What did you do with your truck this week? (4 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Now that its dark I did a trip around the block to test out the new LED headlight conversion. I am very pleased! My night vision isn't the greatest and these lights help sharpen my view. I even easily saw a herd of deer, my first deer sighting since I moved here. Perhaps they've been there all along, I just couldn't see them. On a scale of 1-10 I give this mod a 10+
 
@Twinair Are there any downsides to the LEDs that you know of? I tried to look it up but could only find outdated information on them.
I can't think of any downsides other than initial cost. I went from 1200 lumens to 4000 lumens. The electrical load is substantially reduced according to my scangauge. The 80 factory wiring for the headlights is known to cause voltage drop and many install the updated harness from Slee. The spectrum of the light is much cooler than the dull yellow of the factory halogen. Free shipping and lifetime warranty from Headlight Experts and on sale from $210 to $99 for the low beams. Same deal for the high beams
 
So funny story..

Finished up the timing belt and water pump job on the LX. It was satisfying hearing the engine roar to life, confirming those timing marks were in fact lined up right.

The cooling system with filled with distilled water only, to test and give one final flush before adding Toyota Red. But after running the truck for a few minutes, I began to notice lots of water dripping. :eek: My satisfaction quickly turned to dread as I pondered the source of failure.

Did I mess up the water pump gasket during installation? I know I installed that very carefully and torqued everything to spec.
Maybe the Aisin kit I bought off Amazon was really some cheap Chinese knockoff?

I had a drink and took some time to think. Surely I was at fault somehow. After some deliberation I realized the mostly likely candidate was the FIPG gasket between the thermostat housing and water pump inlet.

Yup, sure enough, I had used the wrong Toyota sealant (00295-00103), and failed to use enough of it. Turns out the correct Toyota FIPG is 08826-00100, but at $60 I just picked up some Permatex locally instead.

After a more generous application of Permatex and allowing a full 24 hours to cure, the system is working properly.
 
So pumped right now (see what I did there?). After borrowing inflators on the last 2 outings, I had to remedy my situation.

@Trollhole, I sent you a facebook message too since my iphone is dead. No rush, just had a question. Can get in touch with you a different way if you prefer. Thanks!

IMG_1208.JPG
 
Last edited:
Fixed a bunch of small things on the LX:

• Window lock switch wasn't working. I found that the mechanism has to be continously engaged to enable the window lock. Something with the plastic switch is worn and not applying enough pressure or depth. Rigged up an interim solution using a piece of motorcycle gas tank vent hose. (My kids were driving us nuts cycling the power windows)

• Fixed a rattle caused by a missing bolt on the rooftop luggage rack cross bar

• Fixed a clicking noise by removing gravel stuck in two tires. I was worried the sound might be drive train related. So it was nice to get an easy win.

• Replaced one wheel lock lug nut with a standard nut. Some hamfist had sheared the lug key off inside, rendering it unusable.

• Found the spare was flat and the stupid security key was missing for that. So removed the entire assembly and pried that security key out. Pumped up the spare which can now be lowered using the regular hook.

I should probably start a build thread in the 100 section.
 
Check your spare pressure again in a week or so. Both my 80 and Sequoia had beads go bad due to some minor corrosion on the rim. The Sequoia was obvious but the 80 was such a slow leak I didnt notice until prepping for GSMTR even though I had inflated in November.
 
Bout 600 miles with almost 100 offroad. Found even more dead ends and gates and even had a crotchety old man wave a gun at me. Picked a few points of interest on the map and tried connexting them via dotted lines. Kinda worked.

Breakfast on the banks of big Laurel creek. Hurricane nc.
IMG_2301.JPG


Crashed a ham radio competition in TN. I think they were all a little deflated that I drove all the way to the base of the tower LOL They had drug wagons full of gear up the mountain and then lugged it up to the tower
IMG_2244.JPG
 
Last minute scramble to get my rig ready for a 2 week trek out west. Had it in the body shop to replace the inner fenders and core support and of course they took longer than scheduled to complete the work, which pretty much left this past weekend for me to square everything away. I had removed my bumper and all accessories from the engine bay before dropping it off, so lots to put back... Remounted my winch with a new synth rope from SEO. Refitted my front bumper. Rewired and mounted my Extreme Air compressor. Rewired the ARB fridge.

Then got a loaner RTT and awning from ACC's trailer mounted to my roof rack. Frantic weekend. Still a bit more to do before we head out this weekend.

IMG_2603.JPG
IMG_2612.JPG
 
Bout 600 miles with almost 100 offroad. Found even more dead ends and gates and even had a crotchety old man wave a gun at me. Picked a few points of interest on the map and tried connexting them via dotted lines. Kinda worked. [/ATTACH]

Jason, that "crotchety old man" was probably your cousin. Next time, just tell them you are a direct descendant of a Shelton Laurel native -- the gun play will end and you will be invited over for dinner.
 
Howdy stranger. Hope you have been well.

Well as luck would have it I was up there for the Shelton family reunion that weekend and turns out one of the cousins does know him and was gonna go have a word with him about all that ;)

Small world....... and a really big family.....with a history for retaliation lol

IMG_2382.JPG
 
Last edited:
Hey Jason, doing great. Just keeping a low online profile in the last few years as work intensifies the closer I get to retirement. Will be a real pest when retirement hits in 2019. Still have a garage full of Toyotas and even more bikes. Plan on combining the 2 when retirement hits: 100 series with rooftop tent, bike rack on back, camping and riding mid-rail trail. Hey to cousin Jerry.
 
Paid Proffitt yesterday! Get the GX back like a boss. Flying into Montrose and they are dropping the truck, then off to Ouray for the Summit!
 
IMG_2545.JPG
IMG_2491.JPG
Took advantage of the prime day sale and finally picked up some new led headlights. Old vs. new Sorry about the crappy cell pics
 
What's up all you cruiserheads! Finally got the 60 back running today, about a month ago went to go drive it and she would never turn over. So I poured some gas in the card and she started up till the gas burned off. Hooked up a line to the fuel filter and put in a gas tank to see if it would suck gas up, nothing, bad fuel pump. Bought one this weekend from Marshall and put it in today, poured some gas in the carb and she fired right up and ran. So now onto the next step of replacing the tie rod ends this weekend!
 
What's up all you cruiserheads! Finally got the 60 back running today, about a month ago went to go drive it and she would never turn over. So I poured some gas in the card and she started up till the gas burned off. Hooked up a line to the fuel filter and put in a gas tank to see if it would suck gas up, nothing, bad fuel pump. Bought one this weekend from Marshall and put it in today, poured some gas in the carb and she fired right up and ran. So now onto the next step of replacing the tie rod ends this weekend!
Bought time you showef up!
 
IMG_4224.JPG
IMG_4225.JPG
IMG_4223.JPG
Well a small accomplishement this afternoon, washed the old girl finally. I don't think she's been washed since last OTMT or before and then it was parked under a pine tree for the past year...black s*** and sap, gonna get some of that Awesome soap from the doll hair tree and clean that crap off this weekend. Pressure washer did wonders though, maybe one day she'll get a new coat of paint!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom