What are you working on today?

[D60]

Finally finished up the left rear door latch on the '01 SportTrac. Moving linkages from old to the new SheeMar:

I was able to do this on the lift as it was a rear door. First time I've ever done in-door work on my feet and wow that's nice!!

I also replaced the outer handle as they're failure prone and it was stressed from a failing latch mechanism. The outer handle is retained with two rivets under the handle itself. I have the appropriate rivets but opted to turn down a couple 1/4-20 HHCSs:

If security is a concern (ya know, for all those thieves that are gonna surgically remove a rear door handle from a super desirable 2001 SportTrac), a thief is not gonna know what to do with this:

The left rear axle seal was leaking and she wanted it replaced:

I happened to have another Chinese LubeLocker copy for the 8.8:

 

[berniedd]

Just doing the regular periodic 12 v charging on my cars with the trusty ol' external dumb charger.

 

[D60]

Just doing the regular periodic 12 v charging on my cars with the trusty ol' external dumb charger.

First World problems!!

 

[Kennedy01]

I've done a bunch of link bars this week, including today, and honestly don't remember what else I did this week at work. Yesterday I was off so I caught up on some laundry, ran the generators and got some exercise. Think I might have a cold

 

[meep]

I got the tires pumped up on my new Volvo and took it for a quick spin before pulling it in for the night. All things considered, I'm quite happy with the purchase! The interior needs a deep clean and a few cosmetic repairs, but it was a non-smoker car which is huge. The steering wheel is cocked about 30 degrees to the left, it looks like the LF strut took a bit of a whack in the collision but that's an easy fix. At 100k, it could use struts and mounts regardless of their current condition.

It'll need tires for sure, it's wearing a mismatched set of '19 dated Altimax RT43's up front and ANCIENT (circa 2011) Goodyear Assurance's on the rear. Looks like another set of Kumho LX Plat's are in my future, after the suspension is repaired. The center exhaust resonator is rotten at the seams and a little raspy, I've already got a mid-pipe coming that cost me a whopping $35 shipped from eBay.

There's a bit more damage down the left side than I'd seen in the Copart pictures, but it's minor and a good buffing should make the entire car look 10 times better than it does now. I love a good detail day, so I should have my hands full come spring.

The underside is extremely clean for the age and mileage, something that's far from guaranteed here in the Midwest. There's a tiny seep from the turbo oil drain where it enters the pan, and what looks to be a small power steering seep at the pump inlet but otherwise it's dry as a bone. The air filter looks new, drive belt looks new, and I was happy to see a Continental timing belt kit had been installed ~35k ago.

Without further ado:
View attachment 317823View attachment 317824View attachment 317825View attachment 317826

Left fender is likely what totaled it. There aren’t aftermarket bumpers available for these last time I checked a decade ago, so it’s oem only. I’m still thrilled for you.

The power steering reservoir is a known leak/seap point. Dealer will ask over $600. FCP euro probably asks 250. Balk at the dealer about this and they will tell you that fcp euro only gets the “seconds” while the dealer network gets the premium units.

Suspensions on these are nice to work on. Generally lots of room to get around. Pretty sure sachs is the oem on the struts.

Pull the dress cover off the plugs and take a quick look at the rubber PCV fitting under there, make sure it’s in tact. Move to synthetic oil now, and I’d recommend half a can of seafoam in the crankcase for the next 10-15k miles to rejuvenate the flame trap if it’s still in working shape. Pentosin fluid only in the steering.

You can put the police spec battery in the trunk - it has mount holes for the larger H sizes. Maybe H7?

 

[meep]

added 5/8” spring spacers (machined AL, not rubber) to the taco axle to compensate for the bed rack and other accessories I’ve bolted on or carry. Basically restored to oem height. I really like the coil suspension on the new tacomas. Very similar to the 08 JGC/WK. jeep was a touch easier only because the brake lines had more room to droop.

Realized my two new LipoFe4 batteries are two large for my used ammo can by maybe 1/2”. Sad. Trying to build a power supply for car camping this year.

Supposed to do brakes for a friend tomorrow, but I’m feeling a bit sore.

 

[clinebarger]

Got the 10L80 built....What a Sh**show acquiring all the parts needed!!

 

[ripcord]

added 5/8” spring spacers (machined AL, not rubber) to the taco axle to compensate for the bed rack and other accessories I’ve bolted on or carry. Basically restored to oem height. I really like the coil suspension on the new tacomas. Very similar to the 08 JGC/WK. jeep was a touch easier only because the brake lines had more room to droop.

Realized my two new LipoFe4 batteries are two large for my used ammo can by maybe 1/2”. Sad. Trying to build a power supply for car camping this year.

Supposed to do brakes for a friend tomorrow, but I’m feeling a bit sore.

I just got a trolling battery box and added a USB charging port and a cigarette lighter socket to it. I padded the inside of the box with foam to keep the battery in place. A 100ah battery is plenty to charge lights, cell phones and other electronics for a weekend of car camping, so I didn't feel the need to add charging. I have cigarette lighter powered adapters for all our laptops, so don't need 120V inverters.

 

[meep]

I just got a trolling battery box and added a USB charging port and a cigarette lighter socket to it. I padded the inside of the box with foam to keep the battery in place. A 100ah battery is plenty to charge lights, cell phones and other electronics for a weekend of car camping, so I didn't feel the need to add charging. I have cigarette lighter powered adapters for all our laptops, so don't need 120V inverters.

The new lipofe batteries carry so much more power in them, in about half the space. Yours sounds most excellent!

 

[Kennedy01]

Today I did some work on a neighbor's 98 Chevy 1500. Radiator, upper and lower hoses, oil change, greased front end and replaced fuel filter.

 

[D60]

2006 Hummer H3 now with 244k mi and still hanging on. He had hit a deer so we pulled the factory brush guard out with my tractor. Then had to piece the grille mounting structure back together with hot staples.

Installed Eagle Eyes headlights which were even worse than I've come to expect from Eagle Eyes. These were really not fit for the purpose as we had to perform two plastic repairs despite no damage to the shipping boxes. We had no time to return them but seriously folks: don't buy anything branded as Eagle Eyes.

In my defense, I had previously had a Come-to-Jesus discussion with the owner and encouraged him to pay for CAPA certified Depos, but he reasoned another deer collision is likely and wanted inexpensive.

We also replaced the water pump, thermostat, belt tensioner, belt, and pressed new bearings into the idler pulley. The idler uses TWO 6203s pressed back-to-back -- never seen this before

The thermostat on the 3.5 comes in an Al neck and is buried behind the alternator, in the lower rad hose. We opted to pull the left inner fender:

 

[wander2039]

Cleaning up the cars at dads. I bought this 20 years ago for the motor. Have some windows to put in it, like to store parts in it. The 86 F150 is next for bringing back to life then the Aspire going to scrap.

 

[D60]

Went down a DEEP rabbit hole with idler pulley bearings in a '17 Taco 3.5

These "upper" idlers use 6302RMX bearings which are 10x44x16mm.

What's absolutely maddening is that there are also 6302RMX -- that's right, the same part number -- that are 15x42x13. Not kidding.

What's the point of part numbers if they can vary significantly in dimensions?!?!?

Apparently the 6302RMX was initially made just for Toyota. Now, this '17 Tacoma has 91k miles and both upper idlers need bearings. Sorry folks, but a quality 6203 or 6303 can -- and regularly do -- last longer than this. So, why exactly did Toyota need to reinvent the wheel???

 

[ripcord]

Went down a DEEP rabbit hole with idler pulley bearings in a '17 Taco 3.5

These "upper" idlers use 6302RMX bearings which are 10x44x16mm.

What's absolutely maddening is that there are also 6302RMX -- that's right, the same part number -- that are 15x42x13. Not kidding.

What's the point of part numbers if they can vary significantly in dimensions?!?!?

Apparently the 6302RMX was initially made just for Toyota. Now, this '17 Tacoma has 91k miles and both upper idlers need bearings. Sorry folks, but a quality 6203 or 6303 can -- and regularly do -- last longer than this. So, why exactly did Toyota need to reinvent the wheel???

 

[Elkins45]

It’s not particularly interesting but I swapped tires and wheels between my two Scions. The 09 one had nice alloys with newer Goodyears and I wanted them on the 12 before I put the 09 up for sale. Having two jacks and a cordless impact wrench sure made the job a lot easier.

 

[Creekside]

Been working on the foundation for a Quonset building I bought to store some of our farm equipment in. I’m using 2x2x4 concrete blocks and pouring another 12” of concrete on top of them since the blocks vary in size slightly. This was substantially cheaper than hiring a contractor to pour a traditional foundation like the building calls for.

 

[wings&wheels]

New fangled tech....

Put a quick 30K on the Land Cruiser and time to service the high voltage battery cooling duct filters. They are two reuseable filters behind panels under the rearmost cupholders/arm rests where the 3rd row seats would be. Remove the filters, reverse vacuum and replace. Clever use of the armrests.

 

[D60]

Went down a DEEP rabbit hole with idler pulley bearings in a '17 Taco 3.5

These "upper" idlers use 6302RMX bearings which are 10x44x16mm.

What's absolutely maddening is that there are also 6302RMX -- that's right, the same part number -- that are 15x42x13. Not kidding.

What's the point of part numbers if they can vary significantly in dimensions?!?!?

Apparently the 6302RMX was initially made just for Toyota. Now, this '17 Tacoma has 91k miles and both upper idlers need bearings. Sorry folks, but a quality 6203 or 6303 can -- and regularly do -- last longer than this. So, why exactly did Toyota need to reinvent the wheel???

Quoting myself and continuing my tirade, I was annoyed the Murray pulleys from O'Reilly were $60 commercial ($76 retail) and fully expected Chinese. I needed them NOW, so B&M it was.

I was very surprised to find Litens in the box! So, at least that's something. Additionally, these use a near-universal 6203 with reducer, so in the future you can just press in a ~$7 readily available bearing and be done! What a genius idea (I'm looking at you Toyota!!!): use a common bearing used successfully for decades on millions of belt drives, clutches, alternators and more.

I'd hazard that 85% of the cars on the road have a 6203 in use somewhere in the vehicle. Not a joke (but, really, not a joke)!

Left to right: OEM pulley where I pressed the bearing out to verify dims of 10x44x16mm, the other OEM pulley also going bad, and the new Murray/Litens with ID reducer.

I'd argue this is an upgrade akin to solid lugnuts, and recommend every Toyota owner with the 44mm OD bearing cross the street to sanity-ville with 6203s.

@slacktide_bitog

 

[Pablo]

The Van

 

[berniedd]

Just finished a 4-tire rotation on the Audi Q5. Front to back, back to fronts.