MARYLAND TACOMAS

My Ram’s odometer made it to 60K before all the electronics started to malfunction and make the vehicle unsafe. Best thing that ever happened to me because that’s how I wound up in the taco

 

I bought my first toyota 4x4 back in the 90's, it was a lifted & bobbed 85 with the 22r/5speed. That little truck treated me so good that to this day i've never strayed away from toyota. My buddy that I mentioned had to have his trans rebuilt at 80k miles on his 2015 Ram. During my 27year automotive technician career I've seen plenty of high mileage toyotas & Hondas coming in the shop that only required basic maintenance & repairs. I would see domestic vehicles coming in that required major repairs around 100k miles. I'm talking internal engine issues, trans issues, heater cores, electrical issues ect... and these were customer's vehicles that was kept up on maintenance, not neglected. Alot were Chryslers & jeeps. I always joked that i could not have afforded my vacation home without'em lol.

 

That all lines up perfectly with everything I’ve heard from friends who own domestic trucks and my precious vehicles. I’m a very patriotic guy but I doubt I’ll ever buy another domestic vehicle. The 4Runner and GX 460 are my top 2 contenders for the wife’s next vehicle.

 

I'm as patriotic as they come but sadly the domestics just can't compare to the reliability & quality of Toyota & Honda.

 

Its pouring down rain and then the coldest surfaces are encrusting in ice…..lovely.

 

Icy rain mix here on the mountain. Great evening for a hot pizza and a movie with the wife.

 

Love that.

 

My brother is a DIE HARD Chevy guy. Rags on my little imports all the time.

Yet we see a lot more new members on here being converted from something else to a toyota….and a lot less people moving away from their toyota to something else lol

 

Love me a red tailed hawk. Always a treat to see!

 

It’s so true. Even my friends who are in the “I’ll never buy an import” crowd don’t deny the reliability of specifically the Toyotas.

 

Morning Maryland
Sloppy mix of snow and freezing rain up here

 

Morning MD.

 

Gooood morning MD

 

Morning MD

 

So I did my rear shocks on the 3rd gen three days ago. What should've been a 2 hour job turned into an all day event. And man did it suck. I love doing my own wrenching, and I was fortunate enough that a buddy who has a garage allowed me to come over to his place to utilize said space... but man. Rust is a bish. It really is. And I had no idea that Bilstein 5100's had a metal sleeve in between the bushing and the lower shock mount stud. It made for a long day. But I am so glad it's done. Threw on some LC80 OEM Tocikos. They ride super nice and it's very noticeable the difference. Next up on the to-do list is my starter and then my front brakes. Wanna give it a good bleed. I've never used one of those bleeder pump things, so if anyone has some magical suggestions, please let me know.

 

Im sorry to hear it sucked so hard. Good for you for still getting it done though, hopefully the juice was worth the squeeze.

 

This gave me a good chuckle, so I appreciate that. Lol. Certainly was worth it. I'm just glad it's done and over with. If I lived on the west coast I'm sure I wouldn't have run into half of the issues I faced along the way.

 

Thought I was going to wake up to a wet morning and instead it was white and fluffy! Definitely laying on roads here in Carroll… surprisingly no delay yet for the schools!

 

What’s the best way to cut aluminum?

Hacksaw with a lower tpi or an angle grinder with a disc it’s says can cut aluminum (without exploding)? I have a few discs that say it can cut aluminum and other metals.
I’m going to use these as seat spring spacers if I can’t get any made. They need to be about .5-1” smaller in diameter.

 

I'd say an angle grinder with a disc for sure. If it can cut steel, it should surely be able to cut aluminum.