The Lair

That makes sense. Is the upgrade a simple bolt on, or is it modifying brake lines and such. Link?

 

He isn't wrong...

 

Audible books for boomers.... BAM!!

 

You just use those brake line extenders in Randy's link to get to the other side of the mc....add a threaded rod to the booster arm to reach the tacoma pedal and that's it.... everything else bolts right up...

 

Could I do just the MC and see any improvement?

 

I was wondering that too, I’m not sure.

 

Yes, you will still be moving more fluid. You just won't have "as firm" of a pedal feel as you might with the booster swap.

 

Trip prep and had to snap some pics of Betty. Those with a keen eye will noticed my passenger side has a little negative camber. Need to raise that side about an inch to level it out side to side and then I’ll tweak the alignment.

 

Have lots of experience with that. I recommend making your life easier and buy the booster. The push rod is adjustable with little in the way of an easy way to go about it. You adjust it too long and you won't figure it out until you get down the road and your brakes lock up because of fluid expansion. To make the adjustment easier I had custom braided lines made to go from the master cylinder to OEM hard lines. That way I wouldn't have to bleed the brakes everytime I made a micrometer adjustment on the push rod.

 

Is there a booster kit like the MC linked above, or did you use one from another vehicle and mod it?

 

No kit that I know of. It's been a while since I did the research, but I believe the Sequoia booster fit the Tacoma and then the master cylinder bolts right up to that.

 

https://www.performancebrakesunlimited.com/tacoma-master-cylinder-upgrade.html

 

So I really like my current bed set up. One gripe, however, is that whenever I go through mud, some gets flung on my gear. It's really not the end of the world but I would like to minimize that if I can. I have half a sheet of 1/8" steel just sitting around, so I'm going to add some removable side panels. I would like to keep this thing somewhat able to break down for removal from the bed. Although 1/8" steel certainly isn't ideal, it won't add as much weight as I was anticipating. An online calculator puts it right around 25 lbs total. Another benefit of that too is I can mount stuff to it if I want, which I'll likely move my hi lift and shovel up out of the bed.

This isn't happening anytime soon as it's too damn hot, but just an idea I had that I thought I'd share.

 

How do you plan on making it removable? Or have you thought that far ahead?

 

Weld a couple of tabs to the bed bars and bolt the panel down. It will also tie into the bed rail up front so that doesn't wiggle around.

 

What about doing pins instead of bolts to give it a quick release that way you can just take it off if you need to access something on the trail or take it off at a campsite?

 

I worry I wouldn't be able to get it tight enough so it doesn't rattle. My bed is so tiny and there are like 4 things in there anyways, so it's not a big deal to just pull stuff out of the bed.

I also may weld on some more forward bars and try my hand at a canvas cover, but I'm not the most artistic when it comes to sewing.

 

If you know how to get baked-in mud spots off of a Softopper, I'm all ears.

 

Use a convertible top cleaning kit

 

The other idea I had was just to go buck wild and fully shell in the bed, with specific cutouts for the spare tire and CO2. Basically just weld a sheet of 14 gauge steel. Basically just make a custom little camper shell.