What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

I made some motor mounts for my 5VZ 2 weeks ago. I was sick of breaking the OE ones, but refuse to put poly on my truck because I've had poly in the past and cant stand the vibration, so I thought a bit outside the box and made these. IMO this is the ultimate, they cant separate and break, yet you still get the dampening of factory rubber bushings. It does vibrate VERY slightly more than OE, but I'll take the tradeoff. The motor moves FAR FAR less than the OE mounts too.

 

Just ordered the metal ebay handles.
10yr warranty over the Amazon 2yr
Finish looked way nicer on the ebay ones as well. Amazon has a textured black finish and ebay had what seemed like a smooth black (paintable) finish
If i want to make them white i can. but for now i'll likely leave them black.

@Blackdawg can you confirm they have the rubber edging on the handle? or will i want to source that?

 

Came with rubber edging.

 

Anyone of you have or know a good place to source the HVAC knobs for 2003 Tacoma… guess they somehow went missing during long build

 

i wound up swapping mine out in my 01 for these.

$18 Etopmia Car Air Conditioning Heat Control Switch, Aluminium Knob, Fits Toyota Tacoma, Push Button, Manual, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076ZHF2HX?ie=UTF8

 

Do you have photo installed? Direct fit I assume? Are you happy with them?

 

Question for the masses here.

Let me know if I can clarify better but this came about when I went to put new inner seals on the CV axles because the diff has been leaking gear oil ever since I pulled the diff to get to the oil pan a few weeks back.

turns out I didn't have the correct seals for the diff side of the CV's, I had the dust seals for the spindle instead.
I had already taken it apart so figured I'd replace what I had on hand.
Here comes the question.
I'm not sure weather or not to pack grease into the CV axle hub / weal bearing area of the spindle. There appeared to be something there at some point but not exactly sure what.
On the inside of the spindle behind the dust seal where you can see the ABS ring and wheel bearing there was a little bit of black grease that didn't look optimal and some almost clear stuff that looked like Silicone paste inside the metal grove all the way around the seal. I ran the popsicle stick in the grove to collect some for reference (not


My gut instinct was to pack some high temp wheel bearing grease in there but i wasn't sure if it would mess with the ABS sensor or anything else and it was so dry in there I figured it must be designed that way.

To grease or not to grease that is the question.

I also thought it was curious that there was a white paint line across the clear grease marking the seal and the wheel bearing, I'll pay more attention and get pictures when I dive back into fixing the leak in the diff and see if the passenger side is the same

 

Or does he possibly still have the nobs he took off that you could use?

 

After replacing 90% of the front suspension on my 1998 SR5, I got it aligned. Tracks perfect now!

 

Excellent starting point.

I run these too and I have been happy with them. Gives a little more of an updated look without looking too out of place IMO. It ties in the little bits of metal on the cig lighter, cb, and stereo for me.

Manual or ADD? For my ADD spindles IIRC the bearing is supposed to be sealed so I never touch that side.



I swapped in the new e locker actuator Thursday night and then took mine camping and riding for two days. This spot is typically hard to get to with deep puddles so it's a hidden gem.

348278967_986955039349014_4358966660145362970_n by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

 

Since I can't play CD's any longer with my Atoto S8 decided I was out of excuses for not making the center console more functional. Removed the slots and lined the inside with felt

 

Over the weekend, I replaced the crazed, cracked, leaky, 25 year old windshield washer fluid tank ("jar"). It looks like the pump is significantly newer than that. Works great. New jar didn't include the cap, so I cleaned up the old one and popped it on. Good as new.



I also cleaned off PO's 3 bumper stickers. Only one was actually on the bumper...
Before:


After:


Not sure if this acetone was my FIL's or his dad's - been hanging around the garage as long as I've known my wife. And probably since before I was born. Finally used it up:



(Only used alcohol on the AAA tailgate sticker. Waxed both locations when I was done.)

 

THIS is peak Tacoma. At least the face! Tell us more about it.

 

New headlights!

 

Pushed a screwdriver through the parts truck frame.
https://youtu.be/OvhcQS3iHL8

 

wait its a rust bucket?

 

Only the passenger side frame

 

weird.

 

Those look awesome with that grill