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

In my defense, I left that on because I figured I would either have to take it off again, or just take a dremel and cut it off haha

 

Not a problem at all haha. And fire comin from over here. I definitely chose to JB weld cuz my wife would’ve divorced me if I spend $400 on the only one Toyota could find hahaha

And that teansmission work sounds like way too much time haha

 

That’s hawt. Twins on the rear set up!

 

super clean looking truck man, any chance do you have the part # for the rear fox shocks you got, i have the all pro expo leafs aswell and lookin for shocks.

 

Hey, I too have worked some JB Weld miracles. Stuff is good.
The transmission was nothing compared to doing the SAS on that one. I really need to get back to work on the rework of the suspension

 

Took my truck to get aligned after replacing the front shocks and springs. The truck drives well enough to use at this point, but the LCA bushings are seized and they said they weren't able to adjust the camber very much. I've already bought the Whiteline poly bushings and plan to do the job in the next couple of weeks, but I was wondering if replacing the lca bushing would have any impact on the caster. Is there any way to gain some caster without buying an aftermarket UCA?

 

I do. Their FOX 2.0 SMOOTH IFP - Part # FOX980-24-672


I got them off of 4WP. You can type in your vehicle and they will pop up. To be sure I always like to call customer service and confirm prior to purchasing.

 

If its one thing I've learned about alignments, if you have a lazy or crap tech - its going to show and no amount of gear is going to matter.

Replace the LCA bushings and take it back in. They should be able to do better.

Back after I installed my OME kit, I took it in to toyota for an alignment. They said they couldn't do any better and had me in negative caster. They said only aftermarket UCAs were the solution. Here is the report:



After discussing here in my local area section, I had a referral to a shop specializing in alignment only - its all they did. Several other TW folks had used them so I quickly made an appointment. Cost a bit more and I was already out what I 'donated' to toyota but the techs at this other shop had me back into positive caster and everything else dialed in as well - all with the stock UCAs. FWIW, I was running 265/75/16 at the time.



on the subject of aftermarket UCAs, just a few days ago I installed SPC UCAs since I was moving to 255/85/16s. Took it into my new "go-to alignment shop" and here is what they have me at now:



Its all about the tech and how they do their job.

 

I have the Expos too and went with Icon 2.0 w/resis, been happy with them

 

Camber and caster are bother effected by the lower cam bolts. It's a balance, camber being of higher importance to minimize wear on tires.

This is why I like spc arms since the adjustments are all in the upper arm allowing you to max the castor and leave it there.

 

The Whiteline bushings alone will help some but you also need some aftermarket UCAs. If you have aftermarket Upper control arms like the Camburg arms it will add 2° of positive Caster by default which will give you the ideal 3° of caster.

 

@eon_blue, @BartMaster1234, @Blue92 I got my u bolts and one more set of greasable bushings for the shackles. Thanks again for the heads up that I would need those.

 

Ok... Time for big decisions to be made. Just got the Land Cruiser emblem for my grill. I didn't think I would like the white, but now that I'm actually looking at it, I don't know.

Should I leave it?
Paint the white dark grey?
Paint the white light grey?
Paint the white gloss black? (The mesh is flat black so there would be a contrast)

 

I thought that beer said garlic ale at first, damn near threw up in my mouth a bit.

 

Haha, yeah I’ve had a cashier or two look at it and say the same thing when I buy it. That would be some nasty beer.

 

I think it looks good as is.

 

Definitely leave it. Then again, I'm about to do this same thing - just need to hack up my grill.

Curious though, what's this? Adding LEDs?

 

Met up with @loyaltothetaco to exchange spares, he needed one of my recently removed 265/75 KO2s and I needed a 255/85 spare. Worked out perfectly - thanks bud, good chat this morning.

Thanks for the patch

Now I just need to hammer out my spare tire tabs so it'll fit

 

Just my two cents, I’d buy the $60 grill off eBay and hack it up instead of stock. That’s what I did and glad I did because the more I look at mine the more I don’t like it. I’ve got the undamaged original in the garage.

 

Finished grinding welds on the center section and started assembling the wings. Drivers side done, tackling the passenger side after lunch.