What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

CoWj is correct, here’s the bumper https://chassisunlimited.com/produc...t-winch-bumper?rq=yr_2004~mk_toyota~md_tacoma

 

It was a long day lol

 

Ummm yes, change your shift bushings/sheets or else…. Lol

 

Pulled the seized compressor. Got to figure out if the white powder is from the outside of the mounting hardware or inside the lines... hopefully pulling the top plate provides more clues. Next on the list is figuring out if I need to replace the return line for the power steering. Wasn't leaking before, but might have been jarred loose when I pulled the PS pump.

Last, need to figure out if I can break the bolt for the AC idler adjustment loose or if that whole assembly needs to come out for possible replacement. I hope not, getting to those bolts looks like a bear.

 

Replaced 3/4 LCA bumpstops.


The 4th one yeeted the internal welded nut that holds it in place so I'll be looking into a rivnut tool


I've been Super happy with my @perryparts Bumpstops and I'm stoked to try out the new version being released. Patrick hooked me up after I abused the original design for a couple years

Check these bad boys out here

https://www.perryparts.com/product-page/ab4f-tacoma-1st-gen-front-bump-stops-1995-2004

Thanks again Patrick seriously awesome customer service

 

If you have a welder you can do my solution:

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr
Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr
Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr
Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr
Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

I probably went overkill but since you need to grind it flush to have the bump sit flat I cut into both sides so the weld could then grab the nut from the side as well.

 

Definitely give me something to consider, Thanks for the feedback.

 

Got a message from Patrick this morning and apparently he meant to send me something even better that he's been working on so now I'm even more excited to see what he's got in store for me!

 

I almost bought some last night but got hesitant about really needing them. I do like 90% street driving and rarely hit trails anymore (maybe bump stops would encourage me to start again). Is there any noticeable difference with street driving? I imagine maybe when entering or exiting parking lots where it sort of “dips”?? Or do you really only notice a change when off-roading?

 

My front end is pretty low still so I hit them all the time, really more than I should, I need to pull the shocks and raise the ride height on the Bilstein 6112's. Even my alignment guy recommended raising the front more to get better numbers. If your still using the stock hockey pucks I'd recommend getting one set to start with and slap them on the front of control arm's and see how you like it.

 

What numbers are out? When you lift you lose castor which is important for firewall clearance.

 

I've got a bit of negative camber going on for sure. I'll see if I can find my last spec sheet.

I should be okay with firewall clearance with my skinny 32's

Update with spec sheet

 

I would not be happy if they gave it back to me like that. Doesn't look like any effort was made on the LCA cam adjusters. Are your adjusters frozen?

Also, Toe is not great. Better than before but still not great. Especially on the passenger side. Likely to see tire wear from that. A little positine toe is ok but needs to be close to symmetrical from side to side.

 

Well it's been a long work in progress with little progress.

The first time I took it in for alignment the cams were seized. After that I did new LCA's and had the Wheelers cam tabs welded in before adding new cams and outer tie rods from Toyota then took it back but still didn't have great numbers and it was still pulling to one side. even had a buddy at Big O in St George try it and didn't get great results from them either (but at least they didn't charge me because they couldn't make it any better).
Then I took it back to the local shop for the 3rd time for after I replaced the steering rack and those are the numbers you see above.

A picture is worth 1000 words so let me paint you a novel that is my current alignment (also the steering wheel is probably off by one spline from when I installed the new rack so it's not perfectly straight either).


drivers side tie rod is maxed out


Passenger side tierod has some wiggle room



Front drivers side cam is maxed out


Passenger side cams have plenty of adjustment left



And the poor tires being eaten alive by the alignment more so than having fun






Photos aren't great but you can see the uneven wear that almost skips every other lug on the inside

Lighting isn't great for quick photos at 1am in the garage but it's pretty obviously bad

 

That scalloping also happened to me on my st maxx's

 

Looks to me like they prioritized castor over camber. Should be able to adjust the rear cam to get better camber numbers.

When I ran Maxx they wore similarly too.

 

Same.

 

@turbodb did you see the same with your ST Maxx?

 

I had a little bit that you could feel, but nothing like that... and only when I got down to the wear bars. Mine were always overinflated though, b/c I wore the center of the tread more quickly than the sides.

Edit: and on mine, it was only on the outer lugs, not the inners.