May 22, 2023 With the Tacoma living in Las Vegas now, it's harder to perform various maintenance tasks as they pop up and between trips. As such, with a few general maintenance issues - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. - and a few items in recent Rig Reviews needing attention,…
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August 17, 2022. On our first day of the trip to Plumas National Forest, on our way down to Poker Flat, we heard a new banging noise. It reminded me of the noise I'd heard when I'd broken a leaf spring, so I was out of the truck quickly to…
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TL;DR - The battery tie down that bolts to the core support has cracked core support as a result of all the rattling around. I've reinforced it, and will monitor it going forward. As I was pulling my battery to make a bit more room to remove the alternator and…
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September 26, 2021. For the last few months, my steering rack has had a slow leak. I first noticed it when we were exploring New Mexico on the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR), but it hasn't taken much to keep it topped off so I mostly ignored it, except…
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TL;DR - Just a little bit of maintenance, replacing the insulator under the hood. Easy and done. For a long time, my hood insulator has been falling apart. I probably didn't help the situation by trying to pressure wash it once to get some of the dust and dirt out.…
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I've procrastinated replacing the windshield for two years now, a problem I appear to have first noted in a rig review after our Mojave Redemption trip in 2019! My reasoning - or worry - was twofold, really: I've always heard bad things about windshield replacement and the resulting leaks once…
Leave a CommentTL;DR - I'm loving a new, clear windshield. I should (but won't) make this an annual maintenance item. After getting the windshield fixed, it's amazing how much more pleasant it is to drive - especially when driving into the sun. I can't recommend fixing your windshield enough if you can…
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I don't know when I first noticed the terrible windshield sprayers on the Tacoma, but it was probably right around late 1999. I figured there was nothing I could do about it, and so for 20 years, I just suffered through the single-jet-stream-that-gets-spread-by-the-wipers. So, when I saw various folks on…
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If you missed the first part of this story, you may want to read 4Runner Accident, and the Saga of Repair when you're done reading this. It was a Monday morning when we showed up at Jim's Body Shop in Seattle. Arriving a few minutes after they opened, they were…
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If you own vehicles long enough, it's a safe bet that one will be in an accident. Luckily for us, when the 4Runner was hit, no one was in it. This is the story of what happened, and the saga that followed. So, it was the first Friday in December…
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TL;DR - it's time for a new windshield. I've had my current windshield for 20 years now. Up until about a year ago, it'd been cracked by a rock only once - and even then, it was minor and easily fixed by one of those chip repair shops. Today, the…
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I've built a couple of storage platforms in the past - a slide-with-a-slide style platform for my 1st gen Tacoma, and a fridge-slide style for my 3rd Gen 4Runner - so when a buddy of mine asked for help building one for his 5th Gen 4Runner, I was happy to…
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TL;DR - The new rack works just fine, but I have no idea if it's preventing bed cracking until I take it off. I have nothing more to say about this, but you're welcome to read about the new bed rack design and the issue I was having.
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May 10, 2019. When I originally built my bed rack back in 2016, I was sure that the rack was going to be something that was only installed when we were out on an adventure. The rest of the time, I'd remove it using the pulley system in the garage so…
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May 7, 2019. Roof rack built, we now had a place for @mrs.turbodb and I to sleep, but what about the whole reason we decided to get the 4Runner in the first place? We wanted to have something more comfortable for @mini.turbodb! The idea was for her to sleep in…
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May 3-5, 2019. If you're going to turn a 4Runner into a family adventure vehicle to replace the Tacoma, one thing is for sure - it's going to need a way to carry the CVT @Cascadia Tents Mt. Shasta that we sleep in every night. With an Exped Megamat 10…
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TL;DR - I found two cracks in the bed of the truck, likely from the weight of the RTT bouncing around up there. I'll need to fix them and come up with a way to reduce/change the stresses in the future. Just before our last few trips, I discovered that…
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Ever since building the bed rack, I've been happy with it. It's done everything I've asked of it and more. The CVT tent @cascadia tents has always been secure, and it's been a great way to carry the Hi-Lift, supply power to the fridge, and keep everything in the bed…
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September 21, 2018. Well, we're now a two-Toyota family. For the last several months, @mrs.turbodb and I have been talking about getting a 4Runner so that our adventures with @mini.turbodb can be more comfortable for her - the extended cab of the Tacoma becoming a tight space for a growing…
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May 12, 2018. We all know how it goes - the list of things to do to the truck is so long that we have to prioritize. And often, that prioritization favors form over function. And from time to time, I've been as guilty of that as the next guy,…
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