Keiko the Tacoma - An Evolution of Needs

[Toiyabe]

So I finally decided to do the clutch. I was getting a lot of chatter on take off, and since it was original to the truck (254k miles) I decided discretion was the better part of valor.

Only one bolt fought me, and it was on the exhaust. I cut it off and replaced both for good measure.

Console and shifters out.


Driveshafts and cross member.


Wiring harness disconnected.


Yup, I got every mile out of it. Rivets just starting to kiss the pressure plate.




Flywheel has heat checks, and generally looks used, but decent. I replaced it with a LuK, anyway.


Pilot bearing had seized long ago and wore the input shaft. If I had more time, I would have sourced a new input shaft, but instead I cleaned it up, and used Aviation Form-A-Gasket #2 to glue it into the pilot bearing which I shimmed a bit to get it to ride on a part that wasn't galled.


New flywheel and shimmed pilot bearing.


Assembled Exedy clutch.


Drives great, and no more chatter. Also, no noise in neutral now. Filled the transmission with 1.3qts of Redline MT90, 1qt of smurf blood (Redline lightweight shockproof) and a tube of LubroMoly moly additive. Transfer case got a bottle of LiquiMoly 75w90.

Then I installed these handy soft tie downs for the kayaks and canoe.

 

[Toiyabe]

Getting ready for the new shock experiments!

Fluid for the front rebuilds, plus rebuild kits.


Seals for real axles and u-bolt flip kits.


Total Chaos rear shock mount kit.





Hopefully new rear shocks, shims, and reservoirs will be here this week...

As a side note, I have had fantastic customer service from Off Road Warehouse, specifically John Arriola. Fox and TC have also been quite helpful, but John has gone way above and beyond for me.

 

[Toiyabe]

Tweaking stuff before my summer trip to Voyageurs and Isle Royale.

First, I built UHMWPE plates for the bottom of the skidplate. Mostly it was to reduce the amount of abrasion damage I get, but also to seal the oil drain plug access. It's so easy to drop the plate, I just do that.





The transfer case front companion shaft flange seal was starting to leak, so I changed it.






And then I rebuilt, revalved, and added new reservoirs with compression adjusters to my front shocks. I also changed the spacers out to get more droop travel.
New reservoirs.


Assorted shims and new spacers.


Coil pulled, ready to disassemble.


Wiper cap removed, seal head and snap ring shown.


Shaft assembly. From bottom to top: Eye, bumper, wiper cap, snap ring, seal head spacer compression stack, piston, rebound stack, lock nut. Everything looked great for 50k miles. Oil was clean and smelled good.


Various parts and the rebuild kit.


Shim diameters and sizes. This is the stock valving from Fox when you purchase these coil overs. I replaced the .012 shims on the rebound stack with .015, and changed the 5 shims on the compression side after the flutters with .008 shims. This was to allow the DSC adjusters to work properly, and give me an adjustment range of both softer and harder than stock.


Installed, showing new adjusters and droop.

 

[Toiyabe]

Big bunch of work done.

First, replaced the lower control arms, all the camber eccentrics, and the lower balljoints, as well as rebuilt my UCAs with new poly bushings.

The Sankei 555 (Moog and Raybestos) balljoints lasted about 35k miles, and had noticeable play in a few spots, and were super tight in others. Junk. The originals lasted 200k. Replaced with Toyota factory joints.






New ratchet strap was given to me for the tire. I like.


Brakes were worn, so I decided to upgrade before the summer/fall trips. I went with the 231mm calipers from a 2005 Tundra. They weigh about 2lbs less than the 199mm calipers from a 2001 Tundra, and offer a longer, although slightly narrower, pad. They do not reach all the way to the bottom of the wear area, and when I compared them to factory Toyota pads, they were identical. I guess Toyota had a reason. I am trying the new Hawk HP5.0 compound, and the jury is still out. Brembo rotors, as normal.

Old set up:




New set up:




Finally got my bypasses. Set them up with 2 turns out on the short compression tube, three turns on the long compression tube, and 4 turns on the rebound tube. Feels great. Also did an All-Pro U-bolt flip, and installed Energy bumpstops.