Rebuilding my Tacoma... Almost there

Well, got some of the hood issues worked away.....had to use a little bit of brute force.

But at least I can get the hood to shut with no rubs and only one gap that is really noticable....I'll keep working that one after I move.

In the meantime I changed the oil and filter, got my fender mounted, I painted and clear coated it and will buff it after I give it a few more days to cure.

I bolted everything back in. Unplugged the ignition coils and motored the engine with the starter until the oil pressure light went out (actually took a while. Then I plugged back in the coils, put a trickle charger on the battery, and let the starter cool down. Once the battery was good I started the engine up....fired up with a bit of hesitation and then settled into a relatively smooth idle that only got better as the minutes went by and the ECM learned the engine again.

Drive it around the culdesac just fine.

Went to recharge the AC system but I had a gasket go bad there. Which you can read about in my other thread.

I've painted and clear coated the spots on the camper shell.

All I need to do now is get a front end alignment, align the bed, buff the fender, install the flare and get a bumper.

Was glad to finally drive it again... nearly forgot how to use my third pedal!

 

Well....kinda ticked off about the AC condenser being bad from the get go that I ordered. I'll have to fix that later I suppose.

Im still saving up a bit more cash for my bumper that I want, but other than those two things, the truck is more or less completed. Still nothing that keeps me from driving it.

I'll post more after the alignment, I get my camper shell mounted again and the other issues addressed.

 

Went and got the alignment done today. Wanted to get y'all's opinion on if you think the mechanic could or could not have been able to do a better job.

The first picture was a before and after. The second picture is a close up of the after. He did the job in a little less than two hours I think.

 

I watched this video the other day. Not sure how their spec compare to yours but they mention not being in the green of their alignments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9hdSNTaFNY&t=1047s

 

I appreciate the link! It appears they change the Castor out of the red on their truck....by the camber is definitely in the green.

 

I'm thinking some of this may be nothing more than a moot point until I get my bumper and camper shell on the truck. Of course both weights are about the same so it may not affect it much at all.

 

You'd be surprised. For starters they will both compress the suspension a little. Second, the camper is over the back axle and the part of the camper that's between the two wheels does impact the front axle some. The bumper though, that sits entirely forward of the front axle and gains leverage for every inch forward it sits.

The camper shell that's forward of the axle will act to counteract the weight of the bumper somewhat, but the camper shell that's aft the axle will counter act the weight that's forward of the axle thus reducing it's impact on the bumper. Since we are looking at an alignment on the front axle only, I think you'll see more impact than you expected.

 

So..... waiting for my front bumper to arrive, but other than that my truck is pretty much driveable and done mostly (a few minor odds and ends but nothing crazy).

So today I decided to take it for a ride to the dump as I'm moving. It felt great....the wind in my hair (short and thinning but still there), shifting smoothly, feeling connected to the road.

I pull in and parked. 45 seconds later, bro with a trailer and no insurance rear ends me in the parking lot.

Can't make this up. At least the damage isn't that bad. Was gonna order a slab steel bumper to replace the rear factory one to match the front im getting anyway, but was going to wait a year to do it. At least he was sorry and offered cash right away.

 

No. Way.

I hope the cash covers your expenses related and then some.

Atleast he didn’t hit the front end

 

Yeah I'm good for an off road rear bumper now...and should cover my tailgate I hope.....we will see what can be dine with it.

I just thought the irony of it was to much not to post about.

Anyway at least now that I can drive it around I'm good to push the pause button untill after the move. No AC sucks, but that condenser I ordered was bit from the start it seems.

Oh well.

 

That’s unfortunate. Good attitude though!

 

Following

 

So I just realized that after all the other threads and the Move I had not updated this thread for a long time. Almost done with the front end (I hope).

Had to use a portal power hydraulic press from harbor freight to spread the front frame rails about a 3/8 inch to get my after market bumper to bolt on.

I still have some skid plates to bolt on as well.

I also finally got my AC fixed. I ended up using a CSF condenser instead of the tyc one....worked just fine.

I still intend to lift the front of the truck now to match the rear of the truck. Once that's done I will wire up my lights and the install a rear bumper.

PICS as of this morning: