You gotta pay to play. I've had all of my drivetrain seals replaced, luckily under warranty! After every mudding trip I had a leak somewhere. Now I stay away from mud, and all good. Except thatall the wheelin' in iowa involves mud, so I'm getting really bored here!

99' X-cab, V6, TRD, Ome882 coils, Rancho AAL, and Daystar shackle. 285/75-16 MTR's on 16x8" blackuglies.

Mud is Evil

OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN......
Couldnt wait to get back to a truck I know would last for me. (Ive had a 68 Cruiser all of its existence and still runs like a top, no major repairs).....

BUT, back to my story...
I needed a truck cuz I live in California, and work in Alaska, and need to haul my life back and forth. 3 years ago, bought a big block Ford F250... Bought it at 89,000 miles (not new granted), sold it after putting 17,000 miles on it, and putting over $4000 worth of repairs into it, including:
Choke thermostate regulator (4 times)
Exhaust manifold cracking (twice)
New C6 transmission (supposedly bullet proof, HA)
Lots of other stuff <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/bird.gif" alt="" />

Ive put over a half a million miles on two Hondas and a toyota, and got 17,000 miles out of a Ford? Hey, Im patriotic, but I need reliability AND to afford to buy groceries too!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

We'll hopefully Toyota gets with the program, and starts building trucks like they used to. Wonder what the Tacoma replacement will be like?

Ford, wonder how well the Ranger holds up to the abuse, compared to a Tacoma? I'm sure it gets quite expensive.

Damn flammedtaco that's unfortunate to hear and that's the 1st time I've ever heard a Toy truck being a lemon. I owned a 96 ext cab 2.7 for 5years and my Taco only went in the shop for a new skid plate(rocks aren't friendly). Keep up the routine maintenance and Toys last forever.

Sounds like you got a lemon of a Tacoma. I have a 99 Prerunner with 145K miles that has been mostly trouble-free. The problems I had with mine were rear axle oil seals, a cracked exhaust manifold and a dead battery. The rear axle oil seals were a breeze to replace, and the cracked exhaust manifold (which I admit is quite common with the 2.7L) gave me an excuse to replace it with a header.

I haven't necessarily abused my truck, but I haven't babied it either, with the exception of giving it regular maintenance and fluid changes. I off-road it on occasion, which can be a little rough for a 2wd, but I never subjected it to anything really rough. Even so, I'm amazed at how much it has put up with without breaking down on me.

Sounds like you may have gotten hosed on the rear axle seal and rear bearings. Both rear axle oil seals on mine went out, which is common on most Toyota 4x4s, including the older ones (They went out on my 92 4Runner, too). They're only like $7 a piece. Replacing them is super easy.

Why did you have to get the wheel bearings replaced? Have you seen the size of the rear wheel bearings? They're huge and super strong and rarely ever break. The few that I've heard of breaking are from those who've really subjected to their trucks to some really hardcore off-roading on the rocks - Robert, of Frankentaco fame and Tim Jones both come to mind - and those two guys really abuse their Tacomas while doing hardcore rockcrawling, including having done the Rubicon and other super tough trails. I had mine replaced not because they needed to be replaced, but because I stupidly thought it was a good idea when I replaced my rear axle oil seals. One of the master mechanics with more than 20 years experience told me he's never had to replace the rear wheel bearings on any Toyota truck given how big and strong they are. But maybe you got a rare lemon?

I've heard of the rear main seal going on a few 2.7L engines, but mostly on manual tranny equipped trucks. Is yours a manual? I've never heard of the front crank seal or u-joints going, though. Toyota u-joints are supposedly tough, from the posts I've read, and although I have come across a few posts here and there from a few that needed replacement, they are far and few between.

The rack and pinion is one of the weak links when it comes to replacement part on the Tacoma, unfortunately, especially if you off-road and abuse your truck alot, at least from the posts I've read at tacomaterritory.com . Same goes for the tie rod ends, although most of the ones I've heard that need replacing are the inner ones, not outer ones.

As for the windshield leaking, I don't remember ever reading a post about that. Maybe what Mechanic58 said is true about driving over alot of washboard roads at high speed? Either that, or you really did end up with a rare Toyota lemon.

Well, sorry to hear about the numerous problems you've had with your Tacoma. Hopefully the problems were fixed.

"89 350 STOCK AND WOULD RUN 140MPH"

Anyone who would drive a truck 140 mph would probably have this kind of problem with anything. First of all a toyota taco is a little truck and isn't built like good ol' american pig iron. Even though tacos can go anywhere and do anything they will break. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

STOCK 89 (NO SPEED REGULATOR)GAVE THAT TRUCK HELL AND THE TRANNY WAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING I RELACED.IN THE 2 YRS I HAD IT I PUT 65K ON HER.IVE MANAGED TO PUT 80K IN 2YRS ON THE YOTA AND KEEP HAVING ONE PROBLEN AFTER THE OTHER(AS SOON AS THE EXTENDED WARR. RAN OUT)I DONT DRIVE THE TACO FAST BECAUSE ITS TOO SLOW.I JUST DONT BELIEVE THE NEWER YOTAS ARE MADE TO WITHSTAND OFFROAD DRIVING, MAYBE ITS JUST ME I DONT KNOW,BUT BEFORE I BUY ANOTHER TACOMA I WILL THINK LONG AND HARD.AND PARTS ARE SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN I COULD'VE IMAGINED,GLAD I CAN DO MOST MYSELF OR I WOULD BE BROKE