September 30, 2019.
It was another whirlwind of trips through August and September, with three more trips and 21 more nights now in the books: The Whipsaw Trail in BC, Canada, a trip with Pops to the California Sierra, and a nearly two-week adventure through Wyoming and Colorado. Of those, the two driving adventures both ended early due to mechanical failure of at least one vehicle on the trip, so without further ado, let's get into what's bound to be a stunning rig review!
TL;DR - the hard brakes lines are working fabulously and I'm happy to have installed them.
TL;DR - The rear axle seal replacement seems to worked beautifully and there is no more leaking at all.
TL;DR - if you get cold hands/feet at night when it's cold outside, and would like to be warm and toasty in bed, these work great as long as they are exposed to air/moisture.
TL;DR - Moving the resis to the top of the frame means there is no more rubbing and I have my turning radius back.
TL;DR - it's been about a year and my spherical bearings are getting squeaky; time to replace them.
TL;DR - The skid plates are holding up, but the mounting strategy could have been better. For the 3rd time, I'm modifying it.
TL;DR - I have oil leaking from the transfer case where the front drive shaft attaches.
Not technically my truck. Mine might be heavier.
TL;DR - the truck is heavy at 5800 lbs loaded, and I need to find a way to shed weight. That's now on the project list for this winter.
Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews
Unchanged / Still an issue from previous Rig Reviews
There are some things that have been featured in Rig Reviews that are - as yet - unchanged from when I originally reviewed them. Rather than highlight those things again, I'll simply link to them here.
Prolly not your issue, but wondering how Redhead is possibly going to effect a lasting repair on his front suspension???? that looked gnarly for sure!
The short answer is "a lot of work," hahahaha. It's a cool community though, and we've already gotten underway. Mike bought a ton of new parts (new coil buckets and a bunch of reinforcing pieces) and we removed the engine to cut off the old ones and weld in new. Soon enough, the engine will be going back in and (fingers crossed) we'll be starting it up again...ready for the next trail.
Is he detailing it anywhere with pix? It looks like a good thing for other 1st gen trucks to inspect in an on-going manner IF we know what to look for and where! That kind of failure had to be a long while in the making....
Thanks!
He's definitely taking photos, but I don't know if he'll post it anywhere. A good place to look for "knowing what to look for" is here: So you push your 1st gen offroad - what cracks next?
Wow, 5800lbs. That's amazing, and the little Tacoma keeps on ticking. Is your tranny fluid still red?... Do you have the rear lockers? If so do you use them. I've been hearing great things about those lockers. My new remote switch works those puppy's fine. Even though my 4 wheel drive is history. All that beefed-up suspension work you did has paid off with the weight your carrying. I wondered why that rear leaf spring broke. You should bronze that Tacoma (When her time has come) as a testament to it's greatness. I just can't say enough about those trucks.
Yeah, it's not light, hahaha! I've done a bit of weight reduction, and the "normal" weight now is around 5500lbs - still heavy!
I'm lucky to have a MT, and I'm the most grandpa-y of drivers, so the fluid is still in great shape (and changed regularly to keep it that way).
And, I'm right there with you on the greatness of these Tacomas. Some day I'll need something different, but let's hope that is a ways off!
Yep, I baby mine also. In fact on the trails the speedo almost never comes off of zero. A lot of guys blast through the trails, act like fools kicking up all the %$#@$% dust. I look at it this way, if one is out on the trails your escaping this insane world of reality. Why would you want to hurry back . For some strange reason I'm just totally together out there.