What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

powder1134 · Apr 23, 2022

Gr8rSherman8r said: ↑

New high scores on both parts! I feel bad for you west coasters .
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$108 filled her up today.....

20somethingwidataco · Apr 23, 2022

gfxguy said: ↑

Finally got my plates and installed the rear one. Really don’t want to drill into my front bumper though. Police don’t seem to care in the slightest here so I’ll go outlaw for a bit.
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I haven't run a front plate in the 5 years I've owned my truck. They don't care at all

The Wolves · Apr 23, 2022

Oregonism said: ↑

I knew I wanted bronze rims as I just love bronze/gold on blue. Probably because I’m an ex-Subaru guy.

I like dark wheels on white. Some manufacturers have a very dark bronze that could look cool.
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Yeah I’ve considered those dark bronze. Probably would go that route if anything ever happens To my all black ones.

The Wolves · Apr 23, 2022

powder1134 said: ↑

$108 filled her up today.....
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DG92071 · Apr 23, 2022

tacomakid96 said: ↑

I used WD40 on my carrier bearing squeaking and never squeaked again in the next 4 years I owed the truck. What your saying makes sense. But thought I’d throw in my experience.
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Damn, maybe I'm wrong...

DG92071 · Apr 23, 2022

I caught it at a moment where the sun didn't show how bad the paint is getting.

And I ordered some lights for it.

kbourg1 · Apr 23, 2022

Raised my Bilstein 5100s from stock height to the 2nd notch. First picture is when I first had my OME 885/Bilstein 5100s installed at the lowest notch. After picture at 2nd notch, which leveled out the truck.

Before

After

jboudreaux1965 · Apr 23, 2022

Just a new bumper, the winch is coming until Wednesday ☹️

srspicer · Apr 23, 2022

Finally got the High Mileage club patch in place. Had it since September.

Foxtato · Apr 24, 2022

Finally got around to giving her a good clean inside and out. Had to spread it out over two weekends, but was good to get things tidied up.

Also: finally wrapped up re-installing my Pelfreybilt rear bumper swingout after finding suitable replacement pieces. If anyone happens to need replacement parts, I documented things here

boogie3478 · Apr 24, 2022

Got some #randyfab ( @EatSleepTacos ) action this weekend on the Tacoma with some Total Chaos spindle gussets and new wheel bearings.

GlennHaggis · Apr 24, 2022

boogie3478 said: ↑

Got some #randyfab ( @EatSleepTacos ) action this weekend on the Tacoma with some Total Chaos spindle gussets and new wheel bearings.

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All that mall crawling takes its toll. We’ve all been there! Finally did the ECGS bushing swap. Too many parking barriers successfully crossed on needle bearings.

boogie3478 · Apr 24, 2022

GlennHaggis said: ↑

All that mall crawling takes its toll. We’ve all been there! Finally did the ECGS bushing swap. Too many parking barriers successfully crossed on needle bearings.
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Those potholes can be brutal sometimes.

rollinstaco · Apr 24, 2022

Got the bike rack installed onto the truck for another riding season. If only there was a way to reroute the back up cam so that way I can actually see out of it.

WillT11 · Apr 24, 2022

Swapped out my LCA bushings for Whiteline bushings. Had to cut the outer parts off the stock bushings to press them out with a shop press, the bottle jack and heat method probably wasn't going to work for me. Too rusted and corroded. Oddly only 1/4 had tons of corrosion and was noticeable on the bolt as well.

ardrummer292 · Apr 24, 2022

Finally got my ARB compressor (in EE bedside mount) and @mattgecko cargo lights wired up and running.

I hope I never have to get behind the center console switch panel ever again. What a pain in the ass. Details on everything here:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

I bit the bullet and completed some long-overdue installs this weekend.

The first task was routing the switches for my cargo lights and air compressor. I opted to take most of the interior apart to ensure adequate access to the wire path, since I was concerned that poorly-routed wires could potentially interfere with pedal range of movement. I had done this once before when relocating my AC power switch, so I knew what I was in for:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

I have never removed the lower trim piece that houses the small switches in question. What an absolute pain in the ass it was. I had to pull:

Lower driver's side trim, including all prerequisites (door sill, kick panel, foot rest, coin holder)
Glove box
Shifter panel and knob
Center console storage
Center console side trim
Climate control panel
Head unit (with the 2TPAM, making things much more difficult)
Head unit surround trim and 4WD selector, including loosening the gauge cluster trim

Once all that was removed, I could finally undo the two 10mm bolts holding the trim piece in question.
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I routed the wiring harnesses first so I could figure out how much slack I had left. The path the wiring was destined to take is pretty long, so running out of length was a real concern:

Starting at the center console switch panel
Over to the driver's side and out the firewall grommet
Across the back wall of the engine bay
Down the passenger's side of the engine bay and out the bottom, by the catalytic converters
Rearwards along the frame all the way to the bed

I noticed that the OEM wiring in the immediate vicinity of the rear catalytic converter appeared to be wrapped in some sort of metallic heat shielding, so I approximated my own using aluminum foil. I doubt that it'll be as effective as the OEM solution, but it should offer some degree of heat protection:

With the wires routed, I could move on to finally adding connectors to my LED strips, which have been sitting unused since June of last year:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

While I had the bed stripped down, I figured I'd take the opportunity to get some more stuff installed:

@mattgecko LED strips under both cargo rails, inside the lid of my toolbox, and under my hood. I haven't done any electrical connections yet; that will be on hold until @Puppypunter gets a chance to spec out and build a power center, which will drive all my auxiliary electronics.

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This was straightforward, simply soldering Deutsch connectors onto the leads of each LED strip and plugging everything in to my 4-way Deutsch splitter. I then tested the lighting, which performed quite well:

The toolbox and under-hood LED strips are excellent, as expected. If I ever have an issue that requires roadside repair, these lights are a good bit brighter and more evenly-distributed than any headlamp can provide. The bed rail lighting is significantly obscured by all the stuff I have stowed on the rails, but I knew that would be the case going in. These LED strips are meant to augment my upcoming roof rack-mounted rear-firing cargo lights by cutting down on shadows in the bed, ensuring that every nook and cranny is illuminated to some degree.

With that task complete, I moved on to redoing the Expedition Essentials bedside compressor mount install. This has also been incomplete since last June, when I broke 2 of the 6 bolts during the install process:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

I did run into some serious issues when it came time to install. It looks like the holes I drilled in the bed weren't spaced out far enough, despite my repeated checks to make sure the template was indeed stretched taut before drilling. I broke out the Dremel to try and make the slots deeper, which seemed to work... up until I broke 2 of the 6 bolts when trying to thread them in:

Apparently I didn't grind them deep enough. I now have to remove this whole assembly again to drill the broken bolts out, then drill the threaded inserts out, then through-bolt them with a nut on the back. I'm going to stop writing about this so I don't rage out again.
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The first step was obviously removing the compressor mount, which sounds simple enough. Turns out I was wrong. My bolt-breaking streak wasn't over:

I tried to punch out the broken bolts and threaded inserts, to no avail. I also tried drilling out the broken bolts, which worked once before my drill bits were smoked. @EatSleepTacos to the rescue:

I have no idea why I couldn't manage to punch the inserts out. Chalk it up to fear of deforming the flange.

With that complete, I did a bit of prep work prior to reinstalling the compressor and mount with new hardware. The frame cross-brace on my Mobtown HC rear bumper sits close enough to the compressor mount to whack against it under a moderate amount of force:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

I discovered something interesting when hoisting the compressor and mount into place. I wasn't entirely sure that the EE compressor mount could be used with a high clearance bumper, so I rolled the dice. Turns out that it does fit, although the clearance between the compressor and Mobtown's frame brace tube is pretty tight at one end:

I do think it's kind of cool that the tube runs directly beneath the compressor, offering a sort of "backup" support in case the compressor mount fails. When I eventually reinstall the compressor mount with new hardware, I plan on padding the aforementioned frame brace tube with something to reduce the chance of metal-on-metal impact due to vibration and flexion.
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... so I taped some foam padding to it to ensure that the powdercoat wouldn't be compromised, which would lead to corrosion:

With that done, all that remained was reinstalling the compressor mount using some seriously heavy duty (Grade 10.9) hardware. I am really, really not interested in breaking any more bolts.

You can also see the EE AC power outlet adapter, which is needed to install a dual compressor in this location:

ardrummer292 said: ↑

In addition to the problem above, I was unable to fit the bedside cubby "faceplate" back over the compressor mount. The AC power outlet protrudes too far into the compressor mount, making reinstallation impossible. Expedition Essentials does make a part for this specific application, which I ordered yesterday:

https://expeditionessentials.com/products/toyota-tacoma-bcm-power-outlet-adapter

In the meantime, I cut the AC power outlet trim the same way I cut the cubby, leaving a 3/4" lip all around:

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It was an absolute ton of work, but I'm glad I knocked it all out.
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gfxguy · Apr 24, 2022

ardrummer292 said: ↑

Finally got my ARB compressor (in EE bedside mount) and @mattgecko cargo lights wired up and running.

I hope I never have to get behind the center console switch panel ever again. What a pain in the ass. Details on everything here:
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I feel tired just reading that. Very nice work!

T@co_Pr3runn3r · Apr 24, 2022

srspicer said: ↑

Finally got the High Mileage club patch in place. Had it since September.

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Cool, I have the patch and it's in the center console......probably be another yr before I actually get to 200k......at 195k now and truck isn't dd any more so according to inspection guy, made 4k in the last yr. 04 xB dd is about to earn the 100k patch I moved from truck. The 300k patch is waiting in a drawer in the house.

Otherwise, truck got it's once a yr super detail, wash and wax treatment.....time to redo armrest covers next. Those made it about 8 yrs before vinyl shrunk up enough and adhesive failing from heat cycles in 150 degree TX heat.

SmallAperture · Apr 24, 2022

Plasti-Dipped my grill, under my headlights, and bottom middle section on my front bumper. Thinking of doing my side mirrors and fender flares but wondering if just buying new ones would be smarter.

Britts05tacoma · Apr 24, 2022

Jimmy92870 said: ↑

Nice how much louder did it get. I've been wanting to do headers on mine for a whole but always put it off. How bad was the install?
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Install was a bit tricky had to disconnect the steering linkage. Performance gains wise not really worth it only minor gains. Sound wise I still have the toyota TRD cat back on it and it's too much airflow for that system so it sounds like shit haha

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