Paranoids 03 Double Cab build (low buckish)

recently picked this up after selling my 85 2wd LT truck and needed somthing that held more people and was newer.

and wow, this truck is much much nicer then my 85 was
Truck will be built with just basic off roading and camping in mind, as i have a 71FJ40 i am building for the major rock stuff

This is how the truck sat when i bought it.
almost stock, PO had added a locking cover and super sweet chrome steps (soon to come off)




2003 double cab 4x4

Engine
stock 3.4 V6
auto trans

Suspension
Icon 2.5 coilovers
Custom upper arms
Total Chaos upper arm gussets.
1.5" lift rear shackle
diff drop

Wheels/tires
Some black fake beadlocks
285/75/16 treadwright guard dogs

Armor
Addicted offroad sliders

Other Stuff
LED interior lights
Hella horns
Custom front grill
debadged somewhat
On board air
Manual hub conversion
ARB snorkel

Protection
ARB front bumper
4x4 innovations rock sliders
Trail gear rear bumper with extra support for the hitch

Future Mods/Coming Soon
Winch
plate rear bumper

 

fist mod was kinda cheesy but i liked the look as it reminds me of my fj40.
bought a new grill and grillcraft grill and a toyota badge and installed it.
also installed some hella horns to fix the anemic stock toyota horns lol.

 

That grill and toyota badge looks pretty good actually. Looking good so far

 

yea, hoping it will look better once i build some bumpers and maybe paint the fender flares black.

 

Yeah the black fenders will look reallly good on the silver color. Also, what design bumpers are you planning on building?

 

some sort of tube bumper with winch mount. probally something along the lines of the allpro or trail gear. something easy

 

Ah ok. That will look pretty good, are you planning on putting a lift kit on your truck sooner or later?

 

Emblem looks great, were you able to use the stock mounts for it? how level were you able to get it with the grillcraft? I ask because I was worried of not getting the emblem level due to the pattern of the grille & Welcome.

 

yea, still trying to figure that out. the front end is sagging a bit so bought some used spacers to tie me over for the bit.
on the fence about the rest.
would like to have some sort of LT again. but only around 2" wider per side or so with enought lift for some 33s. rear will retain leaf springs.

also most stuff i will be building myself to make it cheaper to me.

 

it was easy. i just measured the center of the grill from the top and sides. i was lucky as the emblem i used had the center hole centered in the emblem so i went off that spot then used the lines on the grillcraft to keep it streight. as my grillcraft lines were dead on streight. it was kinda odd cutting the grill up some to allow my emblem to sit flat. (had to cut three holes for the mounting brackets on the grill) but i like the look

 

Spacers yum. I have some spacers but they ride really rough just to let you know. Not so much on pavement but offroad you will feel it

 

funky, i would have thought a spacer that sits on top of the coilover (not one that preloads it) would give the same ride. and yea, not a fan of spacers, but 30 bucks for 2" will hold me up for a bit till i sit down and figure things out, next up is some sliders and rear bumper

 

Im pretty sure all spacers effect the ride characteristics of the truck. I may be wrong on this though... Either way its still a lift for very cheap, go for it.. Then buy a coilover lift sometime down the road for a better ride quality

 

got a little work done in this damn heat.
picked up a 2" spacer lift used on here for a good price. should hold me over for a few months


and installed.


also changed out the dome lights to LEDs. as i am a LED dork lol.


also got these in the mail for the rear bumper i am building. figured it was easier to buy then try to cut 1/2" plate lol

 

Nice nice, hows the ride now?

 

where did you get that grill looks nice. I have the same color and year as your tacoma.

 

well, it seemed the same for the 15feet i drove it lol. will let you konw

its just a ebay grill with a grillcraft insert and a 4runner toyota emblem.

also just painted the rims satin black so the grill looks much better on the truck too.

 

so after some driving today i dont notice any difference in the ride with the spacers. so thats good.

 

Hmm try going offroad and see how they are!

 

wont be able to tell as i have no feeling for that. only DDing it on the street and over all the whoops in the road lol. but i ahve some uniballs and what not coming to build some upper arms and hoping to order up some cheap coilovers lol