5lugger build on a budget!

I bought my 5lug base Taco few months ago in the end of July. I needed a truck for work, the car I was driving had bad overheating problems and I didn't have time to shop around until the right Taco came around. Ultimately I wanted 4x4 regular cab. However this white little truck was the only Taco available in my area which was in my price range. The Taco had 23k miles when I bought it, which is ok amount for two year old truck.

The base 5lugger looks funny bone stock, its low with tiny little tires. I knew that it won't stay stock for long I had to select my modifications very carefully and do a lot of research, because I couldn't blow ton of money on the modifications. Here is few pictures of my Taco bone stock next to my lady's 07 Camry;



Hauling stuff;





Sitting in driveway, here you can see how bad it looks with stock ride height, stock tires and stock rake;



My first modification was taking off the mud flaps and cutting the stock exhaust. I didn't like how it curves around and sticks out;



About 10minutes with my hack saw and the exhaust was cut, looks much better!!



The portion which was cut;



Second modification was OEM cruise control. I do quite a lot of driving on highways and being able to set the cruise is much more pleasant than watching my speed constantly...

I sourced the cruise control stalk from a member here for $25 shipped...



Then I ordered the clutch switch, steering wheel cover, union and diff breather from Toyota of Dallas. Yeah even shipped it was cheaper then from a local stealership...go figure...



OEM cruise installed, works awesome!!



Then i relocated the rear diff breather. I don't know if I ever go through high water so the breather would get submerged fully, however this mod cost me around $15, so why not? Better be safe than sorry, right? Stock rear diff breather;



Stock rear diff breather is out, union in its place;



Rear diff breather relocated;



I used metal clamps and fuel line for the rear diff breather;



After reading up on intakes for the taco, I have decided to stick with modified stock intake.

I have removed the 2nd air filter. Air box with the 2nd air filter;



2nd air filter removed;



Then i removed the huge resonator from the fender. There is no purpose to this resonator other than making the intake quieter. The size of this thing amazed me...lol



Now was time to lift the truck. There are two lift kits available for the 5lug Taco. The ReadyLift for about $350 shipped and Fat Bob's Garage lift kit for about $250 shipped. I have chosen the Fat Bob's kit, because it is cheaper and comes with longer rear shocks.

Fat Bob's Garage kit. the kit comes with front spacer & nuts for the front spacer, rear add-a-leaf manufactured by AllPro, rear longer shocks & longer U-Bolts with nuts. Kit is high quality and easily installed in your driveway;



Front spacer installed on top of the front strut;



This is how it looks installed back in the truck;



Fat Bob's Garage rear shocks next to stock rear shock;



Add-a-Leaf installed;



Now the truck is lifted and the only thing it needs to complete the outside look are tires. I was planning on keeping the stock tires for a while until they are gone. That was cut short by my offroad trip, when I got back my rear tires were shredded with chunks missing out of them. My spare had a nail in it, so I broke down and bought tires. At first I wanted to get 30x9.5x15. When I was looking at the used tire yards, the only set of 30x9.5x15 were run down BfG's... Next to them I saw nice looking Bridgestone Dueler H/T in 31x10.5x15, they had what seemed to be like 60-70% thread left and the used tire yard wanted $200 for the tires, mounted & balanced, so I pulled the trigger. New tire next to the stock tiny tire;



This is how the truck looks now... Much better than stock right?



Now for the summary of cost...

OEM cruise control - $50
Rear differential breather relocated - $15
Fat Bob's Garage lift kit - $250
31x10.5x15 tires - $200
Intake modifications & exhaust cut - Free

Total - $515 - Not bad, huh?

Now my truck is done for a while. I am satisfied with how it looks and it is also off road capable, well as much as 2wd truck with open diff can get...

My wish list;

- Shock protectors. Fat Bob's Garage shocks didn't come with protectors so the piston is open to elements.

- 8" shorty antenna - tired of the stock whip

- TRD shift knob. just because

- OEM wiper intermittent switch - just gotta find used one cheap

- 2ndary intake resonator removal. Just gotta source some couplers and 3" aluminum pipe

- Afe Pro-DryS air filter

- Doug Thorley Header - It shows gain of 11whp & 11wtq on Doug Thorley site according to their dyno. My truck could use that extra power with the big tires.

- 15x8 steelies - The OEM wheels rub at full lock and having 10.5 tire mounted on 6" rim is not ideal.

- Cut out 2nd cat & get straight through muffler of choice welded in

- Build rear end. I still have a LOT of thinking and deciding to do. I have to decide between 4.10 & 4.56 gears. Then I want to lock it. I have basically three options... Powertrax locker, Detroit locker & ARB locker... ARB would be the best, but it is twice the price of Detroit and I have heard very mixed reviews on the Powertrax. Since I do 90% of my driving on paved roads, from what I have read & heard ARB would be the best locker suited for my application.

I will update this thread as I get more mods to my truck done.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

nice looking truck and I love my trd shift knob its awesome

 

This is the TRD shift knob I want to get, leather!



Looking at your build thread gave me an idea... Why buy a new antenna, when I can cut my existing one? Now I have a project to do today

 

Yeah I took it off and I put a screwdriver in the antenna hole and I till got all my stations so I said Ill just cut it and its cool and I plastic dipped the end but you could use anything as long as you cover the bare metal

 

Looks great, one of my favorite 5-lugs.

 

Cut the antenna few days ago. looks awesome, was free and I still get good reception. I might sand it and paint it in the future. Its good for now...lol

Thanks man I put lot of thought in modifying my truck.

 

Added few more mods on a budget last Friday.

Stock 6lug skid plate. For more info visit this thread; LINK --> http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/5-lug/125676-stock-6lug-skid-plate-5lugger-taco.html#post2432709







Painted the Toyota symbol black. Last chrome thing on my truck... I HATE chrome...LOL Way easier than Satoshi grille and looks pretty good. I did 4 coats of gloss black. My intention was for the emblem to stand out a little bit, that's why I chose the gloss, instead of flat.





I also got tired of the stock whip. I hit it a lot under trees, off roading, etc... I cut it and gave it few coats of gloss black to cover any exposed metal.



I ordered some shock protectors for my rear shocks, those will come next week.

I am thinking of upgrading to stock 6cd changer, if I find one cheap & getting some fog lights... Other than that the truck is done for now. I am getting married soon and can't afford to spend big money on a locker & header, unless I pick up extra work

 

Just that lift and bigger tires completley changed the look of the truck. Good job on a budget!! Looks good!

 

you need to do bhlm then you will have gotten all the chrome

 

No alignment? Your tires wont last long without one.

 

Alignment is coming with next paycheck. Trust me I know I need one...

 

looking good

 

thanks for giving all us 5 luggers hope

 

mother fucker. i just realized you bought the cruise tree from that guy that wrecked his truck. god damnit. nice truck btw haha

 

From one 5 lug to another, looks good. Going to have to paint those rims.

Check out my rig, link the sig.

 

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it, I put a lot of thought in to modding my truck.

Quaker - good looking 5lugger. I would really consider Fat Bob's lift kit. The lift makes the 5lugger look 100 times better, besides with the add a leaf you can put more load in your bed without hitting the bump stops and the rear squatting.

I won't be painting the stock wheels, those will go pretty soon and I will be replacing them with Cragar Soft 8's in 15x8 in flat black.

Yesterday I installed Fat Bob's Garage shock boots on my rear shock. The shock boots protect the exposed piston part of the shock from dust & road debris.

Shock boots before installation;



Rear shock without shock boot;



Shock boot installed;



I have few more mods in mind to complete my truck;

1, Alignment - I am overdue on that one...
2, TRD leather shift knob
3, OEM deck with 6 cd changer - If I find one cheap...lol
4, Cragar Soft 8's wheels in 15x8
5, OEM intermittent wiper switch
6, Powertrax no-slip locker
7, LC Engineering header - far superior to the Doug Thorley header I had in mind at first due to its equal length design.

I don't think I will mess with the intake or muffler for now, the hp gains would be very small. I like how the truck is for now. Unless I get the intake parts or muffler for super cheap. Once the stock air filter is dirty enough, I will of course replace it with AFE.

That's all for now. These mods should make for decent looking and off road capable truck.

I researched lockers and of course ARB rear locker with 4.10 gears would be ideal, however that would be $1300-$1600 installed compared to $450 for Powertrax. Maybe I will get Powertrax for now, I can always switch to ARB if I get enough money together later.

 

Looks Great! I too did the Spacers in front and Rear Add-A-Leaf and put on some 30X9.5X15's and it looks great. They are on stock rims that I painted black. Let me know how the new headers are and how they affect the performance. Im looking into regearing my truck to 4.30 if I can find gears that size... 4-Wheel parts has a place to install and buy parts from near by me and all they have is 4.56. Did you install these gears yet? I know i definitely need them, my mpg's went from a normal 20 average to 18 average and the power feels like junk.

Great looking truck! Where did you find the breather mods for the rear diff? I need to get that as I go offroading alot.

Suggestion to complete the overall look you might want to look into some black headlights they are stock looking but with black inside. Check out my photos and see if you like them.









Stock Rims Painted:


Heres what it looks like with the lift and painted rims:

 

does taking out that fender resonator effect the SMOG check?

 

I haven't installed gears yet and most likely won't be for a while as well as header, I am getting married in April... I wouldn't go higher than 4.10 gears.

For the rear breather I just got the union & breather from Toyota, fuel line & clamps from ACE. The part numbers are; Breather

$6 90930-03136 Toyota Breather Plug - 90930-03136

90930-03136, Union

$7 90404-51026 Intake Air Control Valve Union

90404-51026.

I don't want to take the stock lights apart, I am afraid that I won't seal them correctly and I will have condensation issues...

Good looking truck. Sometimes I wish I got access cab, but those are so hard to find here in AZ. Most poplar truck here is PreRunner, Double Cab automatic...

I wouldn't think so, since it is a part which you cannot see, unless you take off the fender.

 

These were bought off e-bay for under $180 I bought them because my turn signal inside piece broke for some reason (the glass/ plastic lens in font of the bulb) so it was a perfect upgrade seeing as the Toyota Stealership wanted $250 just for one head light assembly!!!! These lights came sealed up with both left and right side assembly and they came with all brand new light bulbs!!!!

08WhiteTaco :

Thanks for the Part numbers! I will get on that upgrade right away as I do a bit of off-roading and the axel does end up under water (even though its a brief time underwater it still counts!)

Also I had the same feeling about not going higher than 4.10 gears however I do not have the expertise on installing something like that and the only place that will do it for cheap and correctly is 4-wheel parts and they only carry 4.56 gears I will have to check and see if they will let me buy from somewhere else and have them install it. Thanks again and love what you did with the truck!