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Psychic's low-budget low-skill build thread

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by psychic_legume, Mar 30, 2021.

  1. May 16, 2021 at 10:42 PM
    #21
    psychic_legume

    psychic_legume [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2020
    Member:
    #347703
    Messages:
    121
    Vehicle:
    2002 White Tacoma TRD
    Also did some wheeling (and broke stuff).

    Tried turning around in a way too narrow trail down by Canon City, caught the front right of the bumper on a low stump in the dark. It ripped the plastic bumper fascia off to about 1/3 the way in, took the turn signal with it. I didn't notice for awhile, and the swinging chunk of plastic ripped the wires out of the connector to the turn signal.

    Then, a friend asked if I could help pull him out of the road to Loch Lamond in a rental 4runner. At the time, the road had +1ft of snow on one side that sloped down to dirt against the uphill trees. He'd tried to back up in the dark and got too close to the edge and nearly slid into a tree. Pics below. Fully spec'd TRD Pro runner too, just had summer road tires. It took most of the day to cut down a few trees to get him out, and winch him back into the ruts, and deal with the way slippery-er snow than when he'd gotten stuck... but in the process I got too close to a tree I thought I would clear and instead it just took my whole passenger mirror off. Snapped the metal hinge that controls the folding mechanism.

    IMG3479158478079055032[1].jpg 20210430_122955[1].jpg

    Today I finally got the mirror https://www.ebay.com/itm/370840566425 (no thanks to you, fedex) and buttoned up a few things.

    Mirror replacement went smoothly, pop off a cover, unbolt three bolts, pull the cable, repeat in opposite order. Except that I couldn't pull the cable up from the outside, so I thought I needed to take the door panel off to get at the connector. All of the two remaining body clips came off fine, and pulled the speaker to get at the wires. Turns out I was just an idiot and the connector was just a little stuck in the door. If I'd just jiggled the fucker a little, I wouldn't've had to pull the door panel off. Oh well, lesson learned. Now I know how to remove the door panels :facepalm:

    I also fixed the squeaky clutch spring, using the writeup, http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...ak-linear-spring-swap-tw-how.html#post3236948. I used the same Ace spring as in the thread, and so far it has been completely squeak-free and it solved the return issue I was having as well.

    Next steps are a trip to the scrapyard to tru and pull a functioning AC head unit and a turn signal connector with some wire tail to sodder it back in place.
     
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    #21
  2. Aug 24, 2021 at 9:25 AM
    #22
    psychic_legume

    psychic_legume [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2020
    Member:
    #347703
    Messages:
    121
    Vehicle:
    2002 White Tacoma TRD
    Picked up the AC head unit from Yota Jim's in Denver, and the turn signal plug from Yota Yard, beacasue Yota Jim's will not sell parts off the wiring harness. The solder job is pretty sketch, as it was done upside down under the truck. The rest of the plastic bumper was superglued back together, and doesn't look half bad. If you ignore the bigger cracks, it almost looks new!

    Also changed the t-case and transmission oil, I'm probably going to go back and do the transmission oil again, as its a blend of 3 different brands of oil, all the right weight but different brands. I spilled nearly 3 quarts trying to use a shitty autozone pump to fill the t-case, and didn't have enough time to wait for autozone to get more oil in stock.

    The only other big change was picking up a Wildernest in pretty shit shape from a guy on Craigslist, $650. One of the main metal supports is very rusted through, and the back frame is bowed out so the side locking tabs don't work. There's a few tears in the fabric, and there a number of patches where the waterproof coating has failed. If you guys know what fabric the Wildernest's are made of, or what kind of treatment this fabric needs, that would be greatly appreciated.
     
  3. Sep 16, 2021 at 10:59 AM
    #23
    psychic_legume

    psychic_legume [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2020
    Member:
    #347703
    Messages:
    121
    Vehicle:
    2002 White Tacoma TRD
    So it's been a couple months with the topper, and I love it. The ability to camp anywhere I park the truckand not have to set up a ground tent is so worth having to take it down to go anywhere. Love the look of it too.

    IMG_1021.jpg
    IMG_2153.jpg

    However, these 20 year old leaf springs just weren't up to hauling 300lbs of camper and another 200lbs of stuff around, and the rear bumper was sitting 2" lower than stock unloaded height. It was kinda annoying to not be able to see over the hood, and it handled like a boat, especially cornering. I ended up getting the Icon add-a-leaf 1.5-2" lift from Slee Offroad in Golden, CO and installed it myself. Took about 6 hours and honestly wasn't that hard. I didn't have to remove the factory spring clips, which would've added a lot of angle grinding. The worst part was removing the centering pins, they're under the bump stops which seem to just trap water and corrode tf out of the pins. I think they started life as 14mm nuts, but I had to pound sockets onto both sides, one took a 13mm socket and the other 12mm after I scraped all the rust flake away. Hit all the springs with a silicon lubricant before reassembling the stack, and now she rides really nice. Much firmer in the back, but better over large bumps as there's enough travel to not hit the stop.

    20210914_170500[1].jpg
     
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