Something for the new folks
11-06-2008, 03:24 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Something for the new folks
I've been wanting to do this for a while so here goes.
Lets see.... you just picked up a neat little 1986 or newer Toyota and are standing in the driveway with a couple of buddies, tilting your beverage of choice and one of them says "So what are you plans with it?". This is usually the beginning of a long build with several decisions along the way. The most important decision you make is to log on to Yotatech and start bombing the locals with questions, most of which have been answered several times. Before you do that though you need to step back and make a concrete decision on what you want to do with your rig. Shall it be a daily driver? Rock demon? Camping rig? Survival rig??? Each of these has different requirements and modifications but they all start with a few simple steps.
The first thing you need to do after picking the direction you want to go with it is make sure it's maintained. No matter what your end result is going to be you need to take care of some things first. Start by checking and changing all the fluids and I mean ALL of them. Lots of folks are great about oil and water but never think to check the tranny/t-case/differentials. If this is the case with the previous owner of your truck then you need to step up and take care of these things.
You also need to look at the miles on the rig, figure out if it's had the crap beat out of it or was owned by an elderly person that drove it to church twice a month and then parked it and decide what other components need to be changed. What I mean here are things like the timing chain, oil and water pumps, belts and hoses. Let us not forget hidden things like ball joints, bushings, bumpstops, CV boots and U joints. Some of these things can cause huge headaches if not maintained.
Now the best way to do these things is (in my opinion) to first take it to the car wash, after you're sure that the fluids in it will get it there and back, and wash off as much of the drivetrain as you can. This will tell you rather quickly if you have leaks and where they are for the most part. Take it back home and crawl under it with a pile of shop rags and some brake cleaner and start cleaning. This also makes it nice to work in since it's clean. Now begin searching here for how to change all of this stuff and for Gods sake don't take it to a dealer, do it yourself and learn. Lets say you're one of the lucky few and have no leaks well now it's time to pull the drain plugs and replace all the juices and filters. Once that's done lets take a look at that front end. Check the ball joints for excessive play and if they need to be replaced then do so. Go buy a pickle fork and the new ball joints and be sure to keep the old ones that way if you break a new one you have replacements. Even if a part has 300,000 miles on it it will still work better than a broken part. While you're under there take a look at the U joints and do the same remembering to keep a couple as spares. Then grease the entire thing.
Now that the front end, fluids and U joints are done I recommend you drive it for a few weeks to let any bugs work out that might not have been apparent at first. During this time you're going to be thinking about tires, a lift, lockers, bumpers, chrome (yuck) etc..... Before you buy you need to decide on what the end result will be, I'll mention this again at least once.
For the sake of arguements lets focus on a daily driver and weekend camping rig/survival build. Lots of folks on here go this route and many of the questions we see are related to this sort of build. So with that in mind you'll need to pick some upgrades. My advice is to lift only as high as you need and go only as big as you want to make the rig go where you point it.
Now that you have the rig running like new, or as close as you can get it with that many miles on it, lets start looking at some upgrades. Everyone wants new tires and rims...... do you need them? If so then lets break down the gearing needs for different size tires. 31 inch tires like 4.56 gears, 33's like 4.88's and 35's like 5.29's. For a camping rig you probably don't need anything bigger than 31's and since you can get them in a 10.50 you can keep the stock rims, money saved for other things. Now do you need mud tires? All terrains? Boggers??? Try to pick something that will work in most of the situations that you'll encounter. No tire works everywhere but some do better than most. What I mean here is that a rig used for chasing sharks down at the Texas beach will need different tires than one used in Colorado chasing trout. Depending on the money you have available you might go with some high end BFG's or if you're broke like I am you'll get a set of retreads (do a search for them under the name Treadwright). Be sure and get a full sized spare, really.
Ok you've chosen your tires in a 31 inch height and now need gears. The best way to do this is buy some third members in the gear ratio you need and swap them in. Of course you'll need to check them for wear. Fear not though because you can refresh the carrier bearing preload via gearinstalls.com and make that 200,000 mile rear diff as tight as new, and if ZUK could do this with wives he be a millionare. Now take it out to your favorite camping area and try it out. Does it do well? If so then congrats! If not then what issues did you have? Did you pick a tire and have to stop? Do you think you need a locker? If so then read further young yotawan all will be made clear.
Lockers...... WOW there's a whole pile of stuff just waiting to be dug into. You will get lots of opinions for every locker out there. ARB are nice but pricey and require an air source. Electric lockers are great but have wires. Lunchbox lockers are inexpensive but have issues as well. This is something that you'll have to decide on with regards to budget and your skills at installing them. I went with an Aussie because it was inexpensive and I could install it in a couple of hours in the driveway. Lets say you've picked a locker and got it put in. Now go drive your rig. How did it do? Did you get farther than last time? What made you stop? Worried about body damage?
Rock armour...... Get some. Period. A good set of bumpers with tow hooks and some added clearance for approach and departure will get you a lot farther. Also consider some sliders to protect the rocker panels. Now drive the rig again, same questions as before.
Oh so now you want a lift? Why am I not surprised..... There are several out there and please do some research before you buy. Once again I need to stress that you only lift as much as you need to. If you're lifting it for a little more ground clearance then go with enough to level the back end plus about an inch. Then you can use ball joint spacers to lift the front level as well. Now go drive it.......... Well? How did it do?
One more thing to think about. Recovery gear, you need some. Now a winch is nice but good Lord that's a chunk of change. Lets start with a recovery strap, a highlift jack, some gloves and a shovel. The strap will help your friend pull you out when you get stuck, did I forget to mention NEVER WHEEL ALONE!!!!!!!! Now that you have some gear you and your friend need to take your rigs and go out and get into the worst possible spot that you can (without killing anyone) and get yourselves back out again. Now you both know what you can and can't do. This will help a whole lot later on down the road, it's called experience.
Now the rig is ready and it's time to start adding things to make your life easier when you camp. If you pull a camper then you're set. If not then you can do some things to make your rig a ready made home away from home. The 4runner is far superior in this respect since it's enclosed and you can pack gear in the rear, pull it out when you find a camping spot, and sleep in the back. If you have a truck you can buy a truck tent or a camper shell, I got mine with a shell so this is what I know.
Build a camping box. Here is a great link on this site, post 68 is mine and deals with a box for a truck. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f172...l#post50934560
Now go camping. How did things work? Were you warm? Did the rig go where you wanted? Break anything??
Although this isn't a total comprehensive guide to what everyone wants to do I feel it may help a few of you. Thank you for reading.
Ricky.
Lets see.... you just picked up a neat little 1986 or newer Toyota and are standing in the driveway with a couple of buddies, tilting your beverage of choice and one of them says "So what are you plans with it?". This is usually the beginning of a long build with several decisions along the way. The most important decision you make is to log on to Yotatech and start bombing the locals with questions, most of which have been answered several times. Before you do that though you need to step back and make a concrete decision on what you want to do with your rig. Shall it be a daily driver? Rock demon? Camping rig? Survival rig??? Each of these has different requirements and modifications but they all start with a few simple steps.
The first thing you need to do after picking the direction you want to go with it is make sure it's maintained. No matter what your end result is going to be you need to take care of some things first. Start by checking and changing all the fluids and I mean ALL of them. Lots of folks are great about oil and water but never think to check the tranny/t-case/differentials. If this is the case with the previous owner of your truck then you need to step up and take care of these things.
You also need to look at the miles on the rig, figure out if it's had the crap beat out of it or was owned by an elderly person that drove it to church twice a month and then parked it and decide what other components need to be changed. What I mean here are things like the timing chain, oil and water pumps, belts and hoses. Let us not forget hidden things like ball joints, bushings, bumpstops, CV boots and U joints. Some of these things can cause huge headaches if not maintained.
Now the best way to do these things is (in my opinion) to first take it to the car wash, after you're sure that the fluids in it will get it there and back, and wash off as much of the drivetrain as you can. This will tell you rather quickly if you have leaks and where they are for the most part. Take it back home and crawl under it with a pile of shop rags and some brake cleaner and start cleaning. This also makes it nice to work in since it's clean. Now begin searching here for how to change all of this stuff and for Gods sake don't take it to a dealer, do it yourself and learn. Lets say you're one of the lucky few and have no leaks well now it's time to pull the drain plugs and replace all the juices and filters. Once that's done lets take a look at that front end. Check the ball joints for excessive play and if they need to be replaced then do so. Go buy a pickle fork and the new ball joints and be sure to keep the old ones that way if you break a new one you have replacements. Even if a part has 300,000 miles on it it will still work better than a broken part. While you're under there take a look at the U joints and do the same remembering to keep a couple as spares. Then grease the entire thing.
Now that the front end, fluids and U joints are done I recommend you drive it for a few weeks to let any bugs work out that might not have been apparent at first. During this time you're going to be thinking about tires, a lift, lockers, bumpers, chrome (yuck) etc..... Before you buy you need to decide on what the end result will be, I'll mention this again at least once.
For the sake of arguements lets focus on a daily driver and weekend camping rig/survival build. Lots of folks on here go this route and many of the questions we see are related to this sort of build. So with that in mind you'll need to pick some upgrades. My advice is to lift only as high as you need and go only as big as you want to make the rig go where you point it.
Now that you have the rig running like new, or as close as you can get it with that many miles on it, lets start looking at some upgrades. Everyone wants new tires and rims...... do you need them? If so then lets break down the gearing needs for different size tires. 31 inch tires like 4.56 gears, 33's like 4.88's and 35's like 5.29's. For a camping rig you probably don't need anything bigger than 31's and since you can get them in a 10.50 you can keep the stock rims, money saved for other things. Now do you need mud tires? All terrains? Boggers??? Try to pick something that will work in most of the situations that you'll encounter. No tire works everywhere but some do better than most. What I mean here is that a rig used for chasing sharks down at the Texas beach will need different tires than one used in Colorado chasing trout. Depending on the money you have available you might go with some high end BFG's or if you're broke like I am you'll get a set of retreads (do a search for them under the name Treadwright). Be sure and get a full sized spare, really.
Ok you've chosen your tires in a 31 inch height and now need gears. The best way to do this is buy some third members in the gear ratio you need and swap them in. Of course you'll need to check them for wear. Fear not though because you can refresh the carrier bearing preload via gearinstalls.com and make that 200,000 mile rear diff as tight as new, and if ZUK could do this with wives he be a millionare. Now take it out to your favorite camping area and try it out. Does it do well? If so then congrats! If not then what issues did you have? Did you pick a tire and have to stop? Do you think you need a locker? If so then read further young yotawan all will be made clear.
Lockers...... WOW there's a whole pile of stuff just waiting to be dug into. You will get lots of opinions for every locker out there. ARB are nice but pricey and require an air source. Electric lockers are great but have wires. Lunchbox lockers are inexpensive but have issues as well. This is something that you'll have to decide on with regards to budget and your skills at installing them. I went with an Aussie because it was inexpensive and I could install it in a couple of hours in the driveway. Lets say you've picked a locker and got it put in. Now go drive your rig. How did it do? Did you get farther than last time? What made you stop? Worried about body damage?
Rock armour...... Get some. Period. A good set of bumpers with tow hooks and some added clearance for approach and departure will get you a lot farther. Also consider some sliders to protect the rocker panels. Now drive the rig again, same questions as before.
Oh so now you want a lift? Why am I not surprised..... There are several out there and please do some research before you buy. Once again I need to stress that you only lift as much as you need to. If you're lifting it for a little more ground clearance then go with enough to level the back end plus about an inch. Then you can use ball joint spacers to lift the front level as well. Now go drive it.......... Well? How did it do?
One more thing to think about. Recovery gear, you need some. Now a winch is nice but good Lord that's a chunk of change. Lets start with a recovery strap, a highlift jack, some gloves and a shovel. The strap will help your friend pull you out when you get stuck, did I forget to mention NEVER WHEEL ALONE!!!!!!!! Now that you have some gear you and your friend need to take your rigs and go out and get into the worst possible spot that you can (without killing anyone) and get yourselves back out again. Now you both know what you can and can't do. This will help a whole lot later on down the road, it's called experience.
Now the rig is ready and it's time to start adding things to make your life easier when you camp. If you pull a camper then you're set. If not then you can do some things to make your rig a ready made home away from home. The 4runner is far superior in this respect since it's enclosed and you can pack gear in the rear, pull it out when you find a camping spot, and sleep in the back. If you have a truck you can buy a truck tent or a camper shell, I got mine with a shell so this is what I know.
Build a camping box. Here is a great link on this site, post 68 is mine and deals with a box for a truck. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f172...l#post50934560
Now go camping. How did things work? Were you warm? Did the rig go where you wanted? Break anything??
Although this isn't a total comprehensive guide to what everyone wants to do I feel it may help a few of you. Thank you for reading.
Ricky.
11-06-2008, 04:04 PM
#4
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Temecula Valley, CA
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The rumor is just the bait.
Once you bite, you're hooked. You'll need coke, meth, thc and then a 350 (or maybe 3.4) step program to cure you.
Once you bite, you're hooked. You'll need coke, meth, thc and then a 350 (or maybe 3.4) step program to cure you.
Last edited by abecedarian; 11-06-2008 at 04:06 PM.
11-06-2008, 05:53 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
11-06-2008, 05:59 PM
#7
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Wow you really went all out. Nice job i only do that when i have a big essay lol. hopefully this will help some of the noobs who dont know whats goin on. Very nice write up i went through this about 2 years ago when i got my first truck which was an 86
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11-06-2008, 06:03 PM
#8
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Grew up in S.C.V, So Cal.....now in Hampstead, NC
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11-06-2008, 07:24 PM
#12
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Location: florida.
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2 points boss good post! got a few things to add tho before its perfect then it should be set at the 1st thing every noob sees when he signs up it should be the 1st private message everyone gets when they sign up here... talk to staff about it.. i talk to em all the time when stuff pisses me off!! lol they don't like me all the time.. but i have a Toyota so im still ok! haha good post tho!
11-06-2008, 08:00 PM
#13
Registered User
careful, if you anger the mods, you'll get a perm. ban. (thanks 4mogger!!!) LOL.. god is he the laughing stock of here or what... anyways... had to get that out. GREAT LIST dude, all newbies MUST read, should be a registration requirement. corey, any thoughts?
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