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

Just a simple ball joint press kit. I bought one from HF and it works great. You can also just borrow them from Autozone and the like.

 

Got new (to me) wheels and new tires (thanks to the TW market place), just in time for AOAA tomorrow.

Plus finally got this steel rear bumper with swingout carrier installed.

 

Thanks, it took about an hour to do each side.

Theres an online vendor, teqcustoms, that has them. these are for a gx470. I had to actually cut each elevation line and place them to fit the rear window properly. kind of expensive for just some vinyl lines imo but it has a nice color gradient to it in the sun.

 

Thank you!

 

Noticed my gas light total mileage was off by 25 miles (nothing to bitch about, I just get a bit obsessive when she’s not running the way she should) for two months, gas light has been coming on at 300 instead of its usual 325. Recently changed my oil, and figured that would bring things back to normal, nope, everything else being up to date I remembered that it’s been a minute since I readjusted my throttle body with the gas pedal press method, see attached video, also, her idle has been higher than normal too, but nothing crazy enough to make me consider resetting it, I just figured it was due to it being colder the past few weeks. Anyways, reset my throttle body and sure enough mileage is right back where it should be when the light comes on. I know it’s small potatoes but I recommend everyone do this every cpl months, it’s just so easy to forget about especially if you’re not having a rough idle. Cheers!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YNC_CMbC0

 

Put Husky Mud Guards on it after my OEM set ripped off somehow. It'll be nice not to throw rocks at people behind me/at the cab when I'm turning.

 

Getting ready to update my 2013 JBL head unit with a 14/15 JBL model. I like to keep things stock looking when i can.
My 13 head unit has Bluetooth, nav and sat radio, works as it should and looks great. If you have an OEM JBL setup and want to keep it OEM looking, shoot me a pm and I’ll make you deal on mine.

 

Anybody know the best place to Jack up the front of the truck after installing steel RCI skids? I know the front jack point is now covered by the skid, just looking for a solid point to jack up the whole front end.

 

Skid, LCA, or frame.

 

I need some sanity check here…

I’m in the middle of a big project, started on it about 5+ weeks ago. Right before that the Taco was driven daily, and garaged. The radiator coolant expansion/over flow tank was between low and full lines with cold or hot engine, as applicable. No issues.

The Taco was moved to the driveway (have no room in the garage to do all I need to do). It’s been seating outside on the driveway ever since.

Today, I noticed this…


The million dollar question is: Is this normal?

• The water pump was replaced in 2019. OEM Toyota water pump.
• Have been on my back, on a creeper, almost every day. NO wet spots on the driveway. NO indications of ANY fluid leaks.
• Checked EVERY hose. No cracks, no leaks, no white chalky spots anywhere on any of the hoses.
• Checked very closely with a light and an inspection mirror EVERYWHERE, in and around the WATER PUMP, and follow the whole shape of the water pump.
• Check the whole engine block for ANY signs of LEAKING or WEEPING. No white chalky residue ANYWHERE.
• Bottom line EVERYTHING is clean and dry.

Also looked at the radiator neck coolant level and looks SAT.


Like I said, the vehicle has not been driven in 5+ weeks and the engine hasn’t been turned since also (battery is out of the truck).

It’s beginning to cool down a lot at nights here in TN (low 40’s)

I can’t find ANY indications of a leak, the radiator is full… what gives?

Why has the level on the expansion/overflow tank has dropped so dramatically?

Maybe I’m tripping here, just looking for some clarification in case I’m missing something.

Never had leaks of any kind since I purchased the truck in 2005. Just curious, am I missing something?

Thanks for the help!

PS - Should I top off the thank with the Toyota “pink stuff “, and if so, how much?

Rick

 

Thanks for this Q&A! I’ve got the parts coming in Tuesday to do mine and I wasn’t sure what all was going to be necessary to pop the old ones out!

Sadly, Icon gave no option for expedient shipping so I had to wait 5 days for them to figure out they didn’t have anyone closer to ship it from .

 

Very thorough observations, I wouldn’t be concerned honestly. I’ll say drive and inspect soon after you reach operating temperature. Cheers!

 

The neighbor and I had quite the adventure today while carpooling to get groceries in town. I tried to ford a huge mud puddle with city tires, got Stuck, water started flooding into the cab. We climbed out the window, walked til we ran into someone who gave us a ride back to town to call aaa. aaa pulled me out for $400- offroad recoveries are Not covered in any of their memberships..

Truck was submerged up to just under the intake for 3 hours. Pulled her out and started right up (after assessing whether or not that was a safe option). Now I just have to remove my carpet, clean and dry it and the floor, and I took apart the amp under my seat and rinsed the silt out of it- parts drying by the fireplace now, maybe it will work in a day... I got super lucky! If I still had my mud tires on I only would have gotten stuck farther in!!!!

I don't know what I was thinking, I don't even have lockers or deep mud experience and we were the only rig out there. Many lessons learned and/or fortified today. Too busy working on getting it out to take pics- sorry
Maybe my neighbor got some. I'll upload later if so

 

Try a new radiator cap. Or do a pressure test on the system if you can. We've had this happen to a Tundra and a tacoma in the past couple months where the cap wasn't regulating pressure correctly and the coolant in the resvoir had back pressure. It was releasing the fluid out of the res overflow. One easy sign to see if the cap is bad is the nipple on the bottom of it may be missing.

 

I didn't know this was a thing. I am going to do it tonight for sure just for good measures.

 

I have been feeling a slight vib on take off which is new. I crawled under last night and inspected the driveshaft. Its fully rebuilt as of this spring. No issues to be seen so I put in some grease in the u joints and didn't notice it on my way to work so hopefully its gone. Also inspected the front shaft and I was surprised that it is non-serviceable, I thought they were from the factory but o well and they are in good shape still.
O and woke up to this BULLSHIT!

 

Too soon!

 

AGREED!!! I could understand if I lived at high elevation but Minnesota is Bipolar and doesn't ever know what season it should be.

 

October in the Great White North...seems normal to me...I remember as a kid in MN every Halloween we had to make sure snowsuits fit under our costumes...

 

Love the gear lever!