JLee's '99 Tacoma build thread

[tortillasoup]

Interesting. Good to know - so there's factory sealant in the throttle body instead of regular gaskets?

nope, just a regular metal gasket that is reusable.

 

[jlee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghCLSdozaX8

 

[XavierMace]

I feel left out.

 

[jlee]

I feel left out.

You scrape going into driveways...I think you'd have had some major clearance issues.

 

[XavierMace]

Pfft, we've got two Troopers at the house.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Badass

 

[jlee]

I have a friend who wants to learn how to build bumpers. He's offered to fund materials if we can practice by making some for the Tacoma.



:awe:

Side note, ordered a new TPS today...I've had an intermittent CEL for a year or so now. Time to fix it.

 

[jlee]

So, to catch this thread up... I replaced the TPS months ago, replaced the front marker lights (one was broken, $11 on RockAuto made both sides new), replaced the fuel pump last weekend, and have decided on my next project.

I had an assortment of car audio stuff kicking around - Infinity Kappa Five amp, Infinity Kappa Perfect 6.1 components, a 10" Dayton sub in a small box, some KnuKonceptz 4ga wire, super crazy shielded RCA's, and 50ft of speaker wire.

I ordered a set of 4Runner Limited sail panels (set up for tweeters - they replace the blank/flat panels I have now), 12ft of red 4ga cable, and a package of RAAMmat. I was very impressed with the guy at RAAMmat - I emailed him this morning and had a response within an hour. Several emails went back and forth, I placed an order ($165 for enough material to do my doors and the back of the cab), and got a shipping notification shortly thereafter. Excellent service.

I daily the Tacoma, so I thought I'd put all this extra audio stuff to use and install some sound deadening while I have everything apart. I've never used sound deadening before, but reviews are really good - less ambient/road noise and better quality out of the audio system. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

[NutBucket]

It really makes a huge difference. I did the full treatment to the doors of the WRX and they close with a nice *thud* like an expensive car. Sound quality improved noticeably too. But I will say it seems (because it is) backwards to invest in sound deadening when you have a loud exhaust on a car.

 

[jlee]

It really makes a huge difference. I did the full treatment to the doors of the WRX and they close with a nice *thud* like an expensive car. Sound quality improved noticeably too. But I will say it seems (because it is) backwards to invest in sound deadening when you have a loud exhaust on a car.

Heh, yeah the MR2 doesn't have any. :awe:

 

[NutBucket]

Well, after nearly a decade of a loud exhaust my wife requested something more subtle. I have it in the garage...maybe I'll install it this weekend. For the record it's her car.

 

[jlee]

Properly installing the bluetooth microphone for my head unit - it's been hanging in a sloppy mess for far too long:

Stripping the interior for the RAAMmat install:

Apparently the Arizona heat melted the adhesive on the plastic sheeting that covers those holes in the body, lol. It's a bit louder driving around with no interior behind the seats - I'm curious to see how much of a difference there is when I am done.

 

[T2urtle]

How is raammat? I never installed anything like it and I want to consider doing my floor under the carpet

 

[jlee]

How is raammat? I never installed anything like it and I want to consider doing my floor under the carpet

All the reviews I've read say it's excellent - I will let you know soon. It should be here today.

I doubt I'll be able to get the whole install finished this week (going to Canada for the weekend), but hopefully by next weekend it'll all be done.

Edit: My ABS light has been on for a while - found diagnostic info: http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/brake10.pdf

Going to do that today after I replace the battery (hard start this morning and on lunch...it's ~3.5 years old, time to go!).

 

[jlee]

New battery!

I've finished taking the truck apart for the RAAMmat, with the exception of the door panels. I'm still driving the truck and I can't put new speakers in until it's here, so I'm going to hold off on that (plus they only take a few minutes to remove).

I was going by this article - http://www.customtacos.com/tech/index.php?print=25 (don't click and hit enter, because it opens a print page), which mentions holding the tweeters in with packing tape.

Yeah..., not gonna do that, so I'm going to figure something out before that part of the install happens.

I may call it a night for now and resume next week, because I can't do much else until the mat is here (unless I start installing the amp, but it's a lil dark out now anyway).

 

[DominionSeraph]

Sound deadening is nice. I Quick Roof'ed my trunk to stop the exterior buzzing and it quieted things down. There was some slight road noise leaking in from back there that I didn't notice until it was gone.

 

[jlee]

Sound deadening is nice. I Quick Roof'ed my trunk to stop the exterior buzzing and it quieted things down. There was some slight road noise leaking in from back there that I didn't notice until it was gone.

Nice! My truck used to have a LOT of wind noise, but the top of the driver's door wasn't sealing. I fixed that and it's better, but it's still loud.

I cleaned the back of the truck in preparation for the matting (it was bad...looked like a dust storm happened inside) and ran the power wire for the amp (drilled a hole about an inch away from a factory grommet/wire bundle location and ran the wire with a rubber grommet - I didn't want to destroy the OEM one, as they have a tendency to split if you put too large of a hole in them). It's not yet connected to the battery, and the tail end is coiled up under the driver's seat waiting for me to finish. Pulling the head unit doesn't take long at all, so running the RCA's shouldn't be a big deal. I think the worst part remaining is going to be running speaker wire through the doors. Matting the doors shouldn't be a big deal, and the whole back of the truck is already apart so hopefully that part will go fairly quickly.

 

[jlee]

For the first time in over a week, I finally have (most of) an evening free (and no "outside" plans for the entire weekend), so a lot should get done.

I picked up a sheet of scrap aluminum ($1.62, lol) to cover up the holes in the interior metal panels, over which I'll put RAAMMat and Ensolite. Hopefully it'll all be done by Friday night or mid-day Saturday.

 

[jlee]

The back is all done and reassembled. I can already notice a substantial difference in noise just driving over the sidewalk curb at the end of my driveway; what used to be a decent thunk is now a muffled thud.

Hopefully, everything else will be done tonight! I have to sound deaden the doors, wire/install the speakers and crossovers, run RCA's to the amp location, and figure out how to secure the amp under the driver's seat.

 

[jlee]

Mostly done! I ran out of mat so I couldn't do the doors (just added some to the inside of the outside door skin). I need to order a few more sheets so I can seal the inside of the doors, then cover it with Ensolite (closed cell foam).

I have to pull the driver's seat and run my amp wiring through the carpet (right now it's going down the door sill and I can't replace the sill trim), but everything is installed and working. I need a bigger box for the sub - it's only a little Dayton 10", but the box is TINY and it is sounding really weak.