New Guy & My First Tacoma With Build Progress To Date

Hello, new guy here, finally bought my first Tacoma after wanting one for years! It's a 2009 base model, black sand pearl, V6 Access Cab, 6spd manual, with 84,000 Km on it. I traded in my 07 Civic Si in on it and I got the used car dealer to swap wheels and tires off an SR5 they had on the lot. I dont have huge plans for, just a mild build up as it's my daily driver.

Here it is when I first picked it up, but after I had the rear windows tinted.





Next was replacing factory matts with Weathertechs

Before:



After:



The Weathertechs helped but there was still too much grey interior so out it comes



The carpet was still nice and clean and in great overall condition



But I sprayed it with black Duplicolor fabric dye, turned out awesome!



Going back in





I also sprayed the center console



Next up is the front 2.5" spacer lift (I know I know) with diff drop and rear 1.5" blocks. I also added oem style Fog Lights along with the anytime fog light mod. The truck was prewired for the fogs and switch inside the cab, but I did have to add the relay in fuse box under the hood.



After the lift and some TRD wheels that I got a great deal on



Next was some new tires, 265/70/17



New tires on and added some 1.25" Spidertrax wheel spacers





Next up was some front end make over work, I color matched the grill using Duplicolor matched spray cans. I also added black headlights, I went with the cheap ebay ones, no problems so far. At this point Im pretty happy with how all the little changes have really changed the look of the truck.



I lightly tinted the tail lights with VHT Spray on tint. I scuffed the lenses with 1500 grit paper and sprayed 3 light coats followed by a few coats of clear. I didnt want to go ultra dark with the tint here, im happy with how they turned out.



In this pic you can see I had the front windows tinted as well



Picked up a used Kenwood DDX770. Im not a big car audio guy, I just wanted hands free phone ability, play music from a flash drive, and I got a great deal on it so I couldnt pass it up.



Installed with Metra double DIN dash kit and wire harness.



Another used item, K&N intake. Picked it up from a guy who traded in his Tacoma on a Tundra. The kit was complete with box, instructions and all the hardware, I got a great deal on it. Throttle response was greatly improved and it makes a nice growl only when you put your foot into it, not that I do that often.



I also did a 1" body lift from 4crawler.com
Great instructions here for the body lift install:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/Tacoma2BodyLift.pdf

And how it sits as of today



Im really happy with the truck and how far it's come in a short amount of time. Its not a crazy build like many of the trucks on this forum, but for my budget and what I use it for, it suits my needs just fine. Still have some things I want to do, like skids, and Im on Homertacos list for one of his Satoshi grills. I did just have the entire truck under coated with Rust Check to protect it from winter elements and road salt.

Thanks for looking

 

Welcome

If you are looking for mods that fit your budget, check out:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/4838-cheap-free-mods.html

 

I like the idea of having black carpet. Hmmm

Does it feel the same to the touch after spraying it? How was the odor?

 

That blacked out carpet you did looks sick! Good job.

 

The carpet was a little stiffer at first but its fine now. The odor is strong and it will last a few days, but it does go away. Lots of people on different forums have positive results using this on there carpet. Plus I have the weathertech matts that protect the high trafic areas so it should hold up well.

I really wanted to dye the carpet after test driving a 2012 that had black carpet from the factory, I noticed the difference right away on opening the door. Plus coming from a Civic Si with all black interior, the grey Tacoma interior was a huge change and I really wanted to go black.

 

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm now thinking about doing mine. Looks good.