CowboyTaco's 2011 DCSB TRD Sport

[CowboyTaco]

Some more fun on the Tacoma last night. As previously posted, I had a tear in the inner CV boot on the right side that was flinging grease and needed to be replaced.

On a quick side note, I recently learned that the passenger side is the right side and the driver side is the left side. Think of it as in "if you make a right turn, you indicate with your right blinker, which is on the right side." I never knew if right/left was from in the car or looking at the car head on. Amazing what you can learn from Google. The problem with driver/passenger side is that not all steering wheels are on the left side.

So back to the point of this post. I've read good things about Cardone CV axles as being the best chain auto store option. No one is going to argue that OEM is not the best here. CVJ being a close second as manufactured OEM. However, price is what stopped me. I've gotten 140k miles on the OEM and about 90k of those were post lift install. With it just being a boot, I plan to reboot the OEM and have it ready to go as a spare.

Link to part: More Information for CARDONE 665235HD

The (regular) Cardone is listed at $35 on Amazon with free shipping. The Cardone HD was closer to $75. The problem with Amazon is that the estimated arrival with free shipping put it here on Tuesday. Meaning I would either need to take my wife's vehicle and leave her stranded at home with 2 little ones (3 if you count the one in development) or request to work from home. I couldn't do that, as I had meetings scheduled that I couldn't miss. So I checked Rock Auto and they had the Cardone and Cardone HD CV axles in stock and with shipping it would put them here Monday. Only 1 day sooner, but would allow me to take my truck to work on Monday. Plus, with the 5% TW discount, that put me right at $70.

Props to RockAuto because it arrived on Friday. Ordered Wednesday night, shipped Thursday, arrived on Friday!

I understand the difference in the regular and HD version is simply the quality of boot. Time will tell how well this one holds up.

Most people mention that the steel in the OEM shaft is stronger. I can't comment on strength, but I can comment on thickness. The Cardone shaft registered at 1.25" on my dial caliper, whereas the Toyota OEM shaft registered 1.36". Take that for what it is worth.

On the install day, I was working from home and decided to get as far as I could on my lunch break while the kids were asleep. I took the wheel off and got it down to the axle nut. I left the lug nuts in the tool holder portion of my garage stool. After lunch, my wife took the kids to the store and returned while I was working. By the time I got back out to the garage after my work day, I noticed that the lug nuts were missing. I checked all of her normal hiding spots, but could not find them. As I was about to go ask my daughter where she put them, I spotted them in the wheel. That's right, my 2 year old put the lug nuts back on the wheel where they are supposed to go!

She's manageable now, but I'm going to have my hands full in a couple of years.

 

[CowboyTaco]

The gas struts that were on the camper top when I bought it were pretty shot. They supported the weight of the glass, but only for a few weeks. I went outside one day and saw a puddle of oil in the bed. Not sure where it would have come from, I started investigating. I didn't really see anything. Then the next time I opened the glass I heard a noise and saw oil start to just pour out of it. I figured if one was that bad, the other probably wasn't too far behind it.

For $30, I got 2 new ones shipped from Buy Gas Lift Supports for Your Vehicle | LiftSupportsDepot.com. I bought them on Amazon with free shipping. The description said that they replaced OEM part number 25531, which matched the part number on the strut that I took off. Unfortunately, the ones that the sent didn't quite fit. The overall extended length was the same, but the strut body was about an inch too long. The return process on Amazon said that i had to pay for return shipping. I called them since the description said that it was a direct replacement. Kind of sucks to get stuck with return shipping when the description said that it was an exact replacement.

They were AWESOME!!! At their suggestion, I canceled the return request on Amazon. They sent me a pre-paid shipping label AND put a new bubble mailer in the package with the replacements. Even though the correct ones were a little more expensive, they didn't charge me any extra. Talk about customer service!!! I can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Replaced center support bearing and u-joints with Spicer/OEM parts.

Center support bearing: Spicer 5002007
U-joints: Spicer 5-1330-1X (qty: 3)

Center support bearing even has "Toyota" and the part number stamped in the rubber.

I haven't gotten up to highway speed yet, but no vibes noticed up to 50 mph.

Driveshaft removed:

Everything apart:

Back together:

I would highly recommend having 2 different paint pens for this, and to mark everything. I used yellow to mark the sides where the zero fitting was before removal, and orange on the opposite side. This helped to keep everything in line and reassembled exactly as it was taken apart.

I did break a swivel socket adapter trying to break the nuts loose on the transfer case. Thankfully that happened at the very beginning. I was able to tighten the driveshaft back up at the rear diff and go buy some wobble extensions.

It took me 4 hours total, and that included a drive to home depot and a break to watch a YouTube video and check the how-to on TW about removing and reinstalling the center yoke (I'm guessing that's what it's called).

YouTube link:

TW how-to: DIY Replacing Driveshaft Center Bearing

Up next is cleaning up the rust on the sliders and around the frame where they were welded.

 

[tx_shooter]

Good timing. This is on my list for maintenance next month.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Good timing. This is on my list for maintenance next month.

If you are doing it on the Tacoma, the center support bearing has a different part number for 2wd. If you Google the one I used, it'll be one of the first links on Amazon. The difference is a seal inside the bearing... from what I've read.

Rent the 5-7in puller from your local auto part store if you don't have one already.

 

[tx_shooter]

Yeah - doing the work on the Sammich maker's Tacoma. I need to swap out the center carrier bearing on the driveshaft. The dealer swapped out the other ones last year under the vibration TSB.

 

[CowboyTaco]

So the Georgia sub-section on TW seems to have a lot of really good guys in there. Maybe I'll convince some of them to join over here. I ended up meeting several of them this past weekend to run a trail called "Charlie's Creek" in North Georgia. We ran the trail and then turned around and did it in reverse after chilling at the creek/river that we crossed at the end.

We picked up a Jeep (mom, daughter, friend) that stopped at the meetup place and asked if they could join us. We lost the jeep and one of the other Tacomas at the end of the trail. The Jeep decided to head back through the trail before our group was ready and the Tacoma decided he was going to take the long, scenic, and apparently more beautiful drive out.

We also picked up another Tacoma that joined us at the end and ran the trail in reverse with us.

The guy that drives the FJ also has a 3rd gen white Tacoma but picked up the FJ as a trail toy. This was it's maiden voyage. I was the only 2nd Gen Tacoma....there were no first gens.

We ended at the Hiawassee Brew. The beer I got was "okay" but kind of disappointing when a brewery only serves 2 of their own brews.

 

[Silverback]

Kinda looks like what I would imagine the HWM trail to look like if it actually had water in it. LOL Looks like a blast.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Kinda looks like what I would imagine the HWM trail to look like if it actually had water in it. LOL Looks like a blast.

Deepest water was probably frame height and that was in only one of the mud holes. Well, more like muddy water holes. It washed off pretty easily, so I'm not considering it true mud.

It only took about an hour to do it going and about 45 minutes to do it coming back down. There were a few spots where you actually had to pick a line, but even those had several options. I'd say there were a few technical spots but no pucker moments. There were a couple of spots that had been rutted out so bad that I'm not sure any of us even considered attempting. Everyone took the bypass. Them country boys in the Chevys on 37" and larger tires are probably responsible for those.

 

[CowboyTaco]

147,372 miles

Changed rear diff oil (Lucas 80W-90) and installed new Energy Suspension Radiator support bushings (9.4101G).

 

[CowboyTaco]

Went to run Musterground Road, Auger Hole Road, and Chestnut Mountain Road this past weekend.

I met up with Synaps3 on I-85 around 9am on the way up. I hadn't loaded the coordinates into GPS yet, so I followed him up there. It was raining for nearly the entire 2 hour drive.

We stopped at the last gas station before the trailhead, only to find plastic bags on the pump handles. Having skipped breakfast, I figured I should at least get some snacks for the day. Low and behold, they had a full kitchen and I ordered a Patty Melt. I only mention this because it was the best patty melt that I have ever eaten!

As we were about to leave, the gas station attendant came out and took the bags off the pump handles. So we got to fill up afterall. With full fuel, it was off to meet the others in the parking lot of the Foothills Trail Lower Falls (Google Maps)

On the way there, the rain let up and we were in heavy fog.

We met up with Sprocket1505 and R0bn8or in the parking lot. Since it was raining, there wasn't a whole lot of standing around.

That lasted for a few minutes before we were back below the fog and into the rain again. The fall colors just beautiful.

Our first stop was over a tunnel bridge. I'm sure someone will know what to call it, but it was basically metal tubing that they used to build the road over the river. Previous trips looked like folks stopped to take pictures here often, so we followed suit.

Synaps3 climbing up after one of the switchbacks.

R0bn80r about to go through a puddle that felt deeper than it actually was.

And a random abandoned old Toyota. Perhaps one that truly encompasses the essence of "ToyotaOff-Road."

@tx_shooter , we really have a 10 image per post limit? Can you increase that? I'd like to get an entire trip in one post.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I guess it's kind of appropriate that I have to split this into two posts, because this is about the time that we ran out of GPX trail to follow and I was nominated the leader. Which was fine by me as I'd been following Synaps3 the whole way there and the first half of the day on the trail.

You see, what I forgot to mention in the other post is that we were all sort of a band of misfits. I recommended the route and had the GPX file for Musterground Rd and part of Auger Hole Rd, but I lost my CB antenna when I added the camper top. Synaps3 was along for the ride. He was the most "prepared" in terms of outfitted vehicle and comms, but didn't have the map. R0bN8or was testing out his vehicle for the first time, a single cab 4cyl. He had comms, but not much else. Sprocket 1505 had comms and the map, but is just starting the build of his 2nd gen. As such, he was still rocking the factory suspension and highway tires. He's only had the truck for 3 months as his previous 3rd gen got totalled.

Apparently, Auger Hole Road is traditionally closed where it meets Musterground Road. From what I've read on that other forum, we needed to take advantage of the opportunity while it was available. Not knowing if it was open or not, we decided to take that route once we discovered that it was, in fact, open. This left the remainder of Musterground Road to be explored another time. Anyway, all that back story to say: I was in the lead now....no map and no comms.

Then we came up to this little obstacle. I muddy hill climb. I had a little slippage, but managed to keep momentum without much drama. Synaps3, on the other hand, had a bit of a struggle being the heaviest of the group. It took several times trying, but eventually made it up under his own power. The plan on the final attempt to get as high as he could and then winch of my rear shackle. I suggested that he take another line on the final attempt and that proved to work well with a little mud flinging.

Sprocket1505 was up next. His locked 2nd gen with highway tires made it up the first try. The video of him coming up is still entertaining though.

Near the end of Auger Hole Rd is a metal bridge that spans the river. Of course, this seemed like a good photo op spot as well. Just on the other side, is an awesome riverside campsite that Sprocket1505 would return to solo that night. Definitely a must return spot.

After the campsite discovery, we changed up the order again. There was only one way out, so not much need for a leader at that point. Though we did take a wrong turn down a dead end road where we had to do some musical cars to get back out.

Chestnut Mountain Road starts at the parking lot for Turtleback Falls in NC (Google Maps). I think it is normally an out and back trail, but for us on this beautiful (and still rainy) day it was the end of the road.

Finally, on the drive back out, Synaps3 got to look at my backside for the 2 hour drive home.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Alright, y'all forced me to do a YouTube channel.

And since I was at it...the one crappy video I got of Charlie's Creek earlier this year:

Charlie's Creek - Crossing the Tallulah River

 

[CowboyTaco]

ARB really does have great customer service.

A few years back, I noticed that my driver side fog was missing the front glass. The edge was still there and there was no indication of cracking. I called them and they sent me a replacement set. I don't remember if questions were asked, but I remember the process being very easy.

Fast forward a couple of years and I finally replaced the busted one. I procrastinated because it still worked and I feared that it might be a PITA.

Turns out it was stupid simple. Now I just need to replace the passenger side one because it looks like garbage by comparison. I'll also put some back-2-black on the plastic to see if I can't make that look a little less faded.

 

[tx_shooter]

Will check the ramifications of increasing the pic count

 

[Silverback]

When are you putting a winch on this thing?

 

[CowboyTaco]

When are you putting a winch on this thing?

Was hoping for black Friday deals. Didn't find a good one, so I'm keeping an eye out.

 

[CowboyTaco]

I'm not sure what all of this means, but I had an oil analysis done.

Blackstone is who does most of the oil analysis that you see people post about on other forums. I had read that Pennzoil and some of the big auto manufacturers will use a company called ALS to do their oil analysis. I also learned that there is an ALS location about 15 minutes from my office. I called and asked how to get a sample to them and they informed me that I could either purchase their kit for $20 or purchase the same kit at NAPA for $15.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/FIL4077?keywordInput=4077

I asked how much the analysis cost if I purchased the collection kit at Napa and they informed me that the oil analysis is included in the cost of the kit. They also said that I could drop it off in person and save the shipping cost. Cool.

It took about 5 days including a weekend before I received the results.

Again, I don't know what all the numbers mean. Well, ok, I know what they mean; but I don't know how to interpret them. So all I really care about is the "All wear levels appear within acceptable wear limits for first sample." and the rest of the verbiage below the Diagnosis section.

Not that I expected anything different, but good to know that everything looks healthy at the 150k oil change.

 

[Anathollo]

I'm not sure what all of this means, but I had an oil analysis done.

Blackstone is who does most of the oil analysis that you see people post about on other forums. I had read that Pennzoil and some of the big auto manufacturers will use a company called ALS to do their oil analysis. I also learned that there is an ALS location about 15 minutes from my office. I called and asked how to get a sample to them and they informed me that I could either purchase their kit for $20 or purchase the same kit at NAPA for $15.

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/FIL4077?keywordInput=4077

I asked how much the analysis cost if I purchased the collection kit at Napa and they informed me that the oil analysis is included in the cost of the kit. They also said that I could drop it off in person and save the shipping cost. Cool.

It took about 5 days including a weekend before I received the results.

View attachment 19217
View attachment 19218

Again, I don't know what all the numbers mean. Well, ok, I know what they mean; but I don't know how to interpret them. So all I really care about is the "All wear levels appear within acceptable wear limits for first sample." and the rest of the verbiage below the Diagnosis section.

Not that I expected anything different, but good to know that everything looks healthy at the 150k oil change.

So my brother works for an oil testing company. I asked him to run tests on my motor before and he said that I don't want to know what will fail first. Ignorance is bliss in this case. He said he tested his 90's GMC 1500 oil once and what he saw scared him so he never did it again.

 

[CowboyTaco]

So my brother works for an oil testing company. I asked him to run tests on my motor before and he said that I don't want to know what will fail first. Ignorance is bliss in this case. He said he tested his 90's GMC 1500 oil once and what he saw scared him so he never did it again.

Interesting. Well, I don't know what all the stuff means, so I guess I'm still ignorant.