Nova Scotia BS Thread

I'm running Cooper Discoverer A/TW year round. The current set I have on I bought off @Canoehead when he went to 285s and are probably due for replacement but they're still getting the job done, if a little sketchy on ice or packed snow. I'll probably replace them with Cooper AT3/4S since the A/TW doesn't seem to be available any more.

 

i put a set of the AT3/4S on in August. Canadian tire had them on for 40% off, I got them for $660.

 

Damn, I just ordered a set at 25% off thinking I may as well have them on hand.. $907 all in

Edit, f that. Cancelled my order and will hold out for 40% off and/or a manufacturers rebate.

 

Cool
do they come with studs? the website kind of makes me think they do.
also where did you buy them from, never heard of Gislaved

 

They can be studded, I didn't bother with this set. I got them from OK Tire, and heard of the brand from a buddy who owns Volvos. He had great things to say about them, and honestly they are some of the nicest winter tires I have had. Quite, good wet and dry handling, great in the snow and slush, decent on ice. My subdivision was literally a skating rink with ice and water on top and I was able to maintain control of the truck without issue.

 

I have a set of winterforce on Tacoma wheels if anyone needs a set. Doubt there is over 1000kms on em. 265/75/16

 

So the reason I'm running winters year round is I decided I didn't want to store a second set of tires. But, my spare is the original Dunlop 245/65/16 and the rim is starting to get scabby. I kinda want to keep the spare around because I think it's cool that it's original, but I also want to run a 265 spare to match the 4 that are on the ground. Does anyone have a couple of 2nd gen steelies kicking around they would part with and am I an idiot for going down this road?

 

The Falken's are ok I spose. They pull ok in the snow when you want to go forward but they do not turn well at all and they suck in really slippery conditions. My Michelin X-Ice tires are WAY better but I stuck with the Falken's this winter to give em a try, will DEF use the Michelin's next year. The problem I have with the AT3Ws is that they dig in the snow rather then float on top and the number of times I've slid sideways when I didn't want to has been unnerving. The Michelin's don't look very aggressive but they are by far the best winter tires I've ever owned and I've never gotten stuck with the X-ICe tires, I got stuck in my driveway today with the damn Falken's! I always felt sure footed with the X-Ice's on but with the Falken's I find I drive a lot more cautiously. I love how the Falken's look but summer performance wise they've only been ok, the Michelin AT tires I had beforehand did not look aggressive at all but got me through more stuff then these Falken's have for whatever reason. And the Falken's are bigger too, I think they just dig too much for the limited ground clearance i have on a stock Tacoma so they get me high centered very easily which is annoying as hell. I'm seriously considering giving up the better look of the more aggressive Falken's and going back to the Michelin AT's once the Falken's wear out...

Was hoping to get out and do some filming with the Go Pro and the Drone but with all the shoveling I ended up doing I wore myself out too much to go play

Chad

 

I hope everyone made it through the storm with little to no damage!!

 

Did you? We didn't loose power, but I did have to run a space heater in the cab of the truck for a while to soften up the sheet of ice. I think you are on the other side of the 0 degree line from that storm though....

 

Backyard snow park took a beating and the basement may or may not have leaked a little (crossing my fingers the dampness I saw was just snow melting off gear we brought inside)..
Haven't had to drive the truck since Thurs so it's still a block of ice. Working from home today but might have to go defrost it at lunch so I can get to the office tomorrow

 

I just ran mine for about 5 min, and even though the temp gage was still laying down I could tell it was doing something. at the 10 min mark I was chipping away at the ice pretty easily.
I was fine, but it drives home the importance of taking down that stupid tree in my front lawn ( too close to the power lines )
i'm not sure how may more storms that old tree has left in it.

 

So!

preeeeettttyyyy sure I have a blown headgasket. The actual diagnosis has yet to take place, but its not leaking on the driveway and I'm having to top it up every week.....
The two places I trust either wont do the job, or are trying to talk me out of it ( high mileage, blah blah blah )

I'm toying with the idea of a complete rebuild.

Anyone have any good recommendations on a shop that actually does rebuilds? like has either had a rebuild done by this shop, or knows some one that's had one done by them? ( and not 2nd cousin twice removed kind of "knows a guy" but like your good buddy, or someone you trust )

I'd like to do it myself, but on the other hand not having my truck for a few weeks its not looking possible either ( plus this weather sucks, and my garage is too small for this type of work. )

I'm looking at you valley crew!
any good recommendations?

 

A&J Automotive and Machine did the head for my BMW, and polished up the crankshaft. I am very happy with the machine work that they did, but I don't know what they would charge to do redo an engine. I have had work done by Nova in the past, but I wasn't overly happy with how it turned out. If you're looking to rebuild the thing I would do it yourself. Otherwise honestly just find a junkyard motor and plop it in, or just do the head gasket.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.
looks like a couple of good old boys building race car engines

I also found a place in Bridgewater that seems to build race car engines too. I"ll give them both a call.

anyone got a sub $1000 beater that *should* last 6 - 7 months? lol
Looking at taking the truck off the road to minimize any possible damage

 

I know this was a year ago but how bad a job is this? My upper pulley is seized and I'm trying to decide whether I do the Amazon bearing trick, get the gates pulley off rock auto for $65 all in or go pick up the one the dealer tucked under the sales desk for me at $130 tax in. Today does seem like a beautiful day to curse at my truck. - update, with that in mind I decided having today's weather in February is a sign from the tacoma gods that will not be repeated so the oem pulley is going on. Had to scrub some rust off the bolt to get the 14mm socket on but so far so good..

 

On a slightly unrelated note, has anyone ever seen a cv boot get shredded like this?



The black shit is undercoating but the grey goop appears to be grease coming out of the axle

 

I've had a few cv boots go like that. Run them like that for a while and then the joint goes too.... I found that a new half axle from Carquest was about as much as a boot kit from Toyota, so I just swapped the axles.

Idler pulley was not that bad a job for me, I'm sure you'll have no problems. Especially since your last job was the steering rack!

 

Boots aren’t all that tough to change if you can’t get one for a decent price. Think I got my last one from Canadian Tire. Duncan is 100% on that one, if you don’t replace the boot soon the joint will be toast. With the amount of grease around that you should be fine with a boot, clearly hasn’t dried out yet.

 

Once I managed to get a socket onto the bolt, idler pulley was easy. Good old Canadian metal growth compound made the 14mm a little tight.. Fingernails and a wire brush saved the day.



Shiny