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 due to the smashing success of the patch I installed - following Ryan's @Reh5108 lead - which has been trouble-free ever since. Of course, the only reason I installed the patch was because it was going to take a long time - six weeks was the estimate - to get…
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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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May 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 that the Tacoma could be it's natural self. Oh how naive I was. Turns out, there's no reason to stop adventuring in the winter, and quite frankly, the rear suspension on the truck is much more comfortable with the couple hundred extra pounds from the tent. Plus, I don't really…
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May 3-5, 2019. If you're going to turn a 4Runner into a family adventure vehicle to replace the Tacoma, one thing is for sure - it's going to need a way to carry the CVT @Cascadia Tents Mt. Shasta that we sleep in every night. With an Exped Megamat 10 Duo, it's some of the most comfortable sleep I've had, really. So with most of the mechanical work done for now, I figured the next bit of work was to figure out the roof rack situation. I generally start with a mid-level design for these kinds of projects, but this…
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January 9, 2019. With winter here and therefore the weather a bit crappier, it's a generally a good time to take stock of the truck and perform the maintenance and modifications that will keep it going strong for another year. This year however is a little different - there's not just one vehicle that needs attention - there are two! In fact, the still relatively new-to-us 4Runner might even be the more important vehicle to get right, since it'll be the one we take when we venture out with @mini.turbodb. There are only a few things on tap for the 4Runner…
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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 time, the right way. Learn from my mistake. Here, I'll outline the proper steps (in a printable format - check out the story above for photos of the process) to relocating rear shock mounts on a 1st gen Toyota Tacoma - though, the steps are the same for any truck…
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May 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, for sure. But not this time. This time, I knew that I needed the function with the form, lest I do irreparable damage to the Tacoma. So, when I installed the dual swingout CBI rear bumper in January, I purchased a set of frame reinforcement plates at the same time from @cbi offroad…
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It wasn't long ago that Dan (@drr), Mike (@Digiratus), Zane (@Speedytech7) and I got together at Dan's shop to do some work on Mike's steering rack and LCA's. That didn't go exactly as planned, but we all had a great time and when we hear Zane was going to be in town again, we knew right away that we should get together again - even if just to hang out. Of course, we all had a few little things we wanted to do to our trucks (isn't that always the case?) so we decided to meet up at Mike's this…
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Fixing the IFS Skid Mounts January 14, 2018. "That's strange." I thought as the guys at JT's Parts and Accessories took my IFS Front Skid off to replace the gears in my front diff. "I don't remember the guys from @RelentlessFab putting any clips behind the middle bolts. I wonder how those help hold the skid on?" A couple hours later, the three of us realized that in fact, there were no clips installed by Relentless - rather, the OEM mounts had broken off! I probably shouldn't have been surprised - the skid is beefy at 3/16" thick, surely stronger…
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June 18, 2017. As our excursions have been getting longer and more remote, I’ve started paying more attention to things like the amount of extra fuel and water we carry. It’s still nothing too extreme - 6 gallons of fuel (50-100 miles) and 6 gallons of water (several days). And for convenience of packing, I’ve switched over to Rotopax from the cheapo red plastic gas cans and 1-gallon milk jugs. Of course, even finding deals on Craigslist means that I’ve spent a small fortune on the containers. But, they look great and are relatively compact when a trip gets started……
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April 2017. Wires everywhere. That’s how it’s starting to feel with the various accessories that I’ve added to the truck. Sure, I tuck them away here, and zip-tie them away there to try to clean things up, but in the end I still have several pair of wires running from various fuses and relays in the engine compartment to accessories and switches on the truck. As someone who likes organization, it’s always bothered me. Luckily, there are solutions out there for those of us who like order. There are pre-made fuse boxes from folks like Blue Sea Systems, and there…
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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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