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

Replaced brake switch stopper. The old one crumbled to pieces while bleeding the new rear brakes.

While I was down there I changed the 2 on the clutch pedal.

I used these.

Ajxn 4 PCS Brake Switch Stopper Car Truck Auto Brake Pedal Pad Brake Light Switch Stopper Brake Switch Pad Clutch Pedal Stopper 90541-06036 (Black) https://a.co/d/5B4dMVn

 

I just pulled my failed all aluminum Koyo out this weekend. I figured if I’m going to be doing this shit every year or two I might as well just buy cheap radiators.

 

27f will fit but if you are mobbing rough forest roads the fender will start to collapse.

 

What failed? All 6 guys I know have no issue for 5 years minimum. And they're abused crawlers, not road queen. Solid axle, heavy AF, 37+ inch tires, supercharge and all.

 

they fatigue crack quickly on any unbraced front end

 

Yep. One or a few of the fins where it meets the tank is leaking. Koyo denied warranty. I got mad and went cheap plastic tank. It sucks.

 

Weird. Luck of the draw I guess. Even with my Japanese collections with KoyoRad, they work good. Got 1 in my '75 celica w/ the BEAMS engine and another koyorad in my 72 with a 1jz pushing 500+hp to. No issue.

So far, the 3rz Denso rad in my v6 supercharged crawler is still good after 4 years. Will replace with Koyo if it fail.

 

Im really thinking about getting another before it heats up again. I originally had the 4Runner rad before the Tacoma option was available and I preferred the Tacoma version anyway.

But like I said, I was pretty miffed about the whole thing. It’s not like I really think they should HAVE to do anything for me but at the same time I only ran it for a year or so.

I mean it’s a $400 radiator. So while I’d like to buy another it’s hard to get past that experience, which was pretty piss poor as far as reliability goes.

 

Understandable... Especially when they're not cheap.

 

Did you have rubber isolators on it?

 

Nope. Probably should have thought. Would be nice if there was a soft mount kit.

 

What's the part number y'all using?

 

I wouldn’t turn any good info down. I’m armed with several factory manuals and almost 20 years of working on these trucks, I can pretty much do any work on one from memory.

Biggest issue we’ve had is dealing with the added frustration of added time trying to break everything free, stuff I wouldn’t have thought would have as many issues being out of the spray of the tires most of the time. Several brake lines in the front wheel wells are seized with the fitting twisting the entire line, ebrake cable is a mess, so many electrical connectors that are tough to get undone- the guy who sold my friend the truck didn’t do us any favors spraying undercoating on literally everything. He didn’t even bother to clean the truck prior to that shit getting sprayed on, dirt caked on an inch thick on every surface from the transmission crossmember back.

Frankly, if you’re on here, you should be ashamed, selling a guy approaching retirement a truck for top dollar you knew was in bad shape- frame was patched, undercoating on everything, obvious attempts made to conceal issues- over sprayed paint that doesn’t look to have clear coat over it so he’ll have future issues there, just a bunch of hack shit.

Ultimately, it’s his fault buying a vehicle without having it looked at, and not to play holier than thou, but I guess I’m not void of the emotional constitution required to look someone in the eye and lie to take their hard earned money. Next time, maybe don’t pick on a working class guy who doesn’t have a ton of time left in life to recover from a huge financial loss.

 

New-Rad hoses-thermostat-coolant reservoir- and a full system flush on my 293k 95.5 5speed/lug Taco.

MY Taco has been in my possession for almost or just over a year now. It was a straight work horse its entire life and was only given the care it absolutely needed!(she was my brother work truck that never let him down) Not any more! She’s getting some major TLC from here on out, going from work horse to straight cruiser.

Noticed my upper rad hose was swollen and upon further inspection I found a few rubber pieces floating right at the rad cap. I know my brother had done some coolant system work when he owned it and knew he and a friend had to get it done in a short time frame(it was his only vehicle at the time) assuming something’s were rushed when the job was done at that time, I knew I had to dig in a bit for myself and see what I would find. Now after 293k of hard work I knew I’d find some surprises, but this good old Toco wouldn’t skip a beat even when it wasn’t in optimal order!! (The Toyota way!) my brother did inform me that they did use a bleeder vacuum to bleed the system last time which in result most likely ended up causing the issue I located which was a severely blown out thermostat/gasket as you can see in the pictures.

Once the system had been flushed, I popped in a new thermostat, hoses, res tank, and good old Toyota red coolant/distilled water, let the truck run with the heat full blast for a good 30 mins to insure proper temps were reached, stat opened and bam, complete. I’m definitely one to be a bit ocd with my vehicles so without a daily inspection of motor bay and under carriage I may not have caught this and something worse may have occurred. Pays off to pop the hood and look under the vehicles no doubt, “lol even if my lady thinks I’m crazy at times ” Hope everyone has a great Tuesday and thanks for the read.

 

Your garage looks like heaven

 

Here I was wondering the last month what that weird clunking was in my front suspension. Good thing I went out to grease zerks today. Also put a carrier drop in have yet to test it out to see if it helps with the vibes.
https://youtube.com/shorts/LIltlaOKT08

 

Much thanks, it’s been many years in the making. You’re seeing the best version of it yet. Considered my home away from home!

 

Rebuild time again.

Should be the last time before LT at least.

 

Rebuild mine. I’m lazy