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

Anybody have a picture of these on their truck?

 

I like to see at night

 

same. In all my years of Tacoma scouting, I’ve only ever seen these once… on the Internet.

But honestly, these were simply an aesthetic mod back in the day but never caught on because a lot of people didn’t like the look and it DRASTICALLY reduces light output from the already weak OEM headlights. I’m not even sure those covers are 48 state legal, could be wrong though.

Edit: I did a Google search and apparently tinting your headlights gives Californians cancer so they outlawed it



IF ITS ON THE INTERNET, ITS TRUE!

 

It's definitely possible to do as any have said - using Wheelers lines is the way I went originally as well with the Napa Eclipse Calipers (as Mike @Digiratus mentioned). The "problem" with the banjo situation is that (again, as Mike said), you need a machined surface on the caliper for the crush washer setup to work correctly. This means you have to hunt around for calipers that aren't powder coated, or that are machined after coating. (Napa Eclipse are OK for instance - and that's what a lot of folks on here used since they did the work many years ago - but you can't get them at most Napa's anymore - at least, out west.)

Note: this is in addition to the shortening/drilling of the banjo bolt that many have to do as well.

The reason not all 13WL calipers are machined for banjo+crush washers is that they were designed for a hard line (since that's how Tundra's came from the factory). So, the safer bet - which means you can use any 13WL should yours fail on the trail - is to use a hardline into the caliper. You don't lose any clearance with the coilovers using this method (again, if you did, all Tundra's and 4Runners would have problems), and it means you can much more easily replace a caliper in the future.

Here's what happened to me on the trail: IDBDR Pt. 7 – The Curse of the Lolo Motorway

Here was my evaluation of what happened and why: Rig Review: Idaho July 2019 – What worked and what didn’t?

Here's where I decided to go hard lines and why: Making It Right: Tacoma-to-Tundra Brake Upgrade

At any rate, you can make the soft lines work for sure - but doing so only saves ~$50 on the upgrade (~10% of the cost) so for me, is not worth the savings. Heck, it's less than a tank of gas these days.

 

its funny. because on the tundras the brake lines hit the 2.5" coil overs and running Tacoma braided lines is the fix.

 

Insane… better carry some spare shafts and cvs

 

That is a lot for daily driver. But for many of us, we've been flirting with 6K for a while now when we are loaded up for a 2 week adventure.

The rear axles are a little vulnerable at that weight but the fronts should be fine.

 

These axles will take a lot of abuse.

The rear axle in my old Hilux came out of a 2001 Tacoma.

 

I've bent two of them.

 

I guess I've been lucky

 

Or I unlucky.

 

Or

 

you DD at this weight without being loaded, that's insane. Did you box inner and plated the outer rear frame for strength?

 

I always carry spare driveline, CVs, LBJs, OTREs etc. It's actually included in the 5980.

 

finally… a proper definition of irony.

 

Rear frame is boxed and also has reinforcement plates on the outside. Also spindles are gusseted and I have @eimkeith plates on top of the front shock mounts.


My "DD" weight isn't exactly "without being loaded." My DD weight being 5980 includes A LOT more of my load out than most people.

The 5980 includes:
Spare parts... rear section of driveline, spare CV axles, Spare LBJs, OTREs, and a medium ammo box of small spares like spark plugs/wires, lug nuts, etc, etc, etc.
Recovery gear... static straps, snatch straps, tree savers, rope, ratchet straps, bow shackles, snatch blocks, etc.
Fluids... Gallon antifreeze, quart of brake fluid, ATF, Oil, etc
Tools... essentially everything you need to do pretty much anything you need to do to our truck aside from a specific specialty tool. Along with Milwaukee mini impact, ratchet wrench, etc. (I even carry a torque wrench) Also a bag of electrical, with OBDII scanner, test light, spare fuses.
I also carry the ARB 50 quart refrigerator, both my 5 pound propane tanks daily (and it's part of that weight)


The only things I need to "load" to go out is 1 - 50 quart tote, and 1 - 20 quart tote with actual camp supplies (camp stove, cookware etc), 1 - 30 quart cooler with drinks, food, pillows, a backpack for each of us (me and wife) with clothes... and 5 to 15 gallons of fuel/water (typically 5 gal of water, but sometimes we'll take 10 of water 5 of fuel, depending on what we're doing)


The reason I keep the truck loaded is we go out quite a bit. Whether it be to camp or to day trip, we go out on average more than every other weekend. I keep everything in it because it's easier to not forget things, it takes less effort to get ready, it's easier to pack if everything has a place and stays in that place.

 

Yeah I thought my Tacoma was getting porky at 4500. I also love small light wheeling rigs…I love what Tim Hardy with his zuk and Brennan Metcalf with his flatty are doing by keeping the rigs light with creative ways to pack everything they need without going full overlander.

I get the having everything ready to go so you can spontaneously hit the road without a ton of effort. I can also appreciate being able to be independent off the grid out west for a week at a time...That just doesn't exist east of the Mississippi. At the same time, loading up a Tacoma to probably 6500 lbs seems like a lot for the platform...a buddy with a caged 80 on 40's comes in at 6460 with a spare 40 with wheel, full of fuel, 2 people and camp gear for 10 days. The 80 handles it fine but the Tacoma platform definitely has boundaries with things like bending housings, cracking bed, cracking coil buckets, etc when you get heavy and run some miles offroad. Either jumping up to an 80 or lightening up your loadout would probably serve you well.

At the same time, I realize I'm the pot calling the kettle black since I haul in a 40' toyhauler that grosses around 26k with all of my creature comforts at camp . I've driven the Tacoma and camped out of it recently but for out east where you have a base camp, it doesn't make a ton of sense to load it down with stuff when the tow rig is an entire order of magnitude nicer to drive than the Tacoma loaded with gear.

 

Yeah, there is some of that too.

 

I think the real answer is you don't need nearly as much shit as you think you need.

I'm living out of my truck this summer and packed light, and wish I had packed even lighter in a few areas.

Keep it simple. Learned that the hard way with my 1st gen.

 

I've never needed the fire extinguisher in my truck... and I do keep it simple. It all stays in the truck, so I don't have to pack, unpack it