2012TacomaGuy's Tasmanian Taco "Taz" Build

Going to have to replace my driver side CV axle since it's been leaking grease from the outer boot for the past year and I've neglected it. Finally starting to grind a bit. Looking at the NAPA CV axle replacement for now and to reboot the OEM one as a trail spare. Anyone suggest any other brands to look at for a new CV axle? https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NMD...onRank=3&keywordInput=axle&vehicleAddPDP=true


Additionally, went underneath the truck today to check out the front diff, saw the driver side was leaking oil where the CV axle goes into the front differential. Suspect it's the diff oil seal that's gone bad... was looking at replacement parts, however, I keep seeing 4 different parts for this oil seal and don't know what part number to get. Any help would be great!

9031147012 or 9031147027 (Toyota's website says these are interchangeable)
9031147013
9031147026

 

Got rear ended tonight on the highway! I’m not at fault. Truck seems fine, just some scratches on the rear bumper. Frame looks fine as well. Other car was low enough to make the impact on the main bumper’s structure and not the swing out. Other car, well... photos tell the story.

Bonus, I installed a dash camera this morning and got it on video, front and rear cameras

 

Took apart the rear the the truck today to look for damage from yesterday and to try to get rid of the squeaking from the Dakar leaf packs with the help of @YamaDirtrider and @Red Baron from FORTify.

Put in some Speedway leaf pack liners and the squeak is all gone!

 

First time towing with this bumper, no issues. Truck did great, even with it loaded down. Barely felt the trailer behind me

 

Long time no update, but I’ve done a ton on the truck the past couple weeks. I’m on break for the next two, so I’m working on small maintenance items for now.

For big items, I put on CVJ CVs and then went on a 7,000 mile road trip along the west side of the Rockies. After that I’m back in VA and just recently put in a second auxiliary transmission cooler with an external manual fan to help with cooling in Texas and when towing. At the same time I did a transmission drain and refill. Put in some extra fluid for the new cooler as well




Other than that, I have a lot in order and here’s my list of “To Do” things for the next 2 weeks before I leave for Texas.


Alignment for truck
Drum brakes replace
Grind rear leaf-pack on shackles
LCA balljoint replacement
Body mount bushings upgrade
King bushings replace
Align rear bumper
Epoxy broken fenders flares tabs
Switch out ditch lights with Baja Designs
Change lightbar with Baja S8
Grease truck
Oil change
Vacuum out interior
Wash seats and carpet
Air pump recall

 

How messy of a job was it to put in the aux trans cooler? Been wanting to do mine because of the towing I've been doing lately and because of the hills I go through when wheeling

 

Not bad at all. Hardest part was pulling off the old transmission lines on the factory cooler to run this new one in series. As long if the transmission temperature switch is closed you won’t spill much fluid. Made metal brackets out of 1/8 steel from Home Depot. The new lines I just lubed with the new transmission fluid and they slid right on. I went with a Hayden 698 cooler and the Hayden 3670 electronic fan hooked up to my switch pro as well as OEM Toyota retention clips. There’s an option for a fan controller (3647) so it automatically turns on based on the temperature of the fluid but I didn’t want to do that.

 

Sweet. I need to do this sometime this year. Luckily my truck is parked most of the time. Definitely up there on my list

 

Sweet! So far trans temps have been down 10-20 degrees and that's just normal driving. Looking forward to towing to see what happens then. Crossing kansas with a 3500lb trailer (and 1800lbs of added weight to the truck normally) I saw the trans temp go to 249.8F when in D. Quickly shifted to 4 and continued when I saw that.

 

Thank god this was caught early before major damage… new Nitro gears (these weren’t Nitro 4.88s) on back order for months… temporary fix for now, setting a new pattern will cause gear whine but oh well. I suspect the front differential was installed this poorly as well. None the of measurements were even close to be what they should be. Only 24k miles on these 4.88s