The transfer case on a 1st gen Tacoma is generally known to be a very reliable part - often lasting 300-500K miles. However, if yours does fail, replacement is relatively simple - the hardest part sometimes is finding a replacement case, since they are no longer available new. This guide will walk through what to look for in a replacement case, as well as the parts and tools needed to swap that new case into a Tacoma. And, while the specifics apply to a 1st gen Tacoma, the process is generally the same for any vehicle. Transfer Cases There are…
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It seems like it's been a lot longer, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I noticed my rear axle housing was leaking at the passenger side leaf spring perch. On my way home from surveying the Aftermath of the Creek and Dixie Fires, I knew that this was not some maintenance item that I could just put off until there were no trips on the horizon. Nope, this is something that I needed to deal with right away. After several fruitful discussions with my buddies on TacomaWorld, I immediately set about lining up the long-term fix…
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The last couple years have been tough on the forests of California. According to data from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 2020 saw more burned acreage - 4.4 million acres - than any recorded year in history. More than 2.5 million additional acres have already burned as of September 30, 2021. Two of these fires - the 2020 Fire, and the 2021 Dixie Fire - had the largest impact on me, the Fire burning through my Dad's favorite camp site, and the Dixie Fire nearly destroying the homes of two of my Uncles (and their families). These…
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If you have your 1st gen Tacoma long enough, you'll most likely have to replace the steering rack. This is a job that intimidates a lot of people, but with the right tools - and there aren't many specialty tools needed - the job isn't actually all that difficult. In fact, I was able to get it done in the rain, though I'd recommend waiting for a dry day if you don't have a shop to work in. Let's take a look at the parts needed, as well as the tools, and then jump into the work. Parts Steering Rack…
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Having thoroughly enjoyed my time on Rady Creek FSR, I popped out at Trout Lake, just before 9:00am. As had been the case the last couple of days, BC-31 here was smoothly graded dirt, and driving was a breeze. I really wanted to get down to the lake - a few hundred meters to my west and maybe a hundred meters down - so when I saw an offshoot, I took it. As far as I could tell, the road I ended up on was the old highway to Galena Bay. Having fallen into disrepair since the new road -…
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For the last two years, I've been itching to get back into Canada. Covid-19 has - as we all know - had other plans for the world. Any other time, it wouldn't have been a bit deal, but recently a buddy Mike @POSTacoMike shared a trip he'd taken to Rady Creek - a trail that was scheduled to be deactivated (and made inaccessible to wheeled travel) by British Columbia's forestry ministry. Originally scheduled for deactivation on Aug. 1, 2021, I learned that a nearby fire had postponed the work until spring 2022, but of course, it wouldn't be long until…
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It's always fun to drill a square hole.
TL;DR - I finally got off my butt and fixed the skid plate by cutting a square hole so I can use a carriage bolt to secure it to the transmission crossmember, rather than the small welded ears that kept breaking off.
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Having spent the last six days on the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route (NMBDR), there were a few things that needed our attention before we knew exactly what our next move would be. Pulled over where the last of the dirt hit CO-17, we each had one bar of LTE service and we set to work. I made a quick call to Alcan Spring - in Grand Junction, CO - to check in with Lew, the new owner. Having very much liked my first set of leaf springs, I'd ordered my second set several weeks earlier. Before leaving on the…
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Stage 5 of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route - Fence Lake to Grants. Within 5 minutes of arriving at Fence Lake, we were once again on our way. The highlight of our morning - and perhaps of the entire BDR - was just a couple hours ahead of us; lollygagging around here wasn't going to get us there any faster. We nearly passed by the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, my sights so set on what I'd been looking forward to for days. It was only @mrs.turbodb's quick turn in her seat to read the - inexplicably one sided -…
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Stage 4 of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route - Reserve to Fence Lake. I don't know if it was entirely due to our disappointment at lunch, but at least partially due to our disappointment in how our visit to Reserve turned out, we decided to forego purchasing fuel in town since we still had half a tank plus 11 gallons in the Military Scepter Jerry Cans. That was plenty to get us the 132 miles too Fence Lake - the end of the next stage - and really, it didn't matter since there was fuel some 75 miles away…
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Stage 3 of the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route - Truth or Consequences to Reserve. As we made our way through T-or-C, a huge mural of Geronimo caught our attention. Given that we were - essentially - travelling through Apache lands for much of this adventure, it seemed only appropriate to wait a few minutes for the rain to stop in order to capture the moment. Geronimo, of the Bedonkohe Apache tribe, and the last to surrender to the US Army in 1886. Whereas the first stage of the BDR had taken us a little over a day, the second…
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With 22 hours of driving in front of us, we decided that rather than our usual sprint home, we'd split the time over two days. That meant we could sleep in a bit before climbing out of the tent, and also that we could stop a few times along the way so I could show @mrs.turbodb a few things I'd thought were cool on previous trips. I awoke only for enough time to snap a photo without changing my horizontal position. After eating breakfast and packing up camp, we headed north on UT-261 to Natural Bridges National Monument. I'd visited…
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We got another good night of sleep on the edge of Bullet Canyon, and were up bright an early - or more correctly, dark and early - to start prepping for our long day. We were going to leave the truck and tent set up while we hiked - no need to pack all that away just to unpack again on our return - so we ate breakfast, made lunches, and filled every container we'd brought along with water. We were, after all, going to be hiking more than 17 miles - much of it in 90°F heat. About 3.5…
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Note: Visiting Butler Wash requires a pass. For more information, check out BLM Utah Cedar Mesa Permits and Passes Information. Our personal side canyon off of Butler Wash was the perfect place to spend the night, and though it was a bit warm - I think it only got down into the high 50s overnight - we were both extremely tired and so enjoyed the ten hours or so of horizontal existence immensely. Still, we knew that the best way to beat the heat of the day was to get going early, so when my alarm went off just before sunrise,…
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As we set off towards Utah, I mentioned to @mrs.turbodb that maybe we should have taken her car on this trip. After all, the entirety of our off-pavement driving was going to be all of about 30 miles. Most of our time would be spent on foot, hiking from ruin to pictograph, with the occasional petroglyph thrown in for good measure. It was going to be a blast! I'd gotten the crazy idea for this trip on my previous foray - Utah, Re-Ruined - when I'd naively assumed that I'd wrap up the ruins that Monte @Blackdawg had planned a few years…
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The lightning stopped not long after we climbed into the tent, but the wind picked up and the torrential rain poured down, on-and-off, until about 4:00am. Luckily for us, the downpours never lasted more than a few minutes, and when I climbed down out of the tent around 6:30am, the ground was completely dry, as was the tent. There would be no muddy roads for us, we were lucky! The wind had - however - meant that neither of us got a great night sleep, so I wandered off for a hike while @mrs.turbodb got a little more shut eye.…
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Squeaky bushings annoy a lot of people. I am not one of those people. And so, as my bushings have squeaked over the years, I've just let them do their thing - usually until I next wash the truck at which point the squeaking stops. And so, my bushings have "lasted" for 20 years. In fact, with the exception of the bushings in the rear leaf springs - which were refreshed when I got a new leaf pack from Alcan - I think all of them are still original. Oh, and the upper control arms (UCAs) bushings have been replaced,…
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Over time, rubber bushings wear out and need to be replaced. This happened for me recently when I Replaced All the Bushings on my Tacoma, and I figured that others could benefit from a quick little guide that shows the entire process and lists all the necessary parts for the front diff bushings. Parts Durobump Front Diff Bushings are the only parts you need for this job. Tools Misc sockets (I recommend this set from Williams, a Snap-On brand) 12mm, 14mm socket - to remove the skid plate. 19mm socket to remove front diff brackets. 21mm socket - to remove lug…
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Over time, rubber bushings wear out and need to be replaced. This happened for me recently when I Replaced All the Bushings on my Tacoma, and I figured that others could benefit from a quick little guide that shows the entire process and lists all the necessary parts for replacing the bushings in the steering rack. Parts One thing to be aware of when replacing the steering rack bushings is that 1st gen Tacomas have two different bushing configurations depending on the model year - with the change happening around the 2000 model. Earlier trucks - it seems - use a…
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Having missed all the sunrises to this point, I made a point of actually getting up when my alarm went off after a calm night up on Snow Flat. Turns out, that's a good way to actually see a sunrise - who knew? Layers. Looks like it's going to be a nice day! Comb Ridge silhouetted into the distance. Up early, I took care of breakfast and got the tent all packed away by the time rose up over the eastern horizon. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd get accomplished today, but I'd decided overnight to make one final run…
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