Post Offroading cleaning and part preservation

Well to start off, took my truck through the mud a week and half ago..right after i took it, i sprayed down the engine compartment to try to knock loose any debris or mud that was slung up there...

the next day i started getting a whining noise, which turned out was the idler pulley bearing on the steering pump...toyota replaced it for me as a part of the warranty..the mechanic that did the swap noted that there was obvious signs of off-road usage blah blah blah and possible other bearing failure...luckily for me, my service rep is cool and didnt note it on my account

so which leads me to my question...

i dont have much experience with post-offroad maintenance...what should i do to help prevent future bearing failure after offroading..besides the obvious of not going off road...i rinse off my engine/engine bay on occasion..should i be doing anything further to try to "reverse" any off road activity, maybe atleast to where toyota doesnt notice it?

 

There's not a darn thing you can do to prevent bearing failure (like that) from offroading.

The cheapest way out of it, is stop offroading (duh). The inexpensive way to do it, is just replace things as they go bad.

The expensive way to do it (but fun), is get another rig specifically for the trails and keep your tacoma out of the mud.

 

Avoid the mud or at least going through the deep stuff or going through fast.

Afterwards hose everything off really well. Careful with hosing the electricals under the hood. Don't forget to get under it and hose there too. It seems to collect in the frame rails and rear bumper.

 

YOu know what pisses me off about the stearlerships and the warranty bullshit...........The fact that they try to pawn the damage back on you for doing shit to the truck they say isn't meant for, like off-roading. Well, that's bullshit, because when i was shopping for my truck and picked up the Tacoma Brochure, not once did I see our Tacoma's on an f'ing paved street. It advertised everything as taking the harsh enviroment of the baja Mexico desert and so forth. So.....when some shop manager gives me some bullshit about off-roading, I give them back the ole heave hoe about false advertisement and they better fix my shit or else.

Sorry, for the off-topic, but that crap irk's me.

 

Well at least his dealership fixed it without a fight. I had the same problem and they fixed it without a second thought. If they didn't fix it then I would totally agree with you.

 

I totally agree with you, I was actually venting that same frustration to my wife the other day...it was brought to my attention when my blower motor was going out, they told me if debris was in there that warranty wouldn't cover it...

 

I see, my wife wasn't too happy with me this trip, especially since it's our only vehicle and I ended up busting a brake line that same trip...offroading will have to cease until we get her a car, or I give her my taco and I get a beater

Yea I'm gonna have to spend some time soon to get all the collected mud out, did it once before and it probably took me the better part of an hour..the only thing is I need to find a hose I can use...damn apartment complexes...

 

Invest in a good attachment to build the pressure. I spend about half the time under the truck cleaning after I wheel it.

 

I take offense to dealerships using a muddy truck as a warranty denial loophole when they show their shit being used in that fashion in commercials to entice you into showroom. Mine can get muddy from doubletrack unpaved "roads". Hell, people's driveways in the country can get it that dirty. But if it isn't showroom clean underneath, they wanna act like you drove it in the Lucas Offroad Series or Baja 1000 and no way are they gonna cover what you paid extra for to be covered. WITHIN REASON. I'm not talkin about something that has obviously been 4 wheelin with rock dents and brush stripes all down it. It's just more weak hippocritical bullshit!

 

That had happened to me, I just don't know which bearing is the one, going out. I know 2 of then are bad, i just didn't think about that power steering pump pulley

 

I would just try and get it as clean as possible. Mud sticks to everything and holds moisture and causes parts to rust prematurely.

 

Mud is bad news, never go through mud on your everyday driver.

 

Yea well the thing is that Toyota advertises the Tacoma to be an off road vehicle...look at their site, not a single paved road in the photos...even when you "build" your Tacoma, the digital image sits in sand with the beach right behind it...

Also with the fj, they show it rock crawling for petes sake! I think it's bs that they advertise a vehicle for certain things but when you do those things, you're SOL

 

Yep, richer still is selling a 4wd vehicle and expecting everyone to just use 4wd when it's icy or snowy or real rainy ON PAVEMENT. Or selling something called an "Offroad Package" on something they don't really approve of you driving offroad.

 

yea, so basically, dont do these things:






or





all pulled off toyotas site

 

^^ wow lol

 

I didn't see any mud If that stream is clean fresh water and not too deep I can actually see it as cleaning the undercarriage.

 

OK, go over rocks, thru water or go thru dirt, just not water and dirt mixed together and none of that at high speed. Maybe that should be a new sticker in the door frame. Again, wasn't refencing Lucas offroad shit or Baja 1000 shit and mud can splash in bad places at low speeds and the toyota shots don't all look slow speeds. NEVER was I implying go thrash the hell out of your truck beyond reason and try to get by on dealers with abuse to it. Was just sayin they'll try to deny, assuming any offroad use, even the stuff depicted on their site, consititutes abuse and that is the hippocritical nonsense that I referenced. Always operate under the "take responsibilty for your actions or inactions" code of conduct for any reason should be a given.

 

I love how they advertise the "TRD OFF ROAD" tacomas, but then expect you not to offroad them?? What's the logic in that? The truck is meant for offroading, and they damn well better warranty it in those situations if they sell an "OFF ROAD" package IMO

 

+1 on that. Just to add to "the not owning up to the damage" part. My Boss had a regular 4x4 Jimmy sometime back in which he was simply driving on a dirt road and not in 4 wheel drive and some bearings blew out or something. the Jimmy had about 8k miles, the tow truck came to get the truck with all the ease in the world. once he got to the dealership, they tried to deny to fix it, b/c the truck was dusty from driving on a dirt road, claiming that he was 'off-roading'. So he basically told them, you do know that i bought the truck with the assumption of your advertising that it was off-road capable. He's an older gentlemen with no intention of treating his truck like most of us here do, but it's a proven fact that the dealer will try to deny any repairs that are obviously a warranty issue, but try to put it off as intentional. IMO, they are the ones that won't own up to their supposed ads. Anyways not to make an arguement out of this and with all that's said, make sure you clean the truck real good before you take it in and pull off any aftermarket shit, this way they can't tell you shit. Assholes. Not you guys, the stealerships.