First Drive in the 1st Gen

Finally went down to Texas and picked up the 1st gen I bought.

I was surprised to see instructions on the door on how to operate the rear locker. I took a look under and sure enough - locking diff. I guess someone pulled the TRD stickers off at some point.

The frame looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor and it has a sunroof. Pretty cool!

After driving over 1,000 miles in a day I noticed some strange stuff but nothing big.

1. The truck shakes periodically at highway speeds and it’s not tied to a particular speed. Cruising at 65 mph (or any highway speed) sometimes the steering wheel will shake like an out of balance tire and sometimes it won’t. After I replace the LBJs I’ll get it aligned and throw on new tires. The old tires have a lot of negative camber wear.

2. The brake pedal makes a “whomp” sound when depressed. I had a spongey brake pedal at on point during the trip. I’ll start by inspecting the brake system. I’m guessing air got in the lines somehow.

3. I have an oil leak coming from somewhere high. Looks to be a valve cover or could be coming from the oil cooler. I’m planning on a dye test.

looking forward to getting started.

 

0. Find yourself a digital copy of the Factory Service Manual (FSM)- I won't link it for obvious reasons, but it's out there, and it's easy to find.

1. Vibrations are hard to chase, and could be caused by a wide range of things. Starting with the LBJ and alignment is great. Looking forward, you'll likely want to inspect the entire front end, LCA, UCA bushings, tie rods (I'd suggest doing these with your LBJs to save on alignments), steering rack bushings, u joints, CVs, and wheel bearings, just to name the majors.

2. If you had air in the lines it would be a consistent issue, not intermittent as you described. Unsure how "whomp" sounds... Check the brake booster. It may be a deteriorating vacuum line or a failed internal diaphragm. The FSM has processes on checking it. In general a brake line flush is never a bad option. Just be aware that if you have ABS, there are special tools the dealer users to modulate the ABS pump to bleed it, and without those, your only option is not to let air get to the ABS unit itself, so just be careful not to let the master cylinder get low. I always recommend the Motiv Power Bleeder. It's great, especially if you have move a lot of fluid (like in a flush). It's also worth mentioning the Load Sensing Proportioning Valve (LSPV)- often folks will mention that they don't get fluid to the rear wheel cylinders, and we suggest disconnecting the LSPV rod and zip tieing it as far up as possible to completely open the LSPV.

3. Dye seems a bit overkill. Give things a spray with a degreaser, agitate things as much as possible with a medium brush, and rinse. Then inspect until you can find the source of the oil. Valve Cover Gaskets or cam plugs are a very common source. A dead give away from the VCG is the oil burning off on the hot exhaust- you'll smell it.

 

Congratulations, enjoy the best gen Tacoma. So...We'll just hang around until you get pictures up

 

Added a pic.

The air from a cattle hauler going way too fast in the opposite lane busted my side marker light….

 

It seems like my oil leak is originating above the front diff but I cannot see that area to confirm. Anything in that area prone to leaking?

 

I mean, the entire motor is above the front diff

Did you clean things with a degreaser, or are you just poking your head around down there? Really got to clean things up to isolate the leak. Oil can do some pretty unbelievable things when you're driving around.

 

What engine? They leak from different places.

 

If you need the factory manual I can provide you with one.

 

So the air busted your light?

 

Yeah, a big truck like that going 80mph on a 2 lane road generates a wall of air violent enough to break parts. Wyoming problems…

 

yeah, I spent a couple hours on it. The leak is coming from someplace I cannot see.

 

it’s the 3.4 with a 5 speed manual.

 

These are pretty cheap and can be very helpful:


Especially to look at something like cam plugs

 

great idea!! Thanks

 

That's crazy.
Atleast parts for these trucks are relatively cheap.

 

Go check the carrier bearing on the drive shaft, when mine was fubar it manifested its self as vibrations at varying speeds

 

Well my leak was the oil cooler gasket. Valve cover gasket leaks too but it’s very slow.

I think I got to the bottom of my brake issue. The front calipers appear to be seized or partially seized. When accelerating from a stop to highway speeds I’ll hit a wall around 55 mph where it’s difficult to continue accelerating. After a few seconds the car will “break free” and suddenly accelerate quickly kinda like VTEC kicking in . While sitting on jack stands the front wheels are hard to turn…like I need two hands and have to really muscle it.

I’m assuming the soft brake feel I get intermittently is actually brake fade from dragging pads.


I guess my next steps are to take the pads out and try and compress the pistons to see what’s going on. I’m assuming my only option is to replace the calipers???

 

If you still have OEM calipers, you can get a seal kit and rebuild them, or take the easy route and just get reman ones. If they've been dragging that much, then the rotors and pads are toast. Just start fresh. While you're at it, you should consider the Tundra brake upgrade.

Once you have the pads out (and before you remove the calipers and rotors) I'd stick the wheel back on, and make sure that the dragging pads are your issue. If they spin freely, you're good to go. If you still have drag, you need to start looking at the bearings, c/v axles, and front drive train.

 

Pulled my brakes today and they are for sure dragging. Driver front brakes look barely worn and passenger are about half done I would say. After taking the pads out (with great difficulty) the hubs turn nice and easy.

The caliper pistons don’t seem seized. They can be depressed like normal. After reinstalling the pads the wheels spun with minimal effort until I hit the brakes. Totally locked up again on both sides of the truck. Looks like I have some kind of release problem.

Anything I should check before replacing the calipers?

 

A price comparison between a rebuild kit and reman calipers. You'll have to give up your OEM ones as cores, and it's just hard to work back from there to OEM quality.. Or like I mentioned before, it's the perfect time to send it on the tundra brake upgrade.