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

@drr Dan has convinced me to try a 5 tire rotation. It will be the first time I've ever done that on any vehicle.

One of the (many) curses of being old is remembering when cross-rotations caused premature tread separation. Cross rotating means changing the rolling direction of a tire. I am told that this is no longer an issue.

 

I rotate in my spare, figure it cant hurt and at least the tire gets used vs sitting on my swingout. When i need new tires Ill swap em all out.

 

Pretty sure you're supposed to as long as it's the same size. Which is why a lot of us don't. When I get another set of tires I'll have my full size spare so I'm going to rotate it in

 

I used to do a 5 wheel rotation. But now my spare is too far gone from the other 4 so I'll just do a 4 on Igor. Same for Frank right now the spare has too much life..but im due for new tires there anyways.

 

I do a 6 tire rotation every oil change. It’s nice having dual spares.

 

I have the original factory 15" spare with the original tire on it with a 1997 date code. It still has the neon green paper sticker on it that says 'DEALER'

I don't think it's a good idea to rotate that one in, considering my current rim and tire size is completely different.

 

I had that too, was so dry rotted.
Also your spare doesn't fit over your front brakes...

 

I came up with an overly complex pattern that ensures each tire changes rotation direction every time you change them. I have been rotating them every 5000 miles. Hopefully that’ll maximize tread life and keep the spare at the same level as everything else.

 

Mine as well, the sticker looked like it almost burnt off.

 

I'll probably pick up a 16" Tundra steelie if I can find one.

You know what, this never occurred to me. I guess if I got a flat, I would swap a rear one up front and use the spare on the rear.

 

To you guys with lifted trucks, does the factory bottle jack do anything to jack up the truck?

 

Yeah, don't jack from the frame, jack from arms or axle. Only things that affect that distance are tires. Also get a HF 6ton hydraulic bottle jack fits in the stock location and is way easier to use.

 

It fits in the same spot? I was looking at that but I've heard those cheaper bottle jacks don't like being stored sideways.

 

Worked fine for me for 4 years. Still use it from time to time, worst case scenario you fill it with ATF ever other year haha, but mine hasn't leaked ever

 

I remember when I was doing my PreRunner swap, I was trying to drop the transmission with their transmission jack. It decided to lose all hydraulic pressure and hang the jack on the transmission.

Ended up using my Hi-Lift jack and some strategically placed cinder blocks and cribbing to hold the transmission back in place. Topped it off with ATF and it worked fine again.

I actually cracked my old bellhousing from that. It's sitting in my scrap heap.

 

Hummmm. With LT I just stare at it and wonder why I have a bottle jack

 

I used it once, I was trying to push my rear fenders out before I had fiberglass

 

Did it work

 

Just added photos, it kinda worked