What have you done to your ride lately?

[BeaverYota]

That's the kind of thing you can only pick up when DIY'ing that stuff. When I did my BJ's the resources were very limited and most people (including Toyota) would just replace the entire LCA. Now many people have much better ways to do it then the threads I wrote up. I just looked up my original DIY post and it was back in 2011 Link to it is within this DIY DIY LCA Bushing Replacement 2005+ Tacoma (4x4)

I would have done it myself but didn't have all the necessary tools.
BTW, the pictures in your thread don't appear to work. at least not for me.

 

[Oswego]

I would have done it myself but didn't have all the necessary tools.
BTW, the pictures in your thread don't appear to work. at least not for me.

Pics been fubar for years. Somewhere on the interwebz is a correct version of them, but like I said by now others have come up with similar/easier options. Might find them on TW under user name "Misc" or maybe "Oswego" or "XXXX". I forget. Been on that site maybe twice in the past few years.

 

[Silverback]

No sorry, I meant the ball joint was pressed it. Not the zerk fitting.

LOL.. ok.. yeah, that makes much more sense.

 

[Oswego]

I would have done it myself but didn't have all the necessary tools.
BTW, the pictures in your thread don't appear to work. at least not for me.

Basic tools needed to work on a Yota are cheap and few. Don't get all caught up in all the fancy stuff we buy. I borrowed the 53mm from a friend, and "rented" the press from Autozone which once returned was free. Only other tools needed was optional cups for the press I bought at Harbor Freight and 3/8" ratchet set I already had. Most times you can acquire the tools needed to do the job and the parts for much less than a mechanic would charge. The next hurdle is the mental confidence to tackle the task and if thats not an issue you need the time and place to work on it. All of my work was done on the grass of my backyard.

When I did my first suspension swap a member helped me and we took all day. He had never done it either, but just having a second set of eyes was a confidence booster. Now 8 years later I could probably do it in half the time with less tools in my sleep. Moral of the story is if you don't mind getting your hands dirty and you want to learn - just do it otherwise you'll never acquire the tools or knowledge.

 

[BeaverYota]

I've got a decent amount of basic tool and the naive confidence to work on it myself. I've done most of the work on my truck myself, minus anything too over the top. I always forget you can rent some of the stuff from autozone.
My wife always gives me a hard time for when I give her an estimate of how long something will take and then I go way over, but she had a hair appointment that went 4 hours yesterday, so I don't think she can say much. I'm getting faster on working on the truck too. Biggest problem is just running into unexpected problems... which almost always seems to happen. I love learning and trying to do it myself, just always have a slight fear I've done something wrong that's going to jack things up worse.

 

[Oswego]

Take what time you think it will take then tipple it . Sometimes you can beat a mechanics price and sometimes when you screw up - you get screwed. All risks vs rewards to be weighed.

Ill never touch rear brake lines on a Tacoma. Seen plenty of people do it in person and I know better now. I paid a minimal amount to have them done and the guy who did it was not happy when I picked my truck up. He said they were a total PITA - I said "I know - thats why I paid you".

Last weekend we spent a few hrs pressing off bad hubs and bearings from (2) Nissan spindles and pressing new bearings/hubs in. Dude goes to put them on his car and guess what? He bought bearings and hubs for the V6 and he has a 4 banger so he lost over $200 just from buying the wrong parts that are now not returnable. In the end he may have saved $100-200 over mechanics rate but he also spent his Saturday night and Sunday doing it (the entire time being stressed out). For him it was not worth it IMO.

 

[Anathollo]

Take what time you think it will take then tipple it . Sometimes you can beat a mechanics price and sometimes when you screw up - you get screwed. All risks vs rewards to be weighed.

Ill never touch rear brake lines on a Tacoma. Seen plenty of people do it in person and I know better now. I paid a minimal amount to have them done and the guy who did it was not happy when I picked my truck up. He said they were a total PITA - I said "I know - thats why I paid you".

Last weekend we spent a few hrs pressing off bad hubs and bearings from (2) Nissan spindles and pressing new bearings/hubs in. Dude goes to put them on his car and guess what? He bought bearings and hubs for the V6 and he has a 4 banger so he lost over $200 just from buying the wrong parts that are now not returnable. In the end he may have saved $100-200 over mechanics rate but he also spent his Saturday night and Sunday doing it (the entire time being stressed out). For him it was not worth it IMO.

Yeah they are. But once I cut that flare wrench in half, it was a lot easier. But that was still an hour wasted before I made the decision to cut the tool (spent an hour trying all different ways to make it work).

 

[Oswego]

Yeah they are. But once I cut that flare wrench in half, it was a lot easier. But that was still an hour wasted before I made the decision to cut the tool (spent an hour trying all different ways to make it work).

Guy who did mine had to dremmel parts of the retainer clip to get them to fit. Last time I helped someone do them we had to get the flare kit out - screw all that noise on a new truck. That should be reserved for running your own lines or fixing a rust bucket. I had zero issues doing the fronts.?. No idea why....

 

[Anathollo]

Guy who did mine had to dremmel parts of the retainer clip to get them to fit. Last time I helped someone do them we had to get the flare kit out - screw all that noise on a new truck. That should be reserved for running your own lines or fixing a rust bucket. I had zero issues doing the fronts.?. No idea why....

I think with the Crown lines, you don't have to do that now. It seemed like the base of them was a lot smaller than the Wheeler's offroad ones I had. I have no idea why Wheelers made the base that large. Doesn't make sense.

 

[Oswego]

I think with the Crown lines, you don't have to do that now. It seemed like the base of them was a lot smaller than the Wheeler's offroad ones I had. I have no idea why Wheelers made the base that large. Doesn't make sense.

That jogged my memory - thats who I got them from (99% sure).

 

[BeaverYota]

Yeah they are. But once I cut that flare wrench in half, it was a lot easier. But that was still an hour wasted before I made the decision to cut the tool (spent an hour trying all different ways to make it work).

I still need to do my rear brake lines. I've got extended steel ones sitting in my truck that I've never put on because I couldn't get the old ones off. I keep meaning to find somewhere to take it and have it done so I don't have to, but most places say "we don't install parts you brought us."
I've heard it's easier to take the bed off and do the rear lines that just to try and do the rear lines as is. Haha

 

[Oswego]

I still need to do my rear brake lines. I've got extended steel ones sitting in my truck that I've never put on because I couldn't get the old ones off. I keep meaning to find somewhere to take it and have it done so I don't have to, but most places say "we don't install parts you brought us."
I've heard it's easier to take the bed off and do the rear lines that just to try and do the rear lines as is. Haha

My bed is seized on. Tried everything besides burning it off. Put a good deal of anti seize on your bed bolts if you ever want to take it off in the future.

 

[BeaverYota]

My bed is seized on. Tried everything besides burning it off. Put a good deal of anti seize on your bed bolts if you ever want to take it off in the future.

I have no current plans to ever remove my bed. But I do need to find a place to do my brake lines.
Just ordered OEM tie rod parts for both sides from Toyota Parts and Accessories - Genuine OEM at Wholesales Prices | Toyota of Dallas
Hopefully everything is correct and won't be too much of a pain in my ass to fix. Spring break plans here I come....

 

[tx_shooter]

So I hit a few low water crossings today on the way to a customer's office and came out of one with a new clunk under my 4Runner. I investigated tonight to did that one of my sway bar bushings left my rig today. The obvious answer was to remove the sway bar.

I am not sure if I will put it back on again. Maybe I will scrap the sway bar so as to prevent me from doing that.

 

[Anathollo]

That jogged my memory - thats who I got them from (99% sure).

If they are red and really skinny then they are the Wheeler's brake lines.

 

[Oswego]

If they are red and really skinny then they are the Wheeler's brake lines.

It's been so long since I looked at my build thread I forgot I listed all the parts & numbers... oh how much time I used to waste online in my personal time

"Wheelers red stainless steel extended rear brake lines #tf bline-o8x"

 

[tx_shooter]

I had an exhaust gasket that was not sealing right. So a couple of new gaskets later the cat is cleaned out and the gaskets are replaced.

 

[Taco Loco]

115k oil Tacoma
270hr oil, air, plug, blades on ZTR,
Tomorrow 52k Oil Tahoe

 

[the_white_shadow]

Put in some more work this weekend. Doesnt look like much, but it was a lot.

1. Tore down the old axle for its parts.
2. Fully welded out the front axle.
3. Tried to install the gears in the new housing using the same bearings and shims. Well i couldnt get that lucky, so I took it to a local mechanic and wheeler to have him setup the gears correctly. I dont have a press yet so doing diff work would have been challenging.
4. Installed the Improved Racing baffling in the f-body oil pan and installed on engine.
5. Welded out my driveshafts and painted them. Ill get them installed today.
6. Welded out the rear end and boxed in the bump pads. Painted it as well.
7. painted all 8 links
8. installed the rear end and squared it up.

Pics.
New baffle. Hope it keeps the oil pressure in check.


Rear end installed.




Dat ass tho



I hope to get the front end back later this week then i can get it painted and rebuilt with new kingpins/seals/etc. Should be a complete roller by the end of the week.

 

[yotarob]

140k oil change for the Tacoma.