Eric's 2003 Tacoma PreRunner Build

Did a pre-checkout today before going to a 4x4 park tomorrow:







Noticed some play in the carrier bearing today, not sure if this is normal or not:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV7g8Eaosmc

 

Went with a great group of 4Runners out to Hardrock Cycle Park where they have an area just for 4x4 trails. $25 to get in per vehicle, which I think is a fair price considering we were there most of the day and didn't explore it all. The truck did great and I pushed myself a little further to see what I could and couldn't do.

As a result of a bad judgement call I went into a water hole that was much deeper than I expected and got stuck. Some water came in through the driver's side door but it wasn't too bad. The 4Runner group was mostly on the other side of the park so all I could do was wait for rescue. During this time the horn decided to honk solid for 3-4 mins at a time then cut off at random.

Recovery was a bit of a pain as the recovery 4Runner had to be on a downhill grade to attach to my rear bumper. In the end a 2nd 4Runner had to strap to the back of the 1st one in order to keep him from sliding downhill while working to pull me out.

Much to my disbelief the truck started right up and I experienced no major issues on the 1.5 hour drive home. I did find though that my horn is not working, not sure if there is a problem with the horns themselves or something to do with the TVIP (Toyota Vehicle Intrusion Protection) ECU which appears to have gotten wet (as it is located behind the driver's side kick panel.

I hope I learned a lesson and will *think* more while on the trails. I got lucky that the intake side didn't go in the water and that nothing more broke as a result of my bad/lack of judgement call.

 

A few pics from Hardrock...

 

Photos below, credit to: Anthony Thorn

 

Found out the horns are blown. Voltage is getting to the horn when the horn is pressed. Measuring from the power pin to the shell of the horn measures open. I think they got damaged when they were stuck on in the water hole.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX6IAvAMNGY

 

Tonight's "fun":

 

New horns delivered and installed! Back in business.

 

I must have found a rock with my passenger rear wheel while at Hardrock Also tonight, at 124k miles I did some Seafoam treatment. A bit went in the gas tank, some in the oil, and the rest in a vacuum line. She smoked quite a bit on restart and then cleared up after a short drive. Time will tell if there are any improvements, or problems.

 

More boring updates. I replaced my headlight bulbs due to my driver's side low beam burning out. I drained the trans fluid and refilled. I seemed to add more than came out so maybe it was running low, not sure. I also checked rear diff fluid level, all was good there. annnd I greased the rear shackles.

 

Today she got an oil change and rear diff fluid change (wanted to make sure no water had gotten in from my swimming adventure a few weeks ago).

 

In hopes to fix a minor vibration found at 10-15mph and 50-55mph

 

Hey Eric, i just found your build thread. Really digging everything you have done to your truck. May even steal a few ideas as well lol. When i saw your Tacoma in a few photos i thought it looked really familiar, then i realized i have seen you on reddit's r/ToyotaTacoma. After reading thought you build i see that you live in Florida, and apparently close to me, as i live in the Ocala national forest and Hardrock is only a 20 minute drive. Figure i would say hi to a Tacoma lover neighbor.

 

Hey man, thanks for the compliments. As a fellow reddit user, have you pushed the button yet?

 

Since that last update I went wheeling again in Ocala

 

After that I installed an extra leaf in my Dakar leaf packs to help with the weight of the topper while taking a massive road trip from Florida to Maine (3100 miles round trip)

 

I did the exact same thing to my truck once Live and learn.

 

A bit lacking on updates recently. Truck did amazing during our road trip to Maine, no major issues.

Somewhere along the way

 

After the trip to Maine I made it back out to Hardrock with some 4Runner guys. I always seem to find a way to get stuck