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

you would think!
i get asked frequently at the dealer by their salestaff and 'new' technicians
one salesguy came close with a guess of 1996
taco's as old as ours are no longer many on the roads here so I can understand they rarely if ever have seen one
one guy had no clue where the front turn signal was at

 

I see 1st gens all the time. Even 95.5-97s

 

Is there a way to adjust the emergency brake handle. When I release the brake the light stays on. I can push the handle in almost 1/2 in. and the light goes off,but it springs back out and light come on. My brakes are fine it's just the handle any help is appreciated.

 

The bellcrank under the cab has a tendency to get rusty and not.take up the slack. Put some PB blaster on the spring and work it a few times. You can also tighten it under there too.

 

Thanks

 

Flexible Brake Line Swap - Preventative Maintenance

I finally got around to swapping the three flexible brake lines on my truck with longer steel braided lines more than a year after buying the parts from LC Engineering. Thanks to @1997tacomav6 for the recommendation on the lines. Thanks to @Speedytech7 for showing me how it's done (last year, when I watched him do this to his truck). Took me twice as long as expected, about 4.5 hours. I also replaced the short hardline next to the wheel well because the compression fitting on the old one was a bit rounded.

A big chunk of the project time was spent trying to bleed the brake lines by myself with a MityVac. Eventually got it done, but it takes a lot of hand pumping! I decided to empty the reservoir before starting and let the system get air in it instead of trying to keep it full, so that might be why it took so long to bleed. I saved $3 in brake fluid though! If I did this again, I'd go with the conventional wisdom and keep the reservoir full during the swap. Another item crossed off my long list - I'm on a roll!

 

http://www.lieblweb.com/ebrakeadjustment.html

If that doesn't work then there's a way to mess with it via the drums but I haven't done that yet, mine is still loose despite tightening it via the method in that link, although it did work the first few times I did it.

I made the mistake of reversing in 4lo once with the e-brake on by accident...hasn't been the same since lol.

Also if your brake fluid is low it will trigger the e-brake light, make sure it's topped off. And your clutch fluid reservoir too for good measure.

If your fluid is low, might want to see if you have a leak in your brake lines and/or check your brake pads to see if they're about done, since brake fluid shouldn't just disappear.

 

I ended up replacing the complete handle and cable after not being able to fix mine correctly, it all comes as one unit if you buy a new cable and handle

 

If the brake light is on in the dash then it could mean your master cylinder reservoir is low on fluid and needs to be refilled. This happens because your brake pads wear down enough that the level drops in the reservoir.

 

this looks good, Mike
I met with the local LineX guy today about this job slated for July and how I want the hooks exactly like you have them here

do you have more pics of the other hooks?

can I forward some of these pics to him?
he said its best to remove them but not sure what challenge i may be up against
J

 

@Speedytech7 was right I had a neighbor come over and operate emergency brake and it ended up being the spring under cab wasn't taking up slack. Some liquid wrench and a wire brush knocked some shit off the spring and it helped some. Going to have to wait till the temperature drops down get some wrenches on it to tighten up the rest. Thanks for the replies

 

Looks expensive...

 

Sorry, no more hook pictures... but they haven't gotten rusty again, yet, with
just the primer on them. I put my plastic bedliner back in... I hope the linex
is preventing rust, I'm sure the plastic bedliner is preventing dents...

Here's the three pictures from my post if you want to forward them...
https://sites.google.com/site/hubcapsite5/linex

-Mike

 

the threads were getting crusty or the hooks?
the hooks seem to be made out of some type of aluminum or other alloy?

 

Got off work early today so decided to paint the front and rear bumpers black. The chrome was clashing too much with the bronze wheels I just put on. I need to touch up the grille but want to do mesh first.

 

Picked up my inflator with gauge from the post office so I no longer have to borrow my friends -

 

Anyone ever notice any difference in overall gas mileage by removing or running a skid plate?

 

Lol...no

 

I only ever check my mileage every few months, as I can tell by the gauge if Im in the right ball park. I had my factory skid off for a few months, after I put it on I noticed I was averaging 1mpg higher. Didnt change my routine, or my driving style, or anything else on the truck, just put the skid back on.

 

... contemplating getting one of the custom fabs skids for sale on TW somewhere, would those change anything with mileage if they are heavier than the stock?
I believe @1997tacomav6 has one of these on his truck