GeoYota - Sold to a good dude in the AZ desert

I do need to spend some time re-aiming these new lights, as the driv side headlight is "up in the trees" and the pass side is a bit "knocky." Seems that the downside to the $50 lights are that the mounts can be a bit loose. Worse case scenario, I will remove the old mounting brackets from the old HID lamp buckets, and re-install the lamps.

Also, ordered a new center bearing and flange nut after reading up on the R&R process here: Gen 1 Center Bearing How To and will post up some pics of that process as it unfolds.

 

Ordered a new rear cinch strap for my Softopper after a buddy snapped the buckle while applying 250 lbs. of torgue during a recent Big Bear outing...$6 from ST and good to go...

 

Also...sweet OEM Toyota Genuine Part giggity

...this arrived on Friday:



Sexy box right?



Okay, enough with dancing veggies & fruit...what's in the box you ask?

Not Gwenyth...just this:



Que the dancing carcinogens...



C-Bearing R&R commences on Tuesday...stay tuned.

 

One other note...spent about 30 minutes adjusting the new headlights, and now they are perfectly aimed.

The hardest part of this adjustment was sizing the threaded posts...4mm??? Wow, small is the word for this.

Snapped on a 4mm socket to my 1/4 inch drive ratchet and went to town, using my garage door as a "lamp template."

Yep, that redneck mechanic gene def kicked in...but it worked great and I am no longer blinding drivers as I approach...which is nice.

 

Great updates.

I laughed when I read that your lights were aimed in the trees. Sometimes I'll be traveling down the interstate and look across the center divide and I'll see a truck with one of its ights pointed at the sky. lol

 

Was able to get the center bearing replaced, and while not complicated, it did take a bit of time to make sure that everything was "in phase" (straight) for the install.

This was the guilty party...of what I thought my vibrations we all about.



SPOILER ALERT: turned out it was my tires...crud. So, I don't have to worry about my CB for a while.

I followed all of the instructions in the CB Thread here on TW...marking the front and rear drive shaft so that the re-install of the DS would work flawlessly...which it did.





I grabbed my 14mm wrenches and loosened all of the nuts on the front and rear of the drive shaft where it bolts to the flanges.

PB Blaster the night before, and again during the day really helped with everything...nice and easy.



Wrenches...



Once the driveshaft was removed, off to the bench with the whole assembly. I had to remove a BFN with my DeWalt torgue gun, and it came of fairly easily. I made sure I sequenced the removal of the nut, washers, and spacers carefully, as I had read here on TW that could be an issue on install.



BFN and backing washer...



Spacers and old CB removed...



Greasing everything before install...



Out with the old...in with the new...



Then, put your purse down and get ready to rumble...134 lbs. of torque baby!!!



The BFN installed and torqued....staked and ready to go. I did buy a new nut for this procedure, as I didn't want to take any chances. It was "only" $6.00.



Everything back in, lined up the marks...



Good to go...





This project took me about 3 hours, because I took my time. You can do it faster I'm sure (YMMV), but I prefer to make sure it's done right the first time.

Make sure you block your rear wheels, and have all the tools laid out and ready to go. I did have my laptop in the garage for reference to the CB Thread here on TW, which helped get me through this with minimal issues. I ordered the parts from Conicelli Toyota in New Jersey (link from the How To thead) and it was delivered for $160, with the nut for staking off the flange.

No issues since the install, and we have easily put 2K miles since the install a couple of months ago.

 

Skipping ahead...as I'm pretty excited about getting a roof rack solution for my 03' DC.

I've been shopping options through Yakima and Thule, Frontrunner, and Baja Racks. Those options proved expensive, and not necessarily the profile I was looking for.

My roof rack goals:

• Low profile, hopefully OEM "look."
• Aero cross bar profile for low wind noise when mounted.
• Solid platform for install, for rigors of holding camping items to roof top.
• Works with all major mounting components (Yakima, Thule, etc.) for flexibility in portage of cycling/water gear.
• Mounts for Hi-Lift and shovel.
• Spots for Roto-Pax system gasoline storage. Rationale: after looking at many gasoline storage options, and weighing ease of use, roof top is my choice of fuel mount. If I go with a rear mounted tire carrier, the added weight of gasoline on the tail, plus impact safety, IMO, makes roof top mounting the easiest.

There is a local off road group on FB, and I recently spied a used 1998 4 Runner that was being parted out, after front end collision. The ad mentioned a fully intact roof rack, so I IM'ed the owner for details. I'll skip the negoatiations, but we settled on $75 (YES!) and met at a local grocery store parking lot to make the exchange.



SCORE!

This was just placed on the roof (because I was more than a little excited) just to see the preliminary "fit."

I was stoked to say the least.

 

I brought the rack home and started to plan the mount to my roof. The thought of drilling holes in my roof didn't really spook me as I have seen others post...but I did want to measure 1,264 times and drill once.

After reading several posts here and on other forums about mounting roof racks, I settled upon a rivet nut system that many off roaders and OEM units use. My previous Nissan used a system of rivet nuts to mount it's factory rack system, which provides the clean OEM look I was after.

I also studied up on rivet nuts and their installation. This video was helpful, and I'm a sucker for Australian mech anyhow...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeaMsvai0FA

I visited Home Depot first, no luck there. Did some online research and discovered that rivet nut tools vary in size and cost. From $30 up to $300, depending on the size and material of the rivet nut.

The factory bolts were M6's, and I decided to stick with a close to that diameter for my install. After lots of research, I went to my local fastener source, Ababa Bolt in San Marcos. They were close and had the rivet nut tool and fasteners in stock. I picked up a Marson 39300 rivet tool with a #8 and #10 nose piece and set of three mandrels.



Out the door this kit with fasteners was $88. I will be using rivet nuts in my bed cargo area for mounting my CO2 bottle as well as other necessary removable storage solutions, thanks @Crom .

I also went to my local ACE Hardware and bought some grease pencils for marking the , and the required 19/64's drill bit for the rivet nuts.

 

I also grabbed some rubber washers to protect/seal the bolts when installed, .33 cents each at ACE



The fasteners are 10/32 3/4 inch stainless steel, with a 2.5 mm hex head. The OEM bolts are torx, which I personally despise for their inappropriate ability to strip out at the worst possible moment.

I carefully laid out the roof rack in the driveway and surveyed its operation and part function, and upon assessment will be repainting the tracks and cross bars once it is all mounted. Cart before horse, I know, but did I mention that I'm a little excited to get this installed??



Close up of the "nose pieces" that attach to the fore and aft rack tracks. I have to give the guy I bought this from kudos, as for $75, I got all of the pieces of the roof rack, bolts, and plastic track ends...all without stripping or damaging any of the contact surfaces.

 

So today, 12/13/16, was roof drilling day. I started to work on this last night in the garage, but gave up when getting the appropriate measurements along with dodging the ceiling mounted garage door opener proved too much as the 10 o'clock hour approached. Better to get a good nights rest and start fresh with coffee in the morning.

A final trip to WalMart this morning to grab an actual measuring tape found me in the sewing aisle at 8am. At least I was caffeinated.

Headed home, let the morning mist burn off and mounted my 19/64 drill. Roof time baby.

First I measured, and measured, and measured, and then measured again. Finally decided f-it, and marked the roof line with the white grease pencil and decided to start drilling. I mean it's just roof sheet metal, right? I can always chop it and put a roll cage over the cab if I totally screw the pooch on this intsall...RIGHT??





I should also mention that before I closed up shop the night before, I spent a little time (and about 8 fasteners) practicing with the rivet nut tool. It's a tricky little sucker, and even after watching YouTube and talking with the guys at Ababa Bolt, getting a few presses in before hitting the roof was well worth it.

 

So with the roof rack on the truck, traced the inside of the roof tracks and each end (towards the rear of the cab), and decided to start drilling.



...and drilling...



Using a ladder was helpful, as keeping the drill angled with the roof line, and drilling with easy pressure kept me from modifying my headliner with extra "venting."



There are five mounting holes on each side of the rack/tracks. Because the curvature of the Tacoma roof line is a bit different than where the 4 Runner mounts its roof rack, this requires the roof tracks to "bend" just a bit to match the roof line.

With this in mind, my goal was to drill the four track holes (drivers and passengers sides), then mount the rack, and "press" the front portion of the rack and mark the last two holes of the front of the rack tracks for each side. This way (hopefully) the marking would be more "accurate" in matching the curvature of the front of the roof line/rack tracks.

I also painted the drill spots with some Rustoleum paint to dissuade and early roof rust issues inside the rivet nuts.



I stopped briefly to let the paint dry, post these photos, and then insert and press in the rivet nuts. Those words and pictures are up next!

 

Finished installing all of the rivet nuts, and then test fitted the rack to mark and drill the front pass. and drivers side rivet nut locations.



Drivers side...



Up close rivet nut installed.

 

The rack test fit with the front and rear plastic end pieces mounted. There is spacing on the front two plastic pieces, so I am fashioning templates out of left over Softopper weatherstripping.



Hoping that will fill the gap nicely as trying to "bolt down" the front of the rack didn't bend to the roof line as I had hoped.



I removed the front plastic end pieces and am painting them with the cut to fit material underneath. That is in an effort to "fill the gaps" you can see at the front of the rack.

 

There is a bit of matte black overspray on the roof, but I will address that once everything is set with the rack.

Easy to buff that out, and the previous owner placed a sheet of black mylar over my roof to protect it from the saltwater of his surfboards. My plan is to eventually peel that back revealing the factory paint. I have also thought about just rattle canning the roof gloss black, as there is some oxidation starting on both A pillars right at the roof line. One day at a time...

...

 

Removed the whole roof rack assembly yesterday and plugged the roof rivenut holes. Took the roof rack assembly apart and painted the rack rails matte black. Since it's raining, stuff is drying in the garage...obviously.

Also ordered one of these RAM mounts for my new 2 meter ham radio (Yeasu FT-3100) and will post some install photos once that arrives.

 

That's amazing. I've been wanted to do a roof rack with the factory mounts on my truck. I just haven't had the time to even start researching it. This has helped my ideas so much! Great write up! I'll be coming back once I'm ready to get mine set up.

Sub'd!

 

Whelp this is exactly what I'm looking to do. Any tips in looking for a rack to install? That front gap would irritate me to no end, I look forward to seeing your solution. Nice job taking your time and doing it right.

 

As for the "gap solution..." it looks like I might actually shorten the rack tracks by simply cutting them about 1-1.5 inches on each end. This effectively limits to portion of the rack that doesn't match the curvature of the Tacoma roof compared to the 4Runner's.

The only challenge with this process is, I have already drilled and installed the rivet-nuts in the roof at the most fore/aft positions of the rack, and by shortening it will leave one of these exposed on the roof line...as well as having to re-install four more rivet-nuts on all four corners.

So, for the time being, I have cut four pieces of weather stripping to shape and stuck them where the sun doesn't shine...underneath the front gaps on both the drivers and passengers sides.

With respect to sourcing a roof rack...I've been searching for almost two years, since I bought my Tacoma in March of 2015. I've been looking on both Craigslist and local off road forums, and lucked out when I saw a guy parting out a wrecked 98' 4Runner. I suppose the best advice is to practice patience and have cash in hand when the time is right. Keep looking!

 

Yeah ill be scouting my local junkyard every few months for sure. I had looked at a rack off a Toyota minivan but it was too large. So I assume there isnt any difference at the end of the rails, allowing you to cut it, except for the bolts? I anticipate seeing pictures of your solution, because I don't want to drill holes then leave them exposed. Also, will your rack clean up to look "blacker" once you've got it installed, or is that the way it will always look?

 

I would cut and then re-drill a mount hole on each end (on the rack, then a matching new rivet-nut in the roof), which is how the plastic end pieces are held on. I'm not so worried about the extra rivet-nuts, as I can just cap them with a nice stainless bolt and a dab of silicone for water proofing.

As far as cutting, you are correct...no real difference that I can see. The rack rails are aluminium, and I would use a fine tooth hacksaw and then file the rough edges smooth, re-paint...etc.

The rack has been repainted matte black, and it does look much better than the sun bleached photos from above.

We are vacationing in Arizona right now, so I'll post up some current photos when I get a chance.