What Have You Done To Your 2nd Gen Tacoma Today?

Finished the prototype bracket for my XM/GPS antenna install.
(XM on top of the dash, GPS under the dash)
I'll see tomorrow how it fits (ordered a different XM antenna nut).
I also have to see what I'll do with the wires. It just needs some small tweaks.

 

Nope, but they will give you more travel. I am impressed with those shocks for the cost. With that extended travel you will want extended brake lines and some bigger bump stops though. I'm getting ready to upgrade to kings with a shock relocate, but have loved them so far. That said if you are not wheeling and just looking for more lift in the back no need to upgrade your shocks, just your leaf pack (new pack, add a leaf, etc).


Last weekend droop action:

 

IMO...It looks great...but more than that, these bumpers are heavy duty. I have one on my 92 Cruiser that took the full force of a Chevy Astro when it slid halfway down a steep grade after it’s owner decided to walk away from it after parking it on sheet ice. My ARB has a white paint streak...his van was totaled.

 

Thanks, I found it on ETSY. I haven't bought it yet though.

 

Welcome to the arb bumper club. I personally like them the most

 

I pulled off the Goat Armor, gave it a bath, and put the Goat Armor back on. All purtied up like a Prized Pig at the county fair.

 

Wait how does that stuff stick on? I was under the impression it was like a vinyl adhesive? You can take them off and reuse them?

 

Finally got a shell that I’ve been seeking the past couple years!! Now I just need to get the truck as clean as the shell Thanks @Brettweiser !!

 

Goat Armor is magnetic. Their site FAQ recommends removing it weekly to clean out anything that might get behind it to protect your finish.

 

Yeah. They are magnetic

 

Yep, same brand. The front and rear sets are what I purchased. They are generic, so you will need to purchase fasteners and drill mounting holes to mount them.

I used 1/4-20 hex bolts, 1/4" fender washers, and Nylock nuts to attach them. The mud flap material is surprisingly machineable (was expecting a more difficult time drilling the holes, being rubber and all). Just have to "measure twice, cut once" to make sure everything lines up, and you're good to go.

I paid ~$35 for each set, so ~$70 total, not including fasteners. Looks like the rears are $52 on Amazon right now, but like a lot of products on Amazon, the price fluctuates daily. So if you're going to purchase them, wait until they go back down IMO.

Front:

$70 Husky Liners Universal MudDog Mud Flaps | Rubber Front Mud Flaps - 12" w/o Weight - Black | 55000

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075279RB4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_7ivDFbJBE2FK8

Rear:

$70 Husky Liners Universal MudDog Mud Flaps | Rubber Rear Mud Flaps - 12" w/o Weight - Black | 55100, 12" X 22"

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752F4SR8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_povDFbAHT9G8C

 

Nice! Did you use any spacers on the lower and inner mounting points?

 

What is a noise box and is it smog legal in California?

 

For the one front lower/inner point I used a short length of punched/slotted zinc-plated 1/16" thick bar I had lying around (for each side).

Not what I used, but similar to this:

$18 Stanley National N180-125 Stanley Slotted Flat Bar, 1-3/8 in W X 36 in L X 0.08 in T, Steel, Galvanized, 1.375" x quot x quot

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002CTFEIA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fab_fKvDFbA78A3DP

I bent it in my vice to make a slight "S" shape to extend the mounting point downwards and forwards from the original location in the wheel well, so that it would meet up with the mud flap correctly.

I attached the fronts with four bolts (not including the bolt holding on the "S" shaped part described above), the rears with three. The rears didn't require any special adjustments.

The biggest PITA was getting the nuts in place to start them threading onto the bolts. I didn't remove anything when I installed, so I had to wedge two fingers into some pretty tight spaces, while holding the nut, and blindly trying to get it to line up with the bolt I was putting through the front side of the mud flap. Once the nut is initially on the bolt its fine, because a wrench fits in their easy--just getting the nuts in place and on the threads was a little bit of a hassle.

 

Hercuiner 1 quart can, about $20. Several thin coats will be needed.

 

No lift.

 

I ordered a pair of 4" lift knuckles and 1 1/2" strut spacer today. I'm preparing the truck for the larger tires I bought. I'm going from 37's to 37's. Lol. I'm ditching the 3" front spacers and stock PreRunner struts. I'm flip flopping like a fish out of the water on which front struts I'm going to buy. I'll need to relocate the mid cab body mount, I have no worries on that part. I've already done my half of a trade with a friend who owns a offroad shop so the alignment and the mount and balance will be free of charge. I forgot the brakes will need to be bled so I'll pay the same friend to do that on his fancy machine. I'll do all of the other labor myself.

 

So about a week ago, came home to a gift to me in my mailbox:
You can see why I needed them. They are LED and only like $14 from eBay, so why not.

I knew it would only take a few minutes to swap, so I didn't even go in the house after pulling them out of the mailbox, I just grabbed a screwdriver.

But I wasn't expecting that they'd be a bit different than OEM. Which was kind of a stupid expectation, this is like showing up to my college level Italian language class and not expecting the teacher to just start class in Italian. That was a humbling day for me.
As was this.



Man! Mother Smuckers. So as you can see, there's one tab on the OEM one and two tabs on the eBay one. What's hard to tell from this picture is that the inner tabs than hold the bayonet mount, press-and-twist bulb socket are thicker, so you have to push it in further before you twist. Which works fine if you take the o-ring off, but yeah, not doing that because I don't want to fry these when water gets in there.

So it didn't fit.
The tabs are supposed to fit in these notches because OEM ones are right and left but the eBay ones are not.


So when I took this picture, I thought, "you know, these are not likely to fit perfect with these rusty dents in here that broke the OEM ones in the first place." So I figured I could pound them out. I climbed under there with a hammer and found, no, that's not going to work without taking off the bumper cover.


An hour and a half later I wondered what trouble I had gotten myself into. But I got to play blacksmith; brushed off some surface rust and pounded those dents out nicely. The whole neighborhood heard me "massaging" those dents out. I have a straight bumper cover now, guys! The bumper is still a little saggy from probably a previous owner towing too much, but I'm not sure how to fix that.

A little rust converter paint and we're in business

It was at this point that I realized my feeling of success was premature. I still hadn't completed my five minute light swap.

Ok, so trim one of the tabs on each housing, no sweat with some side cutters. But it still wouldn't fit.
I found that reusing the rubber-ish gaskets was making them not fit. Because the gasket needs trimmed around the inner housing, which is bigger than OEM.


Bottom is trimmed and sits flush, top is not trimmed and shows the overlap. A steady hand and sharp razor blade work wonders. Now press/twist that bulb socket in there, which feels like you have to twist it just hard enough to not break it, but I got it in there with the o-ring.

I like these because even though they are LED, there's a diode or something in between the contacts, so it doesn't matter what orientation you plug them in, they work both ways.

And finally, nearly 3 hours and 15 min later, there was light. And I saw that light and saw that it was good.


I know I probably could have used a couple more coats of paint on those rusty spots, but I was already invested 2000% more time than I anticipated.

I hope these are not important


So yeah, that was my adventure. Makes up a bit for fudging up my sun visor the week before.

 

Looks good. Can you post up a night shot when you get a chance?

 

Nothing to my truck but I modified my Tacoma World viewing. My eyeballs appreciate it.


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