Winkle99 Build Thread

159227 miles

Issue: The clutch pedal failed to return all the way again. Bled the slave cylinder and a bubble popped out again. After awhile the clutch pedal showed the same symptoms. I decided the 21 year old rubber seals in the slave cylinder were probably the culprit so I rebuilt the clutch slave cylinder with part number 04313-17010 from Toyota. Simple job. Clutch pedal return is normal again.



Also - I flushed the cooling system and filled with 50/50 mix of Toyota Long Life red and distilled water. I actually removed the radiator first and sprayed the fins with water to clean out the bugs and dust.

 

10/30/2021 - Beautiful Saturday at Rainbow Falls. Introduced a couple of old time friends to Moab Hill. I was working on my skinny pedal issues and was doing OK climbing uphill until I got near the top as can be seen around 1:22 in the video where I let the clutch out and reverted to “Send it” mode. Once I cleared everything, I could here @Zizzle ‘s voice in my head saying “It’s rock crawling not rock bouncing!”

I think I will forever hear his voice until I get it right.

 

But did you air down?

 

When in doubt...throttle out!

 

Of course not.

 

Just noticed the Samurai Jack sticker. Nice!

 

Issue: I carry a 5 gallon Igloo water cooler and a 48 quart Igloo cooler in the back of the extended cab on weekend or longer off road trips. The coolers tend to slide forward on trails because they are not tied down.
Solution: Figure out a way to tie down the coolers.

I looked at the Factory Service Manual page B0-89 "Rear Seat Components" diagram and noticed there are 3 hex bolts under the back panel upper garnish. Those would be good tie down points. I pried the garnish off with a screwdriver.
I

$8 Tie Down D Ring Set, Easy-to-Install Truck Tie Downs, Compatible with Cargo Cover Mounts, Heavy-Duty Jeep Wrangler Accessories for Pickups, Trailers, Truck, Trailer, Camper, Boat & More, 6 Pack - GPCA

bought some D-Rings and installed them.


I went to Murdoch's and bought 12 feet of 1 inch wide nylon strap and 4 buckles


I cut the strap into four 3 foot lengths, added the female buckle, looped the strap through the D-Ring and cooler handles, then added the male connector. I also have a Rhino Tech Titan soft sided cooler strapped down with the seat belt. The 3 coolers fit snugly preventing lateral movement. And now the new straps prevent forward movement.


So the next time I go to Steel Bender, my ass will not get wet from the 48 quart cooler sliding forward and tipping ice water onto my seat.

 

2021 Off Road excursions:

• Feb 20
  • Rainbow Falls
    • Trip Report
• May 1
  • Old Chinaman Gulch
    • Trip Report 1
    • Trip Report 2
• May 8 - 9
  • Hacket and Longwater Gulches, Phantom Creek
• June 26
  • Red Elephant Hill
    • Trip Report
• September 16 - 20
  • Aspen, Crested Butte, Taylor Park, Mt. Antero, and Buena Vista Areas
    • Trip Report 1
    • Trip Report 2
    • Trip Report 3
    • Trip Report 4
    • Trip Report 5
• October 30
  • Rainbow Falls
    • Trip Report
• November 6
  • Hackett and Longwater Gulches
    • Trip Report
• December 16
  • Hackett Gulch
    • Trip Report

 

March 19, 2022
Travels with Broc
Took the doggo on a hike on the Colorado Trail near where it intersects the Platte river.


The trail up the switchbacks is very scenic with views of the Platte through the trees as you gain altitude. There is the smell of pine and the wind rustles through the trees above but not down on the trail. Temperature was comfortable with no coat required. Snow varied between 0 and 8 inches deep with short muddy sections but not "stick to your boots" mud.


Broc trots ahead but periodically stops to turn around and wait for me, his eyes playfully pleading, "Come on, let's go!"


We hiked high enough where there were no footprints up to this snow drift where we turned around.


We enjoyed a very peaceful, pleasant Sunday morning.

 

Issue: My daughter in North Carolina has a 260,000+ mile, 2002 Tacoma with a manual transmission shift lever that pops out of 1st gear.
Solution: Replace the shift lever bushing and seat.

At 161,000 miles, mine works fine but I am going to replace my 22 year old plastic bushing and seat as preventative maintenance and so she can see how to fix it. Hopefully the 2002 and 1999 are the same.

Purchase the bushing and seat:


Remove Front Console box. I also removed the Rear Console box for easier front console box removal and so I could clean it easier. As you lift the Front Console box, it will naturally want to rotate 90 degrees clockwise to make it easier to clear both the transmission and transfer case shift levers.


Remove the shift lever boot retainer (4 screws)


Remove retaining cap by pushing down and rotating counter clockwise. I had already pushed down and rotated when I took the picture.


The plastic bushing was hard for me to remove by hand or with vise grips so I set it in a vise and hammered down on the shift lever.
Be careful not to scratch the shift lever. This picture has the new bushing installed already. I forgot to get a picture with the old yellowed bushing.


Remove the old seat and install the new seat. Picture shows new seat installed and the old seat sitting on the floorboard tunnel. The seat has two pieces.

Assemble in reverse order as disassembly. Takes ~ 30 minutes to an hour to complete.

Note to self: oil and filter changed.

 

I bought a short shift kit from Marlin Crawler and it comes with their version of those bushings...hopefully get to it in the near future! Did it make a difference for you?

 

My shifter was fine so I didn’t notice a difference. I created the instructions for my daughter who is 1800 miles away. Her Tacoma shifter pops out of gear. She texted me that she plans to work on her Tacoma after the next paycheck. Hopefully, I ‘ll get a followup text in the near future saying the problem is solved.

 

Thanks!

My favorite Samurai Jack episode:
Season 5 Episode 3 XCIV as Jack contemplates the morality of killing a human, his mind flashes back to some “Bushido nonsense” his Dad taught him:
“Your choices have clearly led you here, as have mine.”
“The decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you really are. You cannot hide from yourself.”


He speaks those words of warning to the the assassins from the Cult of Aku before they meet their destiny.

 

Such a great show! I need to rewatch the whole thing.

 

161160 miles.
Issue: Alternator bearing squeaks probably from being submerged in too many water crossings last season. Still creates 14 volts but it is 11 years old. I decided to replace it with a Toyota remanufactured alternator.



Winkle is stealthy quite again.

 

Enhanced my recovery gear today.

In the past I have been pulling asymmetrically with one D ring shackle attached to one bumper mount with the snatch strap @Deathbysnusnu recommended a few years ago.

I purchased two and a from Harbor Freight. Now when I pull, I can pull evenly, distributing the load to both bumper mounts.


One of the things I like about @traxman25 's bumper design at 4xInnovations is the load from the bumper travels directly to the frame, which allows a grade 8 bolt installation.


Now Winkle will less likely pivot about its center of gravity when pulling someone in the snow like it has in the past.

 

Performed some preseason maintenance. Painted over last season's scratches in the rock sliders, skid plates, and bumpers with Rustoleum zinc primer followed by flat black.


Pressure washed the underside, checked for soot inside the frame (it was cleaner than I expected) and cleaned the leaf springs.

Greased the plastic disc interleaf liners between the leaf springs, greased the drive train and fluid filmed the frame. Cleaned out the engine bay. Cleaning causes me to inspect parts more closely. Winkle is ready to go!

 

Sunday June 12
Headed south on Hwy 67 past Deckers, Woodland Park, and Divide. I stopped just north of Victor to hike the Vindicator Valley Trail, which contains remnants from a bunch of mining sites. This excellent self guided tour is 2 miles long at 10,000 feet altitude with a 340 foot elevation gain. Bring some water, there is no shade. Allocate at least an hour to take in the sites and read the signage.


The Theresa Gold Mining Company operated this mine from 1895 until 1900. Various owners subsequently purchased and operated the mine which produced over 120,000 troy ounces of gold. At todays gold price ($1830 / t oz), that is close to $220,000,000.




Alfred Bebee and family owned and lived in this home until the 1950's.
Alfred was superintendent and Vice President of multiple mines.


The Bebees often entertained in their home. The main room includes a dance floor and formerly elegant wall paper surrounding the fireplace.


Gold mining relics everywhere! Definitely worth a visit. I left out many of the photos I took. You will have to check out this excellent walking trail yourself.


I continued into Victor, CO


where I visited the Gold Camp Bakery for lunch. Excellent service, food and decor.


I continued my journey south on Hwy 86, through Phantom Canyon, a forest service graded trail with short sections of mild washboard and beautiful scenery.











I continued south on 67 over to 96 and arrived at Alvorado Campground, south-west of Westcliff. Evidently I was taking too long to set up my tent because a nice gentleman in the tent above me offered to help. I thanked him for his offer but declined his help explaining that I just needed to pound in a couple more large spikes to anchor my tent for the predicted high winds over the next 24 hours. I was told next morning he left around 3 AM because his tent blew over. I never noticed since I was sleeping soundly with silicone plugs in my ears cancelling all sounds. The silicone style works much better for me then the foam ones because they mold to my ear canal.

 

Monday June 13
Months ago when we planned this trip to Alvarado Campground, we were going to ride Medano Pass to the sand dunes. However Medano Pass was closed at the higher elevations due to road damage. It was still very windy which would have sand blasted us at the dunes anyway. We decided to ride Hayden Pass through the Sangre de Christo range into Villa Grove instead. Hayden was OK - no major obstacles, just bumpy with views that are probably better with less wind blowing dust in to the air.





We made the long trek back to Alvorado Campground via 285 North to Poncha Springs, then south-east on 50 and south on Hwy 69.