What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

Maybe @CygnusX191 can help. Never been there myself...

 

I am still bitter over the sour and problematic 3rd gen Sport 3.5 liter I had. I think they screwed the pooch getting rid of the 4.0, in Tacoma and now 4runner, and the 4 cylinder turbo is a complete turn off to me albeit powerful. Thought Ford made the same mistake producing only 4 cylinder turbo Rangers. Turbo 4 bangers will never outlast V6 normally aspirated engines. Being an access cab lifer the 4th gen extended cab has no rarely needed flip down rear seats and NO REAR DOORS. The 4th gen extra cab has gone backwards 20 years without those doors. Sorry for the rant. Just thankful I have a low mileage V6 2nd gen access cab V6.

 

Nearly blew out my back dropping in BAMF sliders and rear hc bumper solo. Trying to decide what to do with the spare.

 

I would get the 4 door when I eventually buy one. I wanted a 4-door 2nd gen but couldn't find one at a reasonable price. I found the regular cab truck I'm now driving.

 

I dived into rebuilding the driveshaft today. I have access to the Auto Hobby shop at our local AF base and I had already decided this wasn't a job I wanted to do in my driveway.






There's 145K on the truck, it developed the characteristic thump felt when starting off (reminds me of axle wrap) in this case it's the carrier brg. It started being noticeable about 40K ago and slowly got worse.

I picked up a kit off Amazon that had a new carrier brg & 3 spicer U-Joints.

$75 Driveshaft Parts Driveshaft Support Bearing & Spicer U-Joints Set for Toyota Tacoma 2005-2015

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPJ9KY9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I considered trying this job at the house but despite having a fairly extensive set of tools I didn't have the stuff to do this one right. Luckily I live in a desert climate which means the hardware has very little rust which helps but I still needed a press to get the yoke off, then again to get the carrier bearing's inner race to slide off the short section of drive shaft. None of this has been apart since it was new 17 years ago. There's probably some other ways to skin this cat but the 2 jaw puller wouldn't catch the edge of the yoke to pull it off, nor did I have a torch and I wasn't getting out the hammer.

k a

It went back together fine once I got back in the groove, first UJ one took about 15 min and by the last one it was much faster. I haven't swapped a u-joint in 40 years. While it was up in the air I changed the gear oil with some fresh M1


I'm ashamed to admit the rear end gear oil (M1) had 100Kmi on it, despite that the oil looked great, like it was changed 6 mos ago instead of 13 years. You can see the clear honey color in the pic. The original u-joints were still good but old.

For treating me so well for the last 100K I treated the rear end to some moly because that's the kind of guy I am, appreciative


The test drive home included about 10mi of interstate, thump's gone and it's smooth with no new vibes, mission accomplished.

 

found my sliders easier to take on/off laying on the floor
brace up with my knee
final assembly jack up at center

than when I did it on a lift

HC rear well that was just tricky to get straight. IDK if it's straight now.

spare? Well, you can:
-run it stock
-roof rack (probably not a good idea)
-tiregate
-swingout(s)
-mount in bed in my case not an option have sleeping platform
-run no spare, have patch kit. Don't know if this is smart
-figure out how to run it on the hood like old Land Rovers do and see even less
-make a bed rack that lets spare mount at the rear which is higher up more out of the way than a swing out and potentially the same cost as one. Could be easy to make, clear a topper, and give left/right/top mounting surfaces.

Archive hammer hangers w/ crosstube might block the spare
Dirt King came out with hangers that claim their crosstubes are out of the way and don't block spare but I imagine it does not compare to Archive

here's some info in case you're going down this route
the fender delete
-those holes can be made to look nice with engine bay dressup bolts
-lights can be added. I bored out some to put side markers. Might bore out some more to put side turn signals
fiberglass or bushwackers are probably better and the same can be done, but am not about to spend that kind of large money right now for 0 reason.

first time I'm seeming that third brake mounted on a 2nd gen
got any more pics of it in action or night shots?

might as well chop that exhaust now that there's an HC

 

Added some armor.

 

It's nice to have. If you ever get a cover, or if you already do (couldn't tell by pictures), look into the "paracord mod" or paracord backup or something...it's on this site. If the lock would ever quit working, you'll want to get into your bed without breaking the cover.

Without the cover, it's not such a big deal obviously .

 

OTT this morning down in Exeter RI with @wickedmatt. Two words: Holy crap!! Like driving a completely different truck. Got exactly what I wanted out of the tune - much improved throttle response and reduced/eliminated the gear searching at low speed or climbing hills.

Great guy to talk to and deal with. Shop was clean and filled with some pretty cool high performance rides. If you are looking for a fix for the same issues give him a call.

 

Got a link for the boots?
I find it the same price of just getting a new axel. 4WA here in Edmonton warranties the "World Parts" ones for life. And I have a mechanic that charges me $60/hr for 1 hour to replace it. Drop it off at his shop/garage, have supper at home, then go pick it up. So easy and very reasonably priced haha

 

small update. My grab handle and window controller panel were showing a little wear. Wrapped the handles in paracord and used plastidip on the panels

 

why?

LCA skid is said to cause internal rust by plugging drain holes. The LCA can be welded to strengthen it

bolt on diff skid reduces clearance and $300 vs weld on $50 trailgear

 

You will like the window control panel black and want to make it permanent.

 

I didn't want permanent, I treat my undercarriage annually with fluid film. And I have already hit both a-arm and rear diff off-road. I plan on getting bigger tires and that will negate the slight loss in clearance.

 

hopefully the LCA doesn’t rust I guess. Or fluid film inside before skid. Water might be able to get in but not drain out the bottom. Then again a hole could be added.

 

BAMF diff skid is minimal- total loss of ground clearance of no more then 5/16".

 

Don’t have a Mall where I live but I added some Mall crawler lights just in case they build a Mall here one day

 

Installed an ATD on the tailgate. Had a hose clamp there briefly, but made the upgrade.

Package arrived on time. Product is top quality. Powder coat is pro.

Fits perfectly. A drill bit more peace of mind than a hose clamp.

Cheers to @christian06 for the quick turnaround.

 

I was wondering, is it common have your tailgate stolen? Seems like the kind of thing only other Tacoma owners would know to be easy?