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

That's good info to have. Thank you.

If I end up doing the @TOTAL CHAOS bushings with the 333 Fab clamp, I'll know going in it may be a "Total" pain in the ass.

If I get it to work, I'll let you know how I did it

 

My 1995 Tacoma has code B06A which is an 8” ring gear and 3.91 open diff.

Mike

 

If you have an open diff, you have an "8.4" housing.

8.4 is slang that differentiates it from the 8 inch locker housing. The "8.4" housing still has an 8 inch ring gear.

 

Finished up the Tundra brake swap today. Took about 4 hours start to finish, minimal grinding and bending on the dust shield.

Biggest issues I ran into were the hard line fitment to the soft line, it just wasn’t lining up very well. That and the caliper hit the wheel weights. Replaced one side with harbor freight ones that were smaller. Other side sounds like it is hitting on a sharp fast turn but I think it’ll grind itself down over time.

Stopping power seems similar, nothing crazy there. Pedal is still soft I’m using speed bleeders and think it just needs more time to bleed. Overall if you need to replace brakes might as well do it.

Used NAPA calipers, Bosch rotors, oem hard lines, pads and brackets. SS line from AdventureTaco.

 

There should be a massive increase in stopping power, or you have air in the system.

Try tapping on the calipers with a rubber mallet to shake any air bubbles loose within the caliper when bleeding the brakes.

 

Now would be a good time to adjust the rear brakes

 

Changing out sparks!

 

Also shopping for a new MAF after seeing this thread about the same issue my 03 i4 is having:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1997-tacoma-starts-revs-dies.835596/

 

If the feel doesn't improve, search around for info on different master cylinders in 1st gens. I recall reading that some years got master cylinders that play really nicely with the Tundra brakes and others are underwhelming.

 

After being rear ended at a stoplight back in March, I used it as a opportunity to not only clean up the minor damage but to do some upgrades:
1) new rear bumper with swing out and sliders will be ordered today (4x Innovations)
2) box had to be removed to touch up paint on the back of the cab where the box made contact and a small dent in the cab corner, so while it was off, we sandblasted the rear frame, differential, tire carrier etc and coated with 3 coats of epoxy primer. I also plan on hitting front half of the frame with wire wheel next to remove any surface rust and coating that as well
-note we did find one rust spot on bottom of the frame (marked with yellow arrow) where there was a small hole in the frame. I am deciding if I want to have this fixed/plated or if I will leave as is and simply give this area an extra coat of fluid film twice a hear. Other than this spot the frame is in excellent shape (from front to back)
3) Old Man Emu Leafs prings pulled, cleaned up and reinstalled
3) pulled the fuel tank skid, sand blasted it and coated with epoxy primer
3) box had a few small chips in the raptor liner (not from accident) repaired
4) sent the king shocks (front and rear) off to be rebuilt
5) replaced the front windshield as it had a small crack (not from accident)
6) pulled the headliner and sound deadened roof (rest of cab was done several years ago)
7) new cab mounts (energy suspension)

 

What do your fuel trims look like? How's fuel pressure? What is your maf reading?

 

Honestly I’m not sure. I’m pretty new to wrenching. As a kid I bolted parts onto my fourwheelers and I have done regular maintenance on my DDs, but I have very little resto/triubleshooting experience. I got this Taco in 2021 and inherited a lot of deferred maintenance.

thanks for the leads btw

 

It's worth it to have an obd reader and diagnostic tools to avoid shotgunning parts when they don't need to be replaced. Bluetooth readers are pretty cheap and you can read every display you want at one time.

 

Agreed! Part of my journey with this current problem is that my obd reader keeps giving the “failure to communicate” error. I’ve tried four other readers and they say the same thing.

I pulled the ECM and it had some faults in the circuits to the IAC and throttle position sensor, so I had a buddy who knows way more than me about electrical work read those and he said they were n good.

I replaced them and had the ECM remanned, but the problem persists (cranks, idles terribly for ~3 secs, then dies and won’t fire at all until I try again the next day).

Haven’t checked fuel pressure itself (don’t know how but willing to learn!), but the fuel pump is sounding like it should when I turn the key and i smelled fuel when I pulled the sparks. They got spark but they were fouled so I switched them and the problem is still here lol.

Tho im hoping it’s just the MAF, I still have the obd read fault to suss out. Honestly I’m feeling overwhelmed about it, which is the main reason I joined TW—hoping to learn

 

Got the heads back from the machine shop and everything buttoned up.

“oh yea.. it’s coming together” -Cronk

 

The TC bushings are far and away the stiffness and longest lasting you can get.

I wouldn't run any other brand.

No comment on the 333 fab bushing bracket. Haven't gotten one to try.

 

I ran the speed bleeder, drove it around to bed the brakes then bled again. It got better... just think I need to bleed some more.

Luckily the week before I installed new drums/shoes/wheel cylinders and adjusted them nicely. Also put a proportioning valve bracket in to account for the lift. Pedal felt great after adjusting them, it feels ok now but probably still air.

 

Baby steps

 

My experience is your year has a larger diameter MC and dual diagram booster. This actually makes the pedal softer with the larger calipers.

Vs the 13/16s mc and single diaphragm boost in the 01-04 models.


This is also why you see reports if some saying their pedal got softer and other don't. It's usually that difference. I have swapped them in and out to test.

So unlikely your pedal will feel better but it will likely still be performing better. If you want a hard stuff pedal you cal always swap the MC and booster. They bolt right in. You can not however just swap one or the other due to design differences of the MC. So it's both or nothing.

 

I'd get your obd port working first. If there's a short in there it could be throwing off information to the ecu.