AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Yeah, I think keeping it clean definitely helps. I've got an annual cleaning (and rebuild if needed) that I do now. Still, during the year mine gets really dirty, but it's always worked as designed once I spray a ton of WD-40 on it to lube everything up. I'd previously thought about a bottle jack, but I'd never get the lift out of it I needed.

How-to: Servicing (Cleaning and Rebuilding) the Hi-Lift

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Yeah, those chickens are great. And Pismo would be a great place to enjoy it. Tacoma spent much of the first year of it's life down there.

For the ADS resi mounts - what does the connection between the hose and resi look like for you? Is it a straight fitting into the resi? Those are definitely the ADS brackets, so if I can get them mounted up there, that'd be awesome.

And for the Eclipse caliper seizure - honestly, I think it's just "in the numbers." Some number of rebuilt calipers fail (just like new calipers), and I happened to get one that failed. No other reason I can think of really, since I don't live in a rusty area, and I'm always washing off the bottom of the truck. I mean sure, I'm reasonably hard on it with the trail miles I put on each year, but still - the other caliper is fine, as are all the calipers of other folks who head out on the trail with me. So just bum luck, I'd say.

Well, you'll enjoy all of the things you're waiting on. Definitely hold out for a CVT sale - the "non-sale" prices now are ridiculous (for all the manufacturers). I sort of wonder if they do sales often enough that they have to bump up the non-sale price so that they make money on the sale.

As far as coilovers go - I've had two sets now - the first from Toytec, and the second from ADS. The Toytec's didn't have remote resis and were a great upgrade from stock (for what I was doing at the time) and fit with no problems at all - since they just sat in the same location as the stock suspension. That said, the ride with the ADS setup is night-and-day better. Of course, I've paid good money for that at 2x-3x the price. Worth it for me though, given that I'm out so much, and going faster all the time.

Really though - whatever works for you on your truck and with your budget is the right way to go. It's funny how everyone on TW seems suggest that we all need the highest end stuff, when really our trucks are generally more capable than most people's driving abilities, even when they are in stock configuration!

 

Yes, It is a straight fitting into the resi. Here are a couple of pictures. Hope they are clear enough:

 

@turbodb cheers! I imagine if I ever found a person that had coilovers that I could drive their rig and it didn't clunk or squeak or anything funky I might change my mind. Just haven't had the chance! So many of your ideas I am stealing though. For now, living vicariously through you and Mrsturbodb

 

Thanks for these. I'm going to give this a try!

Hahahahahaha, sounds good. I've stolen my fair share from others, so it seems only reasonable to pass some along!

 

Looks good. Only issue I see is that won't work with coil bucket gussets if you are thinking of going down that route.

 

Took the 4Runner out with the family!

Frogs, Snakes, and Axle Seals

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I'm happy to hear the Dupli-Color Wheel Paint is holding up well. I just redid my factory wheels with a dark metallic grey in prep for some new tires, so it's nice to hear that it will hold up to trail use.

 

Making It Right: Tacoma-to-Tundra Brake Upgrade

We all have to eat crow sometimes. We've all made mistakes. The most important thing is how you react in those situations. So, "give me a fork!"

A couple years ago, as one of my early modifications, I added Tundra brakes to the Tacoma. This isn't anything out of the ordinary - it's one of the more common mods in my opinion. In doing so, I had a decision to make - the same decision that everyone who does this upgrade has to make:

How was I going to connect the new 13WL calipers to the Tacoma?

I of course had all the options that everyone has:

1. Use the existing Tacoma brake lines and banjo bolts, very carefully drilling out the end of the banjo bolt so it would fit the shorter threaded insert on the Tundra caliper.
2. Purchase Wheeler's Stainless Steel front brake lines, since they come with a banjo bolt that is short enough to work with some Tundra calipers.
3. Purchase a Tacoma-to-Tundra Hard Brake Line Upgrade Kit that replaces the banjo connection with a hard brake line, just like the Tundra has from the factory. (until now, these were only sold by LCE Performance for a ton of money; see below)

I knew there was no way I was doing option 1, and the price difference between option 3 ($180) and option 2 ($60) seemed to me like a great reason to go with the Wheelers lines. After all I thought - the Tacoma uses a banjo bolt from the factory, so it must be OK to do the same with the Tundra calipers. And, for two years, it worked out great. That is, until one of my calipers seized up on the trail and I had to replace it. As part of that process, I learned the hard way that not all Tundra calipers are correctly remanufactured to work with banjo bolts. At first I thought this was super weird, but as I thought about it, the reason for this dawned on me: if you're using the Tundra 13WL for it's intended use - on a Tundra - the special machining needed to use a banjo bolt is unnecessary, since the Tundra doesn't use a banjo.

And that got me to thinking - yes, a dangerous state for my simple brain - what if another caliper failed on the trail? Would I be able to find one that works with a banjo bolt?

And so, I decided that the right path forward was to pull a fork out of the drawer and eat some crow. It was time for me to dish out a bit more money and make my Tundra brake upgrade right - by installing the LCEPerfomance Tacoma-to-Tundra Stainless Steel Brake Line Kit.

Note: I feel that the LCEPerformance kit is way too expensive at $180. So I researched and put together an equivalent kit for ~$120. If you are interested, you can pick one up here: Tacoma-to-Tundra Hard Brake Line Upgrade Kit

It's a simple job, so once the parts arrived, and with a few trips coming up, I wasted no time in getting going. Oh, and I decided to install new brake pads at the same time - since mine were worn from being "stuck on."

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The first step in this five-step process is to jack up the truck and remove the front wheels. Always a really weird way to see the truck - sort of vulnerable or something.

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Next, it's a simple matter of removing the existing brake lines from the frame to the caliper, as well as the bracket that holds the line to the spindle. The hardest part of this process is removing the small retaining clip that holds the brake line at the frame - but a few minutes with some needle nose pliers and you should be able to get it out.

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Once you do, a 10mm flare nut wrench will separate the soft line from the hard line and you can cap the hard line with a vacuum cap so it doesn't leak everywhere. Then, use a 14mm socket (set) to remove the banjo bolt from the caliper, as well as the bracket from the spindle. Note: make sure to pop out the ABS sensor clip from the bracket as well if you've got ABS.

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With everything removed, it's simply a matter of installing the Tundra-conversion hardware. I started by installing the supplied bracket onto the spindle, and then the hard line between the caliper and bracket. This took a little figuring since LCE doesn't send any instructions, but the hard lines only fit between the caliper and bracket in one configuration, so you'll only need to try a few combinations before you get it.

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Then, it's a simple matter of installing the softline between the two hard lines - do the one at the bracket first, then pop the vacuum cap off of the hard line at the frame and make the final connection using you 10mm flare nut wrench. Pop a clip on each end to secure the hard lines, and you're nearly there!

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With everything in place, bleed the brakes using an 8mm flare nut wrench, starting with the passenger- and moving to the driver-side when the brake fluid is bubble-free. Reinstall the wheels, and know - no matter what Tundra 13WL caliper you install next, you'll have no problem with leaking brake fluid!

Epilogue (aka Rant)

With everything now working, I've got a little something to say about LCEPerformance. Actually, two somethings.

First, they have 3 versions of their brake line conversion kit - a standard length, and then 3"- and 6"-extended versions. Since I figured I'd replace the rear brake line too (the kit comes with a rear line), I gave them a call to confirm that the extended line was for the rear only - after all, the front lines would be the same regardless of lift, since the front geometry is limited by the control arms and spindle - any suspension lift only affects where the control arms are positioned at rest.

But, two people at LCE insisted that if I had a lift, I needed extended lines because the lift would move the calipers further away from the frame. And, when I asked about just getting a longer rear line and standard front lines, they informed me that the price would be significantly more for "custom length" lines. Even though the "custom" lines were a length they already sell.

Which brings me to the second item: price. The LCE kit is $180 or so shipped. That's a ton of money for some brake lines. So, as of now, I'm in the Tacoma-to-Tundra Brake Line Conversion Kit business. This hard line kit now contains all the necessary parts including the soft lines, but does not include or require a rear brake line - saving you even more money.

The kit includes:

• Two hard lines, bent to fit between a 13WL caliper and the (included) spindle bracket. One right and one left.
• Two spindle brackets, meant to secure the connection between the hard and soft lines
• Two brake line clips, to secure the soft line at the spindle bracket.
• Two stainless steel soft brake lines (made by the same folks that make Wheelers stainless brake lines) that connect the hard lines on the frame to the hard lines in the kit.

Pick up a kit over in the AdventureTaco store today!

 

That's a shame that they wouldn't work with you on getting the correct lines. I've loved LCE for stuff on my old '77 Celica (Cannon intake manifold for a Weber carb, all the block-off plates and plugs required to eliminate the mid-70's era emissions junk that uses 20 feet of vacuum tubing), but they are a bit pricey. But, finding good stuff for the old 20R is not easy, and haven't really looked at their stuff for newer vehicles. Considered their header, but I found a new old stock OEM exhaust manifold for cheap (mine was cracked). I hadn't started her up since I moved 2 years ago, went out a couple weeks ago and she started up on the 3rd crank once fresh fuel pumped through. Can't kill these old Yotas.

 

Told ya they were full of shit haha. I'm glad LCE has nothing for Land Cruisers, they can hardly be considered experts in their field anymore. Well enjoy having your Tundra brakes setup the correct way now, you see why the reman process wouldn't ever consider the depth of the banjo bolt I'd assume, it doesn't matter when the original design is to seal against a Hardline flare

 

is this the same/similar procedure for a 5 speed? I have 4.56s now with 5 speed 285s and the speed difference is way far off, kinda annoying. This seems easy enough to fix, I just need to figure out the right number of teeth to get.. and what part # to get

 

5 speed or 5 lug? I have a 5 speed, so if that's what you meant, then yes, same procedure . I'd go for a 33 tooth gear with 4.56's

 

Wow really appreciate it! Thanks!

 

I think I need to stop procrastinating rebooting my OEM CV. I'm going to pretty much follow your instructions to a T. Only exception/questions:

For about the same price, I found these Gearwrench clamps instead of the Lisle ones that you listed. I think (though I could be wrong) all gearwrench stuff has a lifetime warranty and I hear good things about the brand. See any reason why I shouldn't get those instead?

Also, the moog clamps that you listed have been "unavailable" since about the time you posted the instructional. What am I looking for to determine the correct alternative? Please explain like I'm 5.

I'll end up doing some searching, but figured I'd ask since you seem to be a friendly wealth of knowledge. FWIW, I'm 2nd gen...so there could be some variation, but I wouldn't expect much here.

 

I think the gear wrench tool should be just as good.

As far as the Moog clamps, if search for the part number (3401) and see if you can find it at another vendor.

Or, the first result here send like it would work... https://amzn.to/2QbNzo1

Nicecnc Stainless Steel Universal Adjustable AXLE CV Joint Boot Crimp Clamp Kit,20PCS(10pcs Small+ 10pcs Large)

 

I did search the part number and it seems to be unavailable on just about every website that didn't look sketchy as hell.

 

Whipsaw Trail 1 - Finally Four, We Venture North
August 27, 2019.

Most of the trips I do require a full day - or more - of freeway driving just to reach the trailhead, so you can imagine my delight when we decided to do a trip on the west coast. Sort-of. At least, our meeting location was only four hours away - in the tiny little community of Mazama, WA. From there, we'd head north - to British Columbia, Canada - where we planned to run The Whipsaw Trail and then make our way north and west to Molybdenite Peak - before turning south again for the United States.

It was strange to leave the house in the middle of the afternoon on a Monday, and arrive at a camp location that Mike @Digiratus had arranged for us just as the sun was setting. The weather was pleasant, and we enjoyed ourselves chatting and watching 30 deer stroll by, until Dan @drr showed up around 11:00pm.

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That left only Monte @Blackdawg absent - but he had a much longer drive, some 12 hours or so - and we all went to bed wondering when we'd see him... because though he'd planned to be in Mazama around the same time as Dan, he'd left 12 hours late - at 9:00pm - and now planned to drive through the night. Fun times.

As the morning sun spilled across our tents, Dan's new dog - echo - poked her head out to see what the new day would bring.

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For a while, what it brought was some lounging around and taking it easy - a definite departure from our usual morning greeting and then breakdown of camp. See, I'd gotten a text from Monte, and he predicted an 11:00am arrival, having slept for a solid 90 minutes or so over the entirety of the night. Yuk.

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He was right on time* it turned out, and we were ready to go - the strangeness of this trip, just the beginning of what would be a series of surprises! A quick fuel up, and we aired down as we headed north on the backroads of Washington, toward the tiny town of Nighthawk, and the Canadian border.

* his newly revised, 12-hour late time.

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The trails we traveled for this first part of our journey were reasonably major Forest Service roads, and we made good time - when we were actually moving - which as usual was sporadic, given our frequent photo stops and the chit-chat that accompanies the start of any reunion of friends.

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Now, it should be noted that one of the major topics of conversation was a new addition to Dan's truck - he'd just recently gotten a Go Fast Camper (GFC) and we were all quite interested in how he liked it (and whether we'd admit it or not - wondered if it would be a good addition to our own trucks ).

He of course loved it, and it fit great on his 1st gen Tacoma - hugging the top of the cab even closer than it does on later models.

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Making our way north, we passed through miles and miles of burned forest. Burned as part of the 175,184 acre Tripod Complex in 2006, these forests are just now starting to see new growth, most of the young trees 5-7 years old, and under 10' high. It's a trade-off of course - the lack of mature trees allowing for distant views, but those same views are of burned forest.

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The Spur Creek fire - one of the two that merged into the Tripod Complex started on July 3 and was declared fully contained on July 14, 2006. However, another round of lightning storms and high winds caused the fire to jump the lines on July 27, and eventually merge with the Tripod Fire in August. It wasn't until the first snow in October that the fires were finally extinguished - over 3,000 firefighters and a battalion of 550 Army soldiers helping to fight the blaze.

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Eventually, we made our way out of the hills around Loomis - the agriculture of the valley in stark contrast to the landscape we'd traveled through over the course of the last several hours.

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Back on pavement as we passed Palmer Lake - and knowing that pavement would continue for several hours into Canada - we took the opportunity to air up our tires and remove our plate covers. We didn't want to cause any more trouble at the Canadian border than we had to - despite the reality of our puppy-dog demeanor's , we probably looked shady enough as it was in our built rigs. :hat-tip:

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Through Nighthawk without so much as slowing down, we were soon at the Chopaka border crossing, where we were each drilled several times on the same issue: guns.

Border Patrol: "Do you have any guns?"

Us: "Nope."

Border Patrol: "No hand guns, shot guns, or rifles?"

Us: "No." [Thinking: Do Canadian's don't realize that no means no?]

Border Patrol: "No weapons of any kind?"

Most of us except Monte: "Nope."

Monte: "Well, I have a Leatherman. Does that count?"

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Even at that, we were through in record time - our lack of weapons (and other contraband) obviously surprising given the prepper-like appearance of our trucks. The last one through, I called out over the CB, "Drive 'em like you stole 'em, boys!" and we headed up BC-3 to Princeton.

Doing our best to convert km/h to mph and keep our speeds legal, it was 5:00pm by the time we finally arrived in Princeton to fuel up the trucks and do some last provisioning before heading out on The Whipsaw Trail. And - as luck would have it - just as a few last bundles of firewood were being purchased, a woman let Dan and Mike know that there was a big pile of free fire wood a little less than a mile from our current position.

That was great news, and the paid stuff was quietly returned to its rack as we set off towards what turned out to be an enormous pile of firewood in the parking lot of a nearby business - some good-natured CB chatter with the woman who'd alerted us to the wood (her first use of her CB) taking place as we navigated our way to this gold mine.

We filled up our beds with more wood than we could burn, and I drove right into the pile. For no real reason except that it was fun, and I am a goober.

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With that, we pointed our trucks towards the dirt and made our way onto the Whipsaw Trail - a heavily traveled logging road at the point we entered. Even at that, it was rough enough that we decided to air down for maximum comfort. Dan was doing double duty at this point - his attempts to lower his tire pressures slowed by a 4-month old pup literally chomping at the bit to play with him.

...Which gave me plenty of time to slip a little gift onto his license plate.

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It'd be quite a while until my minor modification would be noticed, and we all took off, our trucks (and butts) much happier on the bouncy cushions of air we now had spinning along below us.

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Zipping along, we only put a few miles behind us before we started looking for a camp site - it'd been a long couple of days for Monte - and truth be told, we were all ready to find ourselves around our first camp fire. Somehow ending up in the lead, I spotted a side spur and radioed that I was heading up to check it out. Everyone else hung out at the bottom since most of these spurs don't lead to anything great - but after about a mile, I came upon what had probably been an old logging platform and would suit us just fine.

I radioed back, and then figured that I may as well pose my truck for everyone's arrival.

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Soon enough, the other three trucks came speeding up the road and I was informed that I'd posed the truck incorrectly. The front wheels should have been turned the other direction, I was told. Oh well, I'm no Ben @m3bassman, so I'll just keep practicing.

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Happy to be in camp, we fell into our normal rhythm. Tents were deployed - some (GFC) more quickly than others (CVT) and routines were followed - Mike prepping some of his famous salsa, and Monte getting to work on a fire.

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We hung out around the fire eating salsa - and eventually our dinners - until 10:00pm or so before deciding it was time for some rest. It was probably one of our earliest nights ever - at least as far as I can remember - but we had a full day in front of us and it'd be important to be well-rested for what the Whipsaw had in store.

As we climbed into our respective beds, a cool breeze blew through the tents, the perfect end to the first day of our trip.

 

38 Hours awake. Good times. haha

 

Dude, I can count on one hand the number of trip threads I have been impressed with, and yours is right up there. Followed some links from the RTT thread to see your explorations and I'm glad I did.

Sub'd

And if you ever be looking for west coast travel partners, or wind up nor nor-Cal, holla. My resume is in my signature.

Mark

 

Every post convinces me a little bit more to move to the PNW ...or at least closer!

Great pics and storytelling skills as usual!!