Any time any component of your A/C system is replaced, it's a necessary to recharge the system with refrigerant. This generally costs in the $150 range at the shop, but you can do it yourself for under $100 the first time, and have the necessary tools to do it for…
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Any time a major component of your A/C system is replaced, it's a good idea to also replace the Receiver/Drier. This component of your system removes water (vapor) from the internals of the system that can freeze when the refrigerant in the system is below 0°C, causing the system to…
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Background - If At First You Don't Succeed... My A/C hasn't worked for the last couple of years and I'd finally gotten around to fixing it - or at least, so I thought! A local Toyota dealer theoretically diagnosed my issue as being a problem with my A/C Evap Core,…
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The Backstory My A/C hasn't worked for the last couple of years and I've finally gotten around to fixing it. That's a story worth reading in itself, and if you're interested, check out It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C. But, if all you're interested in is how…
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In general, the rear brakes on a Tacoma or 4Runner wear much more slowly than the front - after all, they are only providing a small fraction of overall braking, and as drum brakes wear more slowly anyway. However, eventually they need to be changed - whether due to wearing…
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This is an easy project, and one that I'd put off for way too long before doing for the first time recently. Personally, I'd recommend changing your fuel filter at the same time you do your timing belt - every 90K miles or so - just as preventative maintenance, and…
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If you're not familiar with my route planning series, you should be sure to check it out - it's not hard, and I've found that figuring out where to go is often one of the most daunting aspects of adventuring for folks who want to get out into the world.…
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Adding Tundra brakes to your 1st gen Tacoma (1996-2004) or 3rd gen 4Runner (1996-2002) is one of the easiest upgrades you can make. The larger calipers, pads, and rotors give your truck significantly more stopping power and at the same time decrease brake fade since the larger rotors are able…
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I recently discovered a dreaded gear oil leak on my 4Runner, and knew it meant only one thing - it was time to change the rear axle seals (and bearings and brake shoes since they were now saturated with oil). In addition to the story of the repair, I figured a…
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If you own a Toyota Tacoma - and especially if you drive it off-road or with any kind of lift - you're likely to have a CV axle boot crack or split at some point, flinging grease everywhere and making a royal mess. I was lucky enough to have it…
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February 2, 2019. This is the third post in the Planning a Route series. If you haven't caught the others, it's probably worth reading at least Part 1 - Planning a Trip/Route Part 1 (Google Earth, GPX, KML, and more) - before making your way through this one, since we'll be building…
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I recently installed SPC Performance upper control arms (25460) on my 2000 Tacoma, and it went great. In addition to the story of the install, I figured a detailed set of instructions for anyone wanting to tackle this themselves would be nice to put together, since it's hard to find that…
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I 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…
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I recently changed the timing belt and water pump on my 2000 Tacoma, and it went great. In addition to the story of shop day, I figured a detailed set of instructions for anyone wanting to tackle this themselves would be nice to put together, since it's hard to find…
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June 15, 2018. For part 1, see How-to: Planning a Trip/Route (with Google Earth, GPX, KML, and more) So, you've done your research and created a route that you're super-jazzed about. If you're anything like me, it's taken you days. Or weeks. Months of work (on-and-off), even. That's awesome - you're…
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June 12, 2018. Route planning for an offroad adventure can be daunting to say the least. Just finding a geographical area to explore is often time consuming, and that doesn't even take into account the time spent figuring out the cool things to visit in that area and how exactly…
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This question is asked often enough that I figured it was finally time to put together an answer that gives lots of information, but that doesn't have to be re-typed again and again. Because that will save everyone a bunch of time, hopefully! So, let's start with the basic question…
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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…
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December 30, 2017. I've removed my dash trim (at least, the driver side) more times than I'd care to admit, and figured it was time to write up the procedure - because I remember how daunting it was the first time. Removal starts at the bottom-front of the center console,…
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July 23, 2017. I needed to drill a hole in the roof of my truck. Crazy? Yes. Necessary: Yes. Curious why? I covered that here. So. Removing the headliner. I searched and searched for visual instructions on this and didn’t find any, though I did have the FSM info which…
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