PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Im still trying to figure out the entire situation as it sounds fishy to me. Todays fix was telling you that the pushrod needed adjusted, which leads you down the rabbit hole of wondering why its out in the first place. Its not an item out in the open that can be bumped or knocked out of place, you physically have to remove the master cylinder from the booster to gain access.

 

And is the pushrod known to fail after roughly 160K miles of use? I think the ABS module was failing, and somebody might have been monkeying around with the master cylinder. My mechanic, who once again I trust completely, told me that the ABS module was likely the problem. The dealer got the job because they were surprisingly almost the same price as my mechanic and they could give me a loaner. Another mechanic friend of mine tells me that the master cylinder by itself would not activate a warning light or throw a code.

 

How hard did you step on the brake pedal when you hit that curb?

 

I have never known one to fail other than finding one that was broken once, its basically just a threaded rod that allows you to adjust and lock it to the correct length so when you step on the pedal it pushes the correct amount of fluid to both circuits.

 

I don't think I hit it all; I've hit plenty of curbs in the 14+years of owning this truck, and it's never caused the brakes to lock up within minutes; I really think that it's just an unlucky coincidence, and firmly believe that the ABS module wore out. The fact that it was the only such part available tells me that other Tacomas have had this problem...

 

I’ve never seen one fail.
The only time I’ve ever heard of issues with the push rod is when bleeding brake.
I was always taught not to press the brake pedal too hard when bleeding, as it can allow the pushrod to “over travel” and damage the master cylinder.

We can speculate all day. Who knows why your problem occurred?
And what exactly the cause was?

It doesn’t really matter now.
Me and Shaker just don’t want to see you get taken advantage of.
We kind of like you there buddy


I wouldn’t worry about any further.
As long as the truck works and you’re happy, drive the truck and keep enjoying it.
Drive the hell out of it. I do mine. I’m going to get all the money I can out of mine by driving it.
I don’t plan to sell or trade it. When I’m done with it, it will be done. Scrap.

 

@shakerhood and I have a theory...

The master cylinder did in fact fail in February 2014; I was driving to college on what should have been a snow day. A Tahoe Z71 in front of me stopped suddenly, and I slammed on the brake pedal with all my might to avoid rear-ending it. I succeeded.

A little over a mile later, I stopped for a red light and I was on a slight incline. The light turned green, and I hit the gas, but the truck wouldn't move. The rear wheels spun, but the truck wouldn't move. There were no warning lights on.

I had the truck towed to Thompson and they determined that the pushrod had become jammed. This necessitated replacing the whole master cylinder. Since that job was done, my brakes wore out quickly and sometimes unevenly. In 2017 and
2022, I had calipers totally seize up.

The truck had probably 35K miles on it at the time the master cylinder failed, so that's over 150K miles.

I firmly believe that this ABS module was nuked by the high and often uneven pressure, but nobody thought to check the master cylinder. With something as important as the brakes, I'm glad this part was replaced. The brake lines were already replaced as part of the frame recall.

 

I scored this nonfunctional mini fridge from one of my girlfriend's neighbors...

 

@6 gearT444E
@ABA180
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@shakerhood
@Speedytech7
@steelcity2
@TnShooter

I have never heard of Cyclopentane/R600a. This was a cheap Insignia (Best Buy) fridge, and it didn't seem that old; I've never seen a fridge newer than about 1994 that didn't have R134a...

 

The unit had no refrigerant in it, and removing the compressor was easy...

 

Cyclopentane is really common, that is a hydrocrabon refrigerant, used in small/medium consumer appliances

 

Would a full size freezer/fridge for the typical residential kitchen use it? We got our first fridge with R134a (and also our first fridge with a water and ice dispenser) in 1998.

 

yeah for sure on the freezer, I'm not sure if a consumer fridge would or not. I'm sure some fridges do but I'm not sure the limit on size. Pretty much all freezer only units I see for sale are cyclopentane. It and R290 (propane) are nice because you can legally vent them to atmosphere.

 

R600a is legal to vent into the atmosphere?

 

yeah, the US allows venting of hydrocarbon refrigerants. R600a is basically the same as isobutane which is a common cooking fuel haha. Recovery equip isn't usually designed for highly flammables anyway

 

I saw this underappreciated survivor in a neighborhood where I dropped off a DoorDash order today; 1999 Dodge Caravan LE!


January 18th, 2024:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

This bad boy was manufactured in 92’ and running 12.

 

We gotta find that thing a nice meth head to live in it.

 

Too nice for even a cokehead!

 

@ABA180
@Bishop84
@Empty_Lord
@Speedytech7

The dealer thoroughly inspected the braking system, ran diagnostics, and found no faults. The tech was worried the brake booster might be going, but he didn't want to condemn that because that is not a cheap part either ($1,300); I was told that the OBD2 scanner showed a fault with the ABS module, and I have reason no to believe them. I have put probably fifty miles on my truck since getting it back, and not only have I not had an issue, but the brake pedal has started feeling better the more I drive. I am having my mechanic price out a brake booster just in case, because I am not paying anymore jacked up dealer prices...