New England B.S. Thread

And…. Greetings from Margaritaville

 

Hahaha. I'm trying to troubleshoot a display problem my daughter is having with her 2012 hybrid. Problem is she's 2,000 miles away.

 

Another Taco down, this time a 2009.

 

https://youtu.be/S-Xrlf3taEo

 

Jeez that's bad

 

Nice!

 

That's scary to think someone was driving it like that.

Had part of the main exhaust pipe replaced in my truck 2 weeks ago, just had Lou's do it. Fastest and less expensive especially since it's sticker time.

Telling someone the story I laughed and said "as an aside, this means the truck's original frame rotted out 18 months sooner than the truck's original exhaust system"

 

That’s pretty bad. That gives me something to look forward to in a couple years. Are you eligible for a frame replacement?

 

Yup, it's that bad!

Yeah, I got worried when I drove it on the rack, there is a massive exhaust leak, and the interior is trashed (heavy smoker ).

Yes, it is very scary that there are vehicles out on the road that are like this Tacoma, but I am also thankful that some states perform safety and emissions testing (more so the safety part!) so these vehicles can be taken off the road.

No, this truck was just never taken care of. Should have started with this, but it is not my truck, it is a customer's truck, and they dropped it off for an oil change and a state inspection. It is sad really, since it only has 75k miles on it (the front brakes are original, and lasted longer than the frame)! It is not eligible for a frame replacement, the customer missed the deadline by a year.

 

Again, every so often I think "Wow, I am way behind on my brake fluid flush, its really bad I need to get on that in the spring and stop putting it off". Because it's over by like, a month/a few thousand miles.

Then I see stuff like people going 30k on an oil change, never touching their brake fluid for the life of the vehicle, etc and I think "You know what, I'm not doing that bad"

I missed ONE year of fluid film last year, and I was acting like the world is imploding. Meanwhile captian crunch is on the same highways as me day to day. :|

 

I’ve come to have the same approach to maintenance. I keep a pretty regimented schedule but, if I miss an oil change by 500 miles, my truck is still better off than 90+% of the vehicles on the road.

 

I’ve never changed the brake fluid on any vehicle I’ve ever owned. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

The one vehicle I did all of that stuff on, a 1986 Isuze Trooper fell part at 125K miles.

 

That’s one fluid system you don’t really want to fail though…. I’m not religious about it, but I will flush the fluid through every couple years or about 50k miles. Even if you only flush it when you replace the pads, it’s not a bad idea and cheap insurance, especially with the heat cycles that brakes go through constantly. You’re supposed to replace it before it breaks!

 

Oh, I've taken mine down Mt Washington and through some mountain passes. That fluid is smoked. I can feel it, it won't get worse but it's not good. You can usually feel it pretty well when you flush and have new fluid in there. Besides, on our trucks it's stupid easy. My wife's camry has to be hooked up to a computer to cycle the brakes (hybrid) to do it, and I know some VW SUVs have some shenanigans with their brakes that makes flushing a pain in the arse too. But for something as simple as the tacoma, it takes like 10 minutes and 4$. Well worth it.

Daily driver, eh maybe not. But I beat mine on the trails and have gone through the mountains a few times, plus Mt. W specifically. It's seen better days.

 

I've never seen a line item for it on an invoice, but maybe the do it when I get my brakes done.

 

Center caps done.

 

Ooooof. Saf-t-caps?

 

I’m at 160K on the original fluid. At this point I’ll just wait until the frame needs to be replaced.

 

That is what I said to my boss, but I am not sure if it was said to the owner. The rest of the frame was not in good shape (rust jacking on the sandwiched peices of steel making up the c-channel was almost an inch thick!).