Ohcaltexscar's Rèiteachadh Làraidh

My brakes decided to stop working well the other day, I tracked it to the MC leaking into the booster.

So after a lot of research and recommendation from @Lucario Runner I did a Tundra Brake Booster and Master Cylinder upgrade.
It was a little frustrating because I kept getting negative measurements for the booster pushrod to master cylinder clearance.

I measured everything again to double check and then triple checked those and I guess I had the wrong numbers before because I ended up with a .020 gap four times. Good enough for me.

Popped right in place! Some reports said they almost took a hammer to the fender to install it but I didn’t have any issues with it.



Tube bends could have been better but I was just a bit on edge at that point

Welded up the clevis bracket, it wasn’t perfect but who’s going to see it. Aside from the public pictures I’m posting here.


I tried to get a picture of the fluid inside the old booster but it was a weird angle. It was just about a pint and a half in there!



I ended up having to extend the clevis more, it was just a bit too short and wouldn’t engage the brake light switch fully. So my lights were staying on. I cleaned it up a bit better this time around.

 

I had some thin sheet steel I picked up a while back and finally got around to making a radio shroud. Design courtesy of @hemitruk


My DIY metal brake, worked out pretty well.


Cut the angles and filed the edges.


Test fit, looking good!


And paint, I’ll install it when it’s fully cured.

 

With 108 degrees of summer already beginning here in West Texas I decided to finally fix my leaky low pressure schrader valve.

Picked up a gauge set and vacuum pump from Harbor Freight, cheap and effective.
Pulled -30 with the pump and the system held it for an hour. I’m just doing the final vacuum before hooking up the 134.



My father-in-law has two manifold sets that I was hoping I could use but they’re both R12 sets. The hoses look like they’ve seen better days too.

 

The parts guy gave me the wrong valve, for R1234yf instead of R134 so it wouldn’t fit the can. I just didn’t notice the number on the package. Also tried an older one I had handy but the seals were shot.
Got that returned and sorted with the proper valve. Picked up some oil just in case, PAG 46 according to this,

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rl-897-a-c-compressor-oil-my-pain-your-gain.240794/

Had a big can of that fancy AC Pro Freon but the valve with the bad seals jacked it up and it dumped the whole can. That sucked.

I got it all sorted though, it’s cool now!

 

Went to Yoda Jim’s in Denver!



He didn’t have what I was after but it was awesome walking around a junk yard full of just Tacomas and 4Runners and old Toyota Pickups.

 

Last day in Denver my Uncle took me up to the mountains in his bought-new-by-him in 1982 Toyota Pickup. Extensively modified.








This last one is my truck then his friend’s Tahoe or suburban thing and then his Toyota.



Quick trail repair

 

This crap again

 

Flash flood warnings all over El Paso, both main highways are closed which is a nightmare.
All the rocks washing down into the streets and basically rivers running through them was like hitting the mountain trails

Some washed out muddy spots too, a couple of stuck cars but I decided to risk it to bypass a ton of traffic. Worked out.

 

Remember way back when I said “I’d love to install some zerks one day.”
Well I did that today when I swapped my front coil springs out.

Since the Ironman kit “meant for 4x4 vehicles” jacked my truck up almost 5.5” and gave me essentially no real useable suspension travel either direction I started looking for a way to fix that issue without buying an entirely new setup.

So after a lot of thought and probably tons of unnecessary calculations I decided to pick up these coils and try them out. They should set me right about stock height, which I prefer.


I’ll have to keep updating as I put more miles on them!


Zerk fittings!


Coilovers out, shocks aren’t too dirty. Still ugly white though.


New coil springs next to the outgoing model, those are Dobinsons C59-238 coils. (14.75” free height and 586lbs/inch rate)


No better opportunity than now to remedy the colour choice!


Much better!



Installed some Superbumps while I was under there, just in case I need them.

 

Got a rusty bench vise for free a while back, I just finished fixing it up. I just did some cold bluing on the exposed metal bits and used some brown paint I had kicking around. I like how it turned out. It’s 45lbs.

Here’s the journey!

 

love the build thread... and learning from it too...

 

Nice build Chas!

 

Thanks guys! It’s a work in progress, as they all are. I have a few little projects planned, just waiting for the time to knock them out.

 

Day 7, truck still won’t start.

• Changed the fuel pump and fuel pump relay.
• Checked the FP resistor, that’s running high (at 0.9 - 1.5 ohms, should be 0.3 - 0.34 ohms) but it still won’t fire up when I bypass that.
• Circuit Opening Relay checks out okay, ignition relay too.
• EFI relay and fuses are all good.
• No OBD codes.

I bypassed everything and wired the FP directly to the battery and it kicks on.
If I spray ether into the intake it’ll fire up for a few seconds and idle like nothing’s wrong.

What in the world is wrong with my truck? I almost feel like this might be worthy of a new thread to get more eyes on it.

 

is it possibly something to do with an alarm or with the key if it has a chip?
neutral safety switch maybe

 

It’s possible, but the security light isn’t flashing so I’m not sure. I will check into that as well though.
I have been told to check the crankshaft position sensor, and by check I mean replace to see if it helps, because how would you actually check that thing.