Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Wow... yeah, that's only slightly worse than what I had when we moved here.

8:00 am one fine May Saturday:



7:30 pm that same day:



A new slab was poured and the new garage is 22'W x 28'D which I thought would be more than enough room for my woodworking tools and a couple cars. Those damn tools multiply like rabbits though, and have taken over the whole garage.

(Notice my neighbor's lofted garage in back. Yeah... )

 

Bought a buyback TDI wagon. First tire change (snow tires) was an education as I did not know about this little trick...

 

something isn't mathing on this one.. certified and clean carfax..

https://www.dandeerytoyota.com/auto/used-2023-toyota-tundra-platinum-cedar-falls-ia/80769107/

 

For sale: Real rustic Wisconsin leaves.
Choose from Birch, Maple, Red Maple, Oak and Cherry.
$1 per bushel. B1G1.
U-PICK

 

For that price you should include leaf raking lessons.

 

This is standing...leaning on the line of bad financial advice.

 

So last Tuesday was ecgs install.
All is good.
Sunday was front diff. drain/fill. (only removed skid plate). Test drove and all was good.
Monday-present.
Brakes 'lose' pressure while driving.
A couple pumps brings them back.
No leaks. Bent, broke or stretched lines. Fluid is full.
I'm about 90% certain I didn't bump the abs sensor during ecgs install.
My knowledge of brakes is changing parts. ABS is new to me..so is traction control.
That's my new dillema.
I found a dirt road and slammed the brakes hard, to slide. ABS seems goofy. As in they didn't come on every time and the clicking sounded quieter and softer than normal.

 

Weird. When you say brakes lose pressure, what are your experiencing? Like a soft pedal that keeps going lower? When you pump, it returns to it’s normal height? For how many brake applications? It kinda does sounds like you do have a leak somewhere, but maybe it’s tiny and not easily seen. Maybe a rubber flex line got damaged, and it’s ballooning or leaking ever so slightly?

Does this generation of tacoma have a normal brake booster, or the fancy-pants electric booster that come on a-trac equipped 4runners? I wouldn’t guess it’s a booster for such a new vehicle though. And it doesn’t sound like you did anything to introduce air into the system…

edit to add: regarding getting the abs to activate, my 4runner has always been weird about this too. Sometimes abs is triggered, sometimes it slides. I know that abs (in general) has been better optimised over the years to allow for some locking because in snow sometimes you want to plow a little snow in front of the tires…maybe whatever logic the computer uses to accomplish that makes it seem inconsistent. Taking wild guesses here, since I’ve always been curious about the abs behavior of the 4runner

 

If I pull up to a stop, Yes, soft pedal.
It would come to a stop that way if I pressed all the way to the floor. Only I backed off and pumped it a couple times and it regained normal height. Would continue normal height with many short stops. Over extended periods of driving the pedal gets soft again.
Not seeing anything funny with the lines atm but I keep watching and checking. front and rear. No lines were removed or brakes changed.
Not sure on the booster part.
Was reading about abs getting triggered if applying breaks simultaneously over a hard bump or pothole. Confusing the system on how much pressure to apply.
I hit lots of potholes, it's WI

 

Looking closer at the image of ecgs install you'll see I have a big screwdriver supporting the uca on the spring. The uca never had the opportunity to drop low enough to stretch the line.
(The screwdriver is what I had closest to me and it held the spindle solid so I left it. )
Will just reset ecu like always and go from there. Was getting a feel for how the brakes were acting 1st.

 

Check the lug nuts

 

Fancy booster on the taco is present with the off-road and pro trims. The other trims get the regular old vacuum booster.

Your symptoms are acting as if there is air in the lines but not very much or perhaps a very slowly that whenever pressure is let off is sucking air back in. Since brake fluid is basically free, I'd recommend going ahead and doing a brake bleed. Won't hurt and if it fixes the issue boom you're done. And if it doesn't then we know that wasn't the issue.

As far as the ABS and these trucks... It definitely has a mind of its own. It's not overly aggressive like on most passenger cars, but at the same time once in a while it kicks in when you're not expecting it to it at all.

 

Lug nuts are A-ok but you have me questioning what I torqued the axle nut to. 150's I want to say. The nut has to go on so far or you'll never get the pin in. I know the pin is in anyhow. heh

 

Rule at the shop with axle nuts is... Lug them on until they stop going. Haven't had any comebacks with issues stemming from that. Although, having them not on tight enough does present issues that namely show up as wheel bearings being destroyed.

 

The reason I say lug nuts is we did my upper ball joint and I swear my buddy torqued the lugs, but a week later my brakes were doing the same as your's, the nuts were loose.

 

Pretty sure I found it. Jacked it up and wheel moves to and fro like a mother.

 

Can you see where the movement is?

 

I'm gonna go with lugnuts

 

I'm gonna go with Deeznuts.

https://youtu.be/7cac0tqt6o0?si=V-cPgLUNfxXyRJan