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

Ayyyyy

 

That's what it was. My truck was abused before I bought it. I've never seen helper springs like that.

 

With some help from @Ace115 and his son, I got the rear bumper and swingout painted today. Had to do some quick mods to stiffen the passenger side wing for when the swingout is open but it's all done and back on the truck already. Harbor freight sells some great bedliner spray paint that dries fast, looks and feels just like the Rustoleum stuff and is $2 cheaper per can. The sliders are also painted with it.

Swingout painted.



Retaining plates primered. Added the "P" and "D" with the welder.



The passenger side wing stiffener thingy. Works great, virtually no flex in the wing with the swingout open now.



I did have to clearance the side of the bed a little further on the passenger side to account for the additional stiffener.



Bumper painted. That took forever it felt like. So many surfaces to paint.



All done and back on the truck.



The additional cut is barely visible and clears the stiffener perfectly. I probably could have cut slightly less.

 

Why does the passenger side wing have two braces and the driver side has one?

 

The swingout is on the passenger side and there was excessive flex in the bumper with the swingout open and the tire on it. The front of the bumper under the wheel flare would move a good 1/4" up and down. So I added the additional brace on the passenger side to eliminate that flex. Works great, virtually no visible movement now.

 

Cool. Sort of suspected as much but wanted to confirm.

 

I don't know if the flex would have caused an issue over time or not but this way, it's not an issue at all.

 

Got the replacement engine up on the stand this afternoon. Now the work begins.

 

bada BEAN

 

K&N recharge

 

Ew. Your MAF sensor isn't covered in oil and throwing check engine lights from the oily filter?

 

If properly done, that won't happen most of the time. I've been running a K&N air filter in my 2004 Ram for years without an issue. I run a paper filter in the Taco because I'd rather replace that filter than clean it all the time after wheeling.

 

Not yet at least. Letting it dry overnight.

 

Should i cut the rear too?

 

Not until you shorten the front bumper tube.

 

X2

 

I ran a K&N for years, never had a MAF issue.

It only happens when too much oil is applied. In this case the old adage that says 'if a little is good, more is better' gets people into trouble.

 

I think that it all depends on environment. I'm in central Oregon and the dust here is super fine. It will penetrate every inch of your rig. I switched back to the OEM paper filter from the K&N because I don't trust the K&N media to catch all of the super fine dust. I would much rather change the OEM paper filter every 5k miles vs risking the fine dust getting through the K&N and ruining the internals. Things would be different if I didn't have to deal with the super fine, poofy dust. Again, all depends on the environment that you face.

 

I don't run the AFE Pro Dry anymore for the same reason...let's too much fine dust through. After using it on a few desert outings I could plainly see dust behind the filter and could run my finger inside the intake tube behind the filter and collect a bunch of dust on it. Threw the aFe in the trash and put a paper filter back in and no more fine dirt particles getting through.

I like the idea of a dry washable filter but not for a truck that sees dusty environments. Only paper filters for me