What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Yeah despite my rant about Toyota still sticking with old tech on the Taco, I'll accept it because despite it all, it's the unrefinedness of the 3rd gen that I find endearing. Sure it has (always had) crap braking performance, the interior is just a bunch of cheap grade hard plastic everywhere, the front seats are borderline shit (even with 2020's improvements) and the automatic transmission shift points are garbage, but as long as I don't do anything foolish to it and keep it well maintained, chances are high that it'll last forever keeping its value and that matters the most to me.

 

Could always fix the shifting problem with a third pedal.

 

Yeah probably gonna cough up the 150 pesos for OEM and call it a day. No more hastle.

Never heard of the pulley turning method to knock off crud? Interesting.

 

I’ve noticed my ‘21 shifts a lot better than my ‘17. I’ve heard (as I think anyone who follows this thread has) that the OV tune helps as well as a re-gear if you’re running 33’s or bigger.

 

Like with another dead pedal?

 

Lol, a clutch pedal. Could fix the shifting problems by switching a manual gearbox

 

I did that mod the day I bought mine. Congrats! It’s definitely a good feeling now that everyday vehicles are approaching $50k.

 

Sure...but only if I can sell high and buy low. These days finding a brand new stripper Off-Road trim like mine for just under $36k I got quoted 2 years ago just doesn't happen.

I'll keep this truck until it dies somehow or ends up in Donbass with a Soviet KPV 14.5 heavy machine gun mounted to the bed used by the Ukrainian insurgency lol...

 

Sometimes the tensioner pulleys, at least on the 1.8, 2.5, and 2.7’s like to fool you into thinking the “bearings” are going. My master tech buddy says to spin them a few rotations in the opposite direction to knock anything weird out. Don’t spray ANYTHING on them! Not sure on the 3.5 or 4.0 but I’m it won’t hurt. Just the free spinning pulleys.Changing out that serpentine belt can make a clunky sounding engine sound like new sometimes. Find the lowest internet oem price then go to your dealership and ask them to meet or beat it. Tell them you would rather your community get the sale, it makes their sales numbers look better.

 

Some of us have 5100 some have trd. No difference? Than what’s the real difference? Other than a loss of money. I ended up replacing the block on my trd lift with a toytec progressive aal. Even more money spent.

 

How often do you guys charge your jump starter? Somebody here said once a month and that's what I've been doing but I just read the manual on my GooLoo (Love that name ) and it says it's best to charge it every 3 months.

 

Tuesday & Wednesday I (solo) installed Bilstein 5100's front and rear. Fronts set at 1.1 and rears with ReadyLift 1" blocks. My only issue was with my spring compressor...had to modify to work, which resulted in a 2 hour delay! Alignment Toe & Camber were off, but now correct! Have 1" rake...

 

I think those are a structural item for small-overlap crashes.

Caution video is NSFTW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eouRDQ417mU

I remember Ford omitted one of these in the all-new aluminum 2015 F-150s. The crew cabs got them but the extended cabs didn't. The extended cab suffered tremendously in tests, and Ford added them to the extended cabs shortly thereafter. In the case of the Ford, the beam that was omitted was behind the wheel.

 

There is no way those tiny metal caps held in with one bolt are going to make one bit of difference in a crash.

 

I'm not a structural/crash engineer, but I think they're more intended for deflection rather than directly attenuating impact.

EDIT....

Here's a comparison of the 2015 F-150 crew and extended cabs in the small overlap test. Extended cab doesn't have the "wheel blocker" and disintegrates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9IIGjOyN5s

They fixed it in 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cou88zi4pMY

From IIHS: "The Ford F-150 SuperCab was redesigned for the 2015 model year. Beginning with 2016 models, "wheel blockers" like those in the SuperCrew variants were added to the vehicle frame to better control front wheel movement during small overlap frontal crashes."

Attached is picture of similarly tiny part on F-150 that makes the difference between living and dying.

I could be wrong on this...again I'm much closer to random-internet-dipshit than I am to being a structural engineer running kinematic simulations on truck frame designs.

 

There's a website I can't quite remember called something like TrucksOfWar that highlights some of the best and worst mods done to various pickup trucks by random militaries and insurgent groups.

One that really sticks out in my memory is a Hilux that somebody mounted a tank turret onto...

Maybe someone else here knows what I'm talking about and remembers the name.

 

I made up and installed some pet/security screens on my topper. One of my dogs destroyed a screen two days ago but I think this'll hold him




For the DIY: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-leer-are-pet-screens-cheap.757469/

 

Added some baja fogs love them!

 

https://www.military.com/video/oper...fsa-mounts-tank-turret-on-truck/2538422613001

 

If I die, better to be in a Tacoma than any Ford product - 6” frame extenders or not