It's been stupid cold for November in MO, hasn't it? Thanks for the refresh on the info. Being the bumper's for the Taco I was wondering how far out from the sides it is. As in, would fit well with those who have flares, but too wide to look decent for those of us who have none or only the chrome trim?
The cold doesn't bother me, but it bothers my paint. Here's a thread with a couple pictures of the bumper on a 3rd Gen with Limited flares. I think it'll look good for those that don't have flares at all, and looks pretty good with flares. It's not going to bother me at all since I've already taken the flares off my bumper.
[MENTION=84643]JBurt[/MENTION] your UCA's are shipping today. They have have ten 95-04 Tacoma 96-02 4Runner sets leaving between today and tomorrow and the rest of the 2nd gen stuff leaving as well.
This was a good week for my rig. First off Wednesday night and Thursday morning I put in the new UCA's.
Old vs. New
Drivers side done
Passenger side done
And here's a video of how bad the bushings on the passenger side were:
They were completly torn apart. Almost like there was an inner and outer bushing.
After changing out the UCA's there are no more clunks, squeaks, or play in the front suspension. That feels soooooo good.
Only one bone headed mistake on the install. I've never done upper ball joints on any vehicle before and I tried to press the first one out before removing the retaining clip. After breaking my 3 jaw puller, fixing it, then removing the clip (which is much easier if you don't bent it into place by trying to press it out) everything went pretty well.
Took it Friday to get aligned and I've got almost 3 degrees of caster on each side. Never seen that before.
Then Saturday morning I finally installed my 99 center console with cupholders
What a difference. My wife likes those more than the control arms. It was originally oak colored but I got it for free, and finding a moon mist had proven difficult. I used SEM color coat Granite color and it almost matches. Too light but not too noticeable on the console. I wouldn't want to do much else in it though. The last thing to do is decide whether I want to relocate the switches or switch the radio bezel to a 99+ style with the switches built in.
Saturday morning we left and went out to Anza Borrego all day. We went through Ocotillo Wells off road park and it was so dusty from all the dirt bikes, razrs, etc..., that visibility was low. I've never seen anything like that before. Driving back through it after dark was worse.
We went pretty far down fish creek and went up a side canyon. I forgot my nice camera so all I got were cell phone picks. That made me pretty angry later on.
The pictures don't really compare with real life but oh well. What was really neat was in the sandstone walls you could see hundreds of fossils of muscles and other shelled crustaceans from when this was a lake in the last ice age. I'd definitely like to go back.
On the way out we saw something I've never seen before after living here since I was 5. First we saw a group a 4 big horn sheep, then about 200 feet later there was another group of 5. We pulled over and watched them for a while with binoculars but this was the best picture I got.
They are right in the center. If only I'd had my real camera with the telephoto lens. Maybe next time.
The whole time we were out there was a very annoying clunk coming from the drivers side. I kept thinking about what I might have forgotten to tighten down. Turns out it was the battery. It seems that the group 34 diehard even with the plastic riser it about 1/4" too short for the hold down. I jerry rigged with some stuff from the back of the rig and I'll cut a piece of plywood to go under the riser.
Last thing I did for the rig this week was order a Midland 75-822 CB radio. It was an impulse buy on Black Friday. I checked Amazon to see the delivery date for something else and it was on sale. It can either be used as a handheld or hooked up to vehicle power and a vehicle antenna. Should get here tomorrow.
Well I'll start with something positive. The cupholders and uca's are great. No complaints.
Tonight I saw a wet spot under the 4runner and I got under it to see what it is. It could possibly be a leaking power steering rack. Great. I'll see if the spot moves because I parked in another position in the driveway. There was another car with an oil leak parked in my driveway a few days ago and it could be from that.
Then I saw this:
So I have a gash on the inside of my front passenger tire. 3 of my tires are worn unevenly because of the whole alignment problems. Luck would have it that this is (was) the good one.
I've really been thinking about the tundra 6 spoke rims, but those are 17's so I'd need new tires. I was hoping to put that off for a while (I really wanted some skids since I have none currently) but....
Now I've got some figuring to do.
I'm not sure that I want to run treadwrights any longer. They were great while I was still in college making no money. You can tell from the picture that the area where the new tread meets the old sidewall has cracked more than the other areas. There is also parts of the joint that have fallen off. Not a lot but more than I am comfortable with maybe.
Where the gash is it only went through the outside ply, and there is enough separation that I can stick my finger in under the gash probably about an inch.
[MENTION=5345]habanero[/MENTION] I know you haven't had them for too long but what are your impressions with your new BFG's?
It took me awhile to decide too. I've had these on for 3 weeks now, only on road or gravel road and no wheeling yet.
On road so far I like them better than the BFG A/T that I replaced with them A LOT more. I like them better than the Michelin A/T2 except mpgs aren't as good. That part not so much.
He also mentions it second to last page of his Suzy Q thread.
A lot of people seem to be going with those Coopers. I thought about them but wanted 'the look' plus I've been very happy with Michelin over the years in terms of wear and traction, BFG just seemed like that next step.
That is a cool contest and ion sure chef is having a good time.
I'm really debated between the new bfg's and duratracs and in the end I went with the Goodyears. I felt they were both great tires. I've known lots of guys with bfgs and I thought I'd try something new.
Ordered from discount tire direct. They should get here on the 22nd.
Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and any time off that they've had.
Here's on the way to get new tires mounted, I went with the Duratracs:
So far I really like them. They are so much quieter than the treadwright guard dogs.
With the new tires I really wanted to make sure that the tires wouldn't wear irregularly anymore. Being a salvage title from a front end collision I too it to a good local collision shop and had them check the alignment and the frame. Alignment was close and the frame is straight!
I wanted to get rid of the crappy 1/4" spacer to clear my 231mm calipers and I saw some BORA .75" bolt on spacers in the classifieds so I picked those up. When I went to install them the lug studs were a little bit to long for the wheel to seat properly. I had previously replaced the studs with longer ones to help with the 1/4" spacers. Great. So I changed them all back to the stock shorter studs and the spacers fit fine. It is so much easier to put the wheel back on the BORA adapters. It was a big pain for what was supposed to be an easy job but worth it.
They told me that the inner tie rods were bad, and I had replaced the inner and outer's about 13k ago. One was napa, but they didn't have another in stock when I went to buy them so the other was an autozone. I asked if there was anything else that could be causing the play and he said the rack could be going bad. It isn't leaking but it is probably original. I have the older style rack guide and am thinking about replacing it to see if it helps.l I'm going to pull the rack bellows off tomorrow and see if the rack itself is moving. I would assume that it would cause play on both sides if it is bad. Anyone want to chime in here? If there are other parts that could be worn without the rack leaking I'd probably just go with a Safari rack, but I don't know a whole lot about steering racks.
I also got new OEM rear hatch struts for Christmas. Haven't put them on yet but I'm excited to be able to open up the rear and not have it sag and hit me in the head.
Took a road trip right after I got the tires put on. I really like them. No complaints. Right now I've got just under 2k on them. Much quieter than the TW's.
I should have the newer style rack guard show up at my house today or tomorrow. There was too much play in the rack gear itself.
Also I just got off the phone with Shrockworks. Something about them now offering 3rd gen skid plates and then somehow one full set is going to wind up at my house next week :bigok:
Not a whole lot has been going on with the rig lately. Between getting ready for a new daughter (maybe a week or so), studying for tests to keep my job, and finishing my masters thesis I haven't even painted my skids. Most of that should be done by the beginning of March.
When my daughter shows up I'm going to take a week off work so I should be able to paint them then.
I did install a new style rack guide and that tightened up my steering quite a bit. There is still a slight amount of play. It is in the slip joint and I am not too thrilled about either a tack weld (don't have a welder) or a roll pin. I might try to put a shim between the two parts of the column. I think that would work find and still allow the column to collapse in the case of a wreck. I'll take pics and report on how that goes whenever I get to it.
My duratrac's rub on the passenger side when compressed turning left, so I need to raise my bilstein 5100's up a notch or two.
Also one of my rear shocks started clunking and leaking so I ordered some FZJ 80 rear shocks which should be here middle of next week.
Nothing exciting, just life. Hopefully I'll get to make a good trip either to Big Bear or some place in April.
Am very curious to see how the shim idea works for you.
We just got the Savage skids- you should not hear the colors the hubby's mentioned for them so far. Luckily it's too cold and icy to do any painting now, there's still time for him to come to his senses.
New baby any time, that's exciting! Best wishes for a smooth entry and next bunch of months!
Think of about any color that would make you puke to be seen with dark green- I think (hope?) he's pulling my leg! Bronze or mustard were the two best choices so far for the green truck. Whatever he does, I'm sticking to plain old black on the 96! When you have a color like yours or mine I'm thinking boring is best. Then again, I'm a pretty boring person. Photoshop or like might be your best bet if you want to go distinct....maybe a dark maroon or dark green if you really want a color? A caveat: I am not known for my good taste.
I do not blame your wife- I dunno about her, but that last week when the kid dropped down was misery. Bet she's thankful the kid's not a late summer baby! Carrying one of those things around in summer? Nope.
Hey Hab? Any progress on picking a skid plate color for the 99? I'm still of the fence with mine. I'm thinking black will win out.
I installed an Alpine HD149BT this weekend (makes me realize how dirty my console is):
So far I am 100% satisfied. I am very happy with the features and sound quality. I am glad I took Brian's advice and went with this unit. I like the bluetooth especially.
The only unique part of my install I think is the camera placement. I didn't want to drill a hole in my dash like other installs I've seen and I thought up by the rear view mirror would work well. I tested before I installed and it seemed good. I took off the interior panels to run it up the A-pillar and used the opportunity to put the ECT and rear window buttons in switch blanks by the rear locker button.
To mount it I used double sided tape and I made this mounting plate. Turned out a little uglier than I'd envisioned but it's pretty much invisible.
Well things have finally settled down a little. In the last two months we've had a daughter, I graduated with my MA in math, and I've filled out several job applications, along with starting a teaching credential.
Over the last week I've gradually been loosing power brakes. I cleaned the check valve on the booster, which didn't make any improvement. Then I testing it with a known good valve, which also didn't make any improvement. So I ordered one from DeathCougar. Great experience with good packing and expedited shipping. By the time it got here I had no power brakes at all and had parked the rig and borrowed my father in laws Tacoma.
The install was super easy and very straightforward. The only delay was lunch, and then walking across the street for a 12mm deep socket. I should just buy a set.
Then I checked an intermittent ABS code, which turned out to be code 34 for left rear speed sensor malfunction. I'll pull the sensor later and clean it and see where that goes.
This next week should see new rear shocks and painted skids... hopefully. I need to get out.
