April 2, 2019. I like to think that I live and learn. I'm also a creature of habit, and I wonder if I'm starting down the same road I've been down before. See, with the Tacoma, I thought long and hard about the first set of aftermarket suspension that I put on it. Originally I wanted to spend a couple hundred dollars. Luckily - and before I spent any money - I realized that I didn't want a block lift, I wanted a suspension lift. So then I did a bunch of research and came up with Toytec BOSS coilovers as…
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November 23, 2018. It's amazing how many Hi-Lifts I see driving around the Seattle area. If you didn't know better, you'd think all these folks took their vehicles off-road! Of course, for the majority of them, the Hi-Lift has achieved maximum purpose and use in it's mounting and visible expo factor on the vehicle - but for some, it becomes a critical safety and recovery tool when on an adventure. For those folks, it's important to keep the Hi-Lift in top shape. That means servicing it on a regular basis, ensuring that all parts are in good working order -…
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If there's one thing I've learned when it comes to first gen Toyota Tacoma's, it's that the weak point of the design (well, excluding rusty frames) is the lower ball joint (LBJ) on the front suspension. The design of the joint makes it susceptible to failure, and that failure is often catastrophic if you're traveling at any kind of speed. And sometimes, even if you're not. So, over the last year as I've been pushing the truck harder, I've been keeping an eye on my LBJ's - they're the originals after all, nearly 20 years old, and with 95,000 miles…
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February 14, 2017. You may recall that no too long ago I decided to purchase a CVT, and then of course realized that the truck would need a bed rack to attach said CVT. That led to my Millermatic 211 acquisition, and the realization that this bed rack was the beginning of yet another expensive hobby (metalwork). Excited to get going, I started looking for bed rack designs. I wanted something that would support the CVT - both on the road as well as deployed would position the top of the CVT "in-line" with the top of the cab -…
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October 18, 2016. I am a woodworker. For the last twenty years, metal (stock and shavings), oils, and dirt have been systematically removed from my shops - they can bring no good to wood projects. Metal can dull blades and stain wood as it rusts, oils can soak into the wood and make finishing near impossible, and dirt - well, no one ever said "Can you make that fine furniture a little dirtier?" (I take that back - some do - and I think it's crazy to "pre-distress" a piece.) But I've always been curious about metalwork. And I've always…
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