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

Yeah I try to keep oems on the truck, but I swapped that aftermarket one in while I was rebooting and next thing you know a year and half passed lol oppps

 

A few years ago when mine broke I shelled out the bucks for an OEM replacement and it only lasted six months. The latch (the part that actually holds the door shut) gets gummed up over the years and it takes more effort to open. This puts more stress on the handle, especially when it's cold outside. If you clean and lube that latch real good, your new handle will last, even if it’s a cheap one. If you don’t, your new handle probably won’t last, even if it’s OEM. After replacing the handle several times in quick succession I took the latch out and gave it a thorough cleaning. It wasn't really that hard to get out, and was filthy. You just have to disconnect the bottom of the window track on that side to give you room, and it will come out. I had tried just lubing it in the past, but that didn't make much difference. Now I can open my door with my little finger, and my cheap, eight dollar Amazon door handle is holding up just fine.

Or you could just get the metal one.


$24 T1A Metal Upgrade Exterior Door Handle Replacement for 1995-2004 Tacoma, Fits Outside Front Left Driver’s Side, Black Color, T1A-69220-35020-METAL

$32 T1A Metal Upgrade Exterior Door Handle Replacement for 1995-2004 Tacoma, Fits Outside Front Left Driver's Side, Black Color, T1A-69220-35020-METAL

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YQBM1Y4

 

Tacobox is built and installed in the spare trans/t-case set. Time to install it tonight. 4.7 sumo gears from advanced adaptors in the crawl box.

 

Don't count on being able to free wheel if you break. When mine broke it took the hub out with it. It turned into a blender just moving 20 yds to a spot to fix it.

 

not hard to just clean it up by spraying it down right in the door with some dry lubricant of choice. Helps a ton.

I will never understand the folks that want to actively swap ADD to manual hubs. So many downsides to it. All in the name of "saving mpg" or cv boots. Crazy stuff. But whatever.

 

all new AC components.

bought the truck in the winter time and didn't notice the AC belt was not there, and the compressor was seized. system was open too, so all new dryer, compressor, condenser, and hoses +seals.

as a bonus, my AC is ice cold lol

 

I tried that and it helped a bit, but I only accessed it from the door jam. It might work better if you take the pannel off and spray the part inside the door to. When I took it out I drenching it with brake cleaner, and that made a huge difference.

 

I'd like to switch to ADD from manual hubs, but then my front diff and driveshaft will be spinning all the time and that's a lot more drivetrain loss than just the front cv's.

 

lol its really not that big of a deal. Idk why people think it is. Literally every other 4wd truck/suv in the world does the same thing. Including...tacomas! haha Plus if you're adding things like armor and loads of camping gear...you really think that a small amount of rolling resistance is really impacting your truck and how it drives more than a front bumper? Hell no.

Now, granted, if you have manual hubs, why bother. There are some improvements for sure. But cost and time? eh. Whatever. But spending money to go from ADD to manual..insane. At least to me. Weaker CVs, weaker hubs, PITA to change, require some form of maintainence, and also just a hassle to use and in my case can literally freeze over in the winter. Just not worth it.

 

I only went to manual hubs because it was easier to do during my 4wd swap, got a steal on a j shift t case, and bought a locked front diff. Now that its in I really wish I had ADD so I didnt have to lock the hubs every time I put it in 4hi

 

Yep. Manual CV axel diameter on is 7% smaller compared to ADD axel diameter. That worries me a bit. I realized that a bit late.
My passenger side bearing is making the same periodic noise I heard in my 67 Mustang before its front bearing failed many years ago and my inner CV boot groove is pretty deep on both sides. So now is a good time to try out the manual setup. I will be replacing the ADD hub bearings so I have a backup. if something fails on the manual I can swap back.

 

Unless you have a full time locker in the front the only thing spinning with ADD in 2wd is the CV's, side and spider gears. The diff carrier, R&P gears, drive shaft and t-case 4wd components do not spin.
I'm also beginning to feel that there is some benefit to "exercising" the boot rubber.

 

You can't swap unless you swap hubs. The ADD axles are 27 outer spline and the manuals are 26. They don't share the same parts.

Again..weaker link.

interesting thought there.

 

Here is a bit of "CV logic 101" when sourcing replacements.

Given this generally accepted premise, "CVJ is a reputable vendor/rebuilder of CV's.

They state "we only rebuild OE CV's".
Further on they state aftermarket new (Chinese) CV's can not be rebuilt.

Therefore, they are implying all rebuilt/rebooted 1st gen CV's are OE.

 

$32 T1A Metal Upgrade Exterior Door Handle Replacement for 1995-2004 Tacoma, Fits Outside Front Left Driver's Side, Black Color, T1A-69220-35020-METAL

Totally get that. I did the best I could by shooting some gun cleaning lube into the latch area. Wiped it out with a rag and repeated a few times. I guess if it fails soon I'll have to remove the latch part and do what you've done.

 

This is really trivial, but I bought new wipers and and cleaned my windows (both inside and out). Amazing how little things can make a big difference sometimes.

 

Got any pics I can add to my collection?
No pun intended.

 

Here's what I have.


You can see the engagement nob was destroyed and the brass bushing had some pretty good scouring and deformation. (5 year ago you could not order just this part, maybe it's changed since.) The needle bearing was pretty well chewed up also.



ADD vs Manual stub axle difference.

 

Thanks man, added to the collection.