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The Enhanced OEM Build

Discussion in '1st Gen Builds (2000-2006)' started by Kimosabe, Aug 4, 2020.

  1. Apr 12, 2021 at 5:49 PM
    #31
    KarmaKannon

    KarmaKannon Master of None

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    Have you thought about putting a camera on top of your shell? Mine is in my tailgate and I like it, but I wonder if I wouldn't like the little bit higher view on my she'll. Might be nice to have both. I don't know. I do want to put a camera in my grill though, I know that for sure.
     
  2. Apr 13, 2021 at 8:02 AM
    #32
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    I initially thought about putting the camera on the shell, but I take it off from time to time and would still want the camera backing up when I have something blocking my view. I think for me, the tailgate camera is the best option the majority of the time.
    I could certainly see use in having it on the shell though. We have a backup camera up high on our van and it's pretty nice to see the whole space behind when backing up that monster.
    I'll be curious to see where you install your front camera. I haven't given that much thought... but I am now.
     
  3. Apr 13, 2021 at 10:33 AM
    #33
    KarmaKannon

    KarmaKannon Master of None

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    That's basically the same thing I have going. I don't know how I'd pull the shell off and switch cameras easily. Still need to think on that.

    Front camera- I think this would be great for a safety reasons at home and also amazing off-road. I don't do anything crazy, but coming over and rise with a locked seat belt isn't fun when you don't know exactly what's on the other side. There are a lot of trails in the desert that lead to little shoreline cliffs. I also come home and have the sun in my eye sometime and I wear my sunglasses so, I pull in the garage and I might not see everything right in front of me. My oldest is starting to play more with his stuff alone so it's a matter of time before he acts like daddy and goes in the garage to mess with stuff. I'll keep you posted on the front camera. I need a better screen first. Mine is too bright at night on the lowest setting.
     
  4. Apr 29, 2021 at 12:32 PM
    #34
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Well made some progress last weekend after having some beautiful Katzskin seat covers sitting for almost a month. Managed to take two afternoons/evenings and got all the seats recovered. I ran into one issue that I'm working to resolve. The rear armrest/cupholder/seatback ripped when trying to put it on. Not sure what to do exactly. It didn't fit well and when trying to maneuver it around to fit better it ripped in two spots.

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. Jun 23, 2021 at 3:47 PM
    #35
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Well I haven't done much to my truck and I've been really bad about updating my thread.
    I managed to score some roof rack tracks from my neighbor. Everywhere has been sold out for a while.
    **Crazy story: My neighbor coaches the kids ski team and he had his truck parked in the lot to drop stuff off from the season. We had a crazy wind storm that day. It was gusting over 75mph (hurricane force). He had his topper window open and was crawling in the bed when a gust ripped the topper off his truck and planted it right next to his truck on a brand new range rover. Insurance bought him a new topper and he just had to throw the old one away, and I got to collect the rack and any other parts off it.

    [​IMG]
    Bought some new hardware to mount them to my topper. Just in time to take it off for a bit.
     
  6. Jun 23, 2021 at 3:51 PM
    #36
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Finally managed to do some work on upgrading my foglights to Baja Designs Squadron Sports. I'm not satisfied with how they are mounted and already ordered replacement housings to re-do them.
    [​IMG]

    I have a bolt going from the light mount through the housing in the back, but it isn't secured to anything else. I don't like that I don't have it secured through the adjustment hole in the bumper. I'm not sure what I need to do, but hopefully I can play around with it and figure something out.
     
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  7. Jul 9, 2021 at 8:59 AM
    #37
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Well, I've been acquiring some parts and slowly working towards some updates. I'm also working on diagnosing some problems with the driveline and brakes.
    1. Brakes are needing to be pumped to generate braking power. I'm suspecting a vacuum leak and or a bleed is needed. But while I'm at it I'm going to change to stainless brake lines, throw new pads and rotors up front and will inspect the shoes and hardware in the back.
    2. I have been having a clunk in the front and rear along with some rear sway. I think the front end clunk is related to my leaking steering rack, or the bent front diff support. I haven't been able to locate the cause yet. The rear clunk and sway I'm thinking is related to a stripped U-bolt that is not tight, and will add some additional leaf spring clamps to hopefully keep things a little tighter.

    So far I've managed to find a mount and secure my spare tire in the truck bed. So far it works okay, and I'll keep it until I come up with a better solution. I also bought a tailgate bike pad and because of that bought a mountain bike to mount on it (truthfully, I bought the bike first). I'm surprised at how nice the bike pad is. I did more research than I should have on something that should be so simple, but I'm really glad I did. This thing is awesome.

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Nov 10, 2021 at 11:59 AM
    #38
    JustJake

    JustJake New Member

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    How are you liking the ADS shocks? How do they ride on and off road?
     
  9. Nov 13, 2021 at 1:47 PM
    #39
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    They are great! They are smooth without being overly soft so I don’t get much body roll; because I don’t have sway bars. The external reservoir might be a bit overkill, but there have been a few instances where I noticed the difference on big hits.
    I like them both on road and off. They feel stable but not overly stiff and the construction is excellent.
     
  10. Apr 26, 2022 at 2:14 PM
    #40
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    I have a lot of maintenance and work to bring things up to date. I didn't take great pics along the way, but I did my best half-assed attempt.
    I upgraded to stop-tech slotted rotors and replaced brake pads with Toyota OEM. I also swapped out the brake lines for Wheeler's Offroad soft lines all around.

    Old
    [​IMG]

    New vs. Old

    [​IMG]

    Next up is spark plug refresh. You can see the rear two on driver-side have a little oil on them. Might be time to replace the spark plug seals and valve covers at some point.

    [​IMG]

    Coils look a little browned. Might be burnt or from oil, or combo of both.

    [​IMG]

    New vs. Old.

    [​IMG]


    Pretty happy with the stance with the topper removed. I really like having the topper off in the summer. Makes it really easy to utilize the bed and visibility is improved dramatically.

    [​IMG]

    Slowly working to dechrome the truck. This was back in the fall, so gave the truck a good cleaning, ceramic coating, and did some fluid film underneath because our town starting using some salt in their winter road mix.
    Here's the truck looking clean and with the chrome mirror caps replaced with color-matched.

    [​IMG]

    Also managed to find a suitable washer fluid bottle mount. Metal strap doubled up and a zip-tie down low. I was hoping this was really temporary, but I don't know where to move it or how to mount it... So, probably gonna leave it until I find something better. Please be nice with comments. Or don't, it's probably deserved.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2022
  11. Apr 26, 2022 at 2:33 PM
    #41
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    I tried a few different options to mount the Baja Designs fog lights. The wiring was really simple. I took the connector that came with the wiring harness and added it directly to the factory wiring. I cut off the factory connector and stripped the wires a little and then installed the connector from the Baja Designs harness. Then it's plug and play.
    I tried buying the CaliRaised fog mounts for a tacoma. These would have worked if the lights themselves fit in the mounts. They don't.

    Bracket width

    [​IMG]

    Light Width

    [​IMG]

    The solution I tried and have stuck with is to by the replacement blanks from somewhere cheap online and then cutoff the back. The allowed me to use the included mounting bracket upside-down and run a long bolt through the adjust hole for the fog lights and secure them so they don't fall out.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    Here's a little more detail about removing mirror caps. I bought some replacement mirrors off ebay that were color-matched. I was originally going to change the mirror out as well as the cap, but the mirror glass is kind of tough to remove without breaking anything. So I decided I didn't want new mirror glass that badly. My mirrors have the heater installed, so these mirrors weren't a simple full on replacement.

    [​IMG]

    Most of the tabs that hold the mirror cap on can be accessed by moving the mirror around except for 2 hidden behind the motor that moves the mirror.
    Here is a pic of most of the tabs and with the mirror glass removed

    [​IMG]

    Here is a pic with the motor removed, showing the hidden tab placements. If you know where these are you can release the other tabs, and while gently pulling outward, you can use a small pick or possible screwdriver to slide in and raise up on the tabs that are hidden. I used a plastic pick that is part of an interior tool kit so that is is flexible but still stiff enough to put upward pressure on the tabs.

    [​IMG]

    And the inside of the cap showing tab placements.

    [​IMG]
     
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    #41
  12. Apr 26, 2022 at 3:37 PM
    #42
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    This brings me current, with some little things done here and there, but no documentation. I got to enjoy driving my truck the past winter and get a lot of riding in-bounds and backcountry touring in.
    I've racked up some parts though along the way and have some projects to do. My wife is travelling a little for work lately, so that gives me the perfect time to work on the truck guilt-free. My first opportunity was a week ago, but the Toyota FIPG took a week and a half to get delivered. So I missed that opportunity. But I have a couple days coming up this week/weekend.

    The items on my agenda: replace valve cover gaskets, and spark plug seals, clean valve covers, replace spark plugs, replace PCV valve, replace fuel pressure sensor, fuel pressure damper, replace intake manifold gaskets, replace intake plenum gaskets, replace starter (while I'm in there), clean intake plenum, clean the power steering reservoir, and drain/fill the reservoir while I'm at it. Then do a sea foam treatment and try out their intake cleaner that you spray into the throttle body.
     
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  13. May 10, 2022 at 1:27 PM
    #43
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Well, I decided I wanted to replace some gaskets to hopefully get a little better seal in some places, do some carbon cleanup and restore some power to the truck. This turned into quite the process. I'm going to depict this as a one time job, but it wasn't. I went to replace the plenum gaskets and found some oil in there. I didn't think that seemed right, but wasn't sure and decided not to mess with it. So I did the job a second time to clean out the oil, and do the valve cover gaskets and replace the starter while I was in there. Well, I "stippled" (TM) the knock sensor wire when removing it, and now have to go back in a third time to crimp on a new connector and get my knock sensor code to go away. I'm hoping third time is the charm because I'm going to risk it and not replace the knock sensors while in there.
    Anyway, just pretend I did all this at once.

    Removing the plenum you can see the remains of years of cottonwood trees accumulating underneath it, and the carbon buildup in the intake manifold

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Definitely looks better after being cleaned up

    [​IMG]

    Here I cleaned out the intake plenum. You can see the oil that has accrued in there. I'm hoping that the PCV valve replacement will keep this clean going forward.

    [​IMG]

    Next, I dug into the valve covers. I started with the passenger since it was the easiest access. I was very pleased to see how clean things looked and to confirm that the previous owner was excellent about maintenance.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The driver's side was not quite as shiny, but still didn't look too bad.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The driver-side valve cover was pretty filthy and both needed some cleaning.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The plugs were looking good which I was glad to see. Replaced anyway and will replace ignition coils too.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. May 10, 2022 at 1:28 PM
    #44
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    This should allow me to start from scratch. Hoping to do another fuel injector cleaner and carbon deposit cleaner. Then that will be my new baseline to see if any improvements in power, and mostly MPG.
    But, of course I still have to go back in and repair the knock sensor connector before I can do that. I got all the parts, and replacement and will hopefully get that done soon. It's my wife's birthday this weekend so we'll be out of town on a little climbing trip, and I probably won't get to the connector for a little while. Gotta try and get back into some semblance of climbing shape for another week long climbing trip at the end of the month.
     
  15. Jun 1, 2022 at 3:23 PM
    #45
    Kimosabe

    Kimosabe [OP] Slacker

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    Made it back from an amazing week of climbing in Wyoming. It was cut short due to 4 days of rain across the West. But that gave me some time to dig back in and repair/replace the knock sensor connector and get the truck buttoned up.
    I ordered the connector from GODACA, LLC on eBay. I'm impressed with the part, fit perfectly and even included a spare piece or two just in case. Going to save that seller for the future. I'm no electrical expert, but I think I installed it mostly correct. I may have had too much wire length which resulted in the rubber insulator sticking out a little. I decided to counter that by adding a little solder to the pin and the wire, adding a little dielectric grease around to keep water away, and finally by adding a little heat tape to help hold things in place. Overkill? Maybe, but not going to worry about it.

    Here are some pics from the trip


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]


    Dog had an absolute blast and usually passed out by late afternoon.

    [​IMG]


    New Starter with no connector

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    New connector installed

    [​IMG]


    Couple miles and no code!

    [​IMG]
     
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    #45
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