DIY Mod "BLOOPERS"

If you have done any DIY mods that didn't turn out like you expected or mods you have done that you regreted please post them here with the hopes that the rest will be warned or learn from them. So far i have none yet but sometimes i wonder if i should have gotten the TRD Sport vs Off Road

 

Not really a mod but I put a beer bottle on the lower half of the rear bumper one night, by the license plate. Then my girlfriend decided she would lower the tail gate...


yeah, I was almost single that night. Luckily I know a good dent repair guy.

 

Such a horribly tragedy. Truck dented and beer spilled.

 

Not on my taco, but on my old Rubicon on my first axle rebuild I set the preload wrong. I though close enough was good enough, and it wasn't. Luckily enough I have a spare set of 5.13s front and rear, so I got to practice a second time and all was well.

 

In my Taco I did the unintentional ditch mod about 2 months after I got it...



And in my WRX I was installing a set of component speakers and decided that I could use a dremel to cut the hole for the tweeters. Ruined two door panels that way. That was a $800 mistake that a $10 hole saw would have solved.

 

Oh, got into the M37 (military power wagon) on Saturday, turned on ignition and fuel pump, got swarmed by yellow jackets, got out quick, saw the nest the size of a basketball under the dash by the gear shift...sprayed a can of wasp killer, turned off fuel pump, but not ignition.

Got back to it yesterday, both batteries so dead they won't take a charge...

Cheapest PAIR of group 27 deep cycle is $250 plus tax...

Howard

 

I read on TW about the Seafoam vacuum treatment. I also read that it can cause O2 sensors to fail due to deposits being released and clogging the sensors. I decided to take the chance, did the seafoam thing and next day had a CEL and sensor fail code. Luckily it was a fairly cheap ($85) pre-cat sensor replacement and all is good to go again.

BTW, that is the only part that has ever been replaced on my truck in 12 years, other than regular oil, filter, brake pads, tires and wiper blades.

 

That's "Alcohol Abuse"

 

I was in a hurry to get back home from canoeing one day. The road to the lake is 15 miles of potholed dirt once you leave the pavement. I had the boat on my Yakima bars, cab only, on my 2012 AC. The cab is narrow enough that my 17 foot Mad River Canoe wasn't as stable as I'd like for those conditions, so I put a ratchet strap in the rear and tightened her down good. It was stable enough that I was hauling ass, Baja style and all seemed good. I rechecked once I got to pavement and found that my 3 month old (at the time) truck had two big dents where the feet of the Yakima towers sit. Haven't had them repaired yet... Now I have bars for the topper my truck now wears permanently, though.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgAaj3DkA-w

 

Oh, I like that footage...It is clear that the ignition source was static from filling the can on the insulated truck bed. Then the driver tries to correct by removing the nozzle from the can, with the fuel still running, then transfers the ignition to the ongoing stream of gasoline UNDER the truck.

The composite truck bed is a factor in the static buildup...if he put the gas can on the GROUND in direct contact with the concrete, he would have been OK.

Howard

 

Let me share a few mods that went wrong (none on the Taco, I've learned my lesson)

Performance exhaust - Sounds good at first, not so much after 5 years. Any gains just aren't worth listening to an exhaust drone on the highway.

Hurst shifter - works great, makes a constant whining/rattle noise. Save this for your offroad rig.

Aftermarket wheels - They never perform like the OEMs. Always found a vibration or pulling.

Sunroof - If there ain't one from the factory, then leave the roof alone. Only had one aftermarket sunroof that I really didn't regret.

Yokohoma Geolanders - They would work much better if they were actually round. Always had the best luck with Michelin.

 

Leather arm rest mod, turned out horrible

 

Replaced the factory OR rims with FJ rims. Put in aftermarket TPMS that are programmable. Would have been fine except one of the sensor batteries was kaput. Too lazy to have it replaced.

 

NEED MOAR PIKCHERS!

 

Who was the guy that was installing a radio and triggered the side curtain airbags? It was not that long ago, that is a mod gone wrong.

 

This^

 

When I did the fog lights anytime mod, I decided I wanted to go with the option where you swap the wires in the fuse box. I couldn't get the pins to release for the life of me, so I decided I would cut the wires and then swap them. After I'm done re-splicing them, both pins slid right out of the connectors as I was putting everything back together.

 

How so?

 

Why was that a blooper? What rims were you using?