Tonkamans little Cracka

[193kyle]

Last I checked, used 3.4's were going for $700-$1000 depending on mileage. You could swap it out in a weekend and save a bunch.

 

[Brad J]

When I test primary resistance all 3 coils read 0, what am I doing wrong? The secondary resistance is in spec on all 3View attachment 97554

I think that you need to move the black Common ground lead to the bottom port. Sorry about the truck.

 

[Tonkaman]

I almost forgot to update the thread. I decided to have the head gaskets replaced instead of gamble on a used engine swap. The heads went off to the machine shop just to be sure everything was still flat and for a good cleaning. The shop couldn't say why it failed so that remains a mystery. I'm glad I had a shop tackle this because when they were reassembling everything they discovered several bad wires in the harness. Many of the wires had previously been twisted together not soldered or even crimped! It took nearly an extra 8 hours to chase down and fix all the half ass electrical repairs.

The truck seems to be running well and I'm hoping my coil issues are a thing if the past. Hopefully this year has less repair bills and more adventures

 

[nnnnnate]

I had wondered what you decided to do with it. Hopefully tracking down that wiring mess also fixes your coil stuff.

So, when is the first outing?

 

[Tonkaman]

Probably not till the middle of May. I have a few trips before then but not any that will really test out the truck.

....unless I play behind sand mountain tomorrow hmmmm

 

[TRD270]

Taco party!

 

[Deleted member 12904]

Nice I'm glad it's back in action.

 

[nnnnnate]

You get this thing back running Derek? Without going back through the thread if I remember right you've got the ST MAXXs on this don't you? How many miles do you have on them and whats your opinion on them at this point?

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm not Derek, but I am running Cooper ST MAXXs, so I thought I'd chime in. These are my favorite tires for a mix of street, snow, dirt, and rocky trails. They're great in the snow due to the rubber compound they use, they wear extremely well, and they're fantastic offroad. It's tough to find an A/T these days that has a true 3-ply sidewall. They're a little heavier than a KM2, but for dirt roads, pavement, and snow, I prefer the Coopers over any other tire I've tried. I haven't tried these yet for all-out rock crawling, but I think they'd do ok. There are going to be better rock-crawlng specific tires out there, but these will handle rocky trails just fine.

For strictly offroad, I think the Maxxis Trepador radials are the non-sticky king. But they wear pretty quick on the pavement. My buddy has the treps on his tacoma and after 10k miles, they're only at 40% tread. He says they're absolutely fantastic in the mud and rocks though.

 

[Tonkaman]

You get this thing back running Derek? Without going back through the thread if I remember right you've got the ST MAXXs on this don't you? How many miles do you have on them and whats your opinion on them at this point?

I ended up replacing the head gaskets. The heads got sent into the machine shop for a good cleaning and checked for square. I could still see crosshatch in the cylinders so I hope I made the right choice. It ended costing a couple grand in the end.

I am Running Cooper ATPs. They were on the truck when I bought it and I have been wildly impressed. Never once have I thought my tires should have performed better. Even today I was in deep mud tuts left behind from a stuck rig. My truck pulled through with hardly any slipping. In short if you don't want as aggressive of a tire as the ST MAXX I would highly recommend the ATPs

 

[Tonkaman]

Lately I've been hearing my cv axle squeak a bit while turning left, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the squeak became an issue. On a recent adventure up Miller Hill the axle finally decided to give up. When I removed the axle I also found a destroyed wheel bearing with it so I pulled the spindle off to replace the bearing.

GOOD THING I DID!! Two of the four bolts that hold the LCA to the spindle were stripped and only holding by 3 threads!! Now I know this story sounds familiar, and that's because I found them the hard way on the other side.



Who ever put this truck together before I did was trying to kill me....

I took the spindle to LHM this morning and they refused to work on it without a VIN, what s PITA! A trip home for the numbers and now it's getting done.

 

[rholbrook]

That sucks Derek. Did the wheel hit your fendor?

 

[Kevin B.]

Is that pic from this weekend, or is that from your earlier LBJ failure?

It's pretty much gospel on the 4Runner sites to always use new hardware and loctite on those lower ball joint bolts.

 

[sixstringsteve]

This just reinforces my mantra to never buy a vehicle with a branded title. That sucks man. I lost a lower ball joint on my 1st tacoma and it did $8k of damage. I'm lucky I didn't die.

 

[TRD270]

I suddenly have the urge to go replace my ball joints

 

[sixstringsteve]

it's the 1st thing every tacoma owner should do. Replace them with good, factory toyota parts. Some years of the tacomas had a recall on lower BJs.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

Solid Axle for the win. Another reason I hate IFS. So many parts to break when off road. My last IFS was a Jeep Commander. I was always afraid it was going to blow up on me out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Man, I'd trade my solid axle for IFS any day.

 

[Tonkaman]

To clarify that picture was showing what happened last time. Luckily I found the weak spot before that happened this time.

Can anyone tell me what would cause my rotor to wear this way?


The outboard side is perfect and only the outer 1" is worn on the inboard side. The pads aren't wearing funny either. Could it just have been mud in the pads? I never heard any grinding

 

[jeeper]

Solid Axle for the win. Another reason I hate IFS. So many parts to break when off road. My last IFS was a Jeep Commander. I was always afraid it was going to blow up on me out in the middle of nowhere.

After my multiple year fight with Death Wobble in our Jeep, I am happy to have the IFS on our Expy and Colorado for now. Lift options however are much less desirable for the IFS vehicles..