I have a confession to make: I procrastinated this job and it may have cost me. So let's back up for a moment. See, this was a mod that I knew I needed to do to the 4Runner as soon as I got it. Toyota has conveniently placed the rear diff breather right on top of the rear diff - pretty much as low as it can go. All well and good except that it's not at all well and good. In that position, not only can the breather can suck water into the diff when submerged in deep water,…
10 CommentsMods and Maintenance: Drivetrain
TL;DR - Couldn't be happier. I was considering getting some CVJs to replace my CVs, but I don't think I will anymore.
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Just to set expectations - there are no amazing photos in this post. Actually, there are no photos at all - it's just a story. A story of how my day started off one way, and ended another. Come laugh at with me, and enjoy! So, today I was going to work on the 4Runner. I've been getting it into shape so that it can become our family adventure vehicle and daily driver. As such, it's getting a lot of love in the "let's make sure that key parts are in known condition" department - today's work was going to be…
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TL;DR - I think I often overlook the little stuff that I take on trips that just does its job, or that may not be used every trip, but is really handy when the time comes. A few of those things saved the day this time and I think it's worth highlighting their value.
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TL;DR - After rebooting my CV axles with Toyota OEM boot kits, I am extremely happy. I think this is absolutely the best way to go - even better than custom boots or extended boots from CVJ or doing the boot slide mod.
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People often assume that everything is easy for me. That I just go about doing things, and usually doing them well. That's sort of the case, since I've had a lot of experience doing different things in my life and I tend to pick things up quickly, but I think it's important to recognize that even for people who seem "good at everything," not everything is easy. Getting in there and trying things can still be both hard and rewarding, no matter who you are... I don't know why, but I've been super nervous about changing my spark plugs and…
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It was just a couple days ago that I noticed my front diff was leaking. Actually, I noticed it only because I was replacing my AC idler pulley for the second time in a month - having replaced it on The De-Tour last year and recently again with less than a week of the F.U. Rain trip remaining. I sure hope this time lasts longer than a week on the trail and a few muddy water crossings! But that's not what this post is about - this post is about my front diff. While I was under the truck with the…
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This is a long, wordy post. Sorry, and enjoy the story. As we drove the several-hundred-miles to eastern Oregon on our recent trip to Owyhee and the Alvord Playa, all was not well with the Tacoma. Four times - each time after three uninterrupted hours of driving - there would be a sudden sound of something that sounded like a bearing "spinning up." The sound was disconcerting enough that I'd immediately take my foot off the gas, and the sound would slow - eventually ending in a clunk and everything would be "back to normal." Everything that is except my…
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Well, the good news is that we were successful. It may have taken 14 hours, but the Dan's (@drr and I) were triumphant in our first attempt at a timing belt self-service to each of our 5VZFE's. But oh, how we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's back up say... six months. Just for a moment. Back in January, I was sure that I was going to have Toyota do my 90K mile service at the end of the summer, after this year's trips were in the books. I knew I'd be a little over 90K, but I figured it was…
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I was ready for adventure - running solo, I was returning to Death Valley, having only just wet my appetite on our first trip back in January. With 2500 miles to go, I knew I had a lot of driving ahead - but I was ready - or so I thought - when, less than 50 miles in, the Check Engine Light (CEL) came on. I've covered the details of the first hours of diagnosis in my Back to Death Valley trip report, so if you haven't read that (and are interested), I'd recommend starting there. The plan here is…
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Our trip to The Maze was awesome. However, you may recall that near the end, we hit a whoops a little fast, which led to me peering under the truck a few times on the way home to try and determine what the god-awful shake was that we were feeling in the accelerator, seats, and - after 15 hours on the road - our bones. I wasn't able to figure it out on the drive home, but the next day I spent some more time under the truck and noticed two things: The rear diff pinion seal had started leaking…
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February 21, 2018. Not all that long ago, the truck got a gear change - from the 4.10 factory gears to 4.88's - meaning that it's now easier on the engine to turn the bigger tires as it climbs up hills, over rocks, and generally towards adventure. Within a couple weeks of the gear change, I'd driven far enough to get 500 miles of break-in complete on the rear diff and changed the oil - and everything there seemed A-OK, which was nice. And then on our trip to Death Valley, we ran as much as we could in 4WD…
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February 21, 2018. How many miles do you have on your truck? If you're anything like me, you'll answer this by looking at your odometer, reading a number, and concluding that you have that many miles - 83,078 miles in my case. Like me, you're wrong. Your odometer is lying to you. And so is your speedometer. I covered why that is here - go read it. I'll wait. Speedometers, Odometers, and Gas Mileage – All Lies! OK, welcome back. Or not if you're like me and just skipped over that last link. Let me try to recap: The reading…
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February 21, 2018. I've had a rattle for a little over four months. I first heard it (I think), when returning from The De-Tour at the beginning of October, or else maybe a week or so after that. It sounded like a loose heat shield, or other piece of sheet metal, rattling away under the back half of the truck. But I knew it wasn't a heat shield - it only happened at speeds above about 15-20mph, and changed when under load (vs. coasting) and there were certain throttle/speed/terrain combinations where I could almost get it to go away. Of…
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December 24, 2017. Having travelled the requisite 500 miles to break in my new 4.88 gears (you may want to read "New Gears - 4.88's and an ARB front locker" and "the first 500 mile break-in" if you haven't already), it was high time to change the oil in the rear diff - hopefully uneventfully - to clean out any metal and other gunk that may have been present as a result of the break-in. Toyota conveniently calls for 90W oil in the differentials, and that's hard to come by - at least for me, locally - so I decided…
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January 6, 2018 For every vehicle I've owned, I've kept a gas/mileage log. Every bit of gas I've put into those vehicles has been recorded - originally into an actual log book, and now directly from the phone into an Excel spreadsheet. There are lots of good reasons to do this - but perhaps the best reason is that gas mileage is a great indicator of overall vehicle health - you should do it for that reason if no other. But I'm a data geek, and recording this mileage info enables my OCD to kick in - to calculate all…
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Before leaving JT's Parts & Accessories, I'd gotten the rundown from Jared and Chris on how to best break in the gears they'd just installed. Essentially, it boiled down to what gear manufacturers recommended as well... Break in Procedure New gear sets MUST be broken in correctly to prevent damage. Not following proper break-in procedures will lead to overloading and overheating the ring and pinion as well as breaking down and ruining the gear oil. Not following proper break-in procedures can be determined during inspection and will void the warranty. Please follow the below guidelines to ensure a proper break-in…
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December 6, 2017. Over the last 17 years, the truck has been amazing. Truly a joy every time I get in it, work on it, or even just get all googly-eyed looking at it. But, as we've started bigger and longer adventures, and turned it into an adventure truck as much as an around-town-mobile, the truck has slowly gotten to a point where it was time to do something about the drive train. Big Tires = Big Problem …and by slowly, I mean it was about like this: And that cliff, right there at the edge, was the installation of…
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September 09, 2017. With a low mile truck that's been stored in ideal (covered, underground) conditions it's entire life, maintenance for me has been minimal. With regular oil changes (done at the dealer until 2016) and services, I've pretty much done nothing. But the last couple years have seen more off-road use of the truck. And, knowing that more use means more maintenance, I've started learning to do things myself… because dealership maintenance is not cheap. So, I decided that my next order of business was going to be to grease my zerks. And I decided that because it's fun…
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October 2, 2016. And 28 miles later - October 9, 2016. One of the things about starting to use the truck on more trips is that it ends up with a lot more miles. And more miles mean more frequent oil changes. In the past, I've always taken it to the Toyota dealer. I figured, "Why not, it's only $29, and then I don't have to worry about having the right tools, spending the time, and they'll do it best - with a lift, etc." Of course, what really happened was that they cross-threaded my OEM skids several times when…
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