What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

Detailed the interior after a long weekend of elk hunting. Was absolutely filthy pine needles and chiggers all in the carpet and some random blood spots in the seat from my pants. Nice and clean now

 

How big was the Elk?

 

I only had a damage cow tag, but there was a 6 point in the herd I got to watch run away lol

 

Got my new Oem steering rack in at work after hours. Finally determined the driver side control arm is bent. The steering stop is hitting the knuckle, not the ball jount.

 

Damn that sucks, how hard was the steering rack to take out and install?

 

These are easy. Granted I’ve got a rack to use. Took a little over an hour to install. Spent more time on the alignment rack trying to index it right because the mark was rubbed off from the factory

 

Oh sure - post this on Monday when I told my mechanic to order those two high pressure lines on the rack on Saturday. LOL.

 

I've got access to a lift. Is it really just unbolt the old one and put the new one in?

 

Rust dependent, pretty much. Steering shaft unbolts. Lines come off. Tie rods off, unbolt the 4 bolts holding the rack on to the frame, then I just pulled the rack back and slid the shaft off at that time. Reverse order for install.

Usually they take a bit more time because of rust. But this things from Florida so the rust is minimal (it’s there. Just not a lot of it)

 

I'm in the TX panhandle. I think we're about the same on rust. I'm not sure I need it, but my rack leaks where the steering shaft meets it. And I need tie rod ends (probably inner too) so I figured just get a new rack.

 

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My rack isn't leaking yet but if/when I eventually replace it I'm going to order one of those reman'd units off ebay that have a lifetime warranty.

 

Does anyone know how our trucks compare to 2nd gens in terms of clearance/departure/approach angle? I want to do this trail soon but I'm unsure if I will struggle as much as he did. I don't have anyone to go with so I wouldn't be able to get a tug. No armor yet either.

 

Never wheel alone.
But if a 2wd 3rd.gen.made.it.i.dont see.why you couldn't.

 

Well, I guess I'll never go then. I've tried to hit up people on Instagram but they are snobby. Most of the guys around here are 2nd gen owners and seem to turn their nose up to me. The offroading cliques remind me of high school. The Jeep guys want to have their Jeep orgy and the 2nd gen guys want to roll around in their land yachts.

 

Mine was leaking pretty good from the right side seal. And the inner tie rod on the left had noticeable play

 

Try hitting up the 3rd Gen 4Runner crowd in your area...their must be one...I think 3rd Gen 4runners are just about the most popular off-roaders this side of Wranglers. In my experience they tend not to be snooty....if there isn't a 3rd Gen 4runner group, look for any 4runner or Tacoma groups...they would most likely be glad to go wheeling with you.

 

Join Tacomaworld. You'll find some cool.dudes.to.wheel.with.

 

Move to MN. I'll wheel with ya.

 

Did you check out the regional groups in this forum? The SoCal group is great, they even let me go on their trips ;-)

 

Gaaaaah. At the risk of getting flamed... Not going alone isn't always feasible, even if the whole goal wasn't "to get away from it all" for some solitude.

My theory is, yeah, sure, have somebody to go if you can and want. Preferably with more/different/better gear and skills than you. But lacking that, and with an awareness that you might have to pay a lot for commercial recovery options, it seems that "never wheel alone" is not the only answer.

All of the below is with the caveat that I don't do anything too hard core, nor have I yet been in a place where I don't see another human at least every couple days.

I always leave a very detailed itinerary of where I'm going. I update that during the trip as it changes (and as I have a cellular connection). (I also have a widget that I made that will plot my coordinates in a spreadsheet, but that's something of an aside.) I tell people at home when I will be back in contact for sure, and at what time to contact the relevant authorities if I do not make contact. (For example, "I'm going to be on these roads, which are managed by the BLM office in Kanab", or whatever.)

I have enough water to survive for many days if things go wrong. (And various water treatment options on the off chance I'm somewhere with surface water.) I have plenty of food, cold-weather clothing and shelter, more gas than I need to do what I plan, fire making supplies, and some communication devices.

Yeah, if I have a crash and am seriously injured, but not dead, I'll be in trouble. Again, I don't do any rock crawling or anything where that is very likely. I turn around if I get to a spot where I'm not sure I can get through, or of what lies beyond. But yeah, could happen. Accidents like that, in my experience doing what I like to do, would be more likely on the paved roads with another vehicle.

It is nice to have somebody else along - and when I do I go places and take risks I wouldn't by myself, if I knew they could winch me out or whatever in a matter of hours instead of days and maybe an expensive tow.

Otherwise, it might be a day or two until somebody comes along, or I can figure out how to get myself out, and there's a risk that this delay "ruins" the trip, but I'll survive without issue.

I dunno. It just pains me to hear "well I guess I'll never go".

 

Don't worry. I was being sarcastic. TN isn't like the Western US where you could get stranded for days without being found. If something happens on a trail someone will find me within a few hours. I get the logic of not going alone but until I meet more people I'm not just going to sit at home.

 

put some 9012 bulbs in my fog lights and adjusted the passenger side one down. The fogs now seriously overpower the headlights. lol

also have to try and center the light better in the bumper. the passenger side one sits close to the inside of the truck, driver side sits too close to the outside. dont know if its tweeking of the brackets thats needed or the bumper itself

 

I looked through your thread on tacomaworld. Where did you get the bumpers? I have an 06 reg cab and want to swap for the earlier steel ones.

 

Anyone mind telling me how cold your AC will get? Looking for something to compare this to.

If I turn on the recirculate button it will get down in the 30's.

Edit-recirculate**

 

Amazon. Evan fischer

 

I’ll try it this weekend.

 

Stopped by the shop today to check on the Tundra as they've been 'radio silent'. Truck was done, but I had them keep it & look at the rear axle's breather.

I was thinking they'd install a new breather & I didn't want to deal with the rusty axle housing. I got a call back tonight saying they took it out, cleaned it up (out?), tested it was working properly & reinstalled. I need clarification if it was functioning or rusted shut when they got there. I just been wondering, why did I keep sprouting leaks in the pumpkin on drives over an hour away.... & decided maybe pressure build up from a bad breather. I'll test again, but I didn't want to risk/encourage a leak at one end of the axle or other, in the wheels. So maybe that's all set. And my main point to share - the breathers are clean/rebuildable apparently.
My truck has a new frame so I figure if the frame was gone, what else needs focus & breathers made sense.

The other thing they did was replace the two high pressure lines on steering rack. These two lines are not part of the power steering lines "kit" they sourced & installed about a month ago. Originally Toyota told them these two lines are not available separately - only with the entire rack. That didn't make sense to me as they are metal lines threaded on, so I pushed & they 'discovered' the lines available by them selves. So if anyone is changing the power steering lines & gets "the kit" - there are two more lines to be gotten that are not part of "the kit".

@empty_lord , etc - I took a quick glance under the truck today & it looked like the two new lines were facing the rear of the truck - essentially behind the rack. I could swear they were on top of the rack when I took it in. Can that happen? Is the center of the steering rack able to be rotated 90 degrees? Thanks.

 

Rack can’t rotate. The pressure lines for the rack Are in the back of the rack. The lines on top are the lines from the pump and reservoir

 

Okay, I must have been looking at the wrong set of lines. Thanks. Hopefully chapter closed!

 

Got my driver side door open! The window run was pressing to hard against the lock.