Since the Mojave is in storage for the winter it’s a good time to address some maintenance issues. To be honest, since I bought the truck I haven’t done anything to it other than change the oil a few times and keep the gas tank full. Well I did replace the tires since they were 8 years old and cracking on the sides. Otherwise the truck has provided good service for the two years that I have owned it. It does however have a leak somewhere from the transmission. Nothing major – a drop or two a day.

So a free evening was dedicated to removing the transmission. This particular model truck has a W52 5 speed manual transmission instead of the expected L52. With the transmission out I could see some advantage to the new design. The bellhousing was removable with just a few bolts. The tailshaft housing was removed after taking off the shifter mount, the reverse backup switch, and the speedometer cable pickup. After removing the cover to the intermediate shaft front bearing it was a simple matter to remove two snap rings and the transmission case was separated from the center plate. Now the internal workings of the transmission are fully visible for inspection.

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Specs and Performance:

Truck weighs 2,200lbs. Custom fabricated frame and suspension was built in 2006. From the raised cab floors to the fabricated drag bars….everything was built from scratch.
Full Air Ride suspension. The truck lays on the ground. Doors, bumpers, everything on the ground!
Chrome air tank and compressor located behind cab. Once tank is full goes up and down fast!
Individual switches for the front and one switch for the rear.

Powertrain:
355ci Chevy small block very mild 9 to 1 compression pump gas street motor  estimated 300hp.
block cast # 14010207 makes it a 80-84 yr. with 1.94/1.50 76cc steel heads
Mild street cam pulls hard to 5,700 rpms and has a really nice lope to it.
Aluminum intake with new race 650cfm Holley that will be included with Buy It Now. If not original 650ci carb will be included. Runs great and more responsive just not as pretty.
Full wet nitrous system adjustable up to 150hp. Turn on toggle on dash and is throttle activated.
Shorty hedders with full 2.5inch exhaust. Flowmasters with turndowns.
Aluminum Radiator with electric fan.
15 gallon fuel cell with Holley blue pump and filter. Braided line up to the regulator mounted on firewall.
Battery is mounted in the rear with a batter cut off switch.
Power glide ATI tranny with ATI guts B&M hole shot converter 2800-3000 stall
Narrowed 10 bolt Buick/Pontiac rear end with 31 spline Mosier Axles and C-clip eliminators
4.11 gear rated with a 28inch tall tire with a nice posi unit.
Wildwood Brake master cylinder
Disc brakes in the front and no brakes in the rear.

Smoothie wheels all the way around painted blue with chrome center caps and beauty rings. The rear are 15×10 and have brand new 26×10 Mickey Thompson slicks.

Toyota silver paint base coat clear coat. Painted Nov. 2009. The truck was solid. I have before and after pictures to show you how straight the body was. Deleted rear bumper valance, smoothed and welded shut tailgate.
Custom pin on front hood with riveted, epoxied, then smoothed, 6 in. Hardwood Camaro hood cowl.
Frenched antennas on passenger side.

Our Toyota trucks stand the test of time, with a daily blast of sand, salt, sun, mud, and other harmful chemicals found on and off the road. Sometime the worst detriment to our truck’s survival is just plain sitting around waiting for that “someday” when the motor will get rebuilt, or that transmission will get replaced. Sitting out back in the weeds, the rust can form and eat away at our trucks faster than some people at a buffet line. In any case the wheels are always in harms way, and although the rest of the chrome on a sweet SR5 truck needs attention, here is one place that an ounce of prevention can go a long way.

So how can I get back that mirror finish on my Toyota’s wheels? Well, there is no magical cure, but a little hard work along with a couple of helpers. Here are two products I have found and used over the years. I always keep both in the garage for cleaning and shining up any metal found on my truck. They are cheap; less than $5 each and a little goes a long way. Neither of course is for painted surfaces. Just the chrome, stainless steel, and aluminum parts.

While Mother’s Mag and Aluminum polish is, well, meant for aluminum, it does work well for cleaning chrome. This is a paste polish so use a damp clean rag to polish and then buff off the area you want to restore. This is great for getting off that oxidization and cleaning other grime off your wheels and leaving them clean and shiny.

Neverdull is a can of wadding for cleaning about any metal surface. You just tear off a piece of the wadding and go to town. This does a great job of removing grime from any surface and it seems to leave a coat of something behind to help protect. It is not a polish however, so usually I would follow up the Neverdull with a quick buff using the Mother’s polish.

The two of these products together would always seem to get the job done for me. Of course once the cleaning phase is done, it only makes sense to protect the “raw” finish now with a coat of your favorite wax. There are many waxes out there and this is a subject of debate greater than I can cover here. However if it’s done, a little maintenance will go a long way in helping to preserve your Toyota for many more years to come.   

Your best bet is to get a factory service manual for any repair or maintenance of a Toyota pickup. However here is a good overview of how to get those hubs back together.

Time to repair the emergency brake system on my 1981 Toyota longbox 4×4. The e-brake has never worked since I got it. I wish I had done this sooner; one day I left the truck idling in the woods and it took off down the hill. Finally the driver’s side door caught a tree and stopped it. Having a working e-brake is much better than having a white door on a blue truck; but that’s history now.

I know this is a very common problem. Spend some time watching this video then go out and check and/or fix your truck. Its a good investment in time and very little money; or else-