What have you done to your ride lately?

[Silverback]

I will clean out your garage for free.

You will need a semi trailer. I like your enthusiasm though!

 

[Taco Loco]

You will need a semi trailer. I like your enthusiasm though!

No problem, I can arrange that and I’ll make sure it goes into a shop that is in need.

 

[Silverback]

Let me get it cleaned up and you can come get the rest. Thanks man, saves me a trip.

 

[Oswego]

We need that damn cul-de-sac. Either a lot of work gets done or a lot of beers get drank. Either way is win-win. Who is gonna hit the mega millions?

I got the cul-de-sac going - you guys just need to move in the other other 4 houses then magically transport them all to a state with rights and add some water so the land grows from .25 acre each to 250 acres each

 

[Anathollo]

My New Years resolution will be to clean my garage. LOL

Yeah no shit! I can barely fit in a small ball at night when I go to sleep!

But yeah that's what I spent my Saturday doing was cleaning my garage. I have 3 benches to lay stuff out on to work and I had an 8" x 8" section that was open! So I needed to clean bad...This was my first weekend home in awhile finally and I finally got most of it done. Feels like a large weight off my chest!

 

[tx_shooter]

I got the cul-de-sac going - you guys just need to move in the other other 4 houses then magically transport them all to a state with rights and add some water so the land grows from .25 acre each to 250 acres each

Easy - I will water it with some of the nuclear water from the power plant near me. The deer out there are massive so there has to be something in the water.

 

[tex]

Diagnosed a rattle noise that was happening at idle. Fucking mud got caked between the skid plate and exhaust pipe. Super annoying. Ended up taking the skids off and washed pounds and pounds of mud off from under neath.

 

[TacoXpo]

Yeah no shit! I can barely fit in a small ball at night when I go to sleep!

But yeah that's what I spent my Saturday doing was cleaning my garage. I have 3 benches to lay stuff out on to work and I had an 8" x 8" section that was open! So I needed to clean bad...This was my first weekend home in awhile finally and I finally got most of it done. Feels like a large weight off my chest!

I have been working on my hoard! Last night I got rid of a lot of crap I will probably never use - like a few marginal Chinese tools like those channel locks that seem to be sold in a fully annealed state!!!!!!

 

[TacoXpo]

Diagnosed a rattle noise that was happening at idle. Fucking mud got caked between the skid plate and exhaust pipe. Super annoying. Ended up taking the skids off and washed pounds and pounds of mud off from under neath.

I power wash the crap out of my skids if they are muddy. I'm not sure its much better than a rattle can but I think the powder coating helps the mud to slide off.

 

[TacoXpo]

So, I figure fused circuits are a good thing. A little 'modding' a fuse block into 2 zones. 1 direct to battery for things like the compressor and things like the Hams that have their own auto shut off. And another for lower amperage things like accessory LED lights.

And all those hot wires will have a black cover.

All those pretty blue insulators will be covered up with black shrink tube.

 

[Silverback]

I'm impressed you could drill through those leads... I normally wrap them around the drill bit. LOL

 

[TacoXpo]

I'm impressed you could drill through those leads... I normally wrap them around the drill bit. LOL

Low speed, and preload the tab towards the drill.

 

[CowboyTaco]

Dropped it off at caliber collision to repaint the over fender.

 

[Anathollo]

I'm impressed you could drill through those leads... I normally wrap them around the drill bit. LOL

X2!

 

[italynstylion]

Spent some time with the truck last night. For those of you with a Tacoma, check your radiator support/cab mount bushings. They tend to go bad surprisingly quickly and end up making the front end noisy. I thought the noise was coming from the shocks for about a year but I think this ended up being it. $25 for some Energy Suspension bushings. Pop the bumper off and bring your bottle jack, it's easy from there. The top bushing since it has the steel sleeve cast into it, won't have enough room to fit in. Use the bottle jack like pictured and it will widen the gap.

Use lots of lube! Recently (while replacing my leaf spring bushings) I found the absolute best lube. Wheeler's included it in the bushing kit for the leafs. I got some on my hands and could NOT get it off no matter how hard I tried. It's VERY thick. Perfect for stuff under the truck where water would normally wash it out. I contacted them and figured out where I could get a larger quantity instead of the tiny little squeeze tubes. Link below.

Bushings link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN9BZ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Lube Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN7B4I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And the leaf spring bushing replacement referenced above wasn't fun....here's a picture of how that went. Had the front bolt on the passenger side leaf seize in the bushing sleeve. The air hammer, impact gun, the cut off wheel and I are now friends. Took forever but I got it all knocked out. This is what lead to me wanting to get more of the awesome grease. I needed this to NEVER happen again. You can see how warped the original ARB bushing is in the second pic.

 

[Anathollo]

Spent some time with the truck last night. For those of you with a Tacoma, check your radiator support/cab mount bushings. They tend to go bad surprisingly quickly and end up making the front end noisy. I thought the noise was coming from the shocks for about a year but I think this ended up being it. $25 for some Energy Suspension bushings. Pop the bumper off and bring your bottle jack, it's easy from there. The top bushing since it has the steel sleeve cast into it, won't have enough room to fit in. Use the bottle jack like pictured and it will widen the gap.

Use lots of lube! Recently (while replacing my leaf spring bushings) I found the absolute best lube. Wheeler's included it in the bushing kit for the leafs. I got some on my hands and could NOT get it off no matter how hard I tried. It's VERY thick. Perfect for stuff under the truck where water would normally wash it out. I contacted them and figured out where I could get a larger quantity instead of the tiny little squeeze tubes. Link below.

Bushings link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN9BZ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Lube Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CN7B4I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And the leaf spring bushing replacement referenced above wasn't fun....here's a picture of how that went. Had the front bolt on the passenger side leaf seize in the bushing sleeve. The air hammer, impact gun, the cut off wheel and I are now friends. Took forever but I got it all knocked out. This is what lead to me wanting to get more of the awesome grease. I needed this to NEVER happen again. You can see how warped the original ARB bushing is in the second pic.

Nice trick with the OEM bottle jack! I'll be using that trick when I replace my bushings. I have em in a box, just haven't gotten around to it.

Did you get the OME upgraded bushings for your leaf packs? Those look like it because their yellow but I was curious if they were. I coated mine in anti-sieze before I put em. And I mean I COATED em in a nice thick layer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1QPSG6/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: @italynstylion how do you like those new Fox shocks?

 

[italynstylion]

Nice trick with the OEM bottle jack! I'll be using that trick when I replace my bushings. I have em in a box, just haven't gotten around to it.

Did you get the OME upgraded bushings for your leaf packs? Those look like it because their yellow but I was curious if they were. I coated mine in anti-sieze before I put em. And I mean I COATED em in a nice thick layer
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S1QPSG6/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edit: @italynstylion how do you like those new Fox shocks?

Yeah those were the ones that came with the Dakar leafs. I used Super Lube grease and have had the worst experience with it. Used it on the LCAs too and noticed it washed out very quickly. Then I realized the bushings out back had something similar happen but with way worse results.

And the Fox shocks are great. The adaptability via the adjustable valving is awesome. I'm going to be towing a car back from Houston on Wednesday and I'll dial in a few clicks of damping force to help control the load. I really like the ability to soften them up for when the truck is empty and then firm it up when I gear up.

 

[Oswego]

Sorry to hear the super lube sucks. Total Chaos raves about it. I am on the fence about using it myself. Ive had nothing but great luck with Mobil1 Synthetic.

If you let your cab mount bushings go without re-torquing them or without replacing them you should look for stress cracks in the sheet metal upfront above both fenders. I never took care of them like the manual says you should and my front end is cracked up.

 

[Anathollo]

Sorry to hear the super lube sucks. Total Chaos raves about it. I am on the fence about using it myself. Ive had nothing but great luck with Mobil1 Synthetic.

If you let your cab mount bushings go without re-torquing them or without replacing them you should look for stress cracks in the sheet metal upfront above both fenders. I never took care of them like the manual says you should and my front end is cracked up.

Yep, same here.

EDIT: Speaking of torque values, @italynstylion do you remember the Torque specs for the radiator mounts? If not, I'll stop being a lazy ass and go look em up

 

[CowboyTaco]

Sorry to hear the super lube sucks. Total Chaos raves about it. I am on the fence about using it myself. Ive had nothing but great luck with Mobil1 Synthetic.

If you let your cab mount bushings go without re-torquing them or without replacing them you should look for stress cracks in the sheet metal upfront above both fenders. I never took care of them like the manual says you should and my front end is cracked up.

Pics?.... asking for a friend...