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

Relocate them to the side running lights. Easy to do.

 

For sure. I have a spare set of corner lights to use while I hack the others up. That's today's project. Which write up did you follow?

 

I like that dark 'primer gray' paint job. Not so 'blingy'.

 

I always liked how TomTom had his turns sigs. He had those LED ones that are at the end of a bolt. Small and inconspicuous until you light them up. He has since done the corner light mod so..... it's in his build
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-builds/259729-tomtoms-03-trd-xtra-cab.html

 

Here you go...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/305152-01-04-blinker-relocation-mod.html

 

Here's my useless $0.02.

Like you said...material is determined by how you use your truck and what you're trying to accomplish.

If I was running trails and obstacles like I've seen you run, I'd go beefy steel for everything. Plus your truck isn't a daily driver. You built it for a reason for overland/expo stuff and taking it on serious trails.

For me, my truck is my only vehicle so it has to function as such. I don't wheel on hardcore stuff with it and do have to consider the balance of weight vs performance vs function vs needs, etc.

As of now my plan is to go with 3/16ths steel skids that I can easily bolt on and bolt off. That way I'm not driving around everyday with that weight but can bolt them on before I hit the trails.

As for bumpers, so far my stock ones have held up fine. A couple of mashed/rashes spots from rocks but nothin too bad. So in 15 years of ownership of my truck, I can conclude that I don't need beefy bumpers. So if I do anything for them I'll go with aluminum.

In short, we can all give opinions on Al vs steel but it all comes down to whatever your needs are.

#CaptObvious

 

Cutting board skidplates ftmfw.

These have been around for awhile, I just may go this route....

It can also be applied to a sheet of aluminum or steel for better rigidity.

 

So I saw the other day I had a torn bellow on my steering rack. Of course I was wheeling the week before and probably tore it while wheeling or had it and then wheeled unknowlingly. Either way, now I have a leak from that side though it's relatively slow. Is the rack fucked? From what I read the bellows are just dust covers and aren't supposed to seal anything in so if it's leaking from the bellow now, does that mean the seals on the rack is bad?

 

You are pretty much correct.

The bellows are designed to keep your tie rods clean. If you have power steering fluid leaking out then the seals inside the steering rack are going bad.

You can technically replace the seals, but I'm told you need special tools for the process. You'd probably be better off just getting a new rack.

 

First off, who said my truck isn't a daily driver? Dude my truck gets driven every single day 30+ mile commute each way. It's my only vehicle right now. My wife has her own, but my Land Cruiser is sitting being the process of a major overhaul so my Tacoma has been a daily driver since the day I bought it. I've had the truck for 4 years now, and I've put over 100K miles on it so it gets driven plenty. The crap I do to my truck has to work for every day stuff.

And back to the aluminum vs. steel discussion. I said it before people can do whatever they want. But I'm saying that guys who actually go out and drag their skids over rocks will be ditching the aluminum after it gets trashed and will replace it with a steel skid. Seen that many times. The guys that don't feel the need to replace it are the ones that aren't dragging their skids over rocks very often (if at all). That's fine. Not everyone has to be beat on their trucks in the rocks. An aluminum skid will be far better than the stock ones. For me I'd rather just deal with the cost/effort once by getting a steel skid plate instead of paying for an aluminum one that I'm gonna trash and still have to pay for a steel one to replace it.

The pictures of the skids on the jeeps shows how thick that material has to be. And the edges of the aluminum are chewed and deformed and you can see the deep gouges in it. Sure they work, for a while.

 

Finally got a full size spare, 285/75/16, doesn't match the other 4 but for a new tire and $110 out the door mounted and balanced............Yokohama Geolander, didn't really research it before buying but it's only a spare and little lighter on the tire carrier since it is load range D. Funny, this tire on the pro comp wheel is night and day difference in weight vice the 265 MTR on the stock TRD wheel.

 

Ah. UHMW. This was the rage for a while in the comp scene. Still quite a few that use it. It's slippery which helps when you're trying to get through a course as quickly as possible. What those comp guys don't tell you is how often their replacing that stuff.

A similar principle applies to the UHMW as aluminum. To be effective you have to run a MUCH thicker piece of the plastic. Most that I've seen are a minimum of .5" thick. And when you use pieces that thick the weight is almost the same as steel of much thinner material. Do some research on it. UHMW has its place but the facts are the same, you have to use THICK material for it to work so you don't save a lot of weight and it gets trashed faster than any of the other options so you'll be replacing it more often.

That first pic of the UHMW skid looks way too thin to do much good. Unless there is a lot of bracing behind it, that skid is just going to bend and flex, and finally crack.

 

Haha good luck with that dream. Any used skid never goes on real easy haha they get tweaked the more you love them

From my research your right. I was looking at having to use .75" UHMW and you have to brace the shit out of it. So basically you end up with a skid that's 200lbs..haha

But what I found that guys do now is up 1/8" UHMW on their 3/16 steel skids just to get the slide from it.

But you are fit they still have to replace it a lot.

 

Mounted my Hi-Lift

 

All true, I agree for the most part. But doesn't this just look cool



Besides you guys shouldn't be dragging your stuff over rocks, you should be clearing it.

 

Would these replace the factory leaf spring hanger on a tacoma?

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index.php/welded-hangers.html

 

UHMW is some awesome stuff. People line the hulls of their aluminum jet boats with it all the time. It holds up great for that and they're generally going a lot faster into boulders than you would in your truck. Of course it does need to be replaced if you use it often.

Also I don't care either way on this skid plate discussion haha. I don't have plans to add any at the moment.

 

I'd chop up some peppers, onions and sirloin on those skid plates but I'd have to wait until they rolled.

 

Thought you had a car, a Lexus or something. My bad.

And while I have no doubt your truck is very capable on pavement for daily commuting, I also have no doubt that it's fuel economy would be a thorn in my personal side.

Again, your truck is great I've always admired it. But it definitely leans more towards "beast" than "benign."

 

Had an alignment done this morning after yesterdays install of new LBJ and Outer Tie Rod on driver side.
Alignment is now good but when they had it on the rack they called me over to look at an issue.
I saw that the rack seals are leaking a little fluid.
Also, when they shimmy the wheel side to side you can see lots of play inside the boot which would mean inner tie rods.
I guess I'm now in the market for a new rack.
Its always something with this truck, which is why I love it and hate it at the same time.