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

I ripped it out because I couldn’t find anywhere to mount the cheapo switch, and then it broke. I bought a better aircraft switch with the safety cover, but haven’t installed it yet.

I also made the critical mistake of wiring it inline with the fuel pump power wire on the circuit opening relay which draws a lot of current. @mechanicjon mentioned using an ECU signal wire with virtually zero amperage versus the fuel pump wire is a much wiser decision and achieves the same result.

 

You confident you wired the fuel pump wire back securely? Something to check cause it could be at fault. Just a thought.

 

I doubt they’re the connectors being cracked. I only have about 100k miles on the truck. The spark plugs and wires were replaced about 25k ago.

 

I wired it with quick disconnects originally and made sure it wasn’t going anywhere. I used heat shrink and crimped it well.

My truck ran fine the 26 miles I drove it home.

 

Good question. I'm a solder guy but I don't oppose crimps & in many cases crimps are better if done properly.

 

I don’t like soldering on cars. Car MFG’s mostly use crimp connections, which are perfectly fine.

 

Both are perfectly fine, but I use crimp because it’s faster. I don’t see many solder joints on factory car harnesses.

 

Trust me, I’ve crimped hundreds of quick disconnects, terminal pins, and butt connectors. Remember I also manufacture wiring harnesses.

I took extra care when working on the circuit opening relay harness.

 

It doesn't make sense to solder terminals & pins in mass production. Over soldering can also create stress points. There's no need for manufacturers to solder wiring harnesses.

Me personally I rather solder for rejoining wires unless you get into 10ga & bigger. I hate those colored butt connectors.

 

Can you imagine butt conns on 20 gauge haha

 

I learned that the hard way. I used to mass manufacture wiring harnesses by soldering. I wasted a lot of time and flux paste doing that. Then I switched to butt connectors and I never looked back.

Only soldered wires on my truck are for the audio system. I soldered to the spades on the speakers.

Also, heat shrink butt connectors are amazing.

 

It’s probably original so I’ll assume that it’s worn out. Doubt it’s clogged.

 

Ooh that would get me heated! Lol

 

That reminds me. My buddy with the ‘94 Jeep ZJ had a faulty factory alarm system. The fix was grounding the sensor wire to the cab, and joining a certain wire to another. It was around 20-22GA, so I used solder and heatshrink.

Actually I completed lied about what I said with the using only butt connectors. My entire power door retrofit system is made of solder joints.

I suppose it would matter what gauge of a wire you’re joining. Large gauge wires, butt connectors. Small gauge wires, solder.

 

Don’t have to be a smartass. Worn out in this context means it’s old and full of dirt.

 

Depends on the application. There isn’t a set formula to it.

 

Have you installed the J59's yet? Mine sat kinda high for a bit but after they broke in there closer to 2" of lift. If that. They ride awesome with some weight in the back. And axle wrap.is non existent.

 

I use butt conn's on 22 and 20 guage wire all the time. Never had an issue. Done hundreds, if not thousands of connections that way. I havent touched my soldering iron in years.

 

We'd returned from The Re-Tour a mere three weeks before our departure date, but that didn't mean there were only a few short days to plan for our next epic adventure. In fact, quite the contrary - we'd been planning our trip south to Arizona and Utah for nearly a year - knowing that there was way more ground than we could cover in the two weeks we had allocated for the excursion.

Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then through Glen Canyon National Monument (Lake Powell), and then through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to Bears Ears National Monument and Natural Bridges National Monuments. Then, finally, we'd work our way back north through Capitol Reef National Park, having seen the plethora of sights and plenty of dirt roads along the way. It was, to be sure, the most ambitious trip (for me) to date!

Read the first chapter and see all the photos at:
Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)​

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Exploring the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bears Ears and more! (Oct 2018)


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Thanks. Wish it had 4wd but I'm happy with it.