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

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Dang that sucks!!

 

Replaced my inner tie rods and got an alignment done. I need to replace the UCAs as they couldn't get the alignment right but enough so it wouldnt pull.

 

Is something bent? Just replacing the UCAs isn't going to change the alignment unless there is something wrong with the current ones. You might try taking it elsewhere for a second opinion.

 

Right. I had a bent spindle for awhile

 

Not true, I’m running 315/75r16 on stock rims. Just need a shop willing to do it. I feel my head holds tight as hell, and I love that.

 

I run 285/70R17 on a 7” rim, about an inch wider than your setup. No issue here. Haven’t aired them down significantly though...

 

Not sure. He said the UCAs were frozen and they couldn't get them to adjust. So the technician who did the alignment set it so they were even between the tires and wouldnt cause them to pull.

I've got an in-house mechanic at work who said he could do both the upper and lower control arms for me.

Was planning on doing them anyway. But I'll ask him to put it on the lift at work and see if anything is bent.

 

You either heard wrong or they are a terrible shop.

Stock UCAs are not adjustable on our trucks. If they were actually "frozen" that would mean that your suspension has ZERO travel and you would know something was wrong when you hit a pothole and immediately were thrown into a telephone pole.

LCAs (Lower Control Arm) is likely what they meant to say (you should have heard). Best is OEM replacements, but having a shop do that will cost you over $500 as that's just about the retail price for the parts - without labor.

The common fix a lot of us do is remove the LCA, remove the stock rubber bushing and press in Whiteline replacements (Part #

$102 W53377A Front Lower Inner Suspension Control Arm Bushing Kit Compatible with 95-04 Tacoma, 4Runner

W53377A). Do yourself a favor and read this thread. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lca-bushings-oem-energy-suspension-whiteline.394935/

Worst case, if the adjustment cams/bolts are frozen, you'll also have to buy replacements of those. OEM prices are quite expensive but they are supposedly the best quality.

 

I need to replace my tie rods to. Only lasted me 3 years.

 

Just cut the wires near the socket.

I did this and I'm not sure it helped as much as I'd hoped.

 

Has to be super red. But I'm sure it's not 100% effective

 

Tremendous advice!!

Which wires?
Which sockets?

I’m running to get my wire cutters now.

 

All the wires. No wire cutters needed. Tin snips should work fine.

 

July 26, 2019.

...Our answers were of course mundane. We were from Washington, but had just traveled on dirt roads all the way from Nevada to Canada - can you believe it? We had no guns, alcohol, or tobacco...much less $10,000 in cash. And we were going to be in Canada for about five minutes.

And that, apparently, was a problem. "You mean you're just going to turn around the office and head back to the United States?" The border service officer asked.

"Yep." I responded.

And with that, he held on to our passports and asked us to park the truck, letting us know that if we'd just wait a few minutes, our passports would be returned to us. Awesome.

Read the last installment - IDBDR Pt. 10 - Where Are the Nice Canadians?

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Hope you enjoyed our adventure on the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route. Now get out there and make your own adventure!

 

Pics loaded

 

tried out the new kayaks

 

Yeah as stated above they must have meant the LCAs. The bushings do tend to freeze up after a while, you can usually replace them without having to buy all new LCAs.
Definitely recommend the Whitelines, you’ll want to get new adjusters to go with them as you’ll need to cut them apart most likely.

 

Shared trauma forges the closest friendships haha

 

Trauma? Any day where someone lets me do this to their truck is a good day in my book