My new 2020 Ford F-150 has been babied over the past year and a half having only driven about 2,000 miles on it so far. Many folks suggest changing out the oil at 1,500 miles if its a new vehicle as you may have more deposits and metal shavings in the oil from driving a new engine. Because I tend to agree with this concept, as well as the fact that it has already been over a year, I decided to change the oil and oil filter. In this write-up I performed the oil change using Ford’s recommended Motorcraft Synthetic Blend motor oil and Motorcraft oil filter.

Depending on your trim level you may have a different size information display, or as Ford calls it a productivity screen. The XL trim has a 2.3 in. productivity screen, the XLT trim has a 4 in. productivity screen, and Lariat and better has an 8 in. productivity screen. The instructions below apply to the 13th generation Ford F-150 (model years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.)

Replacing the brakes on a brake drum and shoe system can be a bit overwhelming upon first glance as there are quite a few different parts to work with. To successfully replace the brake drums and shoes on the rear brakes (in this case a 1st gen Toyota Tacoma), it is important to work methodically and keep track of your progress. I found it very helpful for the brake job to document the process along the way, but you may also reference this guide to help you with the removal and installation of the brake drums and brake shoes.

On my parents’ 1st generation Toyota Tacoma PreRunner, they have brake pads and rotors on the front of the vehicle and brake shoes and drums on the rear. The front brake pad and rotor replacement is pretty straightforward to replace. As such, the replacement process is pretty consistent with other vehicles that utilize a brake pad/rotor setup.

As I continue to slowly do work on my 2003 Acura CL-S to get it back in proper shape, I had to address one of the issues that I experience every time I take the car out for a drive to keep the battery from dying. And that’s a simple one: the windshield wiper blades. The original wiper blades that came with the car have fallen apart and the rubber portion was barely hanging on by a thread. Every time I turned on the wiper blades, I’d hear screeching as the metal parts of the wiper arm scratched against the windshield. Although this is an easy fix, it’s a very effective one and is a good reminder to regularly change out the wiper blades on your car.

Changing the oil on a car can vary in difficulty depending on the vehicle you’re working on. Unfortunately on a 1st generation Toyota Tacoma with the 5VZ-FE (3.4L V6) engine, it is more on the difficult side mainly due to access issues with the oil filter. The draining and refilling of the oil on this vehicle is pretty straightforward, but the accessing, removing, and draining of the oil filter can be frustrating.

To properly and completely drain and fill the the coolant on our 1st generation Toyota Tacoma, it is necessary to replace the coolant in both the radiator and the engine. This requires emptying out the coolant in two locations and refilling accordingly. The 1st generation Tacoma has a variety of configurations that can make the coolant capacity slightly differ from one model to the next.

If you own a 13th generation Ford F-150 in a Lariat trim or higher, then you are blessed with the soft open of the tailgate due to it being outfitted with an OEM tailgate assist. Unfortunately if you own an XLT trim or lower trim like me, then you are met with a loud and sudden drop of the tailgate when you open it. If you prefer the soft opening of an assisted tailgate, then you have a couple of options: install a Ford OEM tailgate assist or install an aftermarket one. Since there were a high number of excellent reviews on the DeeZee tailgate assist, I decided to go this route. The install is fairly easy and doesn’t look bad.

Not all 1st generation Toyota Tacomas (1995-2004) have keyless entry. For model years 2001-2004, a factory alarm or keyless entry may be equipped with the vehicle. In these cases, a keyless entry remote should be included with the vehicle. If you purchase a new OEM remote and have a dealership program it for you, they might charge you over $100 to do so. Alternatively, you can purchase an OEM remote or a more affordable aftermarket remote, and program it yourself.