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

Fixed my seized up brake caliper.

 

Elaborate?? Did you just replace it or is there a way to free them up?

 

Not how mine was. My neighbor, who is a mechanic and has only owned Toyota's his entire life gave me a hand. We tried freeing it up with a massive pair of channel locks and nothing. Had to replace the whole thing, did both rotors while I was at it. Nice surprise for what I was hoping was going to be a quick pad change.

 

Ha sucks man. Can just chop it and relocate??

AAL will be better anyways

 

Looks good!

 

The pipe is a minor problem, but I don't really want to hack my pipe anyway. The e-brake cable runs over the leafpack on my 01 (and think it varies on different years, and some go under?). It does this right at the location close to the U-bolts where the helper springs have their little wave to capture the helper sping U-bolt that attaches them to the top of the leafpack.

If I try to put the spring under the cable, it puts tension on the cable. If I move the helper spring toward the rear to avoid this interference, it ends up where the gap starts between the lowest regular leaf and the overload leaf. So you go to clamp this, and you can never get it right, because the pack will flex and the hellwig U bolts will get loose. I even tried doing this and closed up the gap almost completely (while at droop position), but this is going to bind the overload to the lowest leaf, messing up droop, etc. And I still wouldn't be confident that the Hellwig U bolts would stay tight.

And in positioning the Hellwigs, you also have the get the rear U-bolt in a location that has a good flat surface, but it wants to be right between the tips of two leafs. So that is another inch of undesireable positioning issues.

Lame.

 

Go to a Toyota dealership i walked in yesterday and got one for $45

 

ahh that sucks man, im pretty sure my driver side is seized pulls to the left on braking. think i might do a tundra brake upgrade when the time comes

 

Sounds like it could be. Mine would pull to the right, which was where the caliper that was seized was.

 

I made my dogs happy by building this xtra cab platform . Check it out!

 

What is the simplest way to take a stock radio out? Do you have to take out all the plastic housing?

 

It isn't hard. Remove the AC control knobs and faceplate, remove the 2 screws that are holding on the bezel. Then use your fingers to pull the entire bezel off by pushing the top vents downward and pulling on that lip. If you have the cupholder up there extend it out. Unplug the back of the 4way flashers and unbolt the radio.

A lot easier than it sounds.

 

It's super easy. Take the knobs off the ac controls and pull the plate. There are 3 screws holding the surround on. One in the upper right, one in the upper left, and one all the way at the bottom in front of the shifter (hard to see). Then four screws/bolts holding the radio in. Takes like 5 mins.

 

Wow, thats pretty cool!

 

Added some Polk DB571's and a Crutchfield Sound Ordnance M2100 amp last night. For a fairly inexpensive setup I'm loving the sound.





The amp fits nicely under the seat and I've got good access to the controls.




Now that it's all in and working I think I'll run those RCA cables under the carpet and clean it up just a bit more.

 

Hey, not sure where the best place to post this question is, sorry if im in the wrong spot. Today I got a good price offer on a black diamond plated rear bumper. Its for a 88-94 pickup, will this work on my 2001 extended cab? - Thanks!

 

Definetly requires modification to fit.. you should also measure it to make sure

 

Thanks ya'll. I ordered a new radio and just wondering if I was in for a lot. But I guess not. Thanks goodness

 

I have removed mine at least 5 times, the hardest part is removing the faceplate. I also forgot that you have a passenger side airbag, so I think you would need to unplug the airbag on/off switch instead of 4way flashers.

 

Some people say not to unplug that. If you do decide to I would definitely undo the battery. I don't need to when I take mine out. I just pull the faceplate and lean it down with everything still plugged up. More than enough room.