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Tag: transmission

Swapping 5th Gear for More MPGs

October 18, 2024 Sometimes, in an effort to make a Tacoma work really well off-road, modifications to the drivetrain result in the on-road performance being a little less than ideal. That's what happened to me - inadvertently - when I installed 4.88 gears in my front and rear diffs. I've loved those gears - they are one of my best mods on the trail and at slower speeds - but the side effect has been that my RPMs are significantly higher than stock when I'm cruising on the freeway. In fact, I've ended up finding that 62 mph - at…

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Fixing up the Tacoma for Vegas, Baby

May 22, 2023 With the Tacoma living in Las Vegas now, it's harder to perform various maintenance tasks as they pop up and between trips. As such, with a few general maintenance issues - oil changes, tire rotations, etc. - and a few items in recent Rig Reviews needing attention, I drove the truck home from the Three Days of R&R trip for a little TLC (Tacoma Loving Care). On my list for a warm spring day were the following tasks: Routine maintenance - Change the oil, Rotate the tires Grease drive train. Check the new SPC UCAs for play in…

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That Mud Was In My Transfer Case!

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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