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

Finally got around to installing lift struts on the hood to eliminate the prop rod!

Bye bye prop rod.

These are the struts and brackets that I used

$25 C16-08316 C1608316 20" 40 Lbs Gas Struts Prop Shock 20" for RV Side Door Motorhome Door Camper Shell Rear Window Tonneau Cover Trap Door TV Cabinet RV Bed, 2Pcs ARANA(No Ball Brackets)

Hood Prop Rods

$12 4 Pcs 10MM Gas Spring Lift Strut Bracket Ball Stud Grey Mounting Bracket for Lift Support Prop

Hood Prop Rod Brackets

The hood bracket on the passenger side was not initially set up properly so I made the best of it. The original rivnuts were placed with not enough gap for the strut to fully collapse.

M4 rivnuts and m4x10mm bolts were used to fasten the brackets.

Mike

 

Thought I would get some new windshield washer and put them on. Until I found all the posts. I would have never thought it was such a big deal!! Decided to clean and adjust the old stock ones as well as I could.

 

I put these on two vehicles last month without complications. Big improvement over stock. What problems have folks mentioned?
Genuine Honda 76810-TK8-A01...

$20 2011-2013 Genuine Honda Odyssey Front Windshield Washer Nozzle 76810-TK8-A01

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LIRXIN0?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Clutch was squeaking terribly, and sometimes - usually when it was hot - the truck would judder and lurch uncontrollably while getting underway.

Just brought it in for an oil change. Asked them to lube the clutch linkage. They greased up the clutch fork pivot ball. Better, but still a little squaky. So I sprayed lithium grease on the interior clutch linkage. A little messy, but the squeak is gone. So far, lurching and judderring appear eradicated. But I've only driven it ~ 1/2 hour.
Wife had the problem on her way to work the 2 times she drove it. I had her take it out last night, and she feels it's been fixed, too.

I had them perform a driveline inspection, to see if somehting in there is out of tolerance, contributing to inbalance during launch. They did find a leaky transmission tail shaft seal. I'll get that looked at next time. Everything else appears to be within tolerance.

 

Not on the truck yet, but put Baja designs lenses on Amazon special "S2" very impressive difference.
Stock lense.

BD wide cornering amber.

Lenses.

Link to the lights: Auto Power Plus LED Pods, 2Pcs 40W 3 Inch Driving Light Bar Off Road Spot Light Super Bright Work Light Cube LED Bumper Light Pod Fog Light for Truck ATV UTV Motorcycle Boat Offroad

$34 Auto Power Plus LED Pods, 2Pcs 40W 3" Driving Light Bar Off Road Spot Light Super Bright Work Light Cube LED Bumper Light Pod Fog Light for Truck ATV UTV Motorcycle Boat Offroad

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NPNTNTD

 

Finished wiring the winch to the battery. Decided to use a disconnect switch next to the battery. Rivet nuts rock

 

My Cruise Control stopped working...Yea, I know about the [lift-da-clutch] trick, been using that for years...Brake lights working so it's not that switch, the ON button on the stalk turns the dash indicator on so it's not the clock spring, and I can hear the click from the control unit when I hit that switch so it's probably not the control unit...but I could not set the speed, so I figured the best thing to try was pulling the speed control switch out of the steering wheel and see how that looked. Pulled the wheel, removed the switch and then pried the switch apart with a little flat blade screwdriver. In addition to the ON/OFF switch at the end of the stalk, there is a mechanical switch with 3 sets of contacts on the inside for Set/Coast, Resume/Increase and Cancel. Contacts all looked reasonably good, not excessively grimy or oxidized, but I wiped them off just the same. Reassemble the switch, reinstall the whole assembly, figuring it was something else causing the problem. I was driving out on an errand and just for laughs I tested it again, and much to my surprise, it worked! Chalk another repair up to mostly dumb luck.

 

It's not hard to get them to stay with a couple hidden zip ties.

 

Set it up like that a while ago, you don't see the zip ties at all from the front. I have single piece head lights so the grill end has been trimmed but It should still work

 

Might happen if it does it again, lol.

 

I picked up 5hp by replacing my Breather hoses and clamps.







Then replaced my broken Washer Tank with a new OEM one.



Then opened up a can of worms with fixing the surface rust under the battery

 

Don't get rid of that washer fluid tank! I've heard people say the new ones are just as bad and you're lucky to get 1-2 years out of them, it becomes an annual expense. I fixed mine by putting a balloon animal balloon down the throat and fiberglass around what was left of the neck. Now at least I'm not worried about replacing it

 

That’s not a bad idea. I was trying to try ink how to repair it in the current state.

The bottom tank part is built like a military gas can, but the neck is the cheapest, most brittle plastic imaginable.

I was going to do the relocation option, but I have cruise control, so there is no where to mount the tank under the hood.

 

I got this tank.
https://amzn.to/48eLJGo
(I can't see how a new tank would be as bad as a tank that is disintegrating)

 

I just meant maybe don't throw the old one away yet, since ive seen people online say that new ones aren't made as good you might want to try and repair the old one in the future

 

I've had this in my wish list for a while, though idk anyone who's tried it. Was thinking about using it on the firewall, fenders, and maybe hood

$100 Second Skin Audio Spectrum Liquid Sound Deadening Spray and Paint - Water Based Viscoelastic Vibration Damper for Automotive Insulation (1 Gallon)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F6C9BJS/

 

I finally tackled the high mount brake light LED swap.

Drilled off the heads of those fasteners to allow removal of the brake lamp housing without headliner removal gymnastics.

Fastened LED housing with clip nuts/tinnerman retainers.

Mike

 

Interesting. I hadn't thought of the liquid application approach. that on the fenders would do a lot I'm sure.
My plan had been to use some 80mil

MAT66 ProBlack 80 mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Vehicle Audio Sound Insulation and Dampening Material

butyl matting, and then put some of

$50 Siless Liner 157 (4 mm) mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Closed Cell Foam & Heat Insulation mat - PE Foam Sound Deadener Material & Heat Barrier

this or

$165 Second Skin Luxury Liner Pro - 2 in 1 Sound Insulation for Cars - Mass Loaded Vinyl and Closed Cell Foam - MLV Noise Barrier Made in USA (2 Sheets)

this on top of that before the vinyl floor.
I'll have to look into that liquid stuff though. Might be easier to just do that as a base and then put some MLV on top of that.

 

Just bear in mind the more you stack under the carpet, the harder it gets to get things to fit back together. I have a layer of roof liner (that tar roll stuff), a layer of open cell foam, and mass-backed carpet. My Huskey floor liners don't fit, my rear plastic side panels are basically friction fit, my kick panels only fit because I have them screwed in lol
... And that's just the floor....

 

Closed out a week of design and building I now have an easily removeable 2-bike carrier. While I transport my bike inside the camper, I do occasionally carry a friend's or two's bikes. I can finesse the 2nd bike in the camper but it is a bit of a PITA. I researched available hitch mounted racks but none would work with my swing arm and the biggest is they was significantly out of my budget. So, this is the result of a lot of imagining, measuring, and seeing what I already had in terms of materials.

The carrier slips into a couple of 1-1/4" receiver hitches welded to the bottom of the swing arm.



The parts after painting. The trays were made from a Yakima rack tray that I used a 4" PVC connector pipe to reform for fat bike tires. The wrap-around, anti-vibration clamps (McMaster) secure the Yakima round bars to the square tubing.