It's been a minute since I happened to glance under my truck on the way home from a trip and noticed that the rear axle housing was cracked and leaking at the passenger side leaf perch. Luckily though, the sinking feeling I had at the time has faded, no doubt…
5 CommentsTag: fabrication
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…
14 CommentsIt 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…
6 CommentsThe plan with the 4Runner was always to keep it a little bit more tame than the Tacoma. After all, it's our family adventure vehicle - used mostly for home-base-style camping, and less for prolonged driving adventures. But, some systems need to work in both vehicles - and the fridge…
2 CommentsI've done a lot of work to the suspension on the Tacoma - with good reason since it is what helps to make our trips more comfortable, and what helps to isolate most of the truck from the harsh terrain over which we travel. In doing that work, one of…
13 CommentsWell, this post is a long time in the making. In fact, I assumed this was a project I'd get taken care of in the dead of winter, since much of it would be done in the wood shop, and none of it required the truck to be outside in…
28 CommentsMay 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…
4 CommentsMay 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…
3 CommentsI recently relocated the rear shock mounts on my 2000 Toyota Tacoma, and it didn't go so well...at least the first time. I didn't get the mounts in quite the right position (you can read the whole story here) and that meant cutting them off and doing everything a second…
Leave a CommentDecember 17, 2018. I'm generally pretty good at building things with my hands, but in relocating the rear shocks on my first gen Toyota Tacoma, I'd royally screwed up. If you haven't read about that, I'd recommend checking out the previous post in this series - Rear Shock Relocation -…
4 CommentsDecember 3-4, 2018. Rear shock relocation day was finally here! Zane @Speedytech and I were up bright and early so we could be at ADS right around their opening time of 8:00am to pick up the rear shocks they'd been holding for me for the last couple of months. As…
Leave a CommentDecember 1-2, 2018. For years now I've run what I'd call "work shocks" in the rear of the truck. First a set of Gabriel Hi-Jackers that I put on to carry heavy loads, then a set of Monroe MaxAir MA820's when I installed the rear lift - these shocks were…
Leave a CommentIt's been about six months since I drove over to eastern Idaho to pickup and install the CBI Outback 1.0 rear bumper with dual swing-outs on my way down to The Maze in Utah. In that time, the bumper has performed well - I'm generally really happy with it, save…
3 CommentsMay 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,…
8 CommentsJanuary 16, 2018. The Kenwood D710GA has been working well since it was installed. Transmission and reception seem good, the APRS has worked as expected, the display is nice (but not quite as nice as the Icom 5100A), and it's great having it securely mounted under the passenger seat. But…
3 Comments