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

The hoarder in me is saying, “Yes, buy it, do it!” and the logical person in me is saying, “You have an 04.”

 

These wont work on an 04

 

I know... apparently I’m not as funny as I think I am once I’ve had a beer or three.

 

Ah gotcha you own an 04

 

Anyone experiences this noise on their steering rack? Just started happening after a 3 hour or so drive.
First thought it might be the bushings wearing out and the rack moving around, but doesn't seem to be moving at all.

Could this be something internal to the rack that I should be worried about?

Oh and don't mind the torn boot. Courtesty of a Firestone alignment tech

 

Sounds like a dry ball joint or tierod end. Checked them lately?

 

Damn I was literally just googling this. Mine is making the same noise after I was a bit rough on it offroading a month ago. I'm thinking mine could possibly be inner tie rods? I didn't replace them when I did my outers and LBJs. But I don't want to drop $140 per side on ITREs if it isn't that.

 

Ball joints are relatively new so I don't expect those to be bad. No torn boots on ball joints or outer tie rod ends.
I was thinking maybe inner tie rod? But both inners and outters have less than 10k on them so idk...

 

Yea I had the same thought even though these are pretty new. I didn't go OEM though, just some mid-tier brand from rockauto. I'd be surprised if they're on their way out this soon though. Even with an aftermarket brand

 

Get me pictures of the part number on the auto one. If it’s the same as my original I’ll buy it... mine needs a lot of fixing up.. I’d like to have a spare.

 

Have you checked yours for any play? My LBJ and OTRE are only 30k miles old, albeit with some more frequent wheeling on them and I don't notice excess play in them.

Do you know how to check the ITRE? I had mine in the air when I checked, but assume it could be better to check when it's on the ground.

 

As far as I know, the best way to check for play in the tie rods is by having it jacked up in the air and pushing on the tires at 3 & 9 o'clock. I did that fairly recently and I didn't feel any excessive play, but that could have changed since when I last checked given it's my dd and the wheeling i've been doing since then.

If there is play, I'm not how I'd be able to determine whether it's the inner vs the outer other than visually.

I'll jack it up tomorrow and check again before hitting the trail

 

I always go back to the automotive stethoscope. Place it on each joint and listen while someone else turns the steering wheel.
One of the cheapest diagnostic tools you can buy. Everyone that works on a car should own one. $5

 

What are you trying to say here? We tried the prybar technique and it wasn't working for my buddy and I. It was fighting us pretty good and I didn't want to break the teeth of the shaft by prying too hard on it. Maybe with a couple smaller pry bars it could have worked. I was hoping to use my slide hammer puller but the arms were too big to fit in between the housing and the gear. So, your comment isn't well-received. It wasn't a factor of "strength", it was a factor of having the right tools and technique. But, go ahead and carry on talking shit about people like me who put themselves out there for criticism in the name of helping people out. I'm not God's gift to auto mechanics and quite often our techniques aren't perfect because we are performing a job for the very first time. What I do know is our videos have helped out a whole lot of people. Our channel is approaching 5 million views. What have you done to help out your fellow man?

I don't know why this annoys me so much, but it does. I guess it makes people feel good about themselves when they can talk shit about others. You might think this is an overexaggeration to your comment but I think it's important to call people out when they're acting like a dick.

 

I know I have used your videos to help me out, thank you and keep up the great work!

 

Yo Tim, I absolutely did not understand his comment as a rip on you, hermano.
And if it was (I doubt it though, osterhagen isn't that kinda guy) meant to rip on you, you don't need to defend anything! Actions speak louder than words all day every day! (well I guess not in the fake world of social media, but you know what I'm saying)
Seriously amigo, you're way above any need to defend or challenge anything from anyone. Let anyone say whatever they want and YOU just need to know that thousands upon thousands of folks have been educated, acquired life changing experience, and increased their confidence in their ability to be self dependent through you sharing your life and experience through your videos/help.
You never need to say a thing to defend any of your help, homie.
Keep up the amazing work and I'm sure you'll keep your eyes on what it's truly all about(and I hope I can do same), helping our fellow bros(and sisses)

 

Wow... just absolutely frickin wow...

Yeah man I think that is seriously way over board. I was making a joke about your joke you dick. You joke in your videos using man strength, and I was actually trying to pay homage to you... for all that you do for this community. I mean it's clear that you obviously either didn't properly read my post or jumped to some serious conclusions. Boy I guess it makes sense why they save never meet your heroes...

"It's a solid PITA, but i'd wager it is worse for some than others." - SO it's clear you made some serious assumptions here man. This was saying that this part is MUCH harder for some people to remove for WHATEVER reason. It was meant to convey that I was LUCKY in removing mine in that it came out, without me having to tear the whole thing apart, as you did in your video... It was also meant to be HONEST because I don't want people reading my post and thinking "Oh that wasn't hard for him to remove so..."

Here are all the posts on this forum where I have ever mentioned your name. I encourage you and anyone else who believes this bullshit to go read them. They are nothing short of gushy for you if anything (heck you even liked at least one)

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/sloppy-steering-wheel.625554/#post-21380524

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/03-dies-when-put-into-gear-fixed.628050/#post-21537895

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/yet-another-dc-manual-swap-thread.661925/page-2#post-23345390

I cannot even being to express my disappointment Tim. I figured you for much more of a level headed guy than this. Please have no worries man, I won't ever mention your videos or your name on this forum again.

Thanks one last time for all you've done not only for me, but for this community.

 

Ordered some wheel spacers for the 2X they had the wrong bore order some new ones hope they fit
Thinking of refurbishing the tie downs any suggestions ?

 

Sounds like you need the input and experience from the tie down guru @GQ7227 you're needed in here!

 

Sweet hope he can help ! Im tired of the rust and I want something that won’t chip or fade