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

Nice rig! I love 1st gen 4x tacos!!!

 

Very nice catch. Is this a 12 or 20 ton? Thought the latter was needed for axle length...and for strength if want to do front bearings sometime. Looks like 20 ton is on sale now new for $219.

 

$120 is amazing. May have found a used 20 ton hoping to get for $100.

 

12 ton. I got it to do the rear bearings on my 01 truck and the bearing tool is a 12 ton specific rated tool also. The guy I purchased it from sent me a link from who he purchased it from. Press tool Kit only for rears.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193637211065

It even gives a reference and link to Timmy the tool man's video for rears on the listing.

I did my fronts 2 yrs ago. I pulled the knuckles and took them to a local shop to press w/timken bearings and all the trimmings.
I believe it's less likely for a screw up by a shop letting them do the fronts than rears, I'm thinking due to specifics of the rear repair. I want my control on that one so it's done for sure properly

 

The guy I got it from drove a 1st gen tundra which he said he used the tool for. The bottom floor support was removed on press??? For longer axle, maybe he put it on some blocks or something to get the distance.

 

Passenger side tie rod end was clunking for a while. New inners + outers on both sides. The 555 ones. My rack is different than the videos there was no place to put a 32mm wrench to help remove the inner so I just took a breaker bar to the inner with a 42mm end. Also no place for the lock washer, so Loctite was used instead. Eyeball alignment is what it is, it'll go in Monday for one. Alignment shop just twisted the inner last time and it destroyed the boot... lazy work.

Also put on new sway bar links hopefully the last ones I'll ever need, seems like I go through stock links every 3 months. Adjusted to the lowest setting. Tomorrow is mini header exhaust to replace my LCE one.

 

Got a link for those adjustable sway bar links?

 

https://www.srqfabrications.com/col...ay-bar-end-links?_pos=13&_fid=cff6ffd02&_ss=c

They are beefy, adjusts at both ends and comes with bushings. I was extremely impressed

 

Have both a Tundra and Taco so was holding out for the 20 ton that is taller. Looks like the 12 ton can work but may have to put it up extended on blocks. Nice find there for $120 if it included the press and the tool! Did the rear on the Tundra and grease tested depth. You should be fine if use toy seals and test correct depth for seal on retainer.

 

Mice got into my heater core, AC condensor and my blower housing. Soooo putting a lot of wire mesh into the openings because if this ever happens again I'm torching the truck and collecting the insurance.

 

I keep this fellow on retainer for that very reason.

 

Skunk urine will keep those little bastards at bay.

 

Doubles as an air freshener too

 

All you needed to mesh was the intake at the cowling. Only way into that stuff.

Otherwise they will just make their nest right at that mesh.

 

Alignment after replacing the tie rods. Steering feels so much better now and I wasn't *that* far off by just guessing the toe. No more horrendous clunks and being able to shake the tie rod. Took 30min but of course was charged the full amount.

 

I was just going to ask about this. What do you see your voltage sitting at after ~2-3 weeks of not running, and how often do you use the charger on them?

Mine are getting down to ~12.3-12.5v after a couple weeks of sitting (in Vegas) and similar voltages overnight with the fridge running. Not super happy about that, but has been OK so far (i.e. I can still get moving in the morning). Six.something years on mine.

 

I'm not sure I can give you a really good comparison for a couple of reasons. I rarely go that long (2-3 weeks) without either starting and using the truck or putting it on the charger. And it's not unusual to see 12.2-12.3v as a resting voltage without the charger. One week of sitting after an adventure is enough do that.

I do find that the resting voltage stays higher for a longer period of time after a session on the charger. I've mentioned this before, but I think it is the desulfation cycle on the charger that is key here. This is something that is lacking when the charge source is only the alternator.

For grins and giggles, I just went out and checked the resting voltage on the starting battery. It is at 12.49v. It has been about a week since I removed the cTek charger. The Peak status indicator shows both batteries to be equal with one red and two yellow leds lit up. The batteries are not linked by the ml-acr ATM.

And FWIW, Mine will start up just fine from 12.1-12.2v on the starting battery.

 

I mean what are you all expecting the battery's to hold? They aren't designed to sit at 14v with no active charge on them. Anything between 12.1-12.8v should be good. If they start dipping below 12 then you've got issues.

 

I simply noticed it b/c my crank sounded "slower." Mine drops to 11.7 on coldish (around freezing) mornings as I crank, from the 12.5 range.

 

I have a slow parasitic drain, if I leave it for 3+ weeks it will be down at 11.x volts. Probably a cause for the overall degradation that I’ve been experiencing. So generally I just keep them on a trickle charger.