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

Replacing the worn out Toytec coilovers and adding some SPC uppers

 

A long journey indeed! Well done!

 

Thank you sir. Now I just need friends to use it with.

 

Drove back from California today. Traffic was much better coming home than it was on the way out there but the terrible traffic between Vegas and Prim got so crazy I pulled off I-15 and used the dirt road next to the fence line. I hit a couple washes hard enough that the pack and play almost flew out of the bed

 

Oh and this was waiting for me in the mail box, McGeorge Toyota for the win.

 

Some water?

I will be shocked if you can actually do that with the main starter wire. Someone video this haha

 

Currently in the midst of almost a 2+ month project.. I’ve been slowly going through the entire frame of the truck; removing some surface rust and scale, and ensuring it’s still solid and I’m glad to report that I haven’t found a single weak spot and some nights my wife has to come into the garage and ask me to be more quiet because I feel like I’m the drummer for foo fighters banging on the frame with my hammer.. with that said, this has been probably on the of the more difficult projects I’ve tackled and have the bloody knuckles to prove it. The hardest issue I run into is removing the awful rubberized coating Toyota sprayed when they did the frame inspection and the rust from all the tight spaces… I’ve probably bought every single type and size of wire brush available and I’m a perfectionist so I tend to be very hard on myself. After the coating or the rust has been removed (not completely on the rust ) I clean the entire area with laq thinner, allow it to completely dry, than I’ve been doing a coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. Allow to dry, sand, than going over it again with another coat of Eastwood rust Encapsulator. I than wait 72 hours and than come back over the top with Eastwood Chassis Black. Wait another 72 hours than finish with RP-342 Cosmoline. Inside the frame, I’ve been using Eastwood Internal frame Coating (green) and borrow my neighbors Milwaukee inspection Camera to ensure complete coverage. I’m happy with the results thus far and Oklahoma doesn’t really salt their roads and we get snow only a couple of times a year (if that) so I’m hoping this will be the last time I’ll ever have to do this again.

 

What all will you be running and at what size? I believe the classic '3' are
Battery + to Alt +
Battery - to Chassis
Engine ground to Chassis

But I've read people also run Engine ground to Battery -, Battery + to Fusebox to Alt +, and Battery + to Starter

 

I do Batt + to Starter, Batt + to Alt, Batt + to Underhood fuse panel, Batt - to body ground, Batt - to block, and for those with radio systems or lighting that requires the extra ground locations I do Batt - to frame. All with 4ga welding cable

 

No block to frame?

 

You could do that if you wanted, its probably a shorter run than batt to frame, ultimately serves the same purpose... from the factory there is no ground wiring running to the frame at all

 

I've done it before, should be even easier since we're doing his clutch, I can pull the whole starter out

 

Right, makes sense. I'll probably skip the Batt + to Starter run for now since I don't have starting issues but the other 5 shouldn't be too bad. What do you use for the block ground point? And do you have a recommendation for a hydraulic crimper?

Appreciate the advice!

 

I take the factory block ground off, it's easy to spot, just trace the stock neg cable to the engine. Realistically you could use any bolt that goes into the block without sealer though. I am still running a HF hydro crimper, it has been excellent. I just crimp in two stages, one size too large then the actual size.

 

Photos?

Also how much 4 gauge does this take?

 

You first gen folks know how much it sucks to not have a phone mount so I made an iPhone MagSafe mount.

 

Mine rides the cup holder pretty good

looks nice though

 

Probably the only thing the square cup holders are good for in the early 1st gens, that and Fiji water bottles.

 

In the 99, with my lil iPhone, I’d just sit in the door.

I did drowned it in coffee a few times in those square cup holders though.

the newer consoles have the little side slots for handles that work decent