Just bought a 1996 Tacoma and have some questions.

So I bought a 1996 Tacoma in fabulous condition with 114,000 miles. I understand that the Tacoma's had spring issues in the rear suspension as well as frame corrosion problems. I read that these two issues were at one time, covered by recalls. How can I know if mine has had these two problems addressed?

 

You will have to get your VIN# and then i assume the easiest way would be to contact a Toyota dealer and have them check their database to see if a repair was made after the recall. Maybe have the recall # handy too if you can find it.

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hello fellow idaho bro. boise here.

as for your truck, congrats on joining the 96 club. you are past the date for the rust recall if you have it (15 years) and if there was a spring recall i have never heard of it. there is for certain year second gens, but not first.

now if the truck has spent its life in idaho i wouldn't' worry about rust. maybe surface rust but not holes. just to be sure though take a hammer and start hitting all up and down the inside of your frame, by the leaf hangers, cross member. front end. wherever. you will know pretty quickly if you have some bad rust.

as for the rear. as with most 1st gens the springs have sagged and weakened over time. do some research and look into getting a new rear leaf pack. best way to do it.

 

Just keep in mine that us 95-97s have shorter leafs then 98-04s.

Wheelers sells a pack for us and OME Dakar packs for the older trucks fit.

Or you can just rebuild them.

Welcome to TW and congrats on the best year of truck out there

 

Congrats on a rare find. Everyone else answered you questions but

 

My bad! I put them in the introduction I did as a new member, however, let's see if this will work for ya!

 

I looked the frame over, and of course the dealer washed it, but the frame still has black paint on it, but it's hard to tell on the inside of the frame. Everything seems solid though. By the way, I have a brother in Boise area.......(Parma) and my folks just left there, for Kingman Arizona!

 

Thanks for the pic... that's one clean looking truck!

 

Thank you Lumpskie! We happened into the dealer as the truck was being traded in. I sat in it and though I had my heart set on another 1994 extended cab..... I knew I had to have this truck. It took a week to get it delivered to my place, but you're absolutely correct that is is super clean. Nothing on carfax, and even the seat is premo. I kinda thrashed my original 94, then, as I learned what a great truck it was........after 15 years and more than 200,000 miles, I started regretting not taking better care of it. The Tacoma is going to be a different story though, as I keep this one in the garage. Oh yeah, vehicle worship occurring here!

 

Got a chance to check out the frame a bit more, after reading horror stories about the frames rusting in half and mine still feels like it has paint on the inside of the channels which is a real relief. I'm pretty much stunned in fact because the truck looks almost new underneath except for a bit of oil around what appears to be the transfer case drain plug and a great deal of grease slung from the two universal joints.

 

Although I don't feel like I should give intros, welcome bro! Congrats on that '96, she's a beauty! I just traded off a "totaled" '96 SR5 for an e-locking rear diff and a couple hundred bucks. It was the extended cab too man, I almost cried when I got my new one ('98 SR5), no joke. They're great trucks, and if you give 'em their TLC when they "ask" for it (taaaalk to the truck maaaan) they'll outlast anything else on the road, imo. I had over 374K on mine and she ran like a hotrod. I transferred my slotted rotors and ceramics to the new truck, and various other things including my K&N. Those trucks are real swappable year to year as long as you pay attention to detail. This forum is the shiznat when it comes to asking technical questions! Anyway, glad to see you got such a great Taco, give her a kiss for me, lmfao.

 

If they don't leak at least a little bit there's something wrong imo.

 

Just to brag a little more on those '96's. I got mine with over 300K years ago and it was a flood truck from Katrina. I had rust inside the bell housing and my cooling system had about two cups of sediment in it. Various other things man, various....anyway, the frame was solid as a rock, and still was when I *sniff* gave her away, so yea.

 

as far as i know if u live in the north where there is heavy snow you might see those kind of issues but down here in Cali. i seldomly see these king of problems.

congrats on the new purchase and welcome to tw.

 

Oooh thats a very clean looking 1996 you have there! Gotta love that year.

Also, is that an English Springer Spaniel? I had one as my first pet, he was a loving and smart dog.

 

Yes, that's my best friend ever, Billy. We have 5 of them and they are English Springers. You know, we've bought a few Toyotas that were a few years old and they had subtle signs of use like a slight tear in the seat, or the gear shift knob was changed, despite the vehicle having only 40 or 50 thousand miles. But I'm totally stunned at this 17 year old truck which does have a few very minor scratches, but the seat, the carpets, underneath the truck, behind the seat, even inside the bed and canopy look absolutely brand new. I should put up more pictures of it. It's simply amazing. It was owned by a woman, and it must have been garaged, because even the dash board is super crisp looking. The truck just pops! I almost hate driving it to my work, which is a weld shop 11 miles from home. Seat covers are in order!

 

I'm thinking that the 1994 I own is going to take the Winter season, while the 96 takes residence in the garage!

 

No, I'm enjoying this forum a great deal! I'm stunned that you were able to pull down that many miles from your Tacoma. Thus far, my impressions of the Tacoma are that they fall short of the Highlux models like the 1994 I have. The Tacoma's seem much more long legged and the suspension lacks that "Cadillac" feel of the previous suspension. But make no mistake, I love that Tacoma too! It's certainly one tight truck!

 

Cadillac feel??

Shit both ore taco trucks I've half owned are stiff and bouncy as shit. Lol

 

Really? Gosh my 94 is much smoother than the 96, but maybe it's because my 94 has well over 230,000 miles and the extended cab which allows me to recline a lot more.