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

New springs, delta joints and bushings.

 

That's a great idea routing the brake light to a plug mounted in the side wall of the bed. Beats the heck out of having the connection dangling around like I do. Looks like I found my next project. Where did you find that at?

 

the bolts that go into the fuse box lid your talking about?

 

Amazon. Look for Deutsch connectors, this was a bulkhead connector but they also make standalone connectors from 2 pins to a lot more.

 

Cool. Thank you!

 

Gonna top off my coolant. Just topping off with oem 50/50 should be okay right? I had a leak fixed in the one of the trans cooler lines leading to radiator last year and now the other one is leaking. I assume I can just go to the dealer and grab the same stuff they used in my trans/coolant line service last year? It’s on the “low” mark.

Side note-still chasing an increasing engine vibe. If coolant doesn’t help I’ll clean the MAF sensor *again* and torque the spark plugs to spec (I did it by feel last time but have an inch-lb torque wrench now).

 

Yea

 

Holy clean batman

 

Oh man, I love that setup so much, so sweet you got the rack with the cap! Any accessory plans? That hi-lift bracket looks lonely without a jack!

Im a bit jealous of the bumper and stance! Not to mention the bronze wheels also complement the blue really well!
Personally, I was hesitant about the TRD grille for myself, but it looks banger on yours and has convinced me to go for it!

 

Oil change and tire rotation. I forgot to take pics of the oil and filter sitting on the bench, sorry y'all.

 

Thanks! Yeah that high lift mount was just on there when I got it so it may be time to finally get one, and some quick release tent mounts.
I really like how my build is coming together, with a ton of my parts being found on Facebook marketplace. I like the trd grille, I wasn't sure what to think at first but it has grown on me for sure.

P.s. I'm gonna be needing some frontrunner stuff if you have the hookup

 

Tire rotation & balancing.

 

New coil packs and the red bullet vvti solenoids installed yesterday.

Don't know about milage but the engine seems more responsive on today's drive to work. Nothing dramatic.

 

Quick tip: If the coolant level is about half-way between the "full" and the "low" line on the bottle when the engine is "overnight cold" you should be good. The goal is to be on or close to the "full" line after the engine is fully warmed up. Also: the colder it gets the lower it will drop overnight.

 

Shit. My reservoir is at the full mark after truck sat for an hour. I read to fill a coolant reservoir to the max mark but not over that, so as to leave room for expansion

 

Also, topped off the coolant, torqued spark plugs to spec (they were looser than I thought), sprayed the MAF sensor with cleaner, and gave the u joints some love taps. Vibes still there but engine/exhaust drone seems to have decreased noticeably. Wonder if I was having a very slight misfire due to the plugs, or maybe some sensor somewhere wasn’t happy due to low coolant.

I’m pretty sure my vibration is narrowed down to u joints. There’s no play that I can feel BUT it feels like the truck is being held back, like a binding feeling, and the vibes come from under the floor and sort of waaa waaaa waaa like rumble strips. It’s a deeeeep hum/growl like a subwoofer would sound like on a sustained bass note. It’s noticeable at any speed, even 1 mph, but decreases in severity over 60 mph. So I’m thinking one of the u joints might be frozen/sticky. Trucks got 123k on it, living in a salt/snow state and I only just greased them for the first time in the last 60k miles. Thoughts?

 

Ive never heard to check when its hot especially these days where the overflow tank is pressurized on many modern cars. Its always been a cold engine if it was that important they would mark on there hot and cold like they do on the power steering reservoir.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Check it again in the morning when it's ice-cold. Where I live it's in the mid 30s right now. When it's fully warmed it's just below the "full" line. If I check it in the morning, it will be sitting at about 3/4qtrs. At the end of the week when it's expected to drop to the teens again: it will at about the 1/2 level. Coolant expands and contracts quite a bit. FWIW: I have a "Full" line and a "Low" line on the bottle.

 

Yeah mine was sitting at the low line and I filled it to full. It’s dropping into the teens with highs around 27 tomorrow

 

Sounds good