Tiffany the Taco

There will definitely be light reduction with any type of mesh. With that being said, I used this mesh and it lets a lot more light that my previous one since there is much less material to block the light.

https://amzn.to/3Kf9eWY

I went with steel because it was cheaper and stronger. I can hit the grill with anything and not dent it. I felt that aluminum could dent too easily.

I was expecting the light output to be reduced, that's why I put 55W HIDs in the hellas.

 

The Hellas with lamin-x on them.

Before


After

 

I'm really liking front end of your truck. The red that used to be chrome looks great.

 

Just wait until I get my retrofits!

 

This is just a rant about my local dealer, Legacy Toyota.

In January of this year I took my truck in to have them replace the oil pan gasket and crank seal since both were leaking. I am capable of doing both of these items but I didn't have the time and liked the idea of having a warranty on this work. I had them replace the valve cover gasket and asked them to check the valve clearance at the same time. I also said that if the clearance was out of spec I wanted it adjusted.

They called me back and the truck was ready but they didn't adjust the valves even though they were out of spec. I argued with the service writer that I didn't want to have to pay the labor to remove the valve covers to have this work done. I finally got him to put it in writing that they wouldn't charge the labor for removal and reinstallation. (I ended up adjusting the valves myself)

About a month goes by and I degreased the engine many times, but there was still oil leaking. I took the truck back and they replaced the oil pan gasket again, and eventually gave me a rental because they were taking too long.

7 Months go by and I still have an oil leak. I took the truck back in and they put a dye in the oil and cleaned the engine. They told me to drive 150 miles and come back so they could determine what was leaking. I had them replace the upper ball joints and outer tie rods and do an alignment at the same time. Upon leaving I noticed the truck was pulling to the right. The alignment was obviously off.

I drive 150 miles and bring the truck back to have them find the oil leak and fix the alignment. They determine that the crank seal (replaced in January) was leaking, along with the oil pump gasket. They agreed to replace both for free, and I might have to pay for the oil pump gasket. I agreed. I get a call back at the end of the day and they said that they cannot get the crank bolt off. "It is torqued way too tight". Keep in mind, they are the ones that torqued it too tight. They are now giving me a rental car for the 2nd time and said they will have the work done sometime tomorrow.

I have lost complete faith in this dealership's service department. I don't understand how they can consistently mess up these service items. Every time I bring my truck to them I have to bring it back to have them fix something they did.

 

Update: They gave me the poo colored tacoma again, same exact truck they gave me in march, only this time is has 17k miles on it. It only had 100 on it before!

Got a call back this afternoon and they stripped the bolts on the oil pump, so they had to break it off? I'm guessing the tech didn't know they needed to use an impact screwdriver to remove them. They said they needed to order 4 more bolts, but it looks like I am getting a whole new oil pump now...

 

That sucks, such a drag. I've always had a lingering distrust of dealers as well... I suppose moral of the story is to have a mechanic friend who can do all the things you can't or don't want to.. At least they're admitting it's their fault and doing the work for free... I've heard too many stories about shops denying even causing the problem.

 

Yea, I just would have thought that their techs would know what they are doing on a Toyota, that's why I took it to them. They charge $110 an hour labor, this repair is definitely costing them more money than it cost me.

 

You'd think they would, and they should. World's full of dummies though, I took my old Honda to Jiffy lube once because I just didn't have time to do the oil myself, I had a coupon for them to top off all my fluids for free so I went for it, making sure they knew Hondas only like Honda fluids... And ended up with a transmission problem three weeks later.

 

Put some trail gear 1.25” wheel spacers on front and back to keep my tires from hitting the frame at full lock. It should hopefully prevent the wheel balance people from putting the wheel weights too close to my tundra calipers as well.

It pushed my tires a little further out than I wanted. I think 1” or .75” would have been better, but I’ll live with it for now.

Also painted the calipers since they were rusty.

 

Pics of the new stance?

 

Looks good I think. It doesn't stick out far at all.

 

Yea it’s not that far, I think the tread of the tire lines up with the very top outer edge of the flare.

 

Nice. My vote is keep em

 

Also, another update from my dealer experience. They had to do 3 alignments to get it right. I went back to pickup the truck and had the service guy ride with me and he saw that the pull to the right was still the same. So I pulled it back into the service bay and hopped back in the rental. They took another entire day to get it right. They said that the steering rack was shifted to the side (which I don't believe since I don't think that's possible). They also managed to knock the wheel weights off of one of my wheels. I will be taking it to discount tire to fix that.

Anyway, I had a rental 2017 tacoma from Tuesday to Saturday for free. I also got a new oil pump out of the deal. So I guess I can't complain that much.

 

Damn. No wonder they have to charge to much for their labor....they are constantly trying to recoup their losses from botched repair jobs. If they just did stuff correctly the first time around, they wouldn't have to charge to dame much.

 

Took a picture in a parking lot

 

Shined up

 

Got any pics to show everyone the new upgrade??