Wannabe shade tree mechanic

I have a 01 DCSB V6 4x4 that I picked up in 06. That was over 200,000 miles ago. Over the years I've taken the truck in for regular service, but when things wear out (as they do on 19 year old trucks) it hasn't always been a good experience. The last time had me paying for an expensive steering rack replacement that I didn't need, because I still had a loose steering problem afterwards. Searching for the solution took me straight to the Tacomaworld and the tack weld mod. I am no mechanic so the thought of tearing apart my steering column (to mod a designed safety feature) was a little daunting but it had to be done. About an hours worth of wrenching and no more white knuckle rides on the freeway! Thank you Tacomaworld! My goal now is to keep this baby running for as long as possible. It's so nice to know that I have a ton of great knowlege at my fingertips. I just hope one day I'll know enough about these great trucks to be able to help someone else out.

 

Nice! Welcome!

 

Welcome ​

 

I need to do this. I'm just lazy

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome aboard

 

You should definitely look into it. Once you have the telescoping column shaft out you can tell pretty easily if you need to do the mod or not. I had a bunch of twist slop in the telescoping part. In case you haven't seen it, this is a real good video by @Timmah! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsOptgpfshg. I didn't do the oil bottle gasket part in the vid. Good luck!

 

Thanks. I was actually going to look up this vid and review. Thanks for saving me some time. (I'm esily distracted).

 

Welcome!

 

Hey, glad I could help. I just remembered something. In the video he shows how to test for play before you start taking things apart. In my case that test wasn't conclusive so I took it out and tested it.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Welcome. I have 1/100 of knowledge as well, but with TW and YouTube, anything is possible.

 

Thanks! Perhaps its a good thing for my wallet that I'm not too confident in my abilities just yet. The temptation to spend $ after seeing all the beautiful trucks on here could wipe me out!