TomTom's '03 TRD Xtra Cab (SOLD!)

Yes, sir. The blinkers from the bumpers use 2-filament bulbs. The bulb plug is actually a 3 contact plug (parking, ground, turn signal). So I cut out the parking light, glued in the mount for the blinker bulbs and then wired up the blinker bulbs using splices from Toyota and the leads from the parking light and turn signal harnesses.

More complicated than most blinker relocation projects but I now only have one bulb in there.

 

That's awesome.

And beyond me. If I do this I'll probably just cram two bulbs in there.

 

Many people do.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/305152-01-04-blinker-relocation-mod.html

 

Added a washer to the passenger side lower shock mount in an attempt to keep the leaf pack from rubbing the shock body. We'll see how it goes.

 

Subbed! always look at your build. Read the first 10 pages then skipped to the end haha I had a set of DC-2s on my 97. Always have liked em. If I'm ever in doubt about my OME kit, your thread is usually always the first one I come to

 

Thanks for the good words. Before the end of the weekend, going to update the indexes so easier to navigate to specific projects from the first post.

 

Started making new engine aprons since the old ones were falling off.

First, the raw materials:


Getting started:


Yay, mad tracing skills learned in kindergarten are finally paying off:

Cut. It. Out. (that'd be a "Full House" reference)


Now we get to the reason for the grommet kit:

Bam! Holes punched.


And mounted:

Now I need to find more fasteners so I can finish the rest.

(Disclaimer: no grommets were hammered in the making of this mod)

 

The c clip in the second picture needs to be moved down to the non-splined portion of the shaft first. Then pound the tripod down until you see the hidden c clip. I used a ball peen hammer and an appropriate sized thin-walled socket (don't remember the exact size). The socket should be large enough to go around the shaft but small enough to fit between the bearing assemblies. It can be done with a punch but need to take more care in striking and placement. Mine were easy once I figured it out. The tripods moved without having to put the shafts in a vice to hold the assembly.

After you beat the tripod down far enough, the hidden c-clip will appear. That one is fairly simple to remove, a small flat blade screwdriver can pop it out of the groove then you can slide it off by hand. From there, you need to pound the tripod off using a punch and hammer. The FSM states to use a brass punch. I used a regular Stanley steel one. It did a little damage to the tripod body but nothing that was detrimental to the function and fit of the tripod.

The thick c clip (in the second picture) is a bitch. I bought some snap ring pliers from Sears and still had major issues. I need to find a better tool for them but it can be done with regular snap ring pliers.

Hope this helps.

 

Oh, and I taped up the bearing assemblies so they didn't accidently fall apart in the process of hammering on the tripod. Shock and vibe do strange things.

 

You can get a small flathead in there and leverage it onto the splines. It takes a bit of work. Best choice is a pair of snap ring pliers but the trick is finding the right ones. I used some craftsman stamped steel POS ones which took a bit of work as well.

Searching shows some Kobalt ones at Lowe's that might be promising.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_464658-16878-55759_0__?productId=50083126

They have a thicker grip which would be easier on the hands but haven't checked them out in person to see if they are big enough.

Edit: NVM looks like reviews are bad. Here's a Craftsman one:

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-...p-00947412000P?prdNo=2&blockNo=2&blockType=G2

More expensive and fancier than the ones I have.

 

This is what I used:



The closed pair. Had to wrap a rag around the handles to keep it from hurting my hand and to get enough squeeze on them.

 

Went offroading yesterday with some coworkers who had never been.

























Dropping in on titty twister with the emergency brake on. Doh.








Snoopy!






Gave everybody a ride up and over so they could see how it felt.
















Heading out.






The jeep got stuck. Driver was still learning how to operate the lockers.


Off-roading group happened to come by and tugged her off the ledge.


She got the lockers engaged and found out how much easier they make things.


All the shit I picked up while I was out there.

 

I couple of guys I work with got orders to Holloman. I was so jealous...

 

Man looks fun, I wish we had some places like that around here

 

Made new engine aprons out of nitrile rubber I ordered off of Amazon (1/16")











Might re-do them and change the pattern to fill in some places but I like how they turned out. Now to see how they hold up to the heat.

 

If they work out well you should cut an extra set so I can buy them from you....

 

That would mean less money going towards a Magnaflow.

 

Right now there is NO money going towards anything that costs that much haha

 

sub

 

It all depends.

Some things to consider:
1. I bought mine through Camelback Toyota at about $360. Full retail is around $480.
2. Machining should run between $40-80 and should be same day turnaround. Note, I put a bunch of "shoulds" in there.
3. You have to wait until the machine shop looks at it to know if it is machinable.
4. A friend works as a Toyota instructor and he swears that the TGP flywheels should last the life of the vehicle. He has never seen me drive.
5. Whether you remove the flywheel to replace or re-use you should replace the flywheel bolts and make sure to run red loctite all the way around several threads on each bolt when you do that.
6. I'd have to check the paperwork but I don't think Camelback had the flywheel in stock so there was a 2 day delay while they got it ordered in.

For me, it comes down to wallet vs. down time. My truck is my daily driver and my job compensates me decently so I lean more towards getting the job done right but quickly. I had no issue in buying a TGP CV axle when I had to reboot the old ones. I slammed the new CV axle in the driver side then took my time rebooting the old one then did the other side.