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

Shock seal kits here are basically $20 per shock. You can get uniballs for $15 each if they are bad enough to need replacing as well. I don't know what brand shocks you were referring to, but they have rebuild kits for all of the major brands.

http://shockseals.com/king.htm

Shafts are $60 a piece from King - ask for close up pics or video of them fully extended. They require soft jaws to hold them in a vise and a cheap torch to heat up the rod ends enough to melt the loctite that hold them on.

https://www.filthymotorsports.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KING-SHAFT

https://www.kartek.com/parts/kartek...x-or-sway-a-way-58-34-or-78-shock-shafts.html



New hoses can be purchased at any hydraulics shop. I got 2 new ones for $50.

This video shows mostly how to take them apart.



The only special tool needed are the spanner wrench and the soft jaws that are only required if you have to get new shafts or rod ends.

$26 Williams JHW482 Adjustable Face Spanner with a 2" Span Diameter, Ideal for Adjusting Collars, Lock Nut Rings, and Bearings, Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001DNWVH8?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

New oil is like $40 for enough for roughly 4 oem size shocks.

$55 King Shock Technology F10011

https://www.amazon.com/King-Shock-T...+shock+oil&dpPl=1&dpID=31HHIc6NC-L&ref=plSrch

Springs are usually reusable but could use a fresh powered coating or sand blast and painting if you live in a rust belt state.

Here's a pair of bypasses I'm rebuilding

 

I need to replace my spherical bearings in my Kings as well. When I got the lower part of the coilover off though I couldn't get the misalignment spacers to come out. Was told that they should just fall or pop out but mine were in there good. Curious what you guys that have removed them on your Kings recommend?

I couldnt get the spacers to come out with pliers despite substantial pulling.

My bearings aren't nearly a bad as @Digiratus are but they have developed a stop/go clunk and bad squeak unless I tri-flow them every week

 

Get a screwdriver on the gap in the middle of them and pound, it helps to put the rod end on a block of wood. That's basically what they do at King haha.

The newer ones are super tight - old ones can fall out.

 

Shouldn't need too. Just press it out as is. Get new misalignments and call it day.

 

Oh, the point is that those heaters will warm up in about 5 minutes, and quickly, are toasting your frozen ass. Way quicker to warm you up than the truck heater. Just sayin'.!!

 

Gotcha, yeah I had thought about trying that but didn't have new spacers on me (just bearings) and was afraid I might not be able to reuse the spacers if I forced them out. Gonna do like @Blackdawg suggested and grab new ones so I can replace both the bearings and the spacers next time I give it a try

 

Mine were pretty gummed up and didn't want to "fall off" either. I used two pliers. grabbed the outside and twisted opposite directions to get them to loosen up.

 

Yeaaaa buuuuut


If you start the truck when you get back to it, and then put everything away(uncollar dogs, put dogs in dog box, have a celebratory drink of erm, water) and then put everything else away, the trucks warmed up.

 

Don't try heated seats. You'll never want to go back.

Trust me, I know it doesn't sound like they help or are awesome. But they really do.

 

Oh I believe it, I just don’t want to justify it.


Maybe some day when I can afford to build the perfect hound dogger truck.

 

They should be fine - I've done it more than a few times. You can pick them up at king for like $7-8 a piece.

 

Yeah I had pliers on both sides but couldn't get them out for the life of me....but, I still had the top of the coilover bolted in and just had the lower part unbolted from the arms. I naively thought I could do the swap that way. Gonna remove them entirely next time so I can work on it with ample room and better grip

 

Great post! !!

 

They're great until they burn your truck down. Had a buddy get stuck in snow and while he was shoveling to get out something to do with the seat heater caught fire. Luckily he wasn't too far from civilization. It was a 2nd gen so nothing really lost

 

Man I'm kinda paranoid about this. Put some cheap chinese seat heaters in my seats, they've been fine for a year now so hopefully they'll just die before they light anything on fire...

 

Almost done. My buddy is going to fix the basket over the roof so it’s not as close to the roof and make it sit level!

 

Installed the 2.7 4 cylinder windshield reservoir and front and rear durobump stops today. The rear I went with the 5.25” I need to go flex it to see how it works or if it needs adjustment.

Wanted to do the rear diff breather mod and the grey wire mod as well today. It just got dark too soon. So I’ll save those for next weekend lol

 

Thanks - I'll try to do a write up when I put them back together and get it stickied. Most guys who work on their trucks could do it themselves I think!

 

hmm maybe i should give rebuilding my icons a go.

 

I replaced the automatic shifter bushings in my truck today with these great 3D Printed PLA bushings from @Brice.

When I did my 4x4 conversion, I used a shifter console out of a 1996 4Runner with about 300,000 miles. Unbeknownst to me, the bushings were absolutely shot. For almost a year, the truck would pop out of gear, and indicate you’re in Neutral when you’re really in Drive. Usually I’d have to rev the engine to test if I was really in Drive versus Neutral. In general, there was just so much slop in shifter.

Found out it was the long disintegrated bushings at fault. Upon removing the shifter from the truck and cleaning out the lateral shafts from the mechanism, this is all that was left of the factory bushings. They crumbled when I tried to take them out.



The main lateral shaft under the shifter was completely missing a Bushing on one side. The remains were nowhere to be found, all that was evident that a Bushing once existed was this chalky blue residue.



Since I’m using a 4Runner shifter, there is a metal tab intended for the 4Runner trim I didn’t need and interfered with my center console. I just had it bent back when I first installed it, but now I actually took the time to drill it out.



Here are the bushings in place. Installation is very straightforward. I used synthetic Super Lube, as petroleum derived lubricants would’ve dissolved the PLA plastic. I had a hell of a time trying to find Silicone Grease, so the synthetic grease had to do.





New Bushing versus the remains of the Factory Bushing



While I was at it, I completed my dual transmission conversion and I now have selectable Manual or Automatic transmission — depending on your mood.

Kidding, the shift knobs have the same thread pitch.



First impressions, WOW! It shifts like it is brand new. No more slop, sharp and deliberate movements, properly indicates the current gear, and most importantly — doesn’t pop out of gear anymore.

Just like the bushing on 5-Speed trucks, replacing the bushings on Automatic trucks make a profound difference on the shifting of the truck.