1999 Tacoma SR5 TRD Imperial Jade Build, Sweat and Tears

Lucked out and found a complete set of thule mounts on craigslist. Mounted them up.

 

Seems the last few times ive gone camping its been 20 degrees f, super over that, been wanting to do this for a bit, so I picked up a diesel heater.


The last time I went out and I aired down, I realized I need air, those battery one wont even fill 1 tire half way. So I picked one up as well.

Best place I found for me was above the airbox.



Fully installed. Was a little weird ditching the supplied relay and wiring setup. I ended up wiring it into my own relay/switch setup. Now I just need to
route a hose hookup under the front bumper so I dont have to open the hood. It inflates pretty fast, not bad for $108. Only problem would be
max run time is 10 min. It does get pretty hot, but better than nothing.



Next up with be heater install.

 

awesome adventures.

 

Discovered you can score batteries at the junk yard for cheap. Not sure if I had the right battery in my truck but that thing is way to small, especially for running lights with the engine off. There were 2 batteries there, an H8 sized AGM that was huge, I didnt want to roll dice so I picked up the H7 which is still pretty big. After fitting the H7, the H8 would of fit. Oh well. H7 is still quite a bit bigger than my old one.

Will eventually need to make a different bracket since the H7 is a little lower in height.

 

I dont think I ever showed the CB I put in about a year ago. Wish I would of saved my money, or put gmrs instead. CB is pretty lame. Cant get anyone on 19 and all I hear is people "wooorllldd wiiidddeeee" from across the county.

Not the best pics but, Uniden 520XL with a President Mag antenna. I installed the Uniden where the ashtray was, its actually the perfect pressure fit.

 

Looks like I might end up doing another trip across the country in this thing. Getting things ready. Hopefully things will be mellow this time.

Anyone know of some weather tech mats that will fit since they dont make them for this gen?

 

Mocking up the mounting for the diesel heater.

Cardboard templet of what will eventually be acrylic/plexi.






Also mocking up some aero. Thinking of mounting it so I can drive with it on if need be.






Discovered after running it for some time that the fuel pump is crazy loud. Looks like Im going to have to get some sound deadener and cover all the internals with it.
This foam did nothing.

 

For fun since I dont have a clock.

 

This is the 3rd!!! first gen tacoma THIS WEEK Ive seen with a broken ball joint and 2 were on the freeway. Let this be a reminder to check your rig. It looks like right now is the time for stock ones to fail. Knocking on wood here. Will change mine after my drive wether they are good or not.

 

Been wanting to mess with the aero for a couple years now. At least going to make some adjustment to the back for my long drive. Trying to break the air off the back and stop some of the suction. I might be a little too far inboard. Ill move them more outward if I dont notice anything.

Taking some measurement and mocking up the cuts to be done in acrylic. Just a note, if youre mocking stuff up dont use the corrugated gatorboard, just use cardboard.

 

Picked up another motorcycle hitch carrier for a good deal. Left my other one by accident in Norcal.

 

Ordered some bendable exhaust tubing to try and make this a little quieter for the 3000 mile drive. Was hoping by aiming it out from under the truck and stop it from bouncing off the ground that it would help. Did a little drive at street speeds and it actually might be worse, not sure how. Its sound a lot throatier in a louder way.

**Edit** drove it around some more and it might be better.



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I cut the 90 as straight as I could leaving enough to clamp on to. Leaving the 90 would of been too hard of a bend to try and put this on.


Since its bendable if it gets hit by anything it should be fine for a temporary fitment. Im gonna replace the muffler a the exit soon.

 

Been needing one of these clips since I bought the truck to keep the headlight from flopping around.

 

Clearing the headlights. Does anyone know if the lenses come off pretty easy or do I have to bake them? The insides are terrible.

 

For awhile now Ive been having a problem with the diff lock light coming on when it engaged. I had to roll the window down, drive really slow and listen for the click. Well, I guess today was a good day to try and fix it.

I jumped the connector to see if the light would stay on.


And it did. So its the sensor thats not working.


Luckily I had a socket that worked. I think its a 27mm, thats what I used and it worked. There is a chance it could be a 26mm, idk because I dont have one. When I pulled it you can see its kind of milky on the tip. Im sure the moisture evaporates and goes up into the body of the sensor and corrodes the contacts.


I did the best I could at cleaning it. I first used brake clean. I made sure to get it down in the 3 slots on the sides. I cycled it a bunch of times (pushed it in). I then tried to beep it out with the meter. For some reason I dont think it did it. I then sprayed a bunch of MAF cleaner with the sensor upside down so it would sit in there and soak. Cycled it a bunch more times, beeped it out again and it worked. Put it back on the truck and its working again. Comes on as soon as it locks up and goes out as soon as it disengages. I guess this goes back to cycling your 4wd and locker every couple months just to keep things in working condition.

 

If there is anyone in LA that has an OBD II reader that can read airbag codes on this truck, Ill kick you some cash if you can run my truck to see why my airbag light is on. I have a good scanner but its only for BMW's and I dont really want to spend $200 for a 1 time check. Id like to finally try and get this thing off. Its been on since day one and I cant find it. Im leaving in a couple days though.

 

I would bet it is the clock spring is bad. Not uncommon and will cause a airbag light

 

So I found this tread about testing the airbag (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/airbag-light-on.553139/), I jumped the terminal under the hood. TC and E1 and followed the blinks of the airbag light. The blinks Im getting are

1 pause 4 pause 5 pause 4, so 1454.

Idk where to find what this is and it appears to not match up to the ODB II port codes.

 

In another thread I seen someone say 54 is passenger side. I went under the cig lighter panel and all looks good. Pulled the plug from the passenger side and it looked clean. I dont think I can disconnect the passenger side sensor under the hood to check if its corroded without unbolting it. At that point I might as well just get another sensor from the junkyard.

Just seeing someone mentioning that they cleared 54 with the connection at the key on/off for passenger side. I tired that a long time ago and I couldnt get it to stay off.

 

The backlight went out on my scangauge II. 2 broken solder joints. Fixed and back into action.