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

Was sick this morning so couldn’t go to a job interview so I decided to do some work on the truck.Cleaned my wheels so I can paint them black, tacky? Yes but it’s what I like so I’m just hoping they don’t look too bad. Only doing the front 2 wheels today because, well, I am sick. I’m kinda going for the 20/80 rule with the truck, it looks good from 20 feet away or at 80mph. My grandpa also ordered me some aftermarket headlights so I might run with them while I figure out how to upgrade my stock lights.

 

Averaged the highest city MPG since owning my Taco (3 years) 18.7 MPG.
I’m just going to go ahead and round that up to 19 because why the hell not.
I was not grandma driving either, I would call it middle of the road driving, not speeding around town but not avoiding the skinny pedal. Some of you may be thinking why the fudge is he posting this. When I purchased my truck three years ago I was averaging 16 MPG city at best and have had to claw tooth and nail to reach the MPG I average now. I’ll list all the maintenance I’ve done over the years to reach this number (through quoting this post later tonight) for all those who are interested. I know it’s a truck and a few MPG isn’t anything to write home about but I’ve put in a lot of work over the years on my truck and watching the MPG slowly increase has been a reminder that I take good care of my truck and the work I’ve done has not been in vain. FYI I have a 106,000 miles on her.

 

I might be completely wrong on this, but I know Biden administration halted the switch from winter mix gas to summer mix. Im wondering if winter mix in warming climate is more fuel efficient. I also so a bump in my MPGs. Went from 17 to 19.

 

250 miles round trip to bring my daughter home from college. The trailer was small but the Taco's V6 handled things well on I-80, doing about 80. It is nice to have her home for the summer.

 

Trailer is smart, when I was moving my girlfriend home it took me in the Tacoma and my mom’s new bronco sport to get everything back in one trip. She was on the third floor so we brought a hand truck which put a few scratches in my bed on the way back because I forgot to secure it in the rush to get home.

 

Aside from 5000 mile oil changes (mobile one with OEM filter) here is what I’ve done over the years and noticed a bump in MPG from each.
Full transmission flush (15 qrt flushed though), with new trans strainer/filter, new pan gasket and magnets cleaned. Drain and fill from this point on every 30,000 miles.
Using Toyota spec front and rear diff fluid weight 75/85 opposed to the commonly used 75/90. Changed at appropriate interval.
Redline was the brand I believe I used as Toyota fluid cost was INSANE!
Transfer case fluid changed at Toyota spec 75/90 weight at appropriate interval, Redline brand.
Replaced PCV valve at appropriate interval.
Greased driveshaft 7000 mile interval.
Spark plugs changed at 30,000 mile interval.
Cleaned maf at appropriate interval.
Cleaned throttle body at appropriate interval.
Running 33.5 psi in my Cooper at3 4s’ 265/70/17.
TRD catback exhaust.
AFE CAI stage 2 with dry filter.
I have a bed cover as well, not sure if this has helped but I believe that it has.

My MPG has steadily increased since purchasing three years ago. I check every fill up so believe me when I say everything I’ve done has had a consistent, direct and positive influence on MPG. For the past 6 months my average city MPG has been 18 at the very least. And I would say that I drive with relative spirit. Thanks for reading

 

New vinyl for the Wet Okoles thanks to @AdrenaliNate. Old ones finally withered away in the sun. I like how the old shadowing makes the new logos look more 3D lol

 

Made my final 200 mile round trip to college (VCU) today for my youngest daughter. No Tacoma required. She graduated with her Masters Degree in Social Work with no student loans or scholarship. She has been renting, with roommates, an off campus house the whole time there. She got married in January so her Marine husband is moving her into their North Carolina townhouse off base this week. Big changes in her life. My oldest did her time at the local community college and now does payroll for city fire and police. My son is an electrician and he also is doing the community college thing paid by his employer. Honor student grandkid starts her first job Sunday and starts driving this summer. As Bob Dylan said "times they are a changin". Now I really feel retired.

 

On my last wheeling trip I broke a couple rock lights and started to hear some squeaking in the throwout bearing. I replaced the rock lights and threw an oem throwout bearing in. I have the urd sleeve kit for the bearing and have put about 15k on it before I started to hear the squeaking. Pretty disappointed with that as the bearing was fine, it was just the surface that the bearing rides on causing the squeak. I am hard on the truck and figured since I was in there might as well replace it.

Pic because she looked cute after all the work.

 

That's why I find such joy every morning at my K-5 school downtown (5 miles away), especially when one of my students (they all are, and their parents, too) crosses the street and proclaims, "It's my birthday!" I always ask, "How old are you now?" and after they head in the door, I mention your sentiment to the parent. Everyone agrees that the older we get, the smaller a year becomes in proportion to our earthly lives, so each year for them is huge! Yes, get out there and enjoy life! All the 80+ year old ladies at church will tell you, "The most important thing is to have fun every day!" The voice of experience, and one of my friends arrived to celebrate her 95th birthday at church, and when I asked if I should sing, told me, "I'm going to play the harmonica!" Wow!

 

I had a lot of fun removing the previous owners front spacer lift on my new to me 2012 MGM Taco. Had to cut all 3 studs on the stop to get the struts out and Installed the one and only Bilstein 5100's. Next up intermediate steering shaft........should be a lot of fun.

 

The lowest bass note the human ear can hear is 18hz. It takes 20' for a 20hz note to develop. You can stand next to a speaker playing a 20hz note and all you'll hear is the wind being created by the woofer moving. The more that the bass bounces around before it hits your ears the better the bass will sound. As it sits now you'll hear very little deep bass inside the cab. If you point the woofer down to the floor by turning the box upside down and cut a hole in the boxes "stand" you'll hear a lot more deep bass. Idk maybe you already know that and was looking for the cars/people outside the truck to hear it better.

 

That is one good looking truck, I prefer pods but bars do look good when mounted on a bull bar up front.

 

I just installed a 1 piece custom Tom woods drive shaft. I recommend this mod for anyone with driveshaft vibes / noises. The truck is so smooth and responsive now!

 

Here are a couple photos…

 

Good old oil change.



Thank god for the 35’s lol! Close fit!

 

Okay, I may have gone too far this time.

 

I'm looking at renting something similar for a day or 2 this fall. Luckily it's just across town.

 

buffed out the yellow fade on the 09 headlight lenses. I like it when a cheap fix works

 

Finally made and installed a cover for the cubby in the center console. Making it into a tissue dispenser. I cut it out of a driver side "kick-plate" from a scrap '05 tacoma.


And gave the taco a long overdue bath and interior cleaning