1999 Tacoma SR5 TRD Imperial Jade Build, Sweat and Tears

On the way out of Moab, where the storm was when I came in, I seen out the corner of my eye that it appears someone lost their top box from the wind. I actually turned around and went back to see if it was any good, I was gonna take it.

It was too beat up. I was considering fiberglassing it back together but the hinges and the lock on one side was broke. I dont have time right now to mess with that, so I left it.

 

Made it to Cocklarado

 

It made it up the grade pretty good considering. The absolute steepest parts I had to go to 2nd gear 4k rpm at 40mph. I felt a tinge uneasy about running it at 4k rpm for 5 miles at the peak with all this weight but I didnt dare run a lower rpm just incase I came out of peak torque in the rpm band and then the revs get dragged down and I become a sitting duck. It took it like a champ honestly given the situation.

Although I almost lost it multiple times in the tunnel at the top. I thought I blew a tire on the car, it was all over the place and I had cars next to me, in front and in back of me. I was legit sweating heavy. I didnt think I was going to make it out. The car was dragging the truck all over the place, swinging. I slowed to 30mph just praying I could at least make it out of the tunnel safely. Even at 30mph I was getting dragged all over. It was really hard to control. I was looking for sparks or pieces of tire and couldnt see anything. Halfway through the tunnel I can see there is grooves in the road in the lane Im in. God damn colorado bullshit. I damn near wrecked this thing and other cars over this. Why the hell would this be okay to leave like this?! The grooves are through the entire tunnel on the right lane. Absolutely insane. Its like a 6 inch step on each side of the lane. The cars front tires were hooking onto it and pull the back of the truck all over the place. This took every ounce of driver skill I have to keep it off the wall and other cars.

After I got out of the tunnel I pulled over immediately just to make sure there wasnt something wrong. Everything was ok. This is absurd that this exists. I was sweating so bad the back of my shirt was wet like I stood in the shower with it on.



I drew blue lines so you can see where they are

 

Getting into Kansas these people wait till Im just about on them and they pull back onto to the highway from the side of the road right in front of me. A couple miles later I see them racing up. I can see in my rear view their step is out. Already having been through enough BS instead of being a dick I tired to be nice and wave them down so they dont ruin someone else's vehicle. Its an old couple, they both ignore me while Im point back at it telling them to look. Its shit like this that makes me carzy. Just dumb people that get to live care free while putting other people at risk.

 

Stopped at a rest stop to look everything over. Nothing loosened up and everything seems to be holding fine. The cheap harbor freight tow bar is doing good.

 

I stopped taking photos in Kansas. I was starting to get mental fatigue. Drivers constantly getting over just a few feet in front of me, or getting on the freeway expecting me to clear room for them or semi drives that I would catch up to would start pacing me not letting me pass for some reason or cutting over right in front of me so they can pass another semi.

I ended up sleeping at truck rest stops. The long parking spots worked well. The constant hum of a bunch of diesel engines isnt the most fun, especially when they have them at high idle and loose metal parts are rattling around.

I made it. If it wasnt for the semi driver on his phone weaving all over the place I would of made it untouched.


If anyone ever wondered if it can be done with a first gen tacoma here you go. Do it at your own risk. This is for entertainment purposely only.

Most research Ive done said dont with any vehicle (besides RVs), even on distances like 100-200 miles, let alone over 3k miles. The cheap harbor freight tow bar made it all the way with zero problems for me.

Im not saying this is the best way, that there couldn't be challenges or for you to go and do it.

If you think this is something youre going to do, I would say your driving skills better be on point and I dont mean like you have a good driving record, Im taking about saving it when it gets out of control and you have enough self control to not get startled and slam the brakes in a bad situation. I have to stress its not like pulling a trailer, the back vehicle still has some mind of its own. Your braking distance is going to be compromised too, so you need to look ahead and stay out of situations that you will need to brake hard, especially in turns. Like I said before, if you brake too hard in a turn it will want to push the back end of the front vehicle out.

Its not fun when people keep filling the safety gap you are leaving open, its fatiguing. Its very stressful. If you end up doing this and you dont feel some sense of stress or worry there is a problem. You will get bite if you dont take this seriously and most likely gonna total both vehicles. Im not saying this is the hardest thing in the world but you need to take it seriously. Ive pulled all kinds of trailers before, open, enclosed, car trailer with car on and empty, even trailers with lots of weight on them dare I say overloaded, this is different, so be aware.

Edit, last note. If you decide to tow anything over the 70 pass in colorado, dont drive in the right lane in the tunnel at the top.

 

Gonna taste this koolaide. Might be snake oil. A little worried about the tip thats welded on the end falling off.






Somethings been crawling around.

 

Keep on, dude! I check this thread every couple of months and think "wow, this guy's a little nuts", but I 100% with your thoughts on LA so you can't be that crazy. I'm genuinely impressed by your creativity, persistence, and photo taking abilities. Take care of yourself (and your beautiful rig) and know that this internet stranger is pulling for ya

 

Thanks. Yeah for sure, there is definitely something wrong by normal standards, which is good with me. Got a couple more trips coming up.

 

Tired of the front end vibe, so I changed the front CVs. The boots on these have some cracks so, not sure how long they are gonna last. Would reboot but gonna leave soon.

Note to my future self: You dont need to pull the skids. Disconnect the sway bar and flip it up. The passenger side doesnt leak any oil when jacked up and the drivers side trickles a little bit. 1 3/8 socket works if theres no metric.

One of the clips came undone of the CVs I picked up. Had to stretch it out to reuse it.


Fixed


Passenger side


Didnt know the boot was ripped even more then before.




Green CV in, wheel back on and lowered to torque the nut


Passenger side done


Now for the drivers


One of the LCA bolts stripped, damn.


Drivers done



Vibes are a little better. Looks like Im never going to get rid of this front end shake. Going to order the clam shell to replace the driver side needle bearing and see if that helps.

 

Hemorrhoid back on. Was lazy and didnt get the other aux tank in yet.