starting to feel like a new one...

I'm sitting at the Anderson SC Toyota dealer now... They did some work on
my truck last week, flushed the hydraulics and radiator, new gas filter,
valve cover gasket, timing belt...

There's a small leak from the upper radiator hose now, I think they're going to just put
a "regular" hose clamp on it, I know timmy-the-toolman likes the OEM kind better.

Anywho... I got my truck a little over a year ago now... it was pretty functional then,
but had 150k miles on it. The inside is good, the outside is good (even though it is
the boring lunar mist color ) but the most important stuff is the stuff you can't
see.

The frame is good.

I've changed all kinds of little things myself that were worn or bad, such as changing
out the loud-air-box with an OEM setup I got on eBay, and the gasket around the driver's
door other little things like that.

One of the first things that was done is to change out a couple of sensors to fix the CEL.
That made it run a lot better (open loop)... and it might be a bit better running after changing out
the gacky gas filter.

What really makes it roll down the road like a new one, though is the new wheels/tires
sourced from a 2018 Tacoma with 20 miles on it, plus all new steering and front suspension stuff
that has accumulated under there over the course of a year...







The only disappointment there is that I went after $200 worth of lca bushings and
expected $200 or so of labor and got new lca's in$tead...

There's Deaver J59's on the back, and kings for back there have been "in the works"
for a couple of months... they're supposed to show up tomorrow, I hope they fit... the
first set was OEM length (too short) and the reservoir hose outlet was situated in
the same orientation as the shock mount eyelet (won't fit up in there where it needs to go)...

I wish I had a well-lit plush concrete floored garage to work in, I like working on stuff,
but most of the work on my truck has been done at one of three shops in my area...
More good than bad at all of them, I think I kind of like this dealer... skilled mechanics
with all the tools and lifts and experience can do a better job of stuff than me learning
on my own truck working in the dirt, even with timmy-the-toolman videos for guidance...
my 97 Valkyrie with 100,000 miles on it goes pretty much like a new one, and I do all
the work on it...



They don't make little trucks anymore, and they're just "things", but mine makes
me smile when I go down the road now...

-Mike

 

That fresh high end suspension is soooo tempting just to have a nice comfy plush ride. Looks good. Can tell you value your taco, that's a good thing

 

Well done Mike! I envy you your ability and means to work on stuff like that. I'm 58 now and have a permanent vascular disability but when I was younger I did it all-from simple oil changes and tune-ups to rebuilding the engine in my '68 Cutlass and even an engine/trans swap in my '73 Delta 88.
I remember that feeling of accomplishment and pure contentment you express here. And I miss it.