the way it turned out. That’s also why I may not trim the rear... it already lines up perfectly with the bumper with just the flares pulled!

 

This is what 2" trim up front, and no trim in the rear looks like:

 

@deekyn hard to see in the pics but I’m assuming you ditched the liners up front. Did you replace them with anything or just gonna run it dirty? I didn’t see a snorkel either is why

 

should I buy a lotto ticket or be extra careful today?

 

Do it, that mileage on a day they pull for 970,000,000 is a sign. Lemme get some kings after you win for the advice

 

Did you buy the ECGS axle seal installer, I saw these available will the needle bearing removal and the new bushing installer tool? Just curious if the axel seal installer tool makes it a bit easier and insures that it’s seated properly without damage, here’s the tool:

https://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-23994075-t8-clamshell-bushing-installer-tool.html

The link will take you to the bushing installer, but there’s a drop down to add the seal installer puck:



Hope the third times a charm for ya and the seal holds, that’s gotta be irritating!

 

I installed 5100’s on my rear axle. I previously installed a complete 3rd Gen OR Takeoff suspension, which has been great, but I didn’t care for the rear shocks as the back end floated too much after crappy road surfaces. The 5100s are a big improvement.

 

Could you crash course me on the true purpose and auxiliary purposes of this?

 

I did not buy the seal installer tool. I bought the bearing removal tool and the bearing press tool but not the seal install tool. I read through a few threads and everyone was suggesting a 2"-1.5" coupler fits the outside of the seal almost perfect which it did. The problem I ran into on the first replacement was I didnt start it straight so it went in cockeyed. These seals are just slightly bigger than the hole as they should be so they form to the inside of the void they are filling. The downside is the rubber around the outside is... well rubber. If you dont get it in their straight it rips.

I found starting the seal with the back side of a punch to get it started straight then sending it home with the PVC worked pretty well. I would give it a few smacks with the hammer to the PVC then run my finger around the outside of the seal to ensure it was continuously going in straight. If I felt one side was not in as far as the rest I went back to the punch to even it out then back to the PVC. Back and forth between the two until it was flush.

I am not sure if that tool will help you seat it straight or not but that was the most difficult part of the whole thing. I took it for a spin yesterday after mounting the tire up and there was no leak this morning. I think working it in slowly did the trick.

 

Traction bars are usually put in place to keep axle wrap from happening. They are usually set up like a 4link or 3link to keep the axle in place and to keep it from turning with the wheels under high torque. if you havent heard of axle wrap google it there are a bunch of articles and videos showing how the front of the spring gives and the axle turns like the wheels under load. I haven't seen too many fabbed up like this one with the shackle at the front which will be interesting if it actually stops axle wrap or just flexes in his application.

Would be nice to see a go pro strapped under there to see axle wrap before and after with the bar to show how much it stops wrap.

 

It won't. The front pivot point is past the front of the leaf springs and the front pivot point rotates to allow for axle articulation.

 

To stop axle wrap. Axle wrap is a problem on Tacomas, especially if they have stock leaf springs, because the springs are near flat when loaded. When power is applied to the rear axle the springs twist like this ~ . The problem is grossly exaggerated if the truck has blocks to lift the rear of it, like mine does (2 1/4"). I would be sitting at a stop light and it'd feel like someone just rear-ended my truck as the springs twist. It's really hard on the driveshaft's carrier bearing, leaf springs, and u-joints. Taking off from a dead stop used to feel super sloppy too.