AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Yes. Full droop is probably not the best way, but it's the easiest. Use anything that will fit between the LCA and the ball joint and see if you can move it up.


Given what's going on with the rest of my pile, I probably did pretty good to get that many miles out of them.

 

When I checked play on my LBJs we took pressure off it by jacking the LCA up a little and then had a dial and was within the 0.5mm of play but barely. I eventually swapped out those about a year later.

 

couldn't as in see it? or you actually measured with a micrometer?

Also hope you ate some spinach before you tried

 

Open Sesame - Adding a Garage Door Opener to the Headliner
April 2, 2018.

A while back, I somehow stumbled on @jberry813's post where he installed a garage door opener in his headliner (Homelink in a 1st gen) near the map lights. Having the same issues - a garage door remote that floats around in the center console; @mrs.turbodb's car that has it built into the sun visors) - I decided that this was something I needed to do right away.

That was a little over a year ago. Rightly, other mods took priority - and I'm glad they did. See, I never should have done this mod, but most other first gen Tacoma owners should!

I got started by ordering a Homelink® remote on eBay. There are tons of them for a a bit over $20 with shipping, so you can choose the color you like - just make sure to get one that supports "rolling codes." It arrived reasonably quickly and I made a plan:

1. Program and test the remote to make sure it worked, before cutting up my headliner.
   
2. Prep the remote for installation (basically, separate the fascia and wire it for power).
3. Remove the map lights and sun visor clips to free up the headliner.
4. Cut an access hole in the headliner for the remote buttons.
5. Insert the Homelink remote, connect the power (to the map lights), and press on the fascia,
6. Reinstall the map lights and sun visors.

Couple hours tops, I was sure.

The first couple steps went as planned - programming the Homelink remote was relatively easy (instructions), as was opening up the remote and separating the fascia with some jewelers screwdrivers.

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Then it was time to remove the map lights and get access to space between the headliner and roof. I always dread this type of work because I seem to break clips every time, but I lucked out and everything went smoothly. To do it, first remove the center clip (around the rear view mirror) from the map light trim - there are two clips on the side that can be pried out using a screwdriver inserted from the front of the vehicle.

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Next, use the same screwdriver to pry the front-facing edge map light trim forward just enough to release the two tabs that secure it. The are small, so you don't need to pry much. When you release them, you can rotate/hinge the map light trim down and back to remove it (there are two tabs on the back that it will hinge on).

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At this point, you'll see the four screws that hold the map light module to the roof. They are JIS heads, but if you're careful, you can use a Philips #2 driver to remove them. Note that the machine threads are forward, and the course threads are rearward for re-assembly.

With the screws removed, pull out the map light module and rotate it 180º so you can unplug the power connector.

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The last bits to remove are the sun visor clips. Remove the single Philips #2 screw from each, and then pull (really, wiggle) them out. Mine were super-tight, but eventually came out.

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Next, it's time to cut a hole in the headliner for the buttons on the Homelink remote. I created a paper template that I could position and then trace onto the headliner, and I proceeded to trace and cut a hole. You'll note that I traced it backwards - don't make the same mistake. Luckily, my trim piece covered the mistake, but the "bump" should be forward-facing, not rearward.

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And here's why I shouldn't have done this mod...

At this point, I slid the Homelink opener into the headliner and realized I had a problem. See, I have a unicorn Tacoma - one with a sun roof. And that means that I have extra reinforcement/supports in my roof, to support the opening. So, when I slide in the remote, it didn't fit. In fact, if I'd paid more attention in the beginning, I'd have realized that there wasn't any way to make it fit between the map lights and sunroof, due to the supports (which aren't there for non-sun roof models, which makes this a great mod).

Shit.

Shit. Shit. I mean, I had a hole in my headliner at this point. How can I recover? (without buying a new, $700 headliner)

I set everything aside, remembering something that Eric @RelentlessFab said when I was there - "Slower is faster." - and I figured that slowing down and thinking things through for a day or two was probably a good idea at this point.

Ultimately, I spent some time looking at the internals of the Homelink remote, puzzling through options. I realized that the antenna was the thing that made the unit as "thick" as it is - so I knew I needed to address that. And, I knew I'd have to do something about the enclosure itself - again, since that thickness needed to go.

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I came up with three possibilities.

1. Remove the board from the enclosure and "squish" the antenna so it would be flatter on the board.
2. Unsolder the antenna, and then solder in a wire "in-plane" with the board, so that the board could be thinner.
3. "Remote" the buttons so that I could mount them in the planned space in the headliner, running wires to the transmitting brains, which I could stash somewhere else (in the headliner).

The first two options might allow me to slide the board between the headliner and roof support - pushing the liner down nearly imperceptibly if I was successful.

I decided to go with option 2, since it seemed the safest (easiest to recover from). I cut a piece of 12 gauge wire the same length as the stock antenna and got to work unsoldering the antenna and soldering on the wire, which went smoothly. At the same time, I also soldered on the +12v and ground wires, since the factory connector was another "thick" element I needed to remove.

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At this point, I tested everything to make sure the opener was still functioning - it was, whew! - and then I got to work on the enclosure. I still needed the front half, since that's what housed the buttons, and anchored the trim, so I cut it down using the chop saw to get a clean cut, and cleaned up the edges with a bit of sandpaper. And then, I test fit everything.

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Satisfied that this was a reasonable solution, I applied a layer of electrical tape to most of the board - this tape would act as a thin enclosure for the components that would now be unprotected above the headliner (so they won't short out on the roof). I also measured the space between the headliner and roof so I could add a "spacer block" to the top of the opener to support it when a button is pressed.

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Carefully (and wearing nitrile gloves since the headliner is made of fiberglass that easily embeds itself in the nooks between your fingers - ask me how I know), I pushed down the headliner and slide the Homelink opener into place, connecting the wires (my red wire tapped into the black +12v wire for the map lights; my black wire grounded by a map light screw) and installing the fascia. It was starting to look good!

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All that was left was to reinstall the map lights and sun visor clips, which was simple enough, given everything I'd just been through. And now, I can open the garage door with the press of a button. A button that looks factory.

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Nice Job! I'd have given up before taking the remote apart and considered brown duct tape to cover the hole,

 

Alright, now you have my attention.

 

Thanks guys.

Pretty happy with it now that it's done, and really it's an easy mod as long as you don't have the sunroof. Heck, would have been easy with it, if I'd just looked under the headliner before cutting that hole.

 

Can you tell me more about the spacer block part of this? What did you use? Did you attach it to the top of the opener? My only concern with doing this would be the device not being very secure and pushing buttons would move it or dislodge it. I take it that block stops that from happening?

 

Nice recovery!

 

It not switched power, correct?

 

Thanks!

Between the headliner and sheet metal of the cab there's about 1.5-inches of space (just rearward of the map lights). The Homelink case is about half an inch thick, and so I added a 3/4-inch wood block spacer and about a quarter inch of corrugated cardboard (for padding against the sheet metal), which I taped to the back of the Homelink remote. This makes it's so that when you press on the remote it doesn't press into empty space but is supported by the sheet metal of the cab.

I'm not sure that's totally necessary, because the fascia of the home link adapter snaps into the case and that holds everything to the headliner. So if you have a relatively tight tolerance on your hole, and you don't press super hard on the buttons, you shouldn't need the spacer.

At any rate I figured it was easier to add it now, rather than to have to go back and retrofit it.

Nope - as long as you get the black wire before it gets to the map light assembly (which is where the switches are) it's constant 12 volt power. As I noted I just tapped into the black wire prior to the connector that goes to the map light assembly.

 

Good stuff, thanks man.

 

Figured better to not spoil timmas thread, you make a good point, seperate trips will allow for more exploration in each area

 

So true. Just got back from my second trip to DV and I can't wait to go back. Just wish it weren't so dang far. Same with the Maze, and basically everything down south! Summers up here are hard to beat though, just short.

 

One of my coworkers who lives just out of seattle keeps showing me picks of all the places in the pnw. I definitely will be up here exploring one of these summers! Gonna head up the 395 this summer and explore more of the mtns in my backyard this summer. But I love the picks I see of all the fern laiden forests of washington.

The distance is a bit of a bitch

 

395 runs all the way to my old town Spokompton, I wanna drive all of 395 sometime this year

 

Yeah i wanna go to shoot on a trail in lone pine then hit Laurell lake up in Mamoth area, camp for the night or two then go up to lakes basin and tool around there for a while. The wife and I have to go pick up stuff from her folks place in greenville, so we are gonna make a 10 day trip of it. Didnt realize Spokane was that bad...

 

It's not bad, but it ain't the shining metropolis that Seattle is. Still much rather be in Spokane though, Seattle has too many people and not enough greenery and trails to play in. Plus it is hard to have horses in the city :/

 

If my pile o' parts is finished / driveable by winter I want to at least go as far north as my friend's house in Truckee!