As seen in Toyota Trails!
Various articles written here have been published in TLCA's Toyota Trails magazine and on their website. After roaming around our site, click on the magazines to visit TLCA.
Trail Fixes
Plugging Tires
No I am not trying to sell some new tires. The plugging I am talking about involves the repair of holes caused by less than desirable objects penetrating the tire. I just thought about this recently because I was doing some routine maintenance (translation: washing the mud off my rig) and found that object in the first picture in my spare. Who knows how long it had been there. It was deeply embedded between the lugs of my KM2’s. What may also surprise you is that the shiny blunt aluminum end was to the inside while only a 1/4 in of the pointy steel end was sticking out. And just so you know, some of the other pics are a junk tire I had in the backyard because I didn’t remember to take pics as I did the fix on my tire….
Broken Bolts
By Tony K
It happens to all of us. Sometimes it’s not directly our fault but we have to fix them none the less. But don’t panic, even on the trail, as the fix is not that far away.
Quick Fixes
By Tony K and Eric B
Sometimes you just have to get your rig rolling again without making the complete or even proper repair. Sometimes it’s just to get off the trail and out of the way and other times it is done so you can get home. These are a few of the ones we have had to make and others that we have seen done or been part of.
Helpful Hints
By Eric B and Tony K
These are things that you may find helpful and just might not have thought of prior to making a huge mess.
Bend a little foil trough for draining the radiator into a bucket. Works great and easy to collect the water compared to letting it run off the frame!
Wheel Bearing Preload
By Tony K
I will be the first one to tell you to trust the FSM but there are times when even I do things my own way. This is one of the minor deviations I take from the FSM. I don’t use a scale to check preload on the front (or rear) wheel bearings.
Right up until I tighten the bearings down I follow the FSM to the letter. Now comes the easy part.