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

What you don’t see, is my jack stand firmly planted on the frame lol. I moved the floorjack in with the board and pumped it up to just barely tag the slider. I’m paranoid of jackstands so I wanted a ‘secondary’.

Then the scissor jack was holding up my hub while I was fumbling around lookin for stuff, and taking a picture lol.

 

Finished (for now) pics:

 

Gotcha. That makes more sense.

 

Question:

Are there any upgraded powersteering pumps that people run. My turning has been feeling heavier than normal and I want to replace the pump but curious if there is a better option over stock?

 

Not really, no


Clean the reservoir screen and make sure your rack isn't leaking. You can drill out the flow restrictor if you want but it can have some unintended side effects

 

Basically this. I haven't found anything that lasts as long as OEM too, rack and PS pump included. Basically I am under the impression that I will always have a slight whine and leak after a year or two even when bought brand new. I wish we did have a better option though, it's crazy going from my new DD on 35's to the Tacoma on the same size, steering feels so underpowered.

 

interesting, my steering effort is pretty low compared to most of my fleet -- granted my truck idles at like 900-1000 rpms so the pump is flowing more than yours is at a normal idle RPM

If you drill out the flow restrictor you will have more fluid volume at low rpm and lower steering effort but it will make the steering slower and increase pump whine even more.

 

yeah I’m on a brand new oem rack and added a cooler at the same time for larger fluid volumes. My pump is original with about 115k miles and a lot of those being wheeling and getting beat on. Figured it would be a good time for a new pump.

 

Finally had a free minute (over a long lunch) yesterday to get smogged. No issues on the smog, but I think it's cause the shop was too busy damaging my front brake line. Brake pedal to the floor at the first stop light as I drove away. I bet those fers do that to a few vehicles per month expecting them to turn right around and they'll be happy to fix it that day.

Front brake line was cut just below the upper attachment to the spindle. bone-head place. Nothing else could interfere with the brake like there. Like if it were cut directly at the bend of that attachment point they'd have a case to say it was chafed through or something, nope, cut below it.

Safely limped home using gearing and the e brake to stop. Luckily didn't drain the master cylinder. Cut the line the rest of the way and plugged it with a machine screw that fit inside the line. Ordered some new brake lines that'll be here Friday.

Pretty shitty when you can't even take your truck to get smogged. I didn't give the shop a chance for an explanation or to fix it. Gotta go through the rest of the truck when I do the lines to see if they got creative anywhere else.

 

Not to, but with:

Took down our old retaining wall and used my camp lights to let us work into the night.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Airbags FTW.

 

You should rebuild your OEM pump. Aftermarket pumps are real hit and miss. You can rebuild the original pretty easy. This thread, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/power-steering-pump-rebuild-how-to-with-photos.377002/ will show you how to do it.

Here are links for rebuild kits:
4 Cyl 2.7 3RZ rebuild kit: https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~gasket~kit~power~steering~pump~04446-04020.html
6 Cyl 3.4 5VZ rebuild kit:https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/toyota~gasket~kit~power~steering~pump~04446-04010.html

 

Just another reason to never live in California. Sorry you had to deal with that nonsense though

 

I'm not understanding this.

There is nothing, at all, that would be performed during a smog inspection that would have anything to do with a brake line. And if it's a test only smog Test Station, they aren't allowed to make any repairs to a vehicle. (I would never get a smog for any shop unless it's a test only station).

 

It wasn't a test only. Agree - they shouldn't have been anywhere near the brake lines- but they were, and they conveniently have an auto parts store in the same building..

Appropriate complaints have been filed, and reviews have been left.

 

30 years in AZ, never once had to get an emissions test

 

Rub it in why don’t you!

…well how hot is it there rn?

 

Not trying to rub it in, just trying to offer solutions

It's 92 here in Prescott right now, so not too unbearable. Not recommending Phoenix, Tuscon, or the Western part of the state. Northern AZ ftw!

 

Northern AZ has a lot to offer. Spent a few weeks up in Sho Low about 12 years ago, was a nice up there.

 

Indeed. Lots of wildlife, camping, hunting, hiking, kayaking, etc, with reasonable weather. Looking forward to putting a turbo on my Tacoma and really rubbing in the no smog part then lol