Swapping Stepside for Fleetside Bed

A couple of people asked so I thought I would post.


Disclaimer, I'm not a mechanic nor did I know I was going to post, so my appologies on teminology and how detailed it is.

If you are looking for a box, I suggest searching car-parts.com as there are hundreds of boxes out there thanks to the rotting frames. All boxes for 1rst gens, fit 1rst gens, 1995.5 to 2004.

Mine was mint and I got it for 600 bucks!


1. Take of tail lights, it's just a few screws and some clips.

3. Take of "ears" of the stepside bumper, no worries a regular bumper awaits under there! I've got it taped here to not scratch the new box. (pic is with new box but you get the idea)

4. Remove other extras like fender flares (they will fit the fleetside) and tailgate as it will be easier to deal with
5. Remove gas tank collar, it is different and you will need one with your new fleetside box.
6. Undo the six bolts that hold your box to your frame and take the box off. Note, stepside box is a lot heaview than the reg box.

7. place the new box on the frame, alligne it up and bolt it down.

8. Put tailgate, lights and gas tank collar back on.

9. Put your extras back on, like the fender flairs.


While the box was off I took the opportunity to spray the inside of the wheel wells with bed liner, and I sprayed Krown, rust proof inhibitor, everywhere I could.


I also had to swap my mud flaps over and bought new trd decals as the doner box came from a 2wd.

I aslo did a roll in bed liner, herculiner and seems to be holding up well.

Done!


Hope this helps VanTaco?

Cheers,

D.C

 

nice! seems like a fairly straightforward process...

fleetside looks much, much better IMO

 

Thanks Dave,

It's a lot more practical, that's for sure!

Here's a before how she stands now.

 

Nice write up and pictures!

 

wow man complete transformation! looks good!!

and now you can sell the step-side w/ tonneau and re-coup some dough.... SCORE

 

awesome write up..so what's the deal with the bumper?? the end pieces just pop off? lol that's awesome

 

Looks good, when I got to step 6 I would have had to pressure the frame and paint.

 

my question is, how did you mount the flares on the 2 wheel drive box? i thought the boxes with flares had holes in them for mounting?

 

I honestly didnt even kno they made tacomas in step side lol but fleet side looks a lot better! Nice write up!

 

Thanks all,

Vantaco, the ends of the bumper just unbolt, and yep there's a regular bumper. I think I have a shot of it (trying to sell as TIPICO said). You can see them beside the tailgate.


Here you can tell where I took them off.

You can also notice here where the plastic cover of the bumper is too short, this is what you'll need to find. I got a whole brand new bumper from a yard, took the plastic part and am selling the rest of the bumper.

Dennis, believe it or not this is a brand new frame. It likely looks older because I had it undercoated, and I 4x4 alot so there is a tone of dirt stuck to the oil that is on the frame. Trust me it's nice and shinny black under there.

Toysr5man, The fender flares just screw into the holes that are already there in the wheel well for the plastic wheel well liner. On the stepsides, although they came out after 2001, they seem to use the smaller flares that the taco's previous to 2001 used. So I didn't have to deal with the bigger ones that need holes in the quarter pannel.

It was a fun project, I enjoyed it. I searched for quite a while though to find the right box.

Cheers,

DC

 

No offense but I looooove the step side bed look, I wish my truck had a step side bed!

 

Would you sell that step side bed? I think it would be cool as a trail trailer.

 

Weird. I have never seen a step side before.

 

Man...I would have rocked the stepside. I can count on one hand how many stepsides I have seen in person. Congratulations though, your truck now looks like countless other silver first gens.

You should sell it to isu2014.

 

FishinTaco , would you happen to want to sell your step side bumper?

 

Wish mine was a stepside/sportside - love the way they look!

 

I love them. I live in Costa Rica and everybody love my taco stepside.

 

You sell the bed?